How Are Real Estate Agents Paid Now? Buyer agent commission after the 2024 rules

What changed on August 17, 2024

Under the National Association of REALTORS® settlement, MLS participants working with a buyer must have a written agreement with that buyer before the buyer tours a home. The same practice changes removed offers of buyer-broker compensation from the MLS. Both took effect on August 17, 2024.

Two things did not change. Buyer representation still exists, and compensation is still negotiable. What the settlement did was force the conversation about money to happen first, on paper, instead of being buried in a listing field the buyer never saw.

Our buyer representation page explains how ClearPath handles this in practice. This guide goes deeper into the rules themselves.

The written agreement before touring

NAR’s FAQ defines the trigger precisely. The agreement is required when an MLS participant is “working with” a buyer, meaning providing services such as identifying properties, arranging tours, negotiating or presenting offers, and it must be signed before “touring a home,” which means when the buyer or the agent enters the house. A live virtual tour counts. A home means one to four residential units.

What does not trigger it: an agent who only represents the seller and lets an unrepresented buyer into an open house or a listing. In that case the agent is working for the seller, and no buyer agreement is required.

NAR’s policy deliberately does not dictate the shape of the relationship. Per the FAQ, it does not set:

• the type of relationship (agency, non-agency, transaction brokerage);
• the term (one day, one month, one house, one ZIP code);
• the services (a certain number of showings, negotiation, presenting offers);
• the compensation (zero, a flat fee, a percentage, an hourly rate).

What the agreement must say

NAR’s written-buyer-agreement guidance lists the mandatory provisions. Every agreement must:

• State the compensation specifically. It must “specify and conspicuously disclose the amount or rate of any compensation” the agent will receive from any source, or how that amount will be determined. It must be objectively ascertainable and not open-ended: no “whatever the seller offers,” and no “between X and Y.”
• Cap what the agent can receive. The agent “may not receive compensation from any source that exceeds the amount or rate agreed to with the buyer.” If a seller offers more, the agent cannot keep the excess.
• Disclose negotiability. A conspicuous statement that “broker commissions are not set by law and are fully negotiable.”

Read those three lines before anything else. If the compensation clause is blank, a range, or tied to what a seller might offer, the form is not compliant and you should not sign it.

The Florida Realtors forms, by name

Florida Realtors released and revised several forms to comply with the settlement. The ones a buyer is most likely to see:

Form names and codes come from Florida Realtors’ settlement resources. Brokerages may use their own compliant forms; the mandatory provisions are the same.

Offers of compensation are off the MLS, not off the table

The settlement prohibits listing brokers from publishing offers of buyer-broker compensation on an MLS, including in agent remarks or a yes/no field. It does not prohibit compensation itself. NAR’s FAQ states that offers of compensation “may continue to be made off MLSs, in consultation between the real estate professional and the seller,” and that brokers may communicate directly.

For a buyer, that means three ways your agent’s fee can be covered:

1. You pay it, at closing, as written in your agreement.
2. The seller agrees to pay it, in writing, off-MLS, for example through the CASB-1 form or a similar agreement.
3. You ask for it in the offer. NAR’s FAQ #50 is explicit: “A buyer can always ask their buyer broker to make it a term of an offer to purchase that the seller pay certain compensation to the buyer broker.” Standard of Practice 16-16 also bars a listing agent from delaying or withholding your offer while negotiating that point.

Whatever the source, your agent cannot collect more than the amount in your agreement.

Seller concessions

A concession is different from compensation. NAR’s consumer guide describes concessions as the seller paying certain costs for the buyer: title search, loan origination, inspection, association fees, taxes, repairs. MLSs may show a concession field at local discretion, but the settlement requires that concessions not be conditioned on paying a buyer’s broker.

Two practical points from the guidance. Concessions “usually aren’t binding until they are established in an executed contract,” so a listing that advertises one is an invitation, not a promise. And the total a seller can contribute toward your closing costs is limited by your lender’s rules and loan type, while the guide notes a seller’s payment toward the buyer’s broker fee is excluded from those lender limits. Ask your lender how each is treated before you structure the offer.

What a buyer should ask before signing

• How much, exactly, and from whom? The number or formula, in writing.
• What happens if the seller contributes? Does it reduce what you pay, dollar for dollar?
• How long does it last, and is it exclusive? A one-house showing agreement and a six-month exclusive are different commitments.
• What services are included? Showings, negotiation, inspection management, coordination with lender and title.
• How does it end? Notice period, cancellation, and whether you owe anything on a home you found yourself.
• Is the compensation clause specific and not a range? If it is not, it does not comply.
• Can we amend it? NAR’s FAQ #86 says a new or amended agreement may be appropriate; Florida Realtors has a modification form.

New construction and for-sale-by-owner

The written-agreement rule attaches to your agent, not to the seller. If your agent takes you to tour a builder’s model home or a home the owner is selling without a broker, the agreement is required before the tour, exactly as for an MLS listing. A builder’s on-site sales representative works for the builder, and an owner selling directly represents themselves; neither is your representative.

Whether a builder or an owner will contribute to your agent’s fee is a negotiation, and some will not. Settle it in writing before you go under contract. Many builders also ask that your agent register you on the first visit, so tell your agent before you walk into a sales center alone.

Fair housing and steering

One more rule protects you. NAR’s Code of Ethics prohibits steering buyers based on the amount of broker compensation, and the settlement reaffirms that agents “must not filter out or restrict MLS listings” based on compensation offered. If a home fits your criteria, you should see it, regardless of what the seller is or is not paying.

The short version

Sign before you tour. Make sure the fee is specific, capped and labeled negotiable. Know the three ways it can be paid. Ask for the seller’s contribution in writing or in the offer. And keep the agreement as short as your situation needs.

Related reading

• First-time home buyer in Miami
• Florida AS IS contract and the inspection period
• Closing costs in Florida, explained
• Mortgage pre-approval in Miami
• Houses for sale in Miami
• Closing cost calculator