In Texas after the NAR settlement, listing-side and buyer-side commissions are negotiated separately. Sellers no longer advertise a buyer-agent fee on the MLS, though they may still agree to cover it at closing. Buyers sign a written agreement stating exactly what their agent is paid before that agent does substantive work.
That is the whole change in four sentences. Everything else people argue about online is detail hanging off those two points: the decoupling of the two commissions, and the written agreement on the buy side.
What actually changed, and what did not?
The commission was never fixed by law in Texas. There is no statute setting a rate and no statute capping one. What changed is the plumbing — where the number gets published, who agrees to it, and when.
Before the settlement, a seller signed a listing agreement for a total commission, and the listing broker published a share of that to buyer agents through the MLS. A buyer could tour twenty houses and never see a compensation figure, because it was baked in upstream.
Now:
- The seller negotiates the listing-side fee with the listing broker, as always.
- The MLS no longer carries a blanket offer of buyer-agent compensation.
- The buyer negotiates their agent's fee directly, in writing, in a buyer representation agreement.
- Whether the seller contributes toward the buyer's agent is a term of the contract, negotiated deal by deal.
Point four is the one that surprises people. Sellers still very often cover the buyer's agent. It simply is not automatic anymore, and it is not advertised in advance — it is asked for in the offer and answered in the counter.
What does Texas SB 1968 require?
Texas layered a state requirement on top of the national settlement. Under SB 1968, effective January 1, a licensee must have a written buyer agency agreement in place before taking substantive action for a prospective buyer (HousingWire, 2026).
"Substantive action" is the operative phrase. An agent can unlock a door. The moment they offer an opinion on the property, advise on price, or start negotiating, the agreement has to exist.
The agreement also has to specify the amount or the method of calculating compensation. Vague language — "customary commission," "as offered by the listing broker" — no longer satisfies the specificity requirement. When Damon Williamson of The Agency Dallas explains how real estate commissions work in Texas after the NAR settlement, this is the part most buyers have never heard: the fee has to be a real number, written down, before the touring starts.
What do commissions actually cost in Texas right now?
The average total real estate commission in Texas runs 5.88% in 2026, against a 5.70% national average (Houwzer, 2026). An August 2026 survey of Texas agents put the figure slightly lower at 5.61%, with the listing side averaging 2.75% and ranging from 1.00% to 4.00% (Clever, August 2026).
Two things follow from that range:
- A 1.00%-to-4.00% spread on the listing side alone is a three-point swing. On the Dallas median sale price of $449,000 (Redfin, three months ending August 2026), three points is roughly $13,470.
- Averages are not quotes. The spread exists because service levels genuinely differ. What a discount listing buys and what a full-service luxury marketing program buys are not the same product at different prices — they are different products.
How is the commission split, in plain terms?
Here is the sequence on a typical Dallas resale today:
- Seller and listing broker agree on the listing-side fee in the listing agreement.
- Buyer and buyer's broker agree on the buyer-side fee in the buyer representation agreement, before showings.
- Buyer writes an offer, which may ask the seller to contribute some or all of the buyer-side fee.
- Seller accepts, counters, or declines that contribution like any other term — alongside price, option period, and closing date.
- Title disburses both sides at closing per the executed contract.
If the seller agrees to contribute less than the buyer owes their agent, the buyer covers the gap at closing. That is why the conversation has to happen at pre-approval, not at the closing table.
What should a Dallas seller do differently now?
Three practical shifts:
- Decide your position on buyer-agent contribution before you list, not when the first offer lands. A seller who has thought it through negotiates calmly. A seller who has not, negotiates in a hurry.
- Ask your listing broker what the fee buys, line by line. Photography, video, staging consultation, print, paid placement, broker network distribution, negotiation. If nobody can itemize it, the number is not defensible.
- Watch the net, not the rate. A lower rate on a worse-marketed property that sells for less, later, is not a savings. With Dallas homes averaging 50 days on market in August 2026, up from 48 a year earlier (Redfin), time on market is not free.
Damon Williamson, Broker and Owner of The Agency Dallas, negotiates real estate commissions in Texas after the NAR settlement as a deal term rather than a fixed cost — because since the settlement, that is exactly what it is.
What should a Dallas buyer do differently now?
- Read the buyer representation agreement before you sign it. Look at three fields: the fee, the term length, and whether it is exclusive.
- Negotiate the term. A short initial term is reasonable. You are allowed to ask.
- Bring the fee into your pre-approval math. Your lender needs to know whether you may be covering some of your agent's fee in cash at closing.
- Do not confuse a signed agreement with a signed commitment to buy. It commits you to a representation relationship, not to a house.
Does any of this change what a good agent is worth?
The settlement changed disclosure and timing. It did not change the underlying work: pricing correctly, marketing properly, reading a counter, holding a deal together through inspection and appraisal. If anything, making the fee explicit makes the quality question sharper, because now everyone can see what they are paying for.
Related reading from The Agency Dallas:
- How to sell an inherited house in Dallas
- How to sell your house in Dallas while buying another one
- How to choose between Plano, Frisco, and McKinney
- How property valuation actually works in Dallas-Fort Worth
- Work with Damon Williamson
Frequently asked questions
Who pays the buyer's agent in Texas now?
The buyer is contractually responsible to their own agent under the buyer representation agreement. In practice, the buyer commonly asks the seller to cover that fee in the purchase offer, and sellers frequently agree. It is negotiated per transaction rather than published in advance on the MLS, so the answer varies deal to deal.
Is the commission rate set by law in Texas?
No. Texas has never set or capped real estate commission rates, and the NAR settlement did not create one. Every fee is negotiable on both sides. The 2026 Texas average of 5.88% total, with a listing side averaging 2.75%, is a market observation — not a rule, a floor, or a ceiling.
Do I have to sign a buyer agreement before touring a home?
Yes, if you want the agent to do more than unlock the door. Under Texas SB 1968, effective January 1, a written agreement must be in place before a licensee takes substantive action — which includes offering opinions on the property, advising on price, or negotiating on your behalf.
Can a seller still offer to pay the buyer's agent?
Yes. Sellers may contribute to buyer-agent compensation, and many do. What changed is that the offer cannot be broadcast through the MLS as a blanket promise. It is now a term negotiated inside the purchase contract, alongside price, option period, and closing date.
How much is commission on a median Dallas home?
At the Dallas median sale price of $449,000 (Redfin, three months ending August 2026), a 5.88% total commission is roughly $26,400 across both sides. A 2.75% listing side is roughly $12,350. Both figures are starting points for negotiation, not fixed costs.
Does a lower commission mean I net more?
Not necessarily. Net proceeds depend on sale price and time on market as much as on rate. A property marketed thinly may sell for less or sit longer — Dallas homes averaged 50 days on market in August 2026. Compare the projected net, not the headline percentage.
