Determining Commission Fees For Buyer's Agents

As most already know, a commission is a fee charged by real estate agents to sale your property. Commission fees in Georgia are normally 6%. This amount is split between the buyer’s agent and your agent. However, when you list your property using our flat fee listing service, you are receiving a discount on the commission fees from the listing broker who represents you. Instead of receiving 3% they normally get a lower fee for their services.

The attraction to the flat fee listing service is saving money on commission fees. Most real estate firms who offer a flat fee service will automatically tell owners to pay the buyer’s agent 3% so they will be encouraged to show the property. We don’t necessarily feel this way for several reasons. First of all, over 90% of all buyers will do their own property search online nowadays. Although agents still send leads to them, buyers routinely send agents listings of homes they saw online. We know this happens from personal experience because we also represent buyers. (This is why we put a lot of emphasis on internet and mobile marketing for properties we list for sale.) Secondly, buyers can’t see what the commission fee is and they could care less about it. The only time it matters to buyers is when they end up agreeing to pay all or part of the commission fees. This is not typical but it does happen sometimes. If this situation does occur, like the seller, they want the fee to be as low as possible. Finally, if an agent is skipping over properties based on the commission fee then it’s clear they do not have their client’s best interest at heart and it’s probably not a good idea to get involved in any transaction with someone of this nature.

Right now, it’s a Sellers’ Market so this means you have some flexibility when it comes to determining how much you want to pay to a buyer’s agent in commission fees. The list price of your property is also a deciding factor. High-end luxury properties usually have a lower commission fee and lower price homes especially those under $100,000 are typically 3%. However, this does not mean you have to pay 3%. Base your decision on what you feel is fair.