How Buyer’s Agents Get Paid at Easy Realty

 Before writing any offer, you must have both of the following signed:

• Florida Brokerage Agency Disclsoure
• Buyer Compensation Agreement (Transaction Broker)

The Transaction Broker Disclosure establishes your agency relationship.

The Buyer Compensation Agreement establishes how the brokerage gets paid.

Do not move forward without both.

 

Agency and compensation are separate.

Agency defines how you represent the client.
Compensation defines how the brokerage gets paid.

At Easy Realty:

• You may operate as a Transaction Broker or Single Agent
• Our recommendation is to remain a Transaction Broker
• The Buyer Compensation Agreement handles compensation without changing agency status

This keeps your process simple, compliant, and consistent.

The Buyer Compensation Agreement allows compensation to come from:

• Seller
• Listing broker
• Buyer
• Seller concessions
• Any combination

Commissions are fully negotiable and must be clearly agreed to in advance.

The agreement also protects the brokerage if compensation is not covered by the seller.

Every offer you write must clearly define how compensation will be paid.

There are two primary ways to do this.

Option 1: Seller Pays the Buyer’s Agent

You include a term in the offer requesting that the seller pay your compensation.

Example:

• Purchase price: $500,000
• Compensation: 2.5%
• Offer includes request for seller to pay 2.5%

What matters:

• The seller is not obligated to agree
• This directly affects the seller’s net
• It may impact offer competitiveness

Option 2: Increase Price and Use a Seller Concession

You structure the deal instead of asking directly for commission.

Example:

• Intended price: $500,000
• Contract price: $510,000
• Seller concession: $10,000

The concession is applied toward closing costs and/or your compensation.

What matters:

• Must comply with lender guidelines
• Property must appraise at contract price
• May improve acceptance compared to direct commission requests
• May impact loan terms and cash to close

Use seller-paid compensation when:

• The deal is straightforward
• The seller is open to paying
• The property is not highly competitive

Use concession structure when:

• The seller resists commission requests
• You are in a competitive situation
• You need to reframe the economics of the deal
• You need flexibility in how the offer is presented

If compensation is not fully covered by the seller, listing broker, or concessions:

The buyer is responsible for the difference.

This is defined in the Buyer Compensation Agreement and is what protects your compensation. 

Not using the Buyer Compensation Agreement
You have no protection.

Writing offers without addressing compensation
You risk not getting paid.

Switching to Single Agent unnecessarily
You increase legal exposure without improving the deal.

Overcomplicating the explanation
Keep it simple.

“I work as a transaction broker, which means I help facilitate the deal without creating a fiduciary relationship. We agree upfront how the brokerage gets paid, and then when we write offers, we either ask the seller to cover it or structure it into the deal using concessions.”

You do not get paid automatically.

You get paid because you:

• Use the required documents
• Define compensation upfront
• Structure the offer correctly

If you cannot clearly explain how you are getting paid in a deal, fix it before submitting the offer.