Speaking as a real estate broker, most agents will take a 5% commission on a $1.5M listing, as well as a 4% commission. The key thing you have to remember is that on page 1, paragraph 4.D.(1) of the C.A.R. (California Association of REALTORS) Residential Listing Agreement, make sure they are offering 3% to the buyer's agent! An agent might agree to a lesser commission but unless a set amount is specified to go towards the buyer's agent in the contract, they are free to offer any amount of commission they choose (which at 5% they might only offer 2.5% to the other agent, or maybe even 2%).

Where I live in central Missouri, commissions with all agents in the area ar 7%. I feel that the 7% is plenty!

We just signed our listing contract yesterday. Our agreement was for a commision of 5%.

Sooey

We negotiated a 5% (2% to listing agent) commission in Colorado, on our house listed for $175K.

If you are willing to price the house at amount it could realistically sell for, I can't see why most agents wouldn't jump at getting a $30,000 commission (2% of $1.5 mil). Even if they have to split it with the broker, that's still $15,000!

Just make sure that whomever you choose as your agent comes highly recommended. There are plenty of less-than-stellar agents all over CA who got into the business when houses were selling themselves. Get one of those, and you might as well go FSBO.

The listing agent for the house we just purchased (Northern CA) was PATHETIC! She went on vacation twice during the 1.5 months the home was listed (including the first weekend of the listin and the second time for over 2 weeks), and had some admin in the office handle all the paperwork throughout the process. Yes, the house sold, but did she deserve the $12K in commission that she got? I'd say no.

Our agent in FL got 4.5%.

jpok, sorry to hear about your bad experience with the listing agent on your new home. My guess is that she is not a CRS (Certified Residential Specialist)...am I right?

Let me share one of my stories on what happened with one of my listings that offered a 2.5% commission. There are some agents out there who have the audacity to "do absolutely nothing" when they are not getting the full 3% as the buyer's agent. My listing was a 10-acre parcel of vacant land and some buyers asked me to meet them to show them the property lines. They said they had an agent, but I found out later that the agent did not accompany them because she wanted to sell them a property that offered a 3% commission!

Later, I received an offer from the agent on behalf of the buyers. Once we came to an agreement, the other agent (not a CRS and also quite new in the business) flat out told me that I can handle the rest of the transaction because she was only getting 2.5% of $595,000 and she wasn't going to do anything more than collect her commission check. The sad thing is that not only has she never even been to the property to earn her $14,875.00, but her broker did not even have the courtesy to return my phone calls when she could not be reached. Now although this was the only time something like this happened to me, I'm sure there are more agents like her out there. Unfortunately, once the purchase contract is executed, both agents get paid at close of escrow, even if one agent did all the work! BTW, this took place in 2005 during a hot market and most buyer commissions were around 2-3% at the time, but in a slower market like today, it is beneficial to offer the buyer's agent a full 3% commission.

I live in So Cal, and recently sold a house in your price range. 5% is "full commission" here. During the hot market, I would suggest 4 or 4.5% commission, now with the slow down, 5% is normal. As for 3% to the selling, that is up to you, I offered 2.5%, it sold, with plenty of showings. You will get lots of showings at 2.5%.
Also, there are plenty of experienced, hard working, non CRS agents.
Just interview several agents, what area of CA are you in?

listed last year, at 4%...All 1st stated 6%, but within 1 minute ALL(5 agents) came down to 5%, and it took all of 5 minutes to get to 4%...2 others would have come down to 4.5%...It is negotiable

Hows this for an idea?
If sold & closed within 30 days; 3/3%
31-60 days 2.5/2.5%
61-90 days 2/2%

"Hows this for an idea?
If sold & closed within 30 days; 3/3%
31-60 days 2.5/2.5%
61-90 days 2/2%"
It all depends on where you are. Offer a co-op fee outside the range of your market, and you'll be on the market for a while.
The CRS or any other designation is no guarranty of good service, although I pride myself of providing it and not because I'm a CRS myself.
Interview agents before committing to them, do your homework!

The real question is not how much commission am I paying but which agent is going to put the most money in my pocket in the least amount of time with the least amount of aggravation. Ultimately the commission is a cost of the sale and the buyer is financing it, and this is the reason when buyers look at FSBO they are already deducting 3 to 6% from the price they are going to offer figuring why should the seller get all the money saved.

Interviewing, and actually checking references and past client's experiences with the Realtors is very important, since ultimately what you are hiring is the agents ability to successfully market your property.

Bumping to move troll spam down / off the page

It depends on your current market. Are you in an area where the average home is 1.5 mil or is this high end? If it is on the higher end, 5% is fine. All commissions are negotiable. If an agent tells you anything different, find another agent. If the average house in your area is priced over a million and its a buyers market, you might want to offer a higher commission so your house is the house that gets picked to be shown.

Thanks for the responses so far. The agent we plan to use was the agent we used when we bought the house we are about to sell (we're in Pasadena). He did a great job, so we are confident of his skills. Sounds like he won't flip out when we suggest the 5% commission, from the responses above. The $1.5m asking price is fairly typical in this neighborhood, so not at the high end. Is the buyer's commission agreed upon by the selling agent and written as an agreement between them?
Thx

The commission is posted in the MLS and agent is aware of the commission when they bring the buyer(s) to your house. There is a spot in the Listing Agreement where you can designate the amount of commission. The listing agent is then obligated to offer whatever is there to the Buyer's agent. FYI, agents are not representing their clients' interest by only taking them to houses that offer larger commissions (i.e. 3% or higher) I'm in So Cal and we see lots of 2.5%. It's a dangerous game that Buyer's agents play with informed Buyers today to pick and choose which houses their clients see based upon their commission. It is also unethical according to Realtor Code of Ethics.

I think in Pasadena 5% is typical, maybe 4.5, but only if your house easily sells itself. I'd go with 5% if you want to sell soon. You will easily find an agent to list for that. I'd also interview several in your area. I just sold my house in SoCal, I offered 2.5 to the buyer's agent.