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
Examining and testing the ground to determine the conditions for building something, such as an office building. ...
A mortgage where the payments are overdue and open to a foreclosure action at any time. A mortgage not having a prepayment clause permitting the mortgagor to repay the mortgage at any ...
(1) Short-term loan that is made in anticipation of permanent longer term loans. The interest rate on such a loan is usually higher than on longer term loans. (2) A business loan in which ...
Zoning a portion of land in a given area for different purposes than its surrounding functions. For example, a locality may decide to spot zone a vacant lot in a residential area for ...
Apartment building in which each resident owns a percentage share of the corporation that owns the building. ...
One of series of parallel beams directly supporting a floor or a roof. Joists can be made out of wood, steel or steel reinforced concrete. Joists are in turn supported by other beams or ...
A provision that allows a mortgage recorded at a later date to take preference over an existing mortgage. ...
Federal agency providing home financing to qualified people in low-income, rural areas. ...
Statutes stipulating that the property of deceased individuals is distributed in a way that assumes that property during marriage is jointly owned and equally shared by the spouses ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.