Who Pays Realtor Fees in Texas, and How Much?
Learn who pays real estate commissions in Texas and how much you might pay a Realtor to sell your house. See tips for the highest proceeds.
If you’re making plans to sell a home for the first time in the Lone Star State, it’s likely your initial question will be, “How much can I get for my home?” But there’s a second question that’s directly related to your proceeds, “Who pays Realtor fees in Texas?
In this post, we’ll answer this question and outline what you can expect in terms of Realtor fee amounts in Texas. We’ll also explain the often unknown path your real estate commission money takes after the sale.
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Who pays Realtor fees in Texas?
In a typical garden variety real estate transaction in Texas before August 2024, the Realtor fees were usually paid by the seller. On March 15, 2024, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) announced a landmark lawsuit settlement that changed the way real estate agent commissions are handled. These changes started in August 2024 and have “decoupled” seller and buyer agent compensation, putting the listing agent’s fee on the seller’s tab while buyers are now responsible for paying their own Realtor fees. However, in some markets, sellers are still offering to pay the buyer’s agent commissions.
What’s the average Realtor fee in Texas?
“While they can vary, 3% for each agent is pretty common — both on the buyer side and on the list agent’s side — for a total of 6%,” explains top-performing Dallas County agent Jeremy Larsen, who works with 65% more single-family homes than the average Dallas agent. “The 6% is calculated based on the sales price of the house.”
On a property worth the current statewide median home sale price of around $340,000, 6% amounts to $20,400 in commission costs for a seller who offers to pay the buyer’s agent fee on top of the listing agent fee.
“Some agents in Texas do charge a transaction fee, either themselves directly or through their brokerage,” Larsen explains. “I’ve seen transaction fees for buyers or sellers range from $200 to $495. It depends on the individual agent or brokerage, but that’s the minority of the cases; it’s not common.”
Using an overall statewide average of 6%, here’s a breakdown of how much you might pay in Realtor fees based on what a home sells for in six of the largest cities in Texas:
| Texas city | Median home price | Total transaction commission (6%) | Listing agent commission (3%) | Buyer’s agent commission (3%) |
| Houston | $340,000 | $20,400 | $10,200 | $10,200 |
| San Antonio | $311,000 | $18,660 | $9,330 | $9,330 |
| Dallas | $396,870 | $23,812 | $11,906 | $11,906 |
| Austin | $437,925 | $26,276 | $13,138 | $13,138 |
| Fort Worth | $396,870 | $23,812 | $11,906 | $11,906 |
| El Paso | $265,000 | $15,900 | $7,950 | $7,950 |
Median home price source: TexasRealEstate.com
HomeLight gathers agent commission data from cities throughout the U.S. To see if we have commission rates for your Texas city or town, try our Agent Commissions Calculator. You might also be interested in our Home Value Estimator to see what your home might be worth right now.
Still curious about Realtor fees in Texas? Here are the answers to a few common questions about agent commissions:
When is the Realtor fee paid?
In most cases, the Realtor fee will automatically be deducted from the sale proceeds at the time of closing. Until then, you typically won’t owe any money to the real estate agent.
