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how does a real estate agent get paid? how much taxes do i pay after selling my house?

How much would I have to pay a real estate agent if i want to sell my house for $170K? Would I pay taxes on the whole amount of the sale or just the profit? How much mark up should use as a starting point? for example list at $177K and work down from there? Thanks for the help.

Public Comments

1. real estate agents generally get 5-6% of the selling price...paid upon closing of the sale. If this is your primary residence, you might not have to pay any taxes at all...your accountant will know and your real estate agent might know as well. I'm not sure what state you are in...in MA, an indiv selling their primary home after two years can cash out up to 250K tax free.
2. Hi! I'm a realtor so I can help you with your questions. As far as commission, that is totally negotiable. Right now, most agencies nationwide charge anywhere from 5% - 8% commission to sell a home. You would only pay taxes on the profit, however, consult an accountant about that aspect of it (you are allowed to earn a certain amount on the sale of a first property and not pay taxes on it). The list price of your home should be comparable to homes that have sold in your area (within a 1 - 2 mile radius) within the last 6 -12 months meeting the same characteristics of yours. Keep in mind that you can't list it for more than it's worth, so if it won't appraise for $177K, you can't list it at that price. Hope this helps. If you need anything else, please contact me directly. Have a great day!
3. It depends on where you live but you should expect to pay around 6 or 7% commission to the real estate company. So, if you sell your house for $170k then the commission would be $11,900 if it's 7%. Some real estate agents will negotiate the commission rate. Also, if "Assist to Sell" is in your area, they charge a flat rate instead of a percentage. You pay taxes on the profit you made. You can look on www.irs.gov and find out information. There should be a publication about selling your house. It sounds like $177k would be a good place to start. Have you looked to see what else is on the market in your area? You don't want to price your's way above the others or it won't sell. By the way, if you haven't listed your house with a real estate agent yet, there's a program called how to sell your house in 5 days. I got a book from the library explaining it so you might look at the library or search the Internet. If you sell it yourself then you save the commission.
4. It may also be helpful to point out you pay both your realtor & the buyer's realtor's commissions..so for a home sold at $170K, then the commission would depend on each realtor's askign commission, but i'd say about 8% for both, so that would be: $13,600.
5. I'm a Realtor too in the Orlando market, if that helps. Realtors are typically paid their commission by the seller, who pays the commission in a negotiated lump sum to the listing agents brokerage and that brokerage pays the buyers agent the amount the seller agreed to at time of listing. This amount is paid only at closing, so if you don't close you don't pay. The amount of commission is negotiable and 5%-8% is typical. Price is determined as previously written and the realtor will negotiate the offer price between you and your buyer so you would give her direction and she would carry out the negotiation. You need to check with your accountant about taxes as every situation is different. Hope that helps.