You are planning to sell your house or a property. Most likely, you are going to contact a real estate agency and get an agent. Are you anxious about the agent taking too much commission?

The job of a real estate agent is actually a difficult one. Neither the seller likes him because of the commission he will cut on the price, nor does the buyer believe him much, being anxious on the super-exposed description he makes about the property.

Increasingly it is getting easier to sell your house privately however most properties are still sold through real estate agents.

The commission of an agent is normally a percentage of the selling price. It depends from area to area, changes with the time and even varies among agencies. And not amazingly, even agents of the same agency may have different commission rates.

But whatever commission you pay, a 5% or a 6%, will not fully go to the pocket of your agent. There are other parties that count.

If you have just sold a property worth $400,000; the commission might have mounted a wowing $20,000! Don’t you hate seeing your agent  sucking your hard earned equity. Probably he will receive no less than $15,000 after his months-long campaign.

Every commission cut from the sale of a property is split between the buying agency and the selling agency. In the age of Multiple Listing Service (MLS), it’s more likely that the buyer will come through a different agency. So, the commission is first divided between the buying and the selling agencies/agents.

Let’s say your selling agent/agency gets the larger share in the first split. Now it comes between the agency and the particular agent himself. Depending upon the experience and reputation of the agent, he may get from a 20% to 80% of the commission retained by the agency.

Moreover, you need to remember that there is also the cost of advertising, listing fees and few other expenses that you might agreed to burden on the agent’s shoulder.

So, it’s not very easy money for the agent actually. And the final risk is, if the property is not sold, all his sweat prove to be real cheap!