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
The amount of rent a property could command in the open market. See also market rent. ...
A method of brick construction where the bricks are laid with their sides facing outward. ...
Has not been registered on the companies books. It belongs to the person holding it. See also bearer bond; bearer instrument. ...
Regularly, subsequent means something which occurs at a later date. In other words, a subsequent event follows a prior occurrence. For example, new circumstances arise after a contract is ...
Provision guaranteeing the return of title to a mortgagor upon satisfaction of a mortgages conditions and terms. Causes the discharge of a mortgagees estate interest in a property. ...
Are you speculating what a spec house means? (sorry for the lousy pun) The textbook spec (or speculative) house definition is “one built on an experimental basis, without an order ...
percentage relationship of a specific part of property to the whole property. An example is the square footage of one office to the square footage of all offices in an office building. ...
Insects that destroy the support wood in the structure of a building. Termite inspection should be periodically performed to detect their existence. If an infestation is confirmed, the ...
Payment made instead of taxes, For example, a tax-exempt institution, such as a state government complex of buildings, may make an offsetting in lieu of tax contributory payment to the ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.