How Do Real Estate Agents Get Paid?

Wondering how do real estate agents get paid?

We’ve got to be honest here: some time ago that would be classified as a dumb question because it was kind of obvious. However, faster than a speeding bullet the answer to “how do real estate agents get paid” became very interesting and complex.

From a practical standpoint, the agent would get his commission after closing directly from the escrow agent, who would make a transfer from the escrow account to the seller agent’s business company account, who would, then, transfer to the buyer agent’s account. In some cases, the commission would go out from the escrow account already fractioned and directly to each party.

So, when it comes to commission and how do real estate agents get paid – it’s still basically that.

However, as of lately the real estate industry has been shifting to - or at least accommodating more- different ways of remunerating the agents. There’s a real estate debate going on regarding Salary vs. Commission where disruptive companies and technologies have been pushing for real estate agents to be remunerated through salaries just like most service and industries’ workers do. In this new “how do real estate agents get paid?” scenario, the agents are usually paid by the company, and they have a certain amount of clients under their belt. The money that clients pay the company for their real estate services goes 100% to the company.

And, if you’re wondering how do real estate agents get paid in practical terms in that situation, like “do real estate agents get paid hourly?” and how does that happen… click on the link for the answer to the first one and, regarding the second; it depends - and we wonder why you want to know that… but - we guess through normal payroll applications and personal checks.

PS: If the how alone does not concern you and you need to know how much; check our comprehensive how much does a real estate agent make article.