Who Pays the Buyer Agent Commission
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On most home sales, the seller pays the buyer’s agent commission out of the sale price. That did not change with the 2024 rules. What has changed is that the seller now offers it directly in writing, rather than through the listing service. If the seller offers nothing, the buyer and their agent negotiate the fee, often 2% to 3%.
We’ve represented buyers since 2017, and we’ve signed written buyer agreements with a stated fee throughout. So the “who pays” question is one we answer on every deal, and the honest answer has a few branches.
The short version: usually the seller, sometimes you, and it is always negotiable.
| Your situation | Who typically pays the buyer’s agent |
|---|---|
| Standard resale, seller offers compensation | The seller, out of the sale price |
| Seller offers nothing | You, at a rate set in your buyer agreement |
| New development / sponsor unit | Often the sponsor, but check the offering plan |
| You go unrepresented | Nobody but the listing agent may keep the full fee |
| You use a rebate brokerage | The seller pays; your agent hands part of it back |
Who pays the buyer’s agent commission?
The seller, out of a price you helped set by making the offer. On a normal resale, the seller signs a listing agreement that covers the total commission. The listing broker then shares part of that with whichever broker brings the buyer.
There’s a common misconception that buyers now have to pay their own agent. That’s not the rule. Seller-paid buyer-agent compensation is still legal and still normal. The 2024 changes only moved where the offers are made.
The one thing that’s genuinely different: nothing is automatic. The seller has to choose to offer it, and you should confirm it early.
What changed after the 2024 settlement
Before August 2024, the listing broker advertised the buyer-agent split inside the MLS. The split used to travel with the listing like a stowaway. Every agent could see it, and buyers rarely thought about it.
The NAR settlement ended that. Compensation offers can no longer appear in the MLS. And a buyer working with a licensed agent signs a written agreement first, with a specific fee, not a range.
So the money still usually comes from the seller. It arrives only through a direct offer and a signed buyer agency agreement, not as a line in the listing feed. This page is part of our guide to NYC commissions and rebates.
When the buyer pays their agent directly
When the seller offers less than your agreed-upon fee, or nothing at all. Somebody has to, and the market picks the person with the least leverage. Your buyer agreement states the fee. If the seller covers only part of it, you cover the gap.
This shows up most in three places. A seller who is set on netting a specific number. A for-sale-by-owner who never planned to pay a buyer’s broker. And new-development sponsors, who write their own rules in the offering plan.
You can still ask the seller for a credit toward your agent’s fee as a term of the offer. Whether that works depends on the deal, and it’s worth pricing both ways.
How it works in NYC specifically
REBNY got there first, then made everyone say it in writing. NYC listings run on REBNY’s system, not a Realtor MLS. REBNY decoupled commissions on January 1, 2024, before the national settlement, and removed all compensation fields from its listing service on August 1, 2025.
The practical result: on an NYC resale, the seller still funds the buyer’s agent on most deals, through a co-broke. The seller makes that offer directly and in writing. If the seller offers nothing, your agent can negotiate a fee from you.
New York state law is blunt about the principle. Its licensing law states that the party who hires the broker is responsible for compensation, and that rates “are not set by law.”
Can you finance the buyer’s agent commission into your mortgage?
Generally no. If you pay your agent directly, that cost sits outside your loan. Your lender treats it like a stranger who wandered into the closing and won’t finance it.
A seller-paid commission is different. Fannie Mae confirmed in 2024 that, per local custom, a seller or seller’s agent paying the buyer-agent fee does not count against the interested-party-contribution limits. A seller credit toward that fee is capped, like other concessions, at 3% to 9% of the price depending on your down payment.
If you want the fee handled and a rebate on top, see what NestApple returns to buyers and run the numbers in our closing-cost calculators.
Where a rebate fits
New York is one of the states that allows a broker to give part of their commission back to the buyer. It is the one case in which the person who did the work keeps part of the fee.
The seller still pays the full buyer-side commission. Your agent then rebates a share of it to you. The IRS treats that rebate as a reduction of the purchase price, not as income. Our page on whether commission rebates are legal covers the rules state by state, and the rebate guide covers how it reaches you.
What we see on our own closings
For our buyers, the fee is rarely a fight because we agree to it in writing up front, and the seller funds it on most deals. The question is not who pays, it is who noticed.
The buyers who get surprised are the ones who tour with an agent, sign a fast agreement, and then find that the seller is offering below the agreed rate. Read your buyer agreement before you sign it. Keep the term short. And ask, in the first meeting, what happens if the seller’s offer falls short.
Common questions
Do I have to pay my buyer’s agent now? Not usually. On most resales, the seller pays your agent out of the sale price. You only pay directly if the seller offers less than your agreed fee or nothing.
How much is the buyer’s agent commission? Customarily, 2% to 3% of the price. It is negotiable; it is stated in your buyer agreement, and the national average has drifted toward 2.5% since 2024.
Can I add the buyer’s agent fee to my loan? No. A fee you pay directly is not financeable. A seller-paid fee is fine and does not count against Fannie Mae’s contribution limits.
Who pays the buyer’s agent in NYC? On most NYC resales, the seller does so through a co-broke. Since REBNY’s rule changes, the seller makes that offer directly rather than through the listing service.
Nicole Fishman Benoliel co-founded NestApple in 2017. She's a lawyer admitted to the New York bar - her law degree is from La Escuela Libre de Derecho in Costa Rica, with further study at IE Business School in Madrid and an LLM from Fordham in New York. She does not act in a legal capacity at NestApple; every client is referred to an attorney who handles real estate deals full time.
