How do real estate commissions work in Fort Worth?
Broker compensation is set in private contracts — one on each side of the deal. On the seller’s side it lives in the listing agreement, which Texas does not publish or standardize: TREC promulgates the sales contract, but calls the listing agreement “a private contract between a real estate broker and a property owner.” On the buyer’s side it lives in a written representation agreement, which since August 17, 2024 has to state an objective figure before the buyer tours a home. Whatever the parties agree is paid at closing through the title company — and under Texas law none of it is collectable unless it is in writing and signed.
By Eric Duran, The Fort Real Estate | September 21, 2026
This is the question I get most often, and it usually arrives with a note of suspicion — as if there’s a published number somewhere that agents would rather not discuss.
There isn’t. That’s not a dodge, it’s the actual structure, and once you see how the machinery is built the rest of it makes sense. So rather than tell you what things cost, I’m going to show you where the number is written down, when it is owed, and how it gets paid. You can then read your own paperwork and know exactly what you agreed to.
Where the number actually lives
Two documents, one per side. They are separate contracts and they are negotiated separately.
The seller’s side: the listing agreement. This is worth dwelling on, because Texas is unusual here. TREC — the state regulator — publishes the residential sales contract, and a license holder is required to use it. But when asked whether it publishes a listing agreement, TREC’s answer is:
“No. A listing agreement is a private contract between a real estate broker and a property owner and is not promulgated by TREC. The Texas Association of Realtors (TAR) provides certain forms to its members. If you are a member, you may find a listing agreement form that meets your needs through TAR. Otherwise, you should consult with a private attorney.”
Read that carefully. The state standardizes the contract that transfers your house. It does not standardize the agreement that sets your agent’s fee, because that agreement is between you and a broker. There is no state form, no official figure, and nothing to look up — which is precisely why the terms are whatever the two of you write down.
The fee is not the only negotiable term in that document, and the others catch people out. Two worth asking about specifically: how long the agreement runs, and what happens when it ends. Listing agreements carry a term and an expiration date, and many include a protection period — a window after expiration during which the broker may still be owed compensation if the home sells to someone they introduced. None of that is fixed by statute either, which means all of it is a conversation to have before you sign rather than a discovery to make afterwards.
The buyer’s side: the written representation agreement. Since August 2024, a buyer working with an agent signs this before touring a home, and it has to carry a real number. Industry requirements say the compensation must be “objective (e.g., $0, X flat fee, X percent, X hourly rate)—and not open-ended,” and specifically that it cannot be written as “whatever the amount the seller is offering to the buyer.” The same requirements call for “a conspicuous statement that broker fees and commissions are fully negotiable and not set by law.”
If you are weighing whether to pay a buyer’s agent at all as a seller, that’s a different question and I’ve written about it separately in whether you can sell your own house in Fort Worth. This post is about how the fee works once you’ve decided to use one.
What changed in August 2024, and why it matters to you
Two practice changes took effect on August 17, 2024, and between them they rearranged how this conversation happens.
First, compensation came off the MLS. Offers of compensation to a buyer’s broker “are no longer allowed on Multiple Listing Service (MLS) platforms.” Sellers can still offer compensation — it’s just negotiated off the MLS now, or offered as a buyer concession, which is still permitted on the MLS.
The practical effect is that it became a negotiation rather than a posting. It used to be advertised to every agent in the market; now it’s a term in your deal.
Second, and this is the part almost nobody tells buyers: your written agreement includes a term that prohibits your agent “from receiving compensation for brokerage services from any source that exceeds the amount or rate agreed to in the agreement with the buyer.”
That sentence is a protection, and it’s worth understanding. The figure in your buyer agreement is a ceiling, not a starting point. If a seller offers more than what you and your agent wrote down, your agent cannot pocket the difference. It has to come back to the deal. I’d read that clause before signing anything, and I’d ask any agent to walk you through it.
What this means in practice depends on which side you’re on. If you’re selling, whether to offer anything toward a buyer’s agent is now a deliberate decision you make with your agent as part of pricing and positioning the home — not a box that fills itself in when the listing goes live. If you’re buying, the figure you sign governs your side of it regardless of what any particular seller chooses to do.
Earned, owed, and paid are three different moments
Most explanations blur these together. Separating them is where the actual understanding lives.
- Earned is defined by your agreement — what the broker has to accomplish, and by when. It is a contract term, not a custom, so read what yours says.
- Owed is a matter of Texas statute. Under Texas Occupations Code § 1101.806(c), no one “may maintain an action in this state to recover a commission for the sale or purchase of real estate” unless the agreement “is in writing and signed by the party against whom the action is brought.” A handshake is not collectable here. That cuts both ways, and it is a good reason to get every version of the arrangement in writing.
- Paid happens at the closing table. Texas is a title-and-escrow state — no attorney is required — so the title company disburses from the sale proceeds according to the signed agreements, and the amount appears as a line item on the settlement statement or Closing Disclosure you sign.
One more thing worth knowing about where authority ends. If you have a fee dispute afterward, TREC is not the venue you might expect: it states plainly that it “has no jurisdiction or authority to enforce collection of such amounts,” and can only order a refund in narrow circumstances tied to its own disciplinary process.
There’s one more document Texas puts in front of you, and it’s the one everybody skims. At the first substantive communication about a specific property, a license holder has to give you TREC’s Information About Brokerage Services notice — currently Form IABS 1-2, effective January 1, 2026. It isn’t a contract and it doesn’t commit you to anything. It sets out who the broker represents and what duties they owe you. Since “who is paying whom” and “who represents whom” are different questions that get conflated constantly, it’s worth the two minutes it takes to read.
Which brings the whole thing back to one point. Your leverage is at signing, not afterwards. The document is private, the number is negotiable, and the time to ask what you are agreeing to is before your signature is on it — whether you’re listing a home in Tanglewood or Arlington Heights, or buying anywhere in Tarrant County.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are real estate commissions set by law in Texas?
No. They are not set by law, by TREC, by any MLS, or by any association. TREC publishes the residential sales contract but not the listing agreement, which it describes as “a private contract between a real estate broker and a property owner.” Industry requirements also mandate a conspicuous written statement that broker fees “are fully negotiable and not set by law.”
Who pays the buyer’s agent now?
It’s negotiated rather than assumed. Since August 17, 2024, offers of compensation can’t be published on the MLS. A seller can still offer compensation off the MLS, or offer a buyer concession on the MLS instead, or the buyer can pay their agent directly under their own written agreement. Which of those happens is a term of your specific transaction.
Do I have to sign a buyer representation agreement before looking at homes?
If you’re working with an agent who uses an MLS, yes — a written agreement is required before touring, including live virtual tours. It has to state an objective figure rather than an open-ended one. You don’t need an agreement just to speak with an agent at an open house or to ask about their services.
When is a commission actually owed in Texas?
When your written agreement says it is earned — and only if that agreement is in writing and signed. Texas Occupations Code § 1101.806(c) bars anyone from suing to recover a real estate commission unless the promise “is in writing and signed by the party against whom the action is brought.” An unsigned understanding isn’t collectable.
Where does the commission show up at closing?
As a line item on the settlement statement or Closing Disclosure. In Texas the closing runs through a title company rather than an attorney, and the title company disburses from the sale proceeds according to the signed agreements. You’ll see the figure before you sign — and you should reconcile it against what your agreement says.
The short version: there is no published rate to look up, because the fee lives in a private contract that you negotiate and sign. What you can do is read both documents carefully, ask what each term means, and make sure the number in front of you matches what you agreed to.
If you’d like someone to go through a listing agreement or a buyer representation agreement with you line by line before you sign — mine or anyone’s — I’m happy to do that. Reach out anytime at 817-703-1333.
About Eric Duran
Eric Duran is the founder and Realtor behind The Fort Real Estate, a boutique brokerage in Fort Worth, Texas. A former firefighter and paramedic, he’s guided buyers and sellers across West Fort Worth since 2020 — from TCU, Colonial, and Tanglewood to Ridglea, Arlington Heights, and the new builds out in Aledo. He has been recognized as a Fort Worth Real Producers Top Agent in 2025 and 2026, a list ranked by MLS sales volume and limited to the top 1,000 agents in the market, and was featured in the magazine as an “Agent on the Rise” in May 2025. Reach Eric at 817-703-1333 or thefortre.com.