"most listing agents will cover some or all of the buyers broker fee, so the actual buyer (typically) ends up paying somewhere between nothing and 1%" One of m

"most listing agents will cover some or all of the buyers broker fee, so the actual buyer (typically) ends up paying somewhere between nothing and 1%" One of my goals in life is to correct this misunderstanding among buyers. BOTH the buyer and seller pay for the agent services if they are used. Believe me, it is not your fault in thinking that the listing agent and/or seller pays for the buyer's fee, because that is the way the paperwork is worded and that's what everyone says, but it is NOT the complete story. Even most real estate agents don't seem to completely understand this fact. I want people to not get lost in semantics and to understand that, as a buyer, you WILL pay for any services you use (and you may even pay for services you don't use if you're not smart about it.) In the long run, you will pay even more than the seller. The fact that the HUD-1 form creates a fiction doesn't mean that you don't pay. If you REALLY understand how everything works, you can get a real value and service for what you pay, saving money in the overall process. If you don't understand how it works, you will pay for an agent who may not have your best interests at heart, and not even realize that you paid for this dubious benefit.