Buyers have been told for years that their agent is free because the seller pays. It never was. The fee is built into the price you pay for the house. You're paying it, just not on a line item.
Since the NAR settlement, it's even more direct. Buyers now sign a written agreement with their agent before touring homes, and if the seller won't cover the fee, the buyer owes whatever that agreement says.
The commission trap
A typical buyer's agent is paid 2 to 3 percent of the price. On a $1.5 million home, 2.5 percent is $37,500. That structure rewards the agent for:
- Closing quickly
- Closing high, since a higher price means a bigger check
- Getting you into something, even if it isn't quite right
An agent who negotiates $50,000 off your price takes a pay cut for doing it.
How a flat-fee buyer's broker works
At Arrivva, buyers pay $9,750 flat. Same fee on a $700,000 condo or a $3 million house.
Most listings still offer a buyer-broker fee. We keep $9,750 of it, and everything above that comes back to you as a rebate at closing.
| Purchase price | 2.5% buyer-broker fee | Arrivva fee | Your rebate |
|---|---|---|---|
| $800,000 | $20,000 | $9,750 | $10,250 |
| $1,200,000 | $30,000 | $9,750 | $20,250 |
| $2,000,000 | $50,000 | $9,750 | $40,250 |
What you can do with the rebate
- Strengthen your offer by crediting it to the seller, without raising your real cost
- Pay closing costs, up to your lender's limits
- Lower the price on a cash deal
- Take it as cash after closing
- Pair it with interim financing to compete as a cash buyer, then refinance
Rebates are generally treated as a reduction of your purchase price, not taxable income. Confirm with your tax advisor.
What full service includes
- Strategy. A call to understand your budget, timeline, and must-haves, and a search plan built around them.
- A preapproval that holds up. We fully underwrite you before you offer, so your bid competes nearly like cash.
- Search. Browse on Zillow, Redfin, or our property search, where every listing shows your estimated rebate.
- Valuation and offer strategy. We review disclosures and inspections with you and build a data-backed offer. Our broker, Fred Glick, writes the contract personally.
- Negotiation and escrow. Counters, inspections, lender updates, and title all happen in your private Slack channel, in real time.
- Closing. The buyer-broker fee minus our $9,750 comes back to you.
And we never represent the seller on the same deal. No dual agency, ever.
Common questions
What if the seller doesn't offer a buyer-broker fee? We'll walk you through your options before you write the offer, including asking for it as part of your terms.
Do sellers take flat-fee buyers less seriously? No. A fully underwritten preapproval and a clean offer are what sellers care about. Crediting part of your rebate back to the seller can make your offer stronger, not weaker.
Can Arrivva help with the mortgage too? Yes. We run a mortgage brokerage alongside the real estate side.
The bottom line
You're going to pay for representation either way. The question is whether you pay a percentage to someone who earns more when you spend more, or a flat fee to someone who doesn't, and get the difference back.