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Seattle Times business reporter

Starting Oct. 1, it could start getting cheaper to buy a home around Seattle and most of Washington.

That’s because the curtain will be pulled away from a secret long kept within the community of real-estate agents: how much the agent representing the buyer collects when a house is sold. Brokerages in the Seattle-Tacoma area will be among the first in the nation to start publishing those fees, long kept hush-hush, on their online listings.

And while home sellers have been required to offer some kind of compensation to buyers’ agents in order to list a home, starting Tuesday, sellers won’t need to offer anything.

The changes here, enacted by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS) — the membership group…

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Transparency in Commissions

Fact: Real estate brokers’ commission rates are not regulated in any state and are ALWAYS 100% negotiable.

When you decide to sell your house, if you are like most people, you will want to hire — or at least consider hiring — a real estate agent to handle the process.

Surprisingly, many people think that real estate brokerage commission rates are “set” in their area and they have to pay a specific percentage of the sales price to the agent in order to get their services. This is absolutely not the case.  In fact, you can pay whatever you and the agent have agreed upon.

What is a “Fair” amount to pay for real estate commission?

Many people hear the word “discount” company instead of a “traditional” company but…

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