Why Portland Buyer’s Agent Commission Matters

When you’re listing your home for sale on the Portland real estate market, the last thing you’re probably worried about is the Buyer’s Agent Commission rate, or BAC.

Most people know sellers typically pay the listing agent’s commission and the buyer’s agent’s commission.

Home sellers should ask what listing agent is offering the buyer’s agent, the BAC, in RMLS. The home owner may wrongly assume the listing agent always splits the commission 50/50 with the buyer’s agent. While the listing agent might be splitting the commission 50/50 with the buyer’s agent, it may not be the case. It is not the case with our commission rate.

The RMLS, our local listing source for nearly every home sale in the Portland metro area, has some very revealing data that demonstrates the importance of the buyer’s agent commission rate. The RMLS is the region’s real estate listing service, basically the main (and often only) site buyer’s agents use to find homes and research homes for their buyer clients. The buyer’s agent commission is advertised there, in the RMLS.

In the last three months (July through September 2016), the RMLS data shows the vast majority of listing agents offered a BAC of 2.5%.

6,335 residential homes sold in the Portland metro area in those three months. 5,243 of those offered the buyer’s agent 2.5% commission.

That is 83% of all residential sales. In about 10% of those sales, 620 times, the listing agent offered a higher rate than 2.5% to the buyer’s agent.

I want the public to know that all real estate commissions are negotiable and there is no set standard. This is true for listing agent commission and what commission percentage the listing agent offers to give the buyer’s agent. Ask your agent to find out what they are offering the buyer’s agent.

My total commission charge never exceeds 4.25%. Now you know better than to let me get away with leaving it at that — so how much do I actually offer to buyer’s agents? We offer the buyer’s agent 2.5% and take 2% for our services. See a full commission explanation here and our top notch marketing program here.