Since 17 August 2024 a buyer must sign a written agreement before touring a home, and that agreement has to state the agent's compensation as an actual number rather than an open-ended term. Total commission now averages about 5.7 percent of the sale price, down from the traditional 6. Two years after the change, 45 percent of sellers surveyed still did not know the old rule had gone.
| Service | Typical |
|---|---|
| Total real estate commission, both sidesNational average | $6 percent of sale price |
| Buyer's agent commissionNational average, transaction data | $2 percent of sale price |
| Property management feeNational range, long-term residential | $8 to $12 percent of monthly rent |
| Cash offer from an investorNational range | $70 to $75 percent of after-repair value, before repairs are deducted |
Ranges last checked September 2026. They come down automatically when they are due to be rechecked.
Every figure above comes from a named source we can link to, with the date we last checked it. We publish ranges rather than single prices because a range is what a provider will actually give you: the same job moves with what is being worked on, the materials, how hard it is to get at and how busy the trade is locally. Treat these as the order of magnitude to expect before you call, not as a quote.
The figures here are national. Where a source publishes figures state by state, the state pages carry that local figure instead of this one. We do not scale a national number by a multiplier of our own invention.
Every range carries a review date. When that date passes the number comes down until it is rechecked, rather than sitting here undated.
Under the National Association of Realtors settlement, an agent using a multiple listing service must obtain a written agreement with a buyer before touring a home, in person or on a live virtual tour. The agreement has to do four things: state and conspicuously disclose the compensation the agent will receive from any source; state that the agent may not receive more than that from any source; disclose in conspicuous language that broker commissions are not set by law and are fully negotiable; and include anything else the law requires.
The part people miss is that the compensation term must be objective. NAR's own wording is a dollar figure, a flat fee, a percentage or an hourly rate, and not open-ended. A buyer signing an agreement that says the agent will be paid whatever the seller offers is signing something the rule does not permit. An open house conversation does not require an agreement.
Offers of buyer-broker compensation can no longer appear on an MLS. What survives is stated plainly by NAR: sellers can still offer compensation off an MLS, and can still offer buyer concessions on an MLS, for closing costs among other things. So the fee did not disappear; it moved from a field on a listing into a conversation someone has to start.
That change is not widely understood. In a July 2026 survey of 500 sellers, 35 percent still voluntarily offered to cover the buyer's agent fee, and 45 percent did not realize the requirement to offer it had been eliminated. Two years on, nearly half the market was operating on the old rules.
The table above carries a total commission figure and a separate buyer's-side figure, and they are not two views of one number. The total comes from an agent survey; the buyer's side comes from recorded transactions. They also point in slightly different directions. The survey frames rates as having come down from six percent. The transaction data shows the buyer's side essentially flat across the settlement, 2.43 percent before and 2.40 percent after.
Both are published here rather than reconciled, because reconciling them would mean inventing a figure neither source supports. What both agree on is that the price tier moves the rate: over a million dollars the buyer's side averaged 2.17 percent, under five hundred thousand it averaged 2.49.
A ten percent management fee can mean two quite different things. Charged on rent collected, the manager is paid when the tenant pays, and absorbs the cost of chasing a delinquency. Charged on rent due, the manager is paid on the lease amount whether the tenant paid or not. Most managers use rent collected, but the word is not always in the headline quote and it decides who carries the loss during a bad tenancy.
The second thing a percentage hides is the fee schedule around it. Tenant placement is commonly half to a full month's rent. Lease renewal, setup, inspections, eviction handling and a markup on every repair invoice all sit outside the monthly percentage. An owner comparing eight percent against ten percent without comparing those is comparing the smaller half of the cost.
Investor offers are quoted as a share of after-repair value, and the repair estimate is then deducted from that share. So the headline percentage understates the discount, because it is a percentage of what the house will be worth after work you are not paying for and cannot verify. One investor described the arithmetic as about 70 percent of value, minus repairs, minus buying costs, minus holding costs, minus estimated utilities.
What you are buying with that discount is real: no commission, no repairs, no showings, and a close in one to three weeks. Whether it is worth it depends entirely on what the alternative would have netted, and that is a question worth asking an agent before signing with an investor rather than after.
Read the compensation line in the buyer agreement before you sign it, and check it is a specific figure. That is what the rule requires and it is the only part of the document that binds you to a cost.
Ask a listing agent directly whether they will offer buyer-agent compensation, and treat it as a decision rather than a default. It is no longer on the MLS and it is no longer automatic, and nearly half of sellers do not know that.
Ask what the commission covers, item by item. Marketing, photography, staging and pre-listing repairs are sometimes inside the percentage and sometimes billed on top, and the difference is thousands of dollars.
On property management, ask whether the fee is on rent collected or rent due, then ask for the full fee schedule in writing. The percentage is the part you will compare and the schedule is the part you will pay.
Verify the license. Every state licenses brokers and agents, but licenses are generally not transferable between states, so an agent working across a state line needs a credential in both.
About 5.7 percent of the sale price in total across both sides, on Clever's February 2026 survey of 533 agents. Only 14 percent of surveyed sellers paid a full 6 percent, though 38 percent still believed 6 percent was standard.
Yes, if the agent uses a multiple listing service. Since 17 August 2024 a written buyer agreement is required before any tour, in person or live virtual. An open house conversation is not covered.
No. NAR requires the compensation term to be objective, meaning a dollar figure, a flat fee, a percentage or an hourly rate, and not open-ended.
Only if the seller agrees to. It can no longer be advertised on an MLS, though sellers can still offer it off-MLS and can offer buyer concessions on an MLS. In a July 2026 survey, 45 percent of sellers did not know the requirement had been eliminated.
Usually 8 to 12 percent of monthly rent for long-term residential, with placement, renewal, setup, inspection, maintenance markup and eviction fees charged separately. Ask whether the percentage is on rent collected or rent due.
Around 70 to 75 percent of after-repair value, with the repair estimate then deducted from that. The observed range runs 50 to 85 percent. Note that this figure comes from a survey of only 21 investors.
Yes. Every state licenses brokers and sales agents. Licenses are generally not transferable between states, though some states have reciprocity agreements.