Are Real Estate Commissions Negotiable?

Key Takeaways

• No law, agency, or association sets real estate commission rates in Idaho.
• Written buyer agreements must disclose that commissions are fully negotiable.
• Rate and scope of service are two separate levers, and both move.
• A buyer agent cannot be paid more than your agreement specifies unless both parties agree in an addendum.
• The cheapest quote and the best net outcome are not always the same thing.

What the Rules Say

• Commissions are not set by law and are fully negotiable, disclosure required in buyer agreements, per NAR
• Buyer agent compensation must be objectively ascertainable, not open-ended, per NAR
• An agent may not receive more than the agreed amount from any source, per NAR, unless both parties agree in an addendum
• Ada County's median sale price was $595,000 in August 2026, per Boise Regional REALTORS
• Ada County homes averaged 37 days on market in August, per BRR

Want to know what you would actually net at a given rate and price? Talk with our team and we will put real numbers on paper before you sign anything.

Why There Is No Standard Rate

Any figure presented to you as the going rate is a brokerage's own pricing, not a market standard.

Setting or coordinating commission rates across competing brokerages would be a serious antitrust problem, which is precisely why no association or regulator publishes one. Individual brokerages set their own fees, and those fees vary by firm, by service level, by property type, and by market conditions. Two agents in the same Meridian office can quote differently on the same house.

The number you hear most often is a number a lot of firms landed on independently, and familiarity gets mistaken for a rule. It is not one. When an agent tells you what they charge, they are telling you their price, and you are allowed to respond the way you would to any other quote.

What you should not expect is that every agent will move. Some hold their rate and are worth it. Some discount and deliver less. The point is not that lower is better. The point is that the conversation is legitimate and you should have it.

What You Are Actually Buying

Rate alone is a bad way to compare, because the same percentage buys wildly different things.

On the listing side, ask what is included. Professional photography, drone or video, staging consultation or actual staging, floor plans, paid placement beyond the standard syndication, print, open houses, and who physically shows the home. A lower rate that omits professional photography on a $595,000 asset, in a county where the median was exactly that in August, per Boise Regional REALTORS, is a false economy. Photos are what buyers see first.

Ask who does the work. Some rates buy the named agent, some buy a transaction coordinator and an assistant, and some buy whoever is available. Neither model is wrong, but you should know which one you are paying for before you are three weeks into escrow wondering why the person you hired has not called.

On the buyer side, the same logic applies. An agent who previews homes, knows which Eagle subdivisions have well and septic, and gets the association documents into your hands early is doing different work than one who forwards listings. With homes averaging 37 days on market countywide, per BRR, the value of someone paying attention daily is real.

How to Negotiate Without Wrecking the Outcome

There is a version of this conversation that gets you a better deal and a version that gets you a worse sale. The difference is what you ask for.

Ask about scope rather than price alone. If a rate is higher than you expected, ask what would come out of the service package at a lower one. Sometimes the honest answer is nothing much, and you have found room. Sometimes it is the marketing that actually sells the house, and you have learned why the rate is what it is.

Ask about the structure. There are more shapes than a single flat percentage: tiered rates that change above a target price, different terms if the brokerage represents both sides, reduced rates for a seller who is also buying through the same agent. Those structures can align incentives better than a straight discount does.

Consider what the discount costs you in negotiation. An agent who folds immediately on their own fee, without discussion, has just shown you how they will handle a lowball offer on your home. That is not an argument against negotiating. It is an argument for watching how they do it.

And run the net, not the rate. On a sale, what matters is the number on your closing statement after fees, concessions, and repairs, not the percentage line. A listing that sells for more, faster, at a higher rate can beat a cheaper one easily. Ask any agent quoting you a rate to show you their pricing strategy and their own track record on time to sell, measured against the county's 37 days in August, per BRR.

What Cannot Be Negotiated Away

A few things are fixed, and knowing them keeps you out of trouble.

Compensation cannot be written as an open-ended term. Language like whatever the seller is offering is specifically not permitted, per the same rule. If you are handed an agreement with vague compensation language, that is a document problem, not a flexible arrangement.

And in Idaho, paying someone does not make them your representative. The state's agency disclosure brochure states that signing a compensation agreement leaves you a customer unless you also sign a representation agreement, per Idaho DOPL. Negotiating a rate is worth nothing if the document you signed does not actually obligate anyone to protect your interests.

If you are getting ready to sell and want to see how pricing and fees interact on your specific home, our selling page covers how we approach it.

Ready to talk numbers without a sales pitch attached? Call us at 208-789-4320 and we will show you the math.

What This Looks Like at a Listing Appointment

The fee conversation goes better when you drive it, and four questions do most of the work.

What exactly is included at this rate? Ask for the list in writing. Photography, video, floor plans, staging, syndication, open houses, print, and who is physically present at showings. A written list turns an abstract percentage into a comparable product, and it makes two competing quotes actually comparable.

What is your pricing strategy for my home, and what does the data support it? An agent recommending a number should be able to show you the comparable sales and explain how they chose them. In a county where the median was $595,000 in August and homes averaged 37 days on market, per Boise Regional REALTORS, a price recommendation well outside the local pattern needs a reason behind it.

What happens if the home does not sell? Ask about the term of the listing agreement, whether it renews, and what the plan is at week four if showings are thin. An agent with a clear answer has done this before. An agent who only has an answer for the best case is planning on luck.

How do you handle a request from a buyer for compensation? Since this is now negotiated in each transaction, your listing agent should be able to explain how they will evaluate those requests against net proceeds, rather than treating every one as an insult or accepting every one automatically.

Take notes and compare afterward. The rate is one line among several, and it is rarely the line that determines what you walk away with.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the standard commission rate in Idaho?

There is not one. No law, agency, or association sets commission rates, and each brokerage prices independently. Any number described to you as standard is that firm's own rate or a common industry figure, not a requirement.

Can I ask an agent to lower their rate?

Yes, and it is a normal business conversation. The more useful version asks what changes in the service package at a different rate, so you can compare what you are actually buying rather than just the percentage.

Does a lower commission mean my house sells for less?

Not automatically, but it can if the reduction removes marketing that drives buyer traffic. Judge the net proceeds and the pricing strategy together, not the fee line by itself.

Who decides what the buyer's agent gets paid now?

You do, in your written buyer agreement, and that figure caps what your agent can receive from any source, per NAR. Sellers may still contribute toward it as a negotiated concession.

Are listing and buyer commissions negotiated separately?

They can be, and increasingly they are. A seller negotiates what they pay their own listing brokerage, and separately decides whether to contribute toward the buyer's agent as part of an offer.

Is a flat fee an option?

Some brokerages offer flat-fee or limited-service models. They are legitimate choices with real tradeoffs in what is included, so compare the service list carefully rather than just the headline number.

Does the rate affect how my home is shown?

It should not affect whether buyers see your home, since offers of compensation are no longer published through the MLS. It can affect what marketing your listing receives, which is the more meaningful variable.

About the Author

Denise Abmont is a REALTOR with Abmont Realty Group in the Treasure Valley. She would rather have a direct conversation about fees at the kitchen table than have a seller wonder about it for eight weeks. Reach her at 208-789-4320 or through the Abmont Realty Group team page.