Who Pays Realtor Fees in Florida? The Real Answer After the NAR Settlement

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

You may not want to spend weeks negotiating who pays which agent, at what rate, before or after touring, before or after an offer. You may just want to compare your options and choose a closing date.

Cash Flow Deals gives you two offers: the Fast Cash Offer, where we buy your house as-is and close, and the Premium Cash Offer, where a pre-approved FHA or conventional buyer we already have, ready to go, pays more and buys directly from you. You choose.

Here's how it works, in three steps. Step one: Cash Flow Deals reviews your house and gives you both offers to compare. The number is agreed before any work starts, and it changes only if you agree. The one exception: if something structural surfaces that was not visible or disclosed before we signed — foundation issues, hidden moisture, old wiring, cast-iron drain failure — we re-cost it and bring the number back to you. You decide. You can walk away. We disclose what we know at offer time so this almost never happens.

Step two: Cash Flow Deals handles the path you choose. With the Fast Cash Offer, you sell as-is with no repairs for you to make. With the Premium Cash Offer, you give us permission to bring a buyer in our place; that buyer signs a new contract directly with you, and title transfers directly from you to them. Your home may be listed through Silver Door Realty, a licensed Florida brokerage, with a licensed agent and scheduled showings. We cover repair costs, and we figure out a way, so nothing comes out of your pocket. On Premium, only what the buyer's lender requires gets fixed, with those repair costs settled from the sale proceeds, from our share rather than your agreed number.

Step three: you help pick the closing date. The existing closing window is 45 days or less. On Premium, the buyer's lender funds the purchase, and Cash Flow Deals is paid as a separate line item on the closing statement. Anything owed is paid from the sale proceeds first, then you receive your agreed number, and we are paid last from what remains. If the buyer's loan falls through, that is our problem, not yours, and you can still take the Fast Cash Offer at its own number instead of the Premium Cash Offer.