Real estate agents in Virginia don't have a typical salary or hourly rate, but instead work on commission. The commission you'll earn as a real estate agent in Virginia can vary, with first-year agents typically receiving around 50% of the commission paid to the broker. They may also have to split the commission with the buyer's real estate agent. In this digital age of “do it yourself”, both sellers and homebuyers may be wondering if they need real estate agents or, more precisely, if they need to pay real estate agent fees.
Virginia real estate agent fees generally don't differ much from one agent to another; most agents charge rates close to the area average. The seller pays real estate agent fees in Virginia as part of the sales proceeds, as well as other closing costs. Knowing the average Virginia real estate agent fees can help you accurately budget for the sale of your home and avoid overpaying for a real estate agent. A fair real estate agent commission in Virginia is any fee that a typical seller with a home like yours would expect to pay in their local market.
If you're looking to save on realtor fees, it's also possible to find Virginia real estate agents with low commission rates. The seller pays the real estate agent's commission in Virginia for both the selling agent and the buyer's agent. The average total commission for a real estate agent in Virginia is 5.23%, which is divided between the publicly traded agent and the buyer's agent. When active listings decrease, realtors' rates also tend to decrease, and when active listings increase, so do realtors' rates.
While you shouldn't have to pay real estate agent fees out of pocket, you'll need to ensure that your list price is high enough to cover the realtor's fees, along with your mortgage balance and other closing costs. When home prices rise, realtor fees are more likely to fall, and when home prices fall, realtor fees are more likely to increase. The average commission rate for Virginia real estate agents is 5.22%, 2.56% going to the real estate agent and the remaining 2.66% to the buyer's agent. As a home seller in Virginia, you can always try to negotiate realtors' commission rates yourself.
You don't have to accept any advertisement that an agent quotes you. The seller's market tends to put downward pressure on real estate agent rates because agents don't have to work as hard or as long to sell each ad.