Short Sale Home » short sale faq » Short Sale Commissions

Realtor commissions can feel up for grabs in any short sale transaction, especially those that do not involve Fannie Mae. To ease the uncertainty, can Realtors be sure that they are going to get all their commission paid during a short sale?

In reality, Realtors cannot be sure that they won’t get their commission reduced by banks, other than Fannie Mae. There are not any rules to protect the Realtor’s commission, but it remains in the power of the Realtor to be professional and take on cases.

Thankfully, on all Fannie Mae loans, banks cannot lower a Realtor’s commission than 6%. Most short sales have seen lowered Realtor commissions to 5%. Unfortunately many Realtors who try to stand their ground on their commission during negotiations are just blown off by the bank as it all depends on how the numbers work out.

Per Fannie Mae:

Effective March 1, 2009, closing of preforeclosures sales may not be conditioned upon a reduction of the total commission to be paid to real estate agents to a level below what was negotiated by the listing agent with the borrower, unless the fee exceeds 6 percent of the sales price of the property in aggregate. Servicers are reminded that they must continue to obtain any approvals that may be required by interested third parties in connection with preforeclosure sales.