Can You Negotiate a Real Estate Agent's Commission?

Yes. You always could, and since 2024 the paperwork is required to say so in plain language. The harder questions are whether your agent will actually say yes, what you give up when they do, and how to ask without souring the relationship before it starts. Here is what the research shows and how I handle it at HomesRX.

The short version

• Commissions are “not set by law; they are negotiable,” in the words of the National Association of REALTORS® itself. (NAR)
• Every written buyer agreement under the 2024 settlement must now include “a conspicuous statement that broker fees and commissions are fully negotiable and not set by law.” (NAR)
• Most consumers still do not ask, and when they ask, most agents still say no.

Most people never ask

In a 2025 survey of 223 housing counselors across 37 states, 66% said their first-time-buyer clients “never,” “rarely,” or only “sometimes” negotiated the agent’s commission; just 16% said clients did so “often” or “always.” Only 7% of counselors reported seeing lower commissions for their clients since the settlement. (Consumer Federation of America and National Urban League)

Sellers are more willing than buyers. In a spring 2025 national survey, 37.4% of recent sellers negotiated or tried to negotiate their listing agent’s commission while 45.9% did not; among buyers, 47.8% did not try. (Redfin/Ipsos survey, May 2025) Age matters: 63% of millennial sellers who sold recently negotiated, compared with 16% of baby boomers. (Redfin)

Part of the reason is simple awareness. In 2019, only 33% of consumers believed agents negotiate commissions “always” or “most of the time”; 21% believed they “never” do. (Consumer Federation of America) Even in 2026, 45% of sellers did not know they were no longer required to pay the buyer’s agent. (Clever)

When people do ask, most agents say no

The Consumer Federation of America had mystery shoppers call 200 listing agents in four cities and ask whether the commission could be reduced. “Seventy-three percent said they would not negotiate” and “only 27 percent said they would.” (CFA, Hidden Real Estate Commissions) An analysis of 17,805 sales in 35 cities found that in 24 of them, at least 88% of buyer-side commissions clustered between 2.5% and 3.0%, prompting CFA’s Stephen Brobeck to call it “striking evidence of the lack of price competition.” (CFA)

Has the settlement changed that? Modestly. The national average total commission was 5.46% in August 2026, with buyer-side rates averaging 2.70% and quoted rates ranging from 1% to 4%. (Clever) The buyer-side average in late 2025 was 2.42%, essentially flat from 2.36% a year earlier, and roughly two-thirds of agents told one survey they had seen no significant shift in commissions. (Inman) One agent summed it up: “There may be a little more negotiation now, but the end result is still typically the same—a seller paying 3%, or close to 3%, to the buyer’s agent.” (Redfin commission report, Q2 2025)

The lesson is not that negotiating is futile. It is that the default answer is “no” unless you ask early, ask specifically, and are prepared to compare agents.

How to actually negotiate

1. Ask before you sign anything, not at closing. Brobeck’s warning is blunt: “If buyers and sellers don’t ask their agent about the commission, they may only discover it at closing, which is too late for any negotiations.” (CNBC) The listing agreement and the buyer agreement are the two moments that matter.

2. Negotiate the structure, not just the rate. NAR’s own guidance says the compensation line in a buyer agreement can be “a flat fee, a percentage, an hourly rate, or $0.” (NAR) Sellers can do the same: a flat listing fee, a tiered rate that rises if the home sells above a target price, or a reduced rate if the agent represents both sides.

3. Know what you are trading away. A lower listing rate sometimes means reduced marketing, fewer open houses, or an agent who prioritizes full-fee clients. Ask what changes. If nothing changes, the discount is free; if a lot changes, it may not be a discount.

4. Bring leverage, politely. A high price point, a fast-moving neighborhood, a home that is move-in ready, or a buyer who is already under contract to sell all reduce the agent’s risk and time, and are legitimate reasons to ask for a lower rate. Interviewing more than one agent is the single strongest form of leverage. Only 43% of buyers find their agent through a referral and 18% simply reuse a prior agent, which means most people never create competition for the job. (NAR 2025 Profile, via Virginia REALTORS®)

5. Buyers: ask for a seller concession. Sellers are no longer required to offer buyer-agent compensation, but many still do; 35% of sellers in 2026 offered to cover the buyer’s agent fee. (Clever) Your agent can write that request into the offer. If the seller pays, you owe your agent only the difference, and the agreement caps what your agent may collect at the amount you agreed to. (NAR)

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