Last updated August 16, 2026 by Matthew McMahon.
Chicago buyer guide
Who Pays the Buyer’s Agent Commission Now?
The short answer: it is negotiated in every single deal. Since the NAR settlement took effect in August 2024, the seller no longer pre-commits a buyer-agent fee just by listing on the MLS. Your agent’s fee is set in a written agreement you sign before touring, and the money comes from the seller, from you, or both, depending on what your offer negotiates.
Licensed Illinois Brokerage #481.014232 · Commission rates are negotiable and not set by law · All figures are estimates
That is the whole system. The rest of this page is what it means in practice for a Chicago buyer.
What Actually Changed in 2024
Traditionally, commission worked like this: the seller signed a listing agreement at a percentage, and part of that percentage was offered to whichever agent brought the buyer. The offer of buyer-agent compensation was published on the MLS, so by the time you toured a home, the fee was already baked in and nobody discussed it with you.
The two rules the settlement removed
The settlement removed two pieces of that machine:
- Buyer-agent compensation cannot be advertised on the MLS anymore. Sellers can still offer it, but it is negotiated deal by deal instead of posted upfront.
- Buyers must sign a written agreement before touring. The agreement states what your agent charges. You see the number, in writing, before you are committed to anything.
What stayed the same
What did not change: the work still exists, and someone still pays for it. The question every buyer now has to answer is how big that number is and how it travels through the deal.
How the Fee Travels Through Your Offer
Here is the part almost nobody explains. When your offer asks the seller to fund your agent’s compensation, that request is part of what the seller evaluates. Two offers at the same price are not the same offer:
| Offer A | Offer B | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $500,000 | $500,000 |
| Buyer-agent compensation requested | $12,500 (example 2.5%) | $6,905 (flat-fee balance) |
| Seller keeps | $487,500 | $493,095 |
The seller compares nets. Offer B wins the comparison at the identical price, because it carries a smaller request. This is why the size of your agent’s fee is not just a cost question. It is an offer-strength question.
The Three Ways It Gets Paid
- Seller-funded, negotiated in the offer. Still the most common outcome in Chicago. Your offer requests it, the seller weighs it against everything else in your terms.
- Buyer-funded. If a seller offers nothing, the fee in your representation agreement is yours. With a percentage agreement that can mean a five-figure surprise. With a flat fee it is a known, bounded number from day one.
- Split. The seller funds part, you cover the difference.
What the new rules honestly mean for buyers
I believe the honest reading of the new rules is this: the settlement did not lower anyone’s fee, it just handed buyers the ability to choose what their representation costs and to feel that choice in the strength of their offers. Buyers who sign a 2.5 percent agreement in 2026 are choosing the old system voluntarily.
What This Looks Like With a Flat Fee
Net Gain Realty represents buyers for a flat $7,500, with a $595 initial fee credited toward the total. The offer we write for you requests only the remaining $6,905 balance from the seller, never a percentage. What that changes about your offer, and about your downside if a seller refuses to fund anything, is arithmetic, and it is worked through on this site: what a buyer’s agent costs in Chicago and flat fee versus percentage on the buy side.
Rules and norms described as of July 2026. Compensation in any specific transaction is negotiated between the parties.
Questions sellers ask
Who pays the buyer's agent commission in 2026?
It is negotiated in every deal. The buyer signs an agreement with their agent that states the fee. From there, the money can come from the seller (as negotiated compensation or a concession written into the offer), from the buyer directly, or a combination. Since the 2024 NAR settlement, nothing about it is automatic, and the seller no longer pre-commits a buyer-agent fee just by listing.
Did the NAR settlement make buyer's agents free or cheaper?
No. It changed the mechanics, not the existence of the fee. Buyer-agent compensation can no longer be advertised on the MLS, and buyers must sign a written agreement stating their agent's fee before touring. Most Chicago sellers still choose to offer buyer-agent compensation to attract offers, but it is a per-deal negotiation now.
Can the seller still pay my agent?
Yes. Your offer can request that the seller fund your agent's compensation, and in most Chicago transactions that is still what happens. The difference from the old system is that the amount rides on your offer as a request the seller weighs, which means a bigger request makes your offer heavier and a smaller one makes it lighter.
What happens if the seller refuses to pay buyer-agent compensation?
Then the fee in your buyer representation agreement is yours to cover, which is why the number in that agreement matters so much. This is also where a flat fee changes the risk: Net Gain Realty's flat fee is $7,500 with $595 paid at signing, so the worst case is a $6,905 balance, about 1.4 percent of a $500,000 purchase, a bounded number known from day one. An example 2.5 percent on that same home is $12,500, which most buyers cannot simply add to their closing costs.
Do I have to sign a buyer representation agreement?
In practice yes. Under the post-settlement rules, agents must have a written agreement with a buyer before touring homes with them. Read the fee line before signing. It is the single most important number in the document, and it is negotiable.
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