What Commissions do Listing Agents Charge?
- Adam Garrett
- Jun 2
- 6 min read
Updated: Jun 4
The answer to this question is highly dependent on the market, the type of real estate involved, the price of the real estate, what the seller is looking for, and what the agents that they are interviewing or researching both offer & require.
Do you get what you pay for? To some degree, but it's complicated.
To a degree, you get what you pay for, but not exactly. A very low-commission agent/broker will tend to offer minimal services because they need to do that in order to stay afloat in business. They don't have time to do otherwise.
However, no matter whether going for a discount agent, typical agent, or a premium agent, two agents charging the same commission can achieve vastly different results for the same seller. Some agents do overcharge considering the limitations of what they offer, & you'd be surprised at how little an agent might offer despite high volume and reviews, while sometimes those with less volume and less reviews may offer more. That said, think twice before hiring a new agent, no matter how many promises they make.
Also, be sure to fact-check people. I once spoke to someone who was under the impression that their agent had sold most of the homes in the neighborhood. The reality was that they had never sold a home in the neighborhood, and their first closing was within a year prior to them giving the seller that impression.
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How and what amount are listing agents paid?
The majority of agents charge based on a % of the sales price. While markets vary, typically in SE VA it's from 2.5%-3% for the listing firm & 2.5%-3% for the buyer's agent's firm. However, some agents may want 5% (especially for commercial real estate & land). For properties $1,000,000+, I charge as low as 2% with my lowest tier marketing package while still including a lot that most agents don't at 3%. Generally speaking, the higher the sales prices (of a market and of individual properties), the lower the percentages tend to be. In my brother's market in Greenwich, CT, where he isn't a real estate agent, his understanding was that it was rare to see 3%. The prices there are much higher than in Hampton Roads.
Some agents charge a flat fee (especially discount agents and those selling low-price property). I've worked with a listing agent before who only received $1k, who was working with a high-volume seller. it was one of my worst experiences with a listing agent in terms of just getting him to do his job. I had to involve the closing company to close in ways that are not typical since the listing agent was stretched too thin. While I've never worked with one that I'm aware of, in my research I have seen that there are even lower flat fees available for bare-bones agents.
Some may include a retainer fee, where even if a property doesn't sell, you might still owe them some money, especially if they are engaging in high costs themselves in order to list your property or in order to get a certain marketing package that they offer as one of multiple options.
While illegal in VA, In 3 states, California, Florida, & Texas, net listings are legal, and allow the agent to get a commission based on a prearranged amount of net proceeds that the seller wants to get.
What do listing agents offer? It highly varies.
Three potential listing agents on the same property may offer vastly different marketing, knowledge, and other resources in the home or other real estate selling process.
For instance, in my case, no matter what real estate I'm selling, I offer a lot that many agents don't, even for discounted commission prices at my lower-level commission packages below 3% (as low as 2% for house sellers listed for $1,000,000 or more as of 6/2/25, incrementally going up to as low as 2.5% at the $150k price point for a house) that still include a lot more than a number of non-discounted full-service agents. Examples of what Adam offers standard for listings, no matter the package, include an unmatched SE VA seller guide directly integrated into my process & detailed email templates at various steps along the sale process, excellent 3D Matterport virtual tours, aerials, excellent area pictures, and great professional photography.
Some agents offer multiple packages.
While it's not a typical practice, some agents like myself offer multiple marketing packages depending on the price and marketing options that the seller would like.
Are commissions negotiable? Yes, but...
In some cases, you can negotiate with a listing agent for a discount that is below the amount that they have requested. However, the more competitive their commission considering what they offer, the less it makes sense for the listing agent to budge. Also, it's critical that sellers not be biased by whether or not the listing agent budges. If you rule out a listing agent simply because they wouldn't budge, you could be getting a "discount" with an agent just to get a worse deal than the other agent who wouldn't budge.
Should sellers pay buyer's agents' commissions?
While buyer's agent commissions are no longer required in the vast majority of circumstances, buyer's agent commissions are still highly recommended. The probability of sale drastically decreases the further that the buyer's agent commission goes down, while the top home builder in the country offers some of the most generous commissions, often above 3%. Per NAR's 2023 Quick Real Estate Statistics available in 2024, "89% of buyers purchased their home through a real estate agent or broker." Most of them didn't pay their buyer's agent's commission, but if you don't, they may need to if they want to buy your house, and if they don't want to, they may not even see your house, even if their buyer's agent is following their orders and doing things ethically.
How are buyer's agents' commissions structured if there's no buyer's agent?
Buyer agent commissions used to go through the listing firm and then to the buying firm. After some recent legal challenges of the NAR, that's happening much less these days, and instead, the commissions are often separate. That said, if there's no buyer's agent, a few things can happen:
The buyer acts as an unrepresented party. In this case, listing agents may still want more than their typical commission in order to go through the extra work of facilitating the transaction and helping the buyer through the process if they are unrepresented.
The buyer is provided another agent by the listing firm, called designated agency.
The buyer is not "unrepresented" but instead, the listing agent acts as a middle man to facilitate the transaction between buyer and seller while trying not to favor one side or the other. Two common terms for this are dual agency (in VA) or transaction agency (in a place like FL). Dual agency is illegal in some states, while legal in VA.
Some agents offer discounts.
Are you buying and selling at the same time? You might be able to get a discount or a rebate for that from an agent if you use the same agent for both properties. Some agents offer discounts for other circumstances as well, such as for volume or for non-profits selling a property.
The fees to your agent get sliced and diced.
The amount that you agree to pay your agent will go to their firm. From there:
a referral fee may be due (I've seen as high as 50%),
they'll need to pay their firm a % or a flat fee (often 20%-40%),
they'll need to pay for any marketing that they did for your property,
they may need to pay an admin if you don't pay for one for them instead,
Part of the money helps they stay afloat in business through various other expenses that aren't related to your specific transaction, i.e.
agent association fees,
showing service (i.e. Showingtime) fees if applicable,
other fees to their company if applicable (some firms charge monthly "desk fees"),
marketing expenses not related to your transaction or any specific transaction if applicable,
other fees to other companies if applicable (i.e. my pricey Matterport subscriptions),
of course taxes.
Watch out for admin fees.
Be sure to ask for any additional fees of agents. Some will charge a "transaction coordinator fee" or admin fee. Around $400 isn't uncommon, though I believe I've seen as high as $1k.
Fees typically paid at closing
While there are some exceptions (especially for high marketing expense marketing packages that include up-front retainer fees), fees are typically paid by the seller to the listing firm and buying firm at closing directly from the proceeds of sale as long as the sale proceeds exceed the amounts owed.
In the case of short sales, it's important to have the commissions approved by the lender in advance.
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