Who said, they should? We usually see in MLS how much a selling broker will be paid, but nothing about a listing broker commissions.

 You usually will not know how much exactly a listing broker paid till the escrow docs on hands, and it is not always an equal split.

Should they be?

I do not agree.

Not true. However, to answer your question - both parties are equally needed to close the deal.

Hi Charles, The Listing agent makes the determination and they may or may not be equal. 

Charles Ross traditional perhaps ? Or respecting the other side equally?

Who says they should?  In Minnesota, I find that seldom is the commissions split 50/50 and a few actually pay more than they keep

Because it is playing fair!  Although a few agents don't split well and all the agents know who they are.

They say it takes 2 to tango.  Last I heard, there were to sides to a closing.  It should be split equally/

It doesn't have to be, Charles.  But it is customary.

 Although a selling agent may not know ahead of time how much the listing agent is getting, he or she will see it on the HUD.

I think it is a good business practice that promotes good will among your fellow REALTORS.

In our MLS it states what the BAC is. 90% of the time it is 3%. It is terrible to say but I know of some agents that won't even show a home to a prospective buyer if the commission is not 3% which is terrible. I guess what they are thinking is that the more the selling commission is, the more the incentive for the buyer's agent to show the home. 

Listing agents will often pay themselves a half percent more to cover their marketing expenses and justify this to the seller.  The escrow company doesn't usually send the commission arrangement to the buyer or buyer's agent, so most of the time, the buyer's side is unaware. 

I don't necessarily think they should be split equally, but I think the MLS listing should post a commission percentage to the buyer's agent that is in the customary range for the market. 

Not sure they should. Being a strong listing agent I work extra hard in my market area to get my listings out front and spend lots of dollars for programs and personnel to get the word out. Giving a buyers agent the same seems wrong in some cases but what to you do?

We usually will know from the "Get Go" what our compensation is going to be. If you don't it's your own fault. A listing agent once asked me why I sold ABC's home instead of XYZ's which had a higher split. The answer was easy, the buyer did want to purchase XYZ's listing. It can be exhausting to chase nickels around dollar bills.

Nothing says they have to be. Listing agent determines how much of their commission they are willing to give to another agent to bring a buyer.

The listing inventory is everything in small rural markets where 95% of our sales are sell your own. No drama or arm wrestling. But in a co broke 60/40 listing agent getting the bigger share of pie works well and understood both ways as equitable. Every market is so different and remember what works well in yours may not in others. Everything is subject to change or adjustment in life and love.

They are not split 50/50.

In many many cases it is a 4/3 split. The really greedy ones know there are a lot of 'redfinish' agents out there and may offer a 5.5/1.5 split. This ensures the seller does not witness the money they gave up intended for professional compensation is not handed directly to the buyer.

Sorry, the buyers agent IS NOT entitled to know what the listing agreement between the listing agent and home seller contains.

The agent representing the buyer should have 'the' compensation talk with the buyer. The MLS DOES reveal the compensation to be paid to the buyer broker. After that the buyer agent needs to make a good business decision.

I always ask the listing agent if they split 50/50.  If listing gents want buyer broker to always look at their listing first, they need to treat them with respect. As a listing agent, having buyer brokers who like to work with me, sure gets more buyers to my listings whohc means more sales.