Here is how agents actually get paid, and why it changed.
Since 2024, offers of compensation are no longer published on the MLS, and buyers sign a written agreement about what their agent is paid before they tour a single home.
What that means for you is simple. The rate is negotiated, never fixed. You can ask the seller to cover it, and that request gets written into your offer. There is no standard percentage, and there never really was.
Cheapest is not the same as best. The agent who discounts fastest is often the one with the least to lose. What you are actually buying is judgement for the twelve things that go wrong after the offer is accepted.
Ask what they do first. Ask what it costs second. In that order.
The short version
- Commission is not posted on the MLS any more.
- And it was always negotiable.
- The rate is negotiated, never fixed.
- You can ask the seller to cover it.
- It gets written into your offer.
- Nothing here is a standard percentage.
- Ask what they do, then ask what it costs. In that order.
Talk it through with Kini
Kini will run it with you on your real budget, anywhere in Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside or San Bernardino County. No charge and no pitch.
Book a consultation or call or text (323) 320-1725. See this month's numbers for your county.