[lotsofpulp]

Assuming you are referring to the US, buy side real estate agents get paid by the sell side real estate agent (technically the real estate seller pays commission to the sell side real estate broker, which then pays the sell side real estate agent and the buy side real estate broker which then pay the buy side real estate agent).

[rypskar]

Is buyer side real estate agent normal in other countries and what do they do except making it even more expensive to buy a house? It is still the buyer who pays even if it is the seller who pay the commission since the commissions are baked into the sell price

[lotsofpulp]

I only know about the US.

>It is still the buyer who pays even if it is the seller who pay the commission since the commissions are baked into the sell price

This is a trivial characterization, just like an individual who buys lettuce at the grocery store pays for the wages of the person that grows and picks and packages it.

A buyer does not have much incentive to not use a real estate agent because a seller using a real estate agent has already agreed to pay x% or $x to the sell side agent, who will give a portion of that to the buy side agent.

The reduction in costs only comes when purchasing from a home being sold without the use of a real estate agent (“for sale by owner”).

[rypskar]

What I did mean was that it seems like both the buyers agent and the sellers agent have an initiative to drive the price up

[lotsofpulp]

This is countered by the fact that they have limited hours of life to live.

Buyers and sellers are not paying agents to maximize and minimize prices. They are paying real estate agents to increase the odds of having a transaction clear, with the buyer receiving property they want, and the seller receiving a price they want.

For an agent, trying to maximize price is only worth it up to a certain number of hours of work, after which time it is far better for a real estate agent to maximize number of transactions. An additional 2% of say $50k is only $1k of extra pay, whereas an additional 2% of a $500k sale is $10k.

[biztos]

In Germany the agent’s commission — IIRC about 7% — is paid by the buyer, and is in addition to the cost of the property.

In Hungary the amount varies a lot, but it’s paid by the seller so not the buyer’s problem. Because of this, you always try to sell without an agent, and use an agent only if you can’t find a buyer by yourself.

Dunno about other countries.