Definition of "Sales commission"

Gigi Dales real estate agent

Written by

Gigi Daleselite badge icon

Howard Hanna Real Estate Services - Mt Orab

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!

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Real Estate Terms

Estimated market price property could bring using currently accepted appraisal methods. This might not be the same as the market price at any one given time when the seller is compelled to ...

Upgrading made by a lessee to leased property. Examples are paneling and wallpapering. These improvements revert to the lessor at the expiration of the lease term. As improvement costs are ...

Insulation covered on each side by a material, such as metal. ...

What does contribute mean in everyday scenarios? The official “contribute definition” goes as follows: providing a thing of great value, regularly money, to help accomplish a ...

Those factors causing the movement of people, industry, and business from the central city to the outside central city areas, suburbs, and/or small cities. Elements of the dispersing force ...

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. ...

Linear measurement of property abutting a road or water body acting as a boundary market. ...

Once of a set of timbers used in the construction of a building or for esthetic purpose, the land around a property for beautification. ...

member of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers, Inc. ...

Popular Real Estate Questions