Sales Commission
Definition of "Sales commission"
Broadly speaking, a commission is a remuneration a person receives after acting on someone else’s behalf.
In the real estate world, you’ll usually hear the term “sales commission”, which is the remuneration a real estate broker and/or agent earns in regards for his/her service representing the home seller (or the home buyer) in a house buying/selling transaction.
Well… most of the times, at least.
Sorry if you’re looking for easy answers; the real estate market is complex - that’s why an agent expertise is something you should not turn your back to.
Sometimes agents do earn money regardless of a house being sold: Buyer’s agents, for instance, might earn a real estate sales commission even if the prospective home buyer doesn’t end up buying a house. Think about it: the buyer’s agent drove the client around showing houses on the weekend, shared his/her educated knowledge regarding the real estate market… that comes at a cost and it wouldn’t be right if the agent gets nothing out of it should the client decide it’s not the right time to buy a house.
And there are some times when the agent gets no real estate commission at all! Yup; even if the house is sold! If an agent entered an Open Listing or an Exclusive Agency Listing but did not manage to bring the final offer to the table, then the real estate commission will go to the agent who brought it or to the homeowner.
The standard real estate sales commission is 5% to 6% of the final sales price and the listing agent splits it evenly with the buyer’s agent.
Real Estate Tips:
Check our Glossary Terms for more real estate lingo!
And find an agent to help you with the complex task of buying or selling a house!
Popular Real Estate Terms
Property title having no encumbrances. In the usual sense this means a title not having a mortgage. Other encumbrances could include judgments or additional financial liens. ...
Listing of all of the plats of subdivided plots in a jurisdiction showing the location, boundaries, and plat owners. A plat book normally shows other improvements including roads, blocks, ...
The assessment in real estate definition means the evaluation of a property’s value by an assessor. They are generally required to evaluate the property annually as the assessment is ...
An order withdrawing a property lien after a claim is paid by other means. ...
To depreciate is to lose value for something. Depreciation is the act of losing worth.Connecting with real estate, Property depreciation can be both an accounting method typically used to ...
Demolition and removal of all existing structures on a building site and the subsequent construction of a totally new building structure. For example, in a downtown redevelopment project, ...
Individual having permission to act ob behalf of a bank or other financial institution in a specified locality to attract interest borrowers. ...
As the term “servient” comes from the root word “serve” and to serve means to perform a duty or a service for another entity, its meaning is easy to define. The term ...
Partial fulfillment. Pro tanto is normally used in relation to the partial satisfaction of a claim. For example, a pro tanto settlement in an eminent domain action will not prejudice any ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.