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Posted on Tuesday, January 8th, 2019
When multiple Agents and Brokers become involved in a Real Estate Transaction, commission splits and fees can become difficult to understand and navigate. How is commission split? Why is there an broker administration fee? Who is issuing this fee? And who pays the fee?
In Florida, Buyer’s Agents and Seller’s Agents rarely exist, as most are known as a Transaction Broker – a legal concept unique to Florida. While a broker administration fee from a Transaction Broker is common practice, the amount does vary from Broker to Broker.
Commission splits on multiple listing service listings are fairly straight-forward since they are set in the MLS listing. Frequently though, these MLS listings include a broker administration fee for the Transaction Broker, in addition to the commission split.
With access to the MLS, you can view or print a “Broker Full” listing information sheet, where you will find a section where the listing Broker states the co-broker commission being offered. In a straightforward percentage split, the offered compensation will just list the percentage paid to the Seller’s Broker and Buyer’s Broker (for example, 3%). However, if there is a broker administration fee applied, the compensation will show the split as the percentage less the fee (for instance, 3% – $295).
The information presented in this “Tuesday Takeaway” is intended for informational purposes only. This information should not be used as legal advice applicable to a specific situation. In addition, our provision of this information to an individual in no way constitutes an attorney-client relationship.