Real Estate Agency Commission
The fee a traditional real estate agency charges for intermediating a sale or rental transaction, typically calculated as a percentage of the sale price or of the agreed rent.
Applies to Poland.
Definition
A real estate agency commission (prowizja agencji) is the payment an agency earns for services such as listing a property, arranging viewings, screening buyers or tenants, negotiating terms, and coordinating the paperwork leading up to a sale or lease. For sale transactions, commission is most commonly a percentage of the final sale price, while for rental transactions it is typically calculated as a percentage of the monthly rent or as the equivalent of one month's rent.
Who pays the commission, and how it is split, depends on the agreement each party signs with an agency: some agencies represent only the seller or landlord, others represent only the buyer or tenant, and in some arrangements both sides pay their own agency separately. It's common for a commission to only become due once a transaction actually closes, under an exclusivity or intermediation agreement signed before the search begins.
Because commission is negotiable and varies by agency, city, and property type, buyers, sellers, tenants, and landlords are generally free to negotiate the rate or compare it across agencies before signing an intermediation agreement.
Examples
A seller signs an agreement with an agency that will earn a percentage-based commission on the final sale price once the transaction closes.
A tenant working with an agency to find a rental unit is quoted a commission equivalent to one month's rent, payable once the lease is signed.
A buyer compares two agencies' commission rates before deciding which one to work with for a property search.
How this affects buying and selling
Understanding who is contractually obligated to pay the commission — and under what conditions it becomes due — is worth confirming in writing before starting a search or listing a property, since expectations can otherwise diverge between the parties involved. Commission is a standard, legitimate cost of working with a traditional intermediary, and buyers or sellers who transact directly with each other, without an agency, do not incur this cost.
