Most real estate agents in Washington get paid through commissions. Commissions are typically calculated as a percentage of a property’s sale price, though some brokerages will charge a flat fee. The average agent commission rate nationwide is 5.8% of the home sale price, according to HomeLight’s real estate transaction data of thousands of home sales each year. But how does that compare to the average real estate commission rate in Washington? In this post, we’ll help you determine how much commission you might pay on your Washington home sale, and what options are available to earn the highest proceeds possible. According to top-performing Tacoma real estate agent Kris Shook, you can expect to pay between 5%-6% in agent commissions when selling a home in Washington, with some variation based on location within the state. On a property worth the current statewide median home sale price of $535,000, that amounts to $26,750–$32,100 in commission costs. “I’m used to getting 2.5% to 3%. That’s kind of the common commission that we get as the buyer’s agent: 2.5% to 3%,” says Shook, who works with 77% more single-family homes than the average Tacoma agent. The seller’s agent typically takes another 2.5% to 3% commission, he adds, which makes up the estimate of 5%-6%. Using an overall statewide average of 5.5%, here’s a breakdown of how much you might pay in real estate commissions based on what a home sells for in six of the largest cities in Washington: HomeLight gathers agent commission data from cities throughout the U.S. To see if we have commission rates for your city, try our Agent Commissions Calculator. You might also be interested in our Home Value Estimator. Still curious about commission rates in Washington? Here are the answers to common questions about real estate agent commissions: The commission is typically paid by the home seller, and the seller’s agent will then split the commission with the buyer’s agent. Shook explains, “It’s common that the seller pays it. That is not necessarily how it always goes, but I would say about 99.9 percent of the time that is how it is handled.” He says that sometimes the buyer may pay the fee for the buyer’s agent if the seller will not pay it. Shook says that doesn’t happen in the current market, but it has before. “[In the past] builders, especially the big national builders, started taking away what the commission would be to that buyer’s agent. So, for example, in the listing in the MLS, it’s going to say how much of a commission is being given to the agent who brings the buyer and — at one point — some of the big national builders we’re paying zero to the buyer’s agent.”What’s the average real estate commission in Washington?
Washington city
Median home price
Typical commission at 5.5%
Seattle
$825,091
$45,380
Spokane
$407,190
$22,395
Tacoma
$460,804
$25,344
Vancouver
$484,567
$26,651
Bellevue
$1,359,810
$74,790
Kent
$611,181
$33,615
Who pays real estate commission fees?
