Agency fees may be charged to the seller or the buyer.
It is generally assumed that the seller systematically pays the agency fees when a property is sold through him/her. However, there is no set rule, as in the case of notary fees. While notary fees are systematically paid by the buyer, agency fees can be paid by either party. It all depends on what the real estate agent and the seller have agreed in the sales mandate, since the seller has two choices:
- Pay all agency fees.
- Charge these agency fees to the buyer.
On the other hand, if the seller stipulates that agency fees are to be paid by the buyer, this means that when the real estate agent publishes an ad, he or she must display detailed prices and indicate the amount of his or her commission.
In reality, it’s always the buyer who pays the agency fees.
Whether agency fees are displayed as being payable by the seller or the buyer, in practice it’s always the buyer who pays them, for one simple reason: the final sale price will be the same for him, in either case. Let’s take the example of a seller putting up for sale a property worth €300,000, and paying agency fees of €15,000. There are two possible scenarios:
- If agency fees are displayed at the seller’s expense, the sale price displayed will be the sum of the value of the property and the amount of the agency fees, i.e. a sale price of €315,000.
- If the agency fees are displayed at the buyer’s expense, the real estate agent will specify that the price of €315,000 is made up of the value of the property for €300,000, and the amount of his commission for €15,000.
In both cases, the purchaser will be required to pay the €315,000, and is therefore systematically responsible for paying the agency fees.
Source : SeLoger
