Real Estate Agent Commission in Washington State

A few recent studies (Feb 2025) show the average Real Estate Commission in Washington State as 5.18%.

Remember, this commission is typically paid by the seller to their Listing Agent when the home sells.  

For a home in Seattle that sells for $850,000, and has a 5.18% commission, the seller would pay $44,030 ($850,000 * 5.18%) to their Listing Agent.  

The Listing Agent splits this commission between themself and the Buyer’s Agent (the Real Estate Agent who represented the buyer in the home purchase).  

So, each Real Estate Agent (Listing Agent and Buyer Agent) will receive $22,015 commission.  

At Joy, we rebate 70% of the Buyer’s Agent Commission back to the home buyer!  

Using the example above, if you were to buy a home with Joy, you would receive $15,410.50 ($22,015 * 70%) at closing.  

You can use this $15,410.50 to help cover closing costs and buy down your interest rate!  

Typical closing costs include Real Estate Appraisals, Title Insurance, Escrow Fees, Recording Fees, Taxes, etc. These costs often add up to 1% - 3% of the total price of the home you buy.  

Additionally, using Joy’s 70% commission rebate to buy down your interest rate can significantly lower your monthly mortgage costs!  

For example, if you bought a $850,000 home with a 20% down payment on a 30 year fixed mortgage with an interest rate of 6.7%, your monthly mortgage payment would be $4,387.89.  

BUT if you were able to buy down your interest rate to 5.7%, your monthly mortgage payment would be $3,946.72! 

That’s a monthly mortgage savings of $441.17, which is an annual savings of $5,294.04, which equates to a savings of $158,821.20 over the life of the loan!  

Maybe it time to buy a home with Joy and keep some of that commission for yourself!