How are real estate agents paid?
Real estate agents work on commission, not salary. They will only get paid after your home search is over, after all contracts and transactions have been completed. The typical arrangement usually has the seller pay real estate commission while the same agent’s services are free to the buyer. For more expensive homes, say over $500,000, sellers can sometimes negotiate a lower commission rate. Because most real estate transactions involve two brokers — one that produces the buyer and one that helps the seller — the commission is divided, usually 50-50, between the two brokerage offices. Then, within each office, the salesperson who handled the transaction gets a share.
