Miami Real Estate Commission Changes: What Buyers Should Know

If you are buying a home in Miami, two concrete things changed after the National Association of Realtors (NAR) settled the antitrust case now known as Burnett v. NAR (formerly Sitzer/Burnett). As of August 17, 2024, a buyer's agent who participates in a Realtor-affiliated MLS must have a written buyer agreement signed before touring a home, and offers of buyer-broker compensation can no longer be published on that MLS [1][2]. Nothing in the settlement sets a commission rate. Commissions have always been negotiable and are not fixed by law [1]. What the settlement did was force the conversation about who pays your agent, and how much, into writing before you start looking.

For you as a buyer, the practical effect is simple: your agent's fee is now an explicit line item you negotiate and plan for, like a down payment or closing costs. Sellers can still offer to cover it, they just cannot advertise it through the MLS. Here is what changed, what did not, and how it lands in your cash to close in Florida.

Last updated: July 2026

The two rule changes that actually affect buyers

The settlement produced many headlines, but for a buyer only two rule changes matter day to day [1].

A written buyer agreement before you tour. Before an MLS-participant agent shows you a home, whether in person or in some cases on a live virtual tour, you and the agent must sign an agreement. That agreement has to state, conspicuously, the amount or rate of compensation the agent will receive, or exactly how it will be calculated. The number cannot be open-ended, and it cannot be described as set by law or by anyone else. You are agreeing to a specific figure, and you can negotiate it before you sign.

No offers of compensation on the MLS. Listing agents can no longer use the MLS to broadcast how much a buyer's agent will be paid. That field is gone. Compensation to a buyer's broker can still be offered and negotiated, it simply happens off-MLS now, through direct conversation, a seller concession, or the purchase contract [1].

Neither change tells anyone what to charge. Rates are negotiable and they vary from deal to deal.

Commissions were never set by law, and still are not

There has never been a legally required commission rate in the United States, and there is not one now. Any agent or brokerage that quotes you a "standard" or "going" rate as if it were fixed is describing a habit, not a rule. The settlement addressed exactly that kind of coordinated expectation.

If you want a historical reference point rather than a target, the Federal Reserve published a study in May 2025 that estimated the average buyer-side commission fell from about 3 percent in the late 1990s to about 2.7 percent by 2022 [3]. Treat that as an observed historical average from one national study, not as a number you should expect to pay or agree to. What your agent charges, and whether the seller offsets any of it, is something you settle in your own agreement and contract.

How agent compensation shows up in your cash to close

This is where a Miami buyer should slow down, because the settlement moved a cost that used to be invisible to you into a line you can see and plan around.

Think of it as three moving parts:

What you agreed to pay your agent, per your signed buyer agreement.
What, if anything, the seller agrees to contribute toward that fee, negotiated off-MLS and written into the contract as a concession.
How your lender treats that seller contribution.

The third part surprises people. Lenders cap how much an interested party, including the seller, can contribute toward your costs. For a conventional loan backed by Fannie Mae, interested-party contributions on a primary residence or second home are capped at 3 percent of value when your loan-to-value is above 90 percent, 6 percent when loan-to-value is between 75.01 and 90 percent, and 9 percent at 75 percent or below. On an investment property the cap is 2 percent at any loan-to-value [4]. If concessions exceed the cap, the excess is treated as a sales-price reduction and your financing is recalculated on the lower figure [4].

Here is the part that matters after the settlement: in April 2024, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac clarified that when a seller or the listing broker pays the buyer's agent commission in line with local common and customary practice, that amount does not count against the interested-party contribution cap [5]. So a seller covering your agent's fee generally does not eat into the concession room you may also want for closing costs or rate buy-downs, a real planning point on a Brickell condo where you are already budgeting tightly.

The downside to underwrite: if a seller will not contribute, your agent's fee comes out of your own cash, on top of the down payment and closing costs, and it is not financed into the loan. Model that number before you tour, not at the closing table.

Florida's default relationship: transaction brokerage

Separate from the NAR settlement, Florida has its own rules about how an agent represents you, and they did not change. Under Florida Statute 475.278, a licensee is presumed to operate as a transaction broker unless a single-agent or no-brokerage-relationship arrangement is established in writing [6]. A transaction broker provides a limited form of representation, deals honestly and fairly, accounts for funds, discloses known material defects, and presents offers, but does not owe you the full fiduciary loyalty of a single agent [6].

Why this matters alongside the settlement: you are now signing a written buyer agreement anyway, so it is the right moment to confirm which relationship you are in. If you want single-agent representation rather than the presumed transaction-broker role, that has to be put in writing. Florida Realtors publishes buyer-broker agreement forms that address both the relationship and the compensation. Do not treat either term as boilerplate. They are the two terms most worth reading closely.

Where the litigation and the rules stand as of July 2026

A few developments are worth knowing, and worth stating only as far as the record supports.

Final approval and the settlement amount. A federal judge granted final approval of NAR's settlement on November 26, 2024. The agreement includes a $418 million payment and released a broad group of NAR members, associations, and MLSs from the claims [7].

The appeal is still open. Objectors appealed, and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments on January 14, 2026. A decision was still pending as of mid-2026. Importantly, the practice changes, written buyer agreements and no compensation on the MLS, remain in effect while the appeal is decided [8].

The Department of Justice reserved its position. Before final approval, the DOJ filed a statement of interest cautioning that mandatory buyer-broker agreements could, in its view, restrain competition, and it stated that approving the settlement would not preclude future federal enforcement [9]. The DOJ has not endorsed the settlement as a safe harbor. That is a reason to watch this space rather than assume the rules are permanently settled.

Clear Cooperation Policy. In March 2025, NAR kept its Clear Cooperation Policy in place and added a "Multiple Listing Options for Sellers" framework, including a delayed-marketing exempt-listing category, with implementation required by September 30, 2025 [10]. For a buyer, that means some listings may be marketed off-MLS or on a delay, so an agent who can surface those is part of the value you now pay for directly.

I am writing this one straight because it involves how I get paid. The honest summary: the fee is negotiable, it is now transparent, and the right move is to treat it as one more underwriting line rather than a surprise at closing. To walk through your specific numbers, that is what a buyer consultation is for, and more questions are answered on our FAQ page.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to pay my buyer's agent out of pocket now? Not necessarily. You agree to a fee in your written buyer agreement, and a seller can still offer to cover some or all of it, negotiated off the MLS and written into the contract. If the seller does not contribute, the fee is your cost. Model both scenarios before you tour.

Is there a standard commission rate in Miami? No. There is no legally set rate, and there never was. Rates are negotiable and vary by deal. Any figure presented as "standard" is a custom, not a requirement.

Why do I have to sign an agreement before seeing a house? Because since August 17, 2024, an MLS-participant buyer's agent must have a signed written agreement stating their compensation before touring a home [1][2]. It is a good moment to also confirm, under Florida law, whether you are in a transaction-broker or single-agent relationship [6].

Can a seller still pay my agent, and will it hurt my loan? Yes, a seller can contribute. When a seller or listing broker pays the buyer's agent commission per local common and customary practice, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have clarified it generally does not count against interested-party contribution caps [5]. Other concessions, like help with closing costs, still count toward those caps [4]. Confirm the specifics with your lender.

Is the settlement final, or could the rules change again? Final approval was granted in November 2024, but an appeal was argued in January 2026 and remained undecided as of mid-2026, and the DOJ reserved the right to pursue future enforcement [8][9]. The current practice changes remain in effect in the meantime.

Gabriel

Sources

Gabriel A. Moyers, PA. eXp Realty. Florida License #3407280. Equal Housing Opportunity. This article is general information as of July 2026 and is not legal, tax, or financial advice. Verify current figures against authoritative sources before acting.