{"id":24411,"date":"2025-01-07T02:00:38","date_gmt":"2025-01-07T10:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/?p=24411"},"modified":"2025-01-08T03:41:10","modified_gmt":"2025-01-08T11:41:10","slug":"buyer-buyers-agents-real-estate-commissions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-buyers-agents-real-estate-commissions\/","title":{"rendered":"Buyers Agent Commissions Explained for First-Time Shoppers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Buying a new house is a huge financial commitment. There is the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/how-much-house-can-i-afford\/\">cost of the home<\/a> itself \u2014 but then there are also the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/closing-costs-calculator\">closing costs<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-why-are-hoa-fees-so-high\/\">HOA fees<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-tax-value-of-property\/\">property taxes<\/a>, homeowners insurance, and paying for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/what-to-do-when-you-cant-afford-home-repairs\/\">necessary repairs<\/a>. So where do the buyer\u2019s agent fees fit into this? And how much are they, again?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"geo-cta widget-cta widget-cta--content     widget-cta--dark widget-cta--dark-blue-gradient\">\n    <div class=\"widget-element--content\">\n        <div class=\"widget-element--content-header\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"homelight logo\" class=\"widget-element--logo\" src=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/themes\/ccprototypev5\/images\/logo-small-cta.png\" width=\"106\" height=\"25\" \/>\n        <\/div>\n        \n                <h3 class=\"cta-headline widget--bold\">Find An Agent To Help You Buy Your First Home<\/h3>\n                        <p>Purchasing your first home? Find a buyer&#8217;s agent who will walk you through the process of buying your dream home.<\/p>\n        \n                <div class=\"widget-element--buttons\">\n            <a data-type=\"In Content CTA\" href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/find-agent\/quiz\/buyer?#\/qaas=0\/\" class=\"cta-click-track widget-element--button\">Find a Buyer's Agent<\/a>\n        <\/div>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The buyer\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/what-is-a-real-estate-commission\/\">agent commissions<\/a> can feel expensive and complicated, especially when it\u2019s your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-how-to-buy-your-first-home\/\">first time buying a home<\/a>. The fact that they\u2019re usually percentage-based can feel strange, but commissions are a lot more common than most people realize.<\/p>\n<p>We spoke with top agents and real estate investors, did a lot of research, and have answered the most common questions buyers have about buyer\u2019s agent commissions below.<\/p>\n<p>By the time you finish this article, you\u2019ll have a solid grasp of what you\u2019re getting for that commission fee and where it comes from and will be ready to negotiate (or not!) with your agent.<\/p>\n<div id=\"section--1\" data-toc-header=\"What is commission?\" data-toc-type=\"head\"><\/div>\n<h2>What is a commission?<\/h2>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/real-estate-agent-commission\/\">real estate commission<\/a> is the fee paid to agents to cover the cost of their services.<\/p>\n<p>Many agents have additional operating costs that are not obvious to you, the buyer. These can include association fees if they\u2019re part of the National Association of Realtors (NAR), special certification classes and exams, licensing fees, and much more.<\/p>\n<p>Many agents are paid purely on commission, which means the commission is their entire income. That income is completely dependent on doing a good job for you and finding you a house that you want to buy.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/agents\/zach-walkerlieb-nv-s0171335\">Zach Walkerleib<\/a>, a luxury specialist with 14 years of experience in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/las-vegas-nv\/top-real-estate-agents?Page=1\">Las Vegas, Nevada<\/a>, explains: \u201cWhat real estate agents on the buyer\u2019s side need to do is really show their value in ways that are above and beyond navigating the real estate transaction.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey need to go into vendor lists and have concierge programs where we can help you with movers [and] handyman. We can help you with all these different things in addition to just the transaction. We\u2019re going to be there for you, as your advisor after the transaction and on, and on, and on.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Buyers\u2019 agents\u2019 real estate commissions can feel expensive, but make sure you understand what you are getting for your money. Is there any way to save?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":181,"featured_media":52350,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[192,640,638],"tags":[764],"class_list":["post-24411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-for-buyers","category-work-with-agents","category-house-hunting","tag-how-real-estate-agent-commissions-work"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.0 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The First-Timer\u2019s Guide to Buyers Agents Real Estate Commissions<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Buyers\u2019 agents\u2019 real estate commissions can feel expensive, but make sure you understand what you are getting for your money. Is there any way to save?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-buyers-agents-real-estate-commissions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Buyers Agent Commissions Explained for First-Time Shoppers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Buyers\u2019 agents\u2019 real estate commissions can feel expensive, but make sure you understand what you are getting for your money. Is there any way to save?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-buyers-agents-real-estate-commissions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"HomeLight Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gohomelight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-01-07T10:00:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-01-08T11:41:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/hl-blog.homelight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/buyers-agent-real-estate-commissions.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"563\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Amna Shamim\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@gohomelight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@gohomelight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Amna Shamim\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"12 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The First-Timer\u2019s Guide to Buyers Agents Real Estate Commissions","description":"Buyers\u2019 agents\u2019 real estate commissions can feel expensive, but make sure you understand what you are getting for your money. 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