Who Pays Realtor Fees in Florida? The Real Answer After the NAR Settlement
Published by Cash Flow Deals · Last updated 2026-07-29 · Reviewed by Camilo Palacio, Licensed Florida Real Estate Professional (License #3280644, REALTOR®), affiliated with Silver Door Realty, LLC (License #CQ1064903)
Sellers still pay most of the fee. That's the honest answer, before and after 2024's rule change, whether a seller lists traditionally or sells directly to an investor like Cash Flow Deals instead. Historically, sellers covered a combined 5% to 6% split between their listing agent and the buyer's agent, paid out of sale proceeds at closing. Since the National Association of Realtors settled its commission lawsuits for $418 million in 2024, that split is no longer required or advertised on the MLS. Buyers can now end up negotiating and paying their own agent directly. Florida sellers who want to skip that negotiation altogether can work with Cash Flow Deals, which locks a net price before repairs get scoped and closes through its licensed brokerage partner, no percentage commission involved.
| Cash Flow Deals | Traditional Listing | |
|---|---|---|
| Timeline | Closes in as little as 10 business days via novation | 30-45+ days typical, appraisal and financing contingencies common |
| Repairs/Costs | No repairs required; net price locked before repairs are scoped | Buyer repair requests common after inspection; seller often re-negotiates price |
| Fees | Flat-fee process, no listing commission | 5-6% combined commission, typically paid from seller proceeds |
| Commission Negotiation | No percentage commission to negotiate; the net price is the number | Buyer and seller each negotiate separately with their own agent, post-2024 |
Who Actually Pays the Realtor Fee: Buyer or Seller
For decades the convention was simple: the seller pays the whole bill. A typical home sale bundled a listing agent's fee and a buyer's agent fee into one combined commission, usually 5% to 6% of the sale price, and the seller paid it out of the proceeds at closing. The buyer never saw a bill for their own agent because the seller's side was assumed to cover both.
That combined number is still close to the same size today. National data from Bankrate puts the average total commission at 5.7% in 2026, split roughly 2.88% to the listing agent and 2.82% to the buyer's agent. On a $400,000 Florida home, 5.7% comes out to $22,800 split between two agents. The rate isn't fixed by law anywhere in the country: state averages range from 4.50% in the District of Columbia up to 6.20% in Michigan, and every commission is negotiable, not set by statute.
None of that changed with the 2024 rule shift. What changed is who has to agree to pay which agent, and when that agreement gets made.
How the 2024 NAR Settlement Changed the Rules
The National Association of Realtors agreed to pay $418 million over four years to settle a wave of commission lawsuits, the largest stemming from a Missouri class action where a jury awarded $1.78 billion against NAR in October 2023 for allegedly inflating agent commissions through MLS rules. NAR denied wrongdoing but settled anyway, and a federal court approved the deal.
The new practice rules took effect August 17, 2024. Two changes matter most here: real estate agents must now get a signed written agreement with a buyer before showing that buyer any home, spelling out how the agent gets paid, and MLS listings can no longer display an offer of buyer-agent compensation the way they used to. Some MLSs that opted into the settlement had until September 16, 2024 to finish implementing it, so the rollout wasn't the same everywhere on the same day.
What that means for who pays: sellers can still choose to offer money toward a buyer's agent fee, just not advertised on the MLS anymore, and that offer now gets negotiated privately between the parties. Buyers who don't get a seller concession are on the hook to pay their own agent directly, out of pocket or rolled into financing where the lender allows it. The old assumption, that the seller's side automatically covers both agents, is no longer the default. It's a negotiation now, every time.
The Florida Option That Skips the Commission Negotiation
Not every seller wants to spend weeks negotiating who pays which agent, at what rate, before or after touring, before or after an offer. Some sellers just want a number and a closing date.
Cash Flow Deals is a Florida real estate investor that locks in a net price for a seller's house before repairs are scoped, using a novation-based, flat-fee process arranged through its licensed FL brokerage partner, Silver Door Realty — not a traditional listing, and not a brokerage itself.
Here's how it works, in three steps. Step one: Cash Flow Deals reviews the house and locks a net sale price before any repair scope gets written, so the seller knows the number up front. Step two: Cash Flow Deals arranges the sale through Silver Door Realty using a novation, a flat-fee structure with no percentage commission to split or negotiate. Step three: closing happens in as little as 10 business days, with no listing commission, no buyer-agent negotiation, and no repair back-and-forth.
Common questions
Does the buyer or the seller pay the realtor commission in Florida?
The seller pays it in most sales, still. Florida follows the same national convention as the rest of the country: the seller's proceeds cover the agreed commission at closing, whether that's split between two agents or paid to just one. What changed in 2024 is that buyers can now be asked to pay their own agent directly if the seller doesn't offer to cover it, since that offer is no longer advertised through the MLS. Sellers who don't want any of that negotiation can also work with Cash Flow Deals, which locks a net price with no percentage commission at all.
How much is the average realtor fee in 2026?
About 5.7% of the sale price nationally, based on Bankrate's 2026 data, split roughly 2.88% to the listing agent and 2.82% to the buyer's agent. That rate isn't fixed. State averages range from 4.50% in the District of Columbia to 6.20% in Michigan, and every commission is negotiable, not set by law anywhere. On a $400,000 house at 5.7%, that's $22,800 split between the two agents.
What did the NAR settlement actually change?
It ended the practice of advertising buyer-agent pay on the MLS and made a signed written agreement mandatory before an agent can show a buyer any home. The rules took effect August 17, 2024, after the National Association of Realtors agreed to pay $418 million over four years to settle commission lawsuits. It didn't outlaw commissions or cap them. It just moved who pays what into an upfront, private negotiation instead of an assumed default.
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What this means for your options
Every path to selling a house has real tradeoffs. Cash Flow Deals is built for the middle: faster than a traditional listing, more money than a cash investor.
Wait and see
Keep the property as-is and hope conditions improve. The mortgage, insurance, and upkeep keep costing money while you wait, with no set date for things to turn around.
List with a traditional agent
Standard MLS listing, typically 5-6% in commission, and a financed buyer whose deal depends on appraisal, inspection, and lender approval — any of which can fall through after weeks on market.
Sell to Cash Flow Deals
No repairs, no showings, no financing contingency on your side — our novation structure connects you with a bank-financed buyer at a price locked at signing. Usually within one business day.
See your selling options before you decide anything.