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
Person protecting himself from risk or negative consequences, such as by taking out homeowner's insurance. Material used to block or restrain something from entering a house, ...
Real estate property incentive offered for reasons other than individual merit. A discriminatory inducement is an effort to get an individual to buy or sell, rent, or lease real estate ...
Sewer system built into the streets of a neighborhood that is capable of accommodating the excess water flow of a heavy storm without backing up or flooding. ...
Statue designed to protect lenders if a seller secretly sells substantially all of the business property. The objective of the law is to safeguard against defrauding creditors. ...
Refinancing seems easy to understand but is it really? Here’s a lengthy refinancing definition so you can make up your mind once and for all regarding the exquisiteness of the ...
One of a series of inclined structural supports supporting a roof. ...
property suitable for residential living, such as a house, duplex, apartment, mobile home, or condominium. ...
Average of what savings institutions in the 11th district of the Federal Home Loan Bank System ( California, Arizona, and Nevada) are paying in interest to depositors and other sources of ...
The third-party definition refers to an individual or entity in a transaction but is not the buyer or the seller. Usually, a third party has some role in the transaction. They do not have ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.