[Asparagirl]

I'm not sure where you live, but in the US, the standard commission for a registered broker selling a house is six percent of the selling price of the house, not a flat fee. But yes, they do not get to keep that six percent in perpetuity.

[lifeisstillgood]

Six percent! What !

Any real estate agent in the UK offering that would get laughed out if town - 2% is common, 1% is realistically negotiatable

[ams6110]

Standard commission for residential real-estate is in the 6 percent ballpark, but it's negotiable. It's also split between buyer's agent and listing agent, unless the listing agent brings the buyer (which may be considered a conflict of interest in some areas, but I'm not sure how it gets worked out).

Sometimes a FSBO seller will offer to pay a buyer's agent 2.5% or so, unless they don't want to work with agents at all.

It's a waste of money IMHO, but some people like to have an agent involved. I've had far better luck selling property on my own than using agents though.

[TezzellEnt]

Technically it's illegal to set commission rates, but 6 percent was the norm. In the Bay Area however, it's the new norm to offer 2.5-2.0% to Selling agents (those bringing buyers to the deal). I'm not sure exactly what the Listing agents put as the commission fee, but I'd imagine they're likely splitting it 50/50.

[cschmidt]

That wouldn't fly in Boston. I imagine the listing agent is also making 2.5%, giving a total of 5%.