Real estate commissions in the United States are higher than any other industrialized nation. That means that home sellers typically pay more for real estate services in the U.S. than other countries. Could it be that real estate is harder to sell in the United States than elsewhere in the world? Hardly - the Realtor® Multiple Listing Service - MLS - is one of the most efficiently run systems anywhere. Acting like the stock exchange, the Realtor® MLS allows all of the Realtor®s in a given geographic region to pool their resources and share access to information about properties for sale, making finding and selling a home tremendously convenient.

So why do many Americans continue to pay such high commissions relative to other countries? According to the independent study by Mark Nadel at the AE Brookings Joint Center, A Critical Assessment of the Standard, Traditional, Residential Real Estate Broker Commission Rate Structure, the real estate commission structure is a poor way to compensate a real estate agent for their time. Not only does it create a poor incentive for the agent to work for the best possible price for their client, there is often a complete disconnect between the time invested by the agent, quality of service and the amount paid by the client.

Commission Rate versus Flat Fee Calculator

Discount Realtors and flat rate real estate companies offer alternatives to the traditional commission rate based system. With a discount real estate broker you can get the same bundle of services for less than the prevalent rate in your market. With flat rate, or limited-service brokers you can pick and choose the services you want on an a la carte basis. Either way you can stand to save thousands of dollars in fees, but with flat fee brokers you pay only for the services you use.

When it comes to your largest investment, it makes sense to take advantage of the services that give you the greatest return. Flat fee real estate is the most efficient method of promoting and selling your home available in the U.S. today.

See what the Federal Trade Commission has to say about selecting a real estate professional and discount Realtor and flat fee services.