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[quote=Anonymous]Getting back to the OP’s question, there is no official “going” rate and there is certainly no standard 5% split commission to go to both buyers and sellers agents.

Real estate commissions are entirely negotiable as stated by the National Association of Realtors and as stated on any real estate contract.

When selling, you negotiate the commission rate you pay them directly with the sellers agent. You can check a box on your listing contract that you are open to paying the buyers agent commission but don’t need to specify the amount in advance. The buyer will include it as part of their offer. It will become another factor to look at if the buyer asks you to pay it, like offer price, contingencies, etc. (On the listing contract you can also offer to pay a fixed amount to the buyers agent in advance, I don’t see why anyone would do this in advance, keep your options open).

On the listing contract, there is also a spot for how much the selling agent will be compensated if the buyer is unrepresented. This is huge, don’t ignore this. It may say 1%, 2%, etc. Ask for a fixed fee, based on the number of hours of extra work such a situation creates for your sellers agent (ask them). There is no standard commission they are entitled to, again as specified in the standard real estate contract and by the NAR.

Unfortunately, the whole real estate industry is aligning (seemingly successfully) to keep commissions high and at previous levels, sometimes with a lot of obfuscation and much hidden into the contracts. I think this is where a lot of the distrust with real estate agents comes into play.

Good luck and be smart, do your homework.[/quote]

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