First of all, almost all home buyers in NYC have universally almost never heard of a buyer agent commission rebate.  From extensive field studies, almost every time a buyer is asked they say no.  This is not surprising given how most big brokerages in NYC have strict company policies against discounting their services for fear of reputational damage.  It makes sense from the company’s perspective because they have so many agents that many of them are bound to get clients regardless of whether they rebate commissions or note.  However, it’s tough on the agents as they have their hands tied in terms of offering competitive economics.

Moreover, because most agents have broker/agent commission splits of 50%, giving away 1% of the commission on the buy side would mean they would only earn 0.5% on the deal.  3% buy side commission = 1.5% to brokerage, 1% to buyer, 0.5% left for agent!  Therefore, most agents have no desire or capability to share with their buyer clients the fact that commission rebates are now legal in NY.

Given how sleazy of a reputation brokers tend to have (especially in the wild west NYC rental market), it’s no surprise then that many buyers tend to just dismiss the offer of a commission rebate on the buy side.  Their first thought must be that this seems non-standard and they are happy with their current status quo – the worst example of inertia against their own self interest!

However, with wider marketing and adoption by the buyer community I am confident buyer agent commission rebates will become more mainstream.