OK, who cares as long as it gets paid! 

it's all built into the sale price and the seller takes it off the top.... it comes from the proceeds!!!

Tony and Suzanne - I would have to agree with Michael Jacobs and Patricia Kennedy.

The Seller pays the commission.  It is coming out of their proceeds.  Does not matter if the "built it in", the home still has to appraise.

Seems like a question of semantics to me.

Ms. Barbara Todaro said it well.

I consider fees and commission are part of the "market" price of the home.

 What does the listing contract say?

its a cost of doing business... somehow we got onto the seller being responsible. hence fisbo's became popular. it is a Big Brother Realtor thing. which makes some sense. there is NO FREE LUNCH.

It's usually built into the sales price.  At the end of the day, it's the seller who pays the commission, just like when you buy something at a store and pay the sales tax, it's really the merchant who pays it to the tax board, not you.

All commissions on property sold are paid by seller from proceeds of sale.

Tony and Suzanne Marriott, Associate Brokers The commission is the fee negotiated with the seller to be paid from the proceeds of the sale.

The seller is not always paying the total commission.  The seller may be paying a nominal or small commission and the buyer may be paying an additional commission.  Reference to the relevant agreements and other documents is necessary to see who is paying what.

I suppose you can argue that the buyer is paying the seller's commission, since it's built into the sale price and final net to seller.

The contract says the seller is selling at  a certain price and will pay a certain fee. 

Good morning Tony and Suzanne Marriott, Associate Brokers. This discussion has been around forever. In my mind the seller is the one that is paying the commission, no matter if it is built in or not.

Tony and Suzanne Marriott, Associate Brokers we all know - only one party has ALL the money, and that is buyer!

The Purchase contracts in Indiana indicate the Seller is responsible.  Both the Buy and Seller makes it official when the contract is signed.

I don't understand the thinking that the buyer pays it. In my experience, ALL listing agreements indicate the amount of money the seller agrees to pay the listing brokerage.  The proceeds the buyer brings to the table is the sellers money!  I repeat, it is the sellers money.    In exchange for this money, the seller agrees to give the buyer possession and ownership of the home.  The commission (and other seller expenses) is paid from the sellers proceeds.  The seller pays the commission.  

Obviously nobody gets paid anything unless there's a buyer. That's why you have a contract stipulating who gets their piece of the pie, and who covers what in case the pie isn't big enough.

In our market, even the FSBOs are listing their homes for fair market value, and not reducing to remove commissions.

My thjought is the buyer pays for it either in cash or in building it into a 30 year mortage. A seller looks at net, not gross.

Which came first the chicken or the egg?

is it the chicken or the egg?