As a homebuyer or seller, do you really understand real estate commissions? Do you know how much a real estate agent who lists a house for sale typically gets? Equally important, how much the agent who brings you in as a buyer gets paid — in other words, how the total commission pie gets sliced up?
You may have heard that the “standard” commission is 6 percent, split between the listing agent and the selling agent who represents the buyer. A portion of the agents’ splits then goes to the brokerage under whose banner they work. But 6 percent isn’t the real number. The average commission rate nationwide on home sale transactions hasn’t been 6 percent since 1992, when it was 6.04 percent, according to Real Trends, an industry publishing and consulting firm that obtains confidential transaction data from brokerages annually. In 2005, at the height of the housing bubble, it was 5.02 percent and in 2013 it was 5.38 percent.
Why bring this up? A controversy over disclosure of commission rates in listing contracts erupted in Denver recently, shedding fresh light on what can be a contentious subject, shrouded from public view. The Denver issue: A discount realty firm that offers flat fees — $2,100 to the listing agent, $3,000 to the agent who brings in the buyer — broke ranks with industry practice by publishing the commission percentages promised to buyer agents in listing agreements. Key details of listing agreements are available online to realty agents who are members of the local multiple listing service, or MLS, but not to the general public. In Denver, as in many other areas, MLS rules prohibit disclosure of the commission rates offered to agents working on behalf of buyers.
Joshua Hunt, the founder and CEO of Trelora, the flat-fee brokerage at the center of the controversy, disagrees. He believes buyers deserve complete transparency upfront regarding the commissions offered to agents on houses they are considering. Though sellers may pay the commission to both the listing and selling agents, the buyer’s dollars typically fund the transaction. Buyers should know in advance how much their agent stands to make, and be able to negotiate that amount lower than what is offered in the listing contract, Hunt told me in an interview. After being threatened by the local MLS with severe penalties, Hunt pulled down the commission data from his website.
