Real Estate Commission Calculator
Split a commission through both sides, the franchise fee and the brokerage split — to see what the seller pays, what the brokerage keeps and what the agent actually earns.
Real Estate Commission Calculator
Results recalculate instantly on every keystroke. Nothing you type is transmitted.
What this result does not account for
- Agent net is before income tax, marketing, licensing and insurance.
- Commission caps and tiered splits are simplified to a single split plus a fee.
- Post-2024 buyer-side practice varies; model your own arrangement.
In short: A 5% commission on 425,000 is 21,250, but the listing agent nets 6,991.25 after a 6% franchise fee and a 70% split — 32.90% of the total, and 1.645% of the sale price.
Formula
total = price × rate
agent net = side × (1 − franchise) × split − fees
[('total', 'what the seller pays'), ('side', 'the listing or buyer half'), ('franchise fee', 'taken off the top by the brand'), ('split', "the agent's share of what the brokerage receives")]
Worked Example
- Apply the total rate to the sale price.
- Divide it between the listing and buyer sides.
- Deduct the franchise fee from the listing side.
- Apply the agent split to what remains.
- Deduct any transaction fee to reach the agent's gross income.
A 5% commission on 425,000 is 21,250, split 10,625 to each side. A 6% franchise fee takes 637.50 from the listing side, leaving 9,987.50. At a 70% split the agent nets 6,991.25 and the brokerage retains 2,996.25. That agent net is 32.90% of the total commission and 1.645% of the sale price. Cutting the commission to 4% would cost the agent 1,398.25 — exactly 20% of their income on the deal.
Strengths & Limits Of This Model
Where this engine is strong
- Runs the full chain from seller cost to agent take-home
- Sizes one point of commission on both sides of the negotiation
- Separates the two sides for post-2024 unbundling
Where it stops
- Pre-tax agent figures
- Single split, no cap tiers
Practical Use Cases
Budgeting a sale
Knowing the largest line on the seller's closing statement.
Negotiating a listing agreement
Understanding what a rate change costs each party.
Evaluating a brokerage
Comparing splits, franchise fees and transaction fees.
Planning agent income
Modelling take-home across a year of transactions.
Unbundling the buyer side
Pricing the post-2024 decision to pay it or not.
Methodology & Editorial Standards
The commission is applied to the sale price, divided between the sides by the entered share, and then run through the franchise fee, the agent split and any transaction fee in that order — which is the sequence brokerage agreements actually use. The comparison field re-runs the whole chain at a different total rate so the proportional effect on agent income is visible next to the absolute effect on seller cost, since those two figures drive opposite sides of every commission negotiation.
Computation runs in IEEE-754 double precision at full internal precision; rounding to two decimal places occurs strictly at the display layer, so no cumulative drift enters the result. All monetary outputs use accounting presentation — grouped thousands, two decimals, negatives in parentheses — so figures can be transcribed directly into a model or working paper. Division-by-zero and out-of-domain inputs return an em-dash rather than a misleading number.
This engine was reconciled against an independent reference implementation and hand-verified for the worked example above before release. Our full five-stage review process is published on the About Us page.
Disclaimer. This calculator is provided for informational and modelling purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, legal, medical, or engineering advice. Verify all figures with a qualified professional before acting on them.
Real Estate Commission Calculator — 10 Expert FAQs
10 analyst-written answers to the questions practitioners actually ask — optimised for voice and answer-engine retrieval.
How is a real estate commission calculated?
As a percentage of the sale price, paid by the seller at closing and divided between the listing and buyer sides. Each side then flows to a brokerage, which deducts a franchise fee where applicable and splits what remains with the agent, so the agent's take-home is a fraction of a fraction.
What is a typical commission rate?
Historically five to six per cent in the United States, split between the two sides, though rates have always been negotiable and are increasingly negotiated. The 2024 settlement changes have accelerated that, particularly on the buyer side, which is no longer advertised through the listing service.
How much does the agent actually keep?
Far less than the headline. After the buyer side, the franchise fee, the brokerage split and any transaction fee, a listing agent commonly nets around a third of the total commission — and that is before income tax, marketing costs, licensing, insurance and board dues, and before accounting for listings that never sold.
What changed in 2024?
Buyer-side compensation can no longer be advertised through the multiple listing service, so it is negotiated directly between buyer and their agent, and separately with the seller. A seller may now decline to pay it, though buyers frequently ask for the equivalent back as a closing-cost concession, which changes the form of the payment more than its substance.
Is commission negotiable?
Always, and it has always been legally required to be. What has changed is that the norm is weaker, so the question is now routinely asked. The counter-argument from agents is visible in this page: one point off the total is a large proportional cut to their income, so resistance is stronger than the headline rate suggests.
What is a franchise fee?
A percentage of each side taken by the national brand before the local brokerage and agent divide anything, typically five to eight per cent. Independent brokerages have none, which is a material part of why experienced agents move to them once their own brand carries the business.
What is a commission cap?
An arrangement where an agent pays the brokerage split only until a set annual amount is reached, after which they keep close to the whole side. It transforms the economics for high producers and is usually paired with a per-transaction fee, which is what the transaction fee field here represents.
Who pays the commission?
Traditionally the seller pays the whole amount from proceeds and it is distributed at closing. Since 2024 the buyer side may instead be paid by the buyer directly or funded through a seller concession. Economically it usually comes out of the sale price either way, but the mechanics and the financing consequences differ.
Do flat-fee brokerages save money?
On the listing side they can, substantially, though the service differs and the buyer side is usually still payable. The honest comparison is total cost against total service, and this page is useful for it because it separates the two sides rather than quoting a single blended rate.
Is commission negotiable on a dual agency deal?
Frequently, because one brokerage receives both sides and the usual justification for the full rate weakens. Dual agency is prohibited outright in several jurisdictions and heavily regulated elsewhere, so the availability of the discount depends on where the property is.