Buyers usually don't pay their realtor out of pocket. In most 2026 home sales, the seller still pays the buyer's agent fee, typically as a concession written into the buyer's offer. You'd pay your agent directly only if the seller covers less than the amount in your buyer agreement, or refuses to pay anything.
| Cost | Who usually pays |
|---|---|
| Listing agent commission | Seller |
| Buyer's agent commission | Seller, through a concession in the buyer's offer |
| Any gap between the seller's offer and your agreement | Buyer |
| Buyer closing costs (lender, title, appraisal) | Buyer, unless negotiated |
The 2024 NAR settlement changed how buyer's agent pay gets disclosed. Agents we interviewed in two very different markets say the money still moves the way it did before.
"Literally nothing has changed from our status quo operating procedure," says Jake Kubota, a REALTOR® with Real Broker LLC in the Chicago suburbs. "The verbiage has changed, but the numbers really haven't moved much at all."
Do you need a good buyer's agent? Clever Real Estate can connect you with top agents in your area. Just answer five short questions, and you'll get vetted agent recommendations sent to your inbox.
📝 Do buyers pay realtor fees? Key takeaways
- Sellers still pay the buyer’s agent fee in most deals. Buyers ask for it as a concession in their offer. A Chicago-area listing agent we interviewed says sellers paid it in 19 of his last 20 deals.
- The average buyer’s agent fee is 2.70%. That’s $10,800 on a $400,000 home, per Clever’s August 2026 survey of 434 agents. However, average realtor commission rates vary by state.
- You owe only what the seller won’t cover. If your agreement says 2.5% and the seller offers 2%, you pay the difference, which is $2,000 on a $400,000 home.
- You’ll sign a buyer agreement before touring homes. It has to state a specific fee, and your agent can’t collect more than that amount from anyone.
- A seller concession is the cheapest way to cover the fee. Raising your price instead puts the fee in your mortgage. At a 6.5% rate, $10,000 added to a 30-year loan costs about $22,750 in principal and interest.
Who pays realtor fees: the buyer or the seller?
In most transactions, the seller pays both agents out of the sale proceeds at closing. Your agent's share used to be advertised on the MLS. Now you request it in your offer, and the seller agrees to it as part of the deal.
Kubota primarily works as a listing agent, so he sees the seller's perspective on this decision. "Of the last 20 deals, I'd say 19 just paid it, and I had one that refused to," he says. "So the buyers just ended up increasing their offer to cover it."
Elliott Grozan, a REALTOR® with Denovo Realty and a Clever Partner Agent on Florida's Space Coast, sees the same thing. He chalks most of it up to buyers being short on cash, and the rest to tradition.
"I think it has to do with money out of pocket," Grozan says. "Yes, you're paying two sides of the compensation. But when you buy your next property, you're going to expect the same thing that you're doing right now."
A buyer who just scraped together a down payment usually can't come up with another $10,000 for an agent. The seller can, because the buyer's money lands in the seller's hands at closing. "The seller, who now has all of this money, is able to disburse funds in a way that helps everybody win," Kubota says.
» LEARN: Do sellers have to pay the buyer's agent commission?
How much do buyers pay their agent in 2026?
- National average
View chart data
| Year | Total | Listing | Buyer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 5.49% | 2.83% | 2.66% |
| 2024 | 5.32% | 2.74% | 2.58% |
| 2025 | 5.57% | 2.82% | 2.75% |
| 2026 | 5.46% | 2.76% | 2.70% |
We gather our commission rate data from a semi-annual survey of our partner agents and other real estate agents. The survey asks about standard local rates for both listing and buying agents.
The average buyer's agent commission is 2.70%, per Clever's August 2026 survey of 434 agents. On a $400,000 home, that's $10,800.
Buyer's agent commission averaged 2.70% in 2021, dipped to 2.58% in 2024 after the settlement, and climbed back to 2.70% in 2026.[1] Grozan credits the rebound to buyer's agents putting their pay in writing up front. "I have a buyer-broker agreement signed at 3%. I write my offer at 3%, and I don't get a lot of pushback," he says. "Buyer's agents are asking for their worth now."
At common rates, the fee on a $400,000 home runs from $8,000 to $12,000.
Rates also vary by state. In the same survey, buyer's agents averaged 2.87% in Texas, 2.64% in Florida, 2.51% in California, and 2.21% in New York.[1]
Cheaper homes tend to carry higher rates because the agent does the same work for a smaller paycheck. "If it's a lower-end property that has a specific buyer, maybe cash only, that's when I see commission percentages increase," Grozan says. "The person has to work that much harder and the reward's smaller." He's seen the opposite on luxury listings, where the rate drops as the price climbs.
If an agent tells you their rate is "standard," ask them to write the number into the agreement before you tour anything.
» COMPARE: Average real estate commission rates by state
When do buyers have to pay realtor fees?
You'd pay your agent yourself if the seller covers less than your agreement specifies, or if the seller refuses to pay anything. It can also happen on a for-sale-by-owner (FSBO) purchase when the owner hasn't agreed to pay your agent. None of these is common.
Sellers who refuse often end up paying some other way. Grozan tells every seller he works with to offer something. One seller insisted on offering nothing, and a buyer's agent took that back to her clients, who agreed to pay her fee out of pocket. "So it worked out," Grozan says. "But usually that's not the case. I've seen so many listings expire if they're not offering anything."
Kubota's one holdout was settled on price. Using round numbers, he explained that the buyers had offered $100,000, the seller accepted but wouldn't pay the buyer's agent, and the buyers came back at $103,000. "So that $3,000 pays the agent's commission," Kubota says. "The net was the same."
For those buyers, the extra $3,000 went into the loan. The home also had to be appraised at $103,000. If an appraisal comes in short in a deal like that, the buyer usually covers the difference in cash.
What if the seller offers less than your agent charges?
Say your agreement pays your agent 2.5%, but the seller will only cover 2%. On a $400,000 home, you're $2,000 short.
Most buyers start by asking the seller to cover the gap in the offer. How far that gets you depends on the competition.
"If your home is only getting one offer, it's really hard to negotiate a buyer agent fee," Kubota says, speaking as a listing agent. A seller juggling five or six offers has much less reason to say yes.
You can also ask your agent to accept the seller's offer. Plenty will, especially on pricier homes, where 2% of a $600,000 sale ($12,000) still pays more than 3% of a $300,000 sale ($9,000). If neither works, plan to bring the $2,000 to closing, and tell your lender early so it's in your cash-to-close figures from the start.
Paying your agent more than the agreement says isn't allowed. NAR's rules state that agents "may not receive compensation for services from any source that exceeds the amount or rate agreed to in the buyer agreement."[2]
» READ: Seller concessions: what to ask for and how much
What changed with the 2024 NAR settlement, and what didn't
The NAR settlement changes took effect Aug. 17, 2024, and a federal appeals court upheld the deal in August 2026. Most of the changes affect paperwork and disclosure.
What changed
Listings on REALTOR® MLSs can no longer show offers of compensation to buyer's agents.[2] Before an agent tours a home with you, in person or by live video, you have to sign a written buyer agreement. Visiting an open house on your own doesn't require one.[3]
The agreement must specify a specific amount. NAR's consumer guide gives examples like "$0, X flat fee, X percent, X hourly rate" and says the figure can't be open-ended or a range.[3] Your agent also can't collect more than that amount from any source, whether the money comes from you, the seller or both.[2]
What didn't change
Mostly everything else. Sellers can still pay your agent (and usually do). They can make offers off the MLS (by email, on a website, or agent-to-agent) or offer a concession that covers the fee.[2]
Commissions are still negotiable. NAR's consumer guide says compensation "is negotiable and not set by law."[3]
A federal judge approved the NAR settlement in November 2024, and on Aug. 19, 2026, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected objectors' challenges. NAR is paying $418 million over four years, and the practice changes remain in place.[4]
Day-to-day, agents mostly notice one extra step. "A lot of agents would like to know before going through a lengthy negotiation, or sometimes even before showing a home: Is compensation even being considered on this property?" Kubota says. Grozan doesn't bother asking. He writes his 3% into the offer and negotiates it along with the price and terms.
Need a good agent? Answer five short questions, and you'll get vetted agent recommendations sent to your inbox. When you work with one of our agents, you can get cash back at closing to put toward moving costs or other expenses.
Your buyer agency agreement: what you're signing
Your buyer agency agreement, often called a BRBC (Buyer Representation and Broker Compensation agreement), is a contract between you and your agent. It sets your agent's pay (a percentage, flat fee or hourly rate), lists the services they'll provide, and says how long they represent you exclusively.
Look for one clause in particular. Most agreements include language like: "Buyer will be responsible for the agent's compensation, but Agent will first seek payment from the Listing Agent or Seller." That means your agent goes after the seller's money first, and you owe only what the seller doesn't cover.
What to check before you sign
- Compare the rate to your state's average. Nationally, it's 2.70%.[1] Is yours higher? Ask what you're paying extra for.
- The "seek from listing agent or seller first" clause. Make sure it's there. This is what protects you from paying out of pocket in the typical scenario.
- The exclusivity duration. 90 days is standard. Be cautious about anything materially longer without a clear justification — six- or 12-month exclusivity in a typical retail purchase is a red flag.
- The services the agent will provide. Full representation? Contract review only? Make sure the scope matches the rate.
- What triggers your payment obligation. In most agreements, it's closing on a home purchase — not signing the agreement itself.
- Read the exit terms. NAR's guide notes that you and your agent can agree to change the contract, and many agreements spell out how to end it.[3]
Red flags to look for in a buyer agency agreement
- An agreement that's pre-filled or backdated and handed to you as "routine paperwork."
- A rate well above your local average with no explanation.
- An agent who rushes you through it.
- Language that makes you owe the full fee even if the seller covers part of it.
If anything feels rushed, ask for 24 hours to read it. A good agent will agree. "Commission structures are more negotiable and creative than ever, and sellers and buyers can easily get confused, especially in a multiple offer situation," says Chelsea Aleksich, a realtor with Keller Williams Real Estate in Stroudsburg, PA. She recommends talking through the pay terms first, then putting everything in writing "so that there is no confusion about who is paying what commission."
» READ: 7 FAQs about buyer agency agreements
What do buyer real estate agent fees cover?
The fee for the buyer's agent covers services such as:
- Walking the buyer through the process of purchasing a home and securing financing
- Helping the buyer locate a home using the multiple listing service (MLS) — which is a key method for finding homes, since 88% of sellers market their homes via the MLS[5]
- Scheduling showing times with listing agents and sellers, and showing the buyer homes
- Analyzing comparable properties to determine the fair market value of a home, which guides the buyer's offer price
- Negotiating with the listing agent and seller
- Writing the contract and processing all of the paperwork
How the fee gets paid changes what it costs you
A seller concession is the most affordable option for most buyers. The seller pays your agent from the sale proceeds, so you bring no extra cash and pay no interest on the fee.
Raising your offer to cover the fee, as Kubota's buyers did, puts it in your mortgage. At a 6.5% rate on a 30-year loan, $10,000 of extra loan balance costs about $22,750 in principal and interest if you keep the loan to term.
Paying at closing costs you the face amount and no interest, but you need the cash on hand.
Kubota tells clients to focus on the bottom-line number. "The most important number for sellers is their true net on closing day, and for buyers, the money they have to bring to the closing table," he says. "Commissions play a factor in that, but it's not always the most important number."
» LEARN: How do realtors get paid? What buyers and sellers need to know
How to avoid or reduce realtor fees when buying
Your agent still gets paid, but you can shift the fee to the seller or lower it. These four approaches work best.
1. Negotiate your agent's rate before you sign
Once you sign, the rate is locked in, so negotiate first. On a $600,000 home, a 2% agreement costs $12,000 and a 3% agreement costs $18,000, a $6,000 difference.
Bring a competing quote. Grozan coaches sellers to say something like, "We're interviewing a couple other agents. This person said XYZ, pretty much right in line with you, but they're gonna do it for 2%." Buyers can use the same script with a buyer's agent. Agents rarely cut their rate for someone who has no alternative on the table.
2. Ask the seller to cover the full fee in your offer
Put a dollar figure in the request. "$10,800 in seller-paid buyer's agent compensation" leaves less room for confusion in a contract than "2.70%."
If you're using a conventional loan, the seller can usually pay your agent's fees without eating into your closing cost concession limit. Fannie Mae said in April 2024 that seller-paid buyer's agent commissions that follow local custom "aren't required to be counted towards the IPC limits."[6]
Those limits run from 3% to 9% of the price, depending on your down payment.[7]
3. Use a buyer rebate program
In most states, your agent can give back part of their commission as a credit at closing. Clever offers rebates through its partner agents in eligible states. A discount lowers the rate up front, for example 1.5% instead of 2.5%. A rebate keeps the agreed rate and returns part of it to you when you close.
» SAVE: How home buyer rebates work — and where to get cash back when you buy
4. Use a flat-fee buyer's agent
Flat-fee agents work best for buyers who already know the local market and want à la carte help — contract review, negotiation support, paperwork — without full-service representation. The trade-off is real: lower cost, less hand-holding.
» LEARN: How to negotiate realtor fees
Special situations
Buying a for-sale-by-owner (FSBO) home
FSBO sellers usually haven't committed to covering a buyer's-agent fee up front, which makes the question of who pays your agent more direct. You have three workable options: ask the seller to cover the fee as part of your offer, pay your agent directly at closing, or negotiate a lower purchase price in exchange for paying your own agent yourself.
That's also why it's harder to get an agent to show a FSBO listing in the first place. "Realtors actually are bringing listings to their buyer's attention. Very few will not bring a FSBO to their buyer's attention because (1) they are afraid the seller will not pay them, and (2) even if the seller pays them, it will be less and the agent is the one doing all of the work," says Jenna Ritter, a real estate agent with Virtual Properties Realty who serves Hall, Lumpkin, and Dawson counties in Georgia.
Buying with cash
Cash buyers don't get a meaningful break on agent fees. You still need a buyer agency agreement if you're using an agent, and the same fee dynamics apply. The difference is closing speed (often 10–14 days) and the lack of a loan contingency — and a cash buyer asking the seller to cover the buyer's-agent fee often has more leverage, because the offer is cleaner on every other term.
Going without a buyer's agent
About 12% of buyers don't use an agent at all.[8] It's legally allowed, but it's harder than it sounds. Many listing agents won't engage directly with unrepresented buyers, you lose access to professional MLS tools and comps, and you're negotiating against someone who has 10+ years more experience than you do.
If you're going this route, hire a real estate attorney to review the contract. It's essential, not optional.
» READ: How to buy a house without a realtor
Are realtor fees part of buyer closing costs?
Not usually. When the seller covers your agent's fee, it appears as a seller charge on the closing statement. If you pay any part of it, that amount is added to your cash to close, on top of lender fees, title insurance and prepaid items.
To trim your other closing costs, ask the seller to contribute. That's common, though less so in competitive markets. Some lenders also offer credits toward closing costs in exchange for a slightly higher rate, and a buyer rebate comes back to you as a credit at closing in states that allow it.
» LEARN: Do closing costs include realtor fees?
Clever’s free service connects you with a top local agent so you can:
✅ Find a home that fits your budget
✅ Get expert help negotiating your deal
✅ Earn $250–500 cash back at closing (in eligible states)
Frequently asked questions
Generally, no. Most mortgage loan programs won't let you finance the agent commission directly as part of the loan. You can usually achieve the same result by asking the seller to cover the buyer's-agent fee as a concession at closing — that reduces your cash-to-close without requiring out-of-pocket payment. In most markets, sellers still agree to this request, because refusing narrows their buyer pool.
Most buyer agency agreements have a defined exclusivity period — 90 days is typical — and your compensation obligation generally doesn't trigger unless you close on a home purchase during that window. If you don't buy, you typically owe nothing. Read the agreement carefully before signing: look for the language that defines what triggers payment, and avoid any contract that locks you into paying the agent whether or not you purchase.
You might. FSBO sellers usually haven't committed to paying a buyer's agent up front. You have three options: ask the seller to cover the fee as part of your offer (many will), negotiate a lower purchase price in exchange for paying your own agent, or skip the agent entirely and go directly to the seller. If you go that last route, hire a real estate attorney to review the contract.
It depends on your state. Dual agency is illegal in eight states (Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Vermont, and Wyoming). Where it's legal, a dual agent represents both buyer and seller, and the commission structure usually stays the same — so you don't save much. The bigger issue is conflict of interest: one agent can't fully advocate for both sides in a negotiation where their interests are opposite.
Methodology
Commission rates are based on a survey of 434 Clever Partner Agents across the U.S. conducted in August 2026. Agents reported typical buyer's and listing agent rates in their markets.
We also interviewed these agents for this article:
- Jake Kubota, a REALTOR® with Real Broker LLC in the Chicago suburbs who mostly represents sellers.
- Elliott Grozan, a REALTOR® with Denovo Realty and Clever Partner Agent in Brevard County, FL. He has been licensed for about 11 years.
- Chelsea Aleksich, a REALTOR® with Keller Williams Real Estate in Stroudsburg, PA, with more than 20 years of experience as an investor and licensed loan officer.
- Jenna Ritter, a real estate agent with Virtual Properties Realty serving Hall, Lumpkin, and Dawson counties in Georgia.
