Who Pays The Real Estate Commission in North Carolina?

January 6th, 2009 Categories: Home Buyer Tips

A big part of what I do involves education since it is important to me that my clients know exactly how things work. Part of this education process is to explain how Real Estate agents get paid.

When it comes to Real Estate Commissions, each state has it’s own policies on how an agent is to be payed.

In North Carolina each agency can choose to set a policy as to what percentage they will accept.

Agents get payed at the closing of a home or property from the seller through the MLS system . This amount is predetermined at the time a listing is taken by the listing agent and their client.

Now, if an agent is a Buyer’s Agent they have a clause in the buyer agency agreement that can allow them to be paid more than the listing agent is offering. For example, if a commission that is listed on the multiple listing sheet states that the co-broke will be paid 2.5% but the Buyer’s Agreement states that the Buyer’s Agent is to be paid 3% of the sales price then the Buyer’s Agent can collect the difference from his or her client.

Here is the official definition of a buyer’s agent as stated by the NC Real Estate Commission:

“When buying real estate, you may have several choices as to how you want a real estate firm and its agents to work with you. For example, you may want them to represent only you (as a buyer’s agent)….for the complete definition click here.

In the Event a buyer’s agent has a client that would like to purchase a home that is a for sale by owner, then the agent can negotiate with the seller to pay their commission. If the seller does not, then the agent may be able to collect their commission from the buyer based on the buyer agency agreement.

I have worked out many for sale by owner offers without any issues over how I would be paid, it just takes proper negotiations.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 6th, 2009 at 8:03 pm and is filed under Home Buyer Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.