How much is real estate commission after the NAR settlement changes?

Commission is still the single biggest cost of selling, typically 60% to 75% of a seller’s total closing costs (Houzeo Seller Closing Cost data, 2026), but how it gets set changed in 2024 and the practice has kept evolving since. Offers of buyer-agent compensation are no longer allowed on the MLS. Buyers working with an agent generally sign a written buyer representation agreement before touring homes, and that agreement has to spell out, in plain language, exactly what the buyer’s agent is paid and confirm that commissions are fully negotiable and not set by law (NAR Settlement FAQs, 2026).

What that means for you as a Frisco seller: you are not required to offer buyer-agent compensation, but you can still choose to, and most sellers do here, because Frisco’s buyer pool includes a large share of relocating families working with their own agent from day one, and a wide, well-compensated buyer pool is what gets a home like yours multiple showings instead of one. That offer is negotiated directly with your listing agent and communicated off the MLS, not automatically.

Nationally tracked closings show buyer-agent commissions holding steady rather than dropping since the rule change, averaging 2.42% in the third quarter of 2025, up slightly from a low of 2.36% right after the rule took effect (Redfin, Q3 2025). There is no set or standard rate: what you pay is whatever you negotiate into your own listing agreement, in writing, before your home goes to market. On a typical Frisco sale where both sides are represented, your combined rate is simply your listing-side percentage plus whatever buyer-agent compensation you choose to offer, and we put both numbers in writing before your home goes live, not after an offer is already on the table.

Who pays title insurance and escrow fees in Texas?

Texas is a promulgated-rate state, which means the Texas Department of Insurance sets title insurance premiums directly. Nobody shops title insurance rates in Texas the way you might shop a lender, because the rate is the same at every title company. The state cut those rates 6.2% effective March 1, 2026 (Texas Department of Insurance, 2026), so title costs are modestly lower this year than in 2025. In Frisco, the seller customarily pays for the buyer’s owner’s title policy, which is market norm here, not a legal requirement (JVM Lending Texas closing cost data, 2026).

Beyond the title premium itself, expect a settlement or escrow fee from your title company, typically $250 to $750, a tax certificate fee around $50 to $100, and endorsements in the $100 to $500 range depending on your loan payoff and any survey requirements (Houzeo Seller Closing Cost data, 2026). None of these are negotiable line items with much room to move, but they are predictable, and your title company can quote them exactly once you are under contract.

1. Get your payoff early

If you still owe on the home, your title company needs an exact payoff figure from your lender, including per diem interest. Requesting it the week you list, not the week you close, avoids a delay at the table.

2. Ask what your specific policy will cost

Because Texas rates are set by the state, your title company can give you an exact premium quote in minutes once they know your expected sale price, and that number is public before you ever pick up the phone: $3,497 on a $650K sale, $4,485 at $850K, $6,038 at $1.2M. There is no reason to guess.

How are property taxes prorated at closing in Frisco?

Texas collects property taxes in arrears, so at closing you owe the buyer a prorated credit for the portion of the year you owned the home. For a Frisco home in Collin County and Frisco ISD, the combined fiscal year 2026 rate is about 1.6755 per $100 of value, roughly 1.68% before any homestead exemption (City of Frisco, FY2026). On a home assessed near $700,000, that is close to $11,700 for a full year, prorated to your actual closing date. Sellers who have held a homestead exemption for years sometimes forget that a buyer’s first-year bill, without that exemption yet applied, can look higher on paper, which occasionally becomes a negotiating point during option period.

Greatness is demonstrated, not declared. The same is true of your net sheet. You prove the number with real figures from your title company, not a rough guess.

What you will actually net, by price tier

Total cost is not a flat percentage in dollar terms, because Texas title insurance scales with your sale price while several fees stay fixed. Here is what that looks like across Frisco’s actual price tiers.

Title premiums are calculated from the Texas Department of Insurance’s promulgated rate schedule effective March 1, 2026, applied at each tier’s representative price. Total closing cost range applies the 6%–10% of sale price benchmark (Houzeo, 2026; ListWithClever, 2026) to that same representative price; your actual number depends on your specific commission agreement and loan payoff.

The takeaway for a Frisco seller: the fixed-dollar fees, escrow, tax certificate, endorsements, barely move between tiers, so they matter more, proportionally, on a lower-priced home. Commission and title insurance, which both scale with price, dominate the total on a luxury sale. Either way, knowing the real range, $39,000 to $65,000 at $650K, $72,000 to $120,000 at $1.2M, before you list means your offer negotiation is not the first time you see these numbers.

How can you reduce your total cost without cutting corners?

None of these cut a legally required cost. They control the parts of the number that are actually within your influence.

Price it right the first time

A home that sits and then gets reduced almost always costs more in total than one priced correctly from day one, because a stale listing usually ends up needing a bigger price cut than a fresh, accurate one would have. Read the full breakdown of what actually moves a Frisco home’s value in our Frisco home value guide.

Negotiate your listing agreement in writing, up front

Since commission is no longer set by an MLS-wide norm, your listing agreement is where the real number gets decided. Get it in writing before you sign, not implied.

Do not skip the CMA to save on marketing

Underpricing to sell fast and overpricing and sitting both cost more than a correct, comparable-sales-based price from the start.

Negotiate repairs as credits, not price cuts

After a Frisco buyer’s option-period inspection, most repair requests get resolved one of two ways: you fix the item, or you credit the buyer cash at closing instead. A credit keeps your contract price intact for the buyer’s appraisal and loan-to-value calculation, while a price cut lowers the number both are based on, which matters more the closer you are to your loan program’s specific appraised-value cutoff, and matters even more right now with new-construction builders in Prosper and Celina competing hard on price, since a resale that reduces twice looks worse next to a brand-new home with a builder incentive attached. Ask your agent to itemize every requested repair by real cost, not the buyer’s estimate, before you agree to either option; a $2,500 repair item and a $2,500 blanket credit rarely cost the seller the same amount once actual invoices come in.