By admin1
Here is an illustration showing how Realtor fees would typically get divided in the traditional seller-funded commission model:
Sale price: $415,200
Realtor fee: 6%
Seller pays: $24,912
Listing agent receives: $6,228
Listing broker receives: $6,228
Buyer’s broker receives: $6,228
Buyer’s agent receives: $6,228
In this simplified example, the selling agent takes home 1.5% of the home’s sale price or 25% of the total Realtor’s fee. Using the national median sale price, a listing agent makes $6,228 on the average home sale.
If you are only covering your listing agent commission, the Realtor fees would be about half the starting amount in our example ($12,456). Your total will depend on the rate you negotiate and whether you offer to pay the buyer’s agent’s commissions.
Let’s take a quick look at how your Realtor fees might be split out on a variety of different-priced homes, including what you might expect under the new NAR settlement rules. We’ve broken it out in three ways:
- If you, as the seller, agree to pay both the listing and buyer agent fees
- If you only pay a typical 3% listing agent commission
- What the buyer might pay if they negotiate a 3% buyer’s agent fee
Here again, for simplicity, we’ll use a rounded-up 6% commission and show the decoupled buyer and seller fee rates.
Realtor fee examples by a home’s price
| Home price | Combined 6% fee | 3% listing agent fee | 3% buyer’s agent fee |
| $200,000 | $12,000 | $6,000 | $6,000 |
| $300,000 | $18,000 | $9,000 | $9,000 |
| $400,000 | $24,000 | $12,000 | $12,000 |
| $500,000 | $30,000 | $15,000 | $15,000 |
| $600,000 | $36,000 | $18,000 | $18,000 |
| $700,000 | $42,000 | $21,000 | $21,000 |
| $800,000 | $48,000 | $24,000 | $24,000 |
| $900,000 | $54,000 | $27,000 | $27,000 |
| $1,000,000 | $60,000 | $30,000 | $30,000 |
| $1,500,000 | $90,000 | $45,000 | $45,000 |
According to the most recent real estate statistics from the NAR, here is a breakdown of what agents make annually:
- Overall median gross income: $58,100
- Realtors with 16 years or more experience: More than $100,000
- Realtors with two years or less experience: Less than $10,000
What do Realtor fees cover?
An experienced agent brings a lot to the table. Top agents will provide:
- Guidance on pre-sale improvements
- Pricing strategy
- Marketing services
- Offer management and negotiations
- Market knowledge and neighborhood expertise
The Realtor fee makes your money work hard for you so that you potentially sell your home for your asking price or more. In 2025, Realtors helped people sell their homes for a median sales price that was 100% of the final asking price.
Where does a Realtor’s commission go?
A significant portion of the Realtor’s fee goes to selling your home. As top real estate agent Elizabeth Weintraub of Sacramento, California, explains, a significant portion of the money agents earn from commissions goes into marketing. Weintraub, who has 46 years of experience, estimates that she dedicates about 30% of her fee share to marketing.
Marketing includes professional photographs, videos, full-color online and newspaper ads, and an active online presence. You might think of the real estate fee as an investment that enables your agent to make your home more attractive and sell it for more money.
Why should you care?
Discount brokers may not be able to devote ample time or resources to the marketing or sales efforts your home deserves.
You may save money on the broker fees, but you might lose money when a low-commission agent uploads shoddy photos that look like fuzzy mess shots from a shaky cell phone camera. Doesn’t your home deserve to let its beauty shine?
Or you may get a discount agent who only works in real estate part-time and does not have sufficient experience in negotiations, credits, concessions, contingencies, inspections, or know how to market your home to the right buyers.
What could be at risk?
Money is at risk. Based on median sale prices, sellers who use an agent to sell a home typically make $55,000 more on the deal than someone who sells a For Sale By Owner (FBSO) home. This is one reason only about 5% of home sales are FSBO transactions.
