Selling a house can cost more than you think, and realtor fees are a significant portion of that cost. 

If you’ve been wondering exactly how real estate agent commissions work, we’ve got you covered. In this article, we will go through how realtors help you sell and buy a home, how much they cost, and how you can save on these fees. 

After all, when you’re moving from your starter home to your dream home, you want the selling process to be as easy and seamless as possible. That’s why we’re here! We’ll guide you on everything you need to know about buying your dream home. Starting with step one: selling your current home. Let’s get into it.

How Are Real Estate Agents Helpful in Selling Your Home?

When you’re selling your home, you may choose to hire a real estate agent. Real estate agents know the ins and outs of the real estate market and can effectively help sell your home. Depending on the amount of help you need, a full-service agent can assist you with a variety of services, including:

• Staging your home
• Pricing your home
• Advertising your home
• Communicating with the buyer and home seller
• Promoting your home on multiple listing services 
• Closing your home sale

These services are valuable, and help you sell your home in a timely and stress-free manner. On top of their services, real estate agents offer many benefits, including: 

• Great negotiation skills
• Deal with all of your tedious paperwork
• Provide true guidance and support
• Help you overcome any obstacles that may occur
• Save you time
• Save you money 

There are numerous benefits to working with a realtor, the most important one being is that they help alleviate a lot of the stress of selling your home. These services are valuable, but understanding the cost can be a bit confusing. We help break the cost down in the next section. 

What are Realtor Fees?

Realtor fees vary based on the province and the home’s sale price. When you sell your house, you will split the fees 50/50 between the buyer’s agent and the listing agent once the house sale is finalized. Although you may be able to negotiate realtor commission fees, in Alberta, the average fees are around 6-7% for the first $100,000 and 3% on anything over $100,000. Here are some examples of the total realtor fee at 7%:

• $100,000 home = $7,000 fee
• $250,000 home = $11,500 fee
• $500,000 home = $19,000 fee
• $1,000,000 home = $34,000 fee

Note: these prices don’t include GST. In Alberta, GST is 5%. So, on a $100,000 home with $7,000 in fees, you will pay an additional $350. On the other end, if you sell a $1,000,000 home with $34,000 in listing agent fees, you will pay $1,700 in GST.

How to Save on Real Estate Agent Fees

After reading those fees, you might be feeling a little overwhelmed by how much it actually costs to hire a real estate professional. We get it! Selling, buying, and moving can be quite costly and saving where you can matters. Instead of stressing out about these fees, let’s break down the best way to save money on them.

List for Free Program by Shane Homes

The Shane Homes List For Free Program is one of the best ways to reduce real estate fees and receive 5-star service.

In this program, Shane Homes will pay the selling agent the portion owed to them by the seller of the home. In other words, if you’re selling your home, Shane Homes will pay your realtor, and you just need to pay for the buyer’s agent commission. This means you save 50% of the commission costs. If you choose to use the List for Free program, here’s how much your realtor commission fees will be reduced:

• $7,000 commission will now be $3,500
• $11,500 commission will now be $5,750
• $19,000 commission will now be $9,500
• $34,000 commission will now be $17,000

When you use the List for Free Program, you can save thousands of dollars in real estate agent commission for yourself, while working with a company that cares about your entire selling, building, and buying journey. 

If you’re looking for more ways to save on your home journey, check out our blog, Can I Buy a New Home? 4 Financial Requirements to Buy a Home for Aspiring Home Buyers.

Buy Your Dream Home With Shane Homes

Now that you know more about how real estate agent fees work and how you can save on them, it’s time to make your realtor decision.

When you’re ready to sell your home, get in touch with Shane Homes. We can help pay for your realtor fees and build your dream home while supporting you throughout your entire home selling/buying journey. Get started by building and pricing your dream home with our build & price tool. Then, contact us! We’re excited to help you make your home dreams a reality.