“The seller has to pay the buyer's agent”
No, and in Arizona the machinery that made it feel mandatory was dismantled on August 1, 2024, when ARMLS removed every compensation field from the MLS. ClozeEZ routes offers and counters directly between the parties, so a buyer-agent contribution arrives as one line you accept, counter, or decline. Since the national settlement changes took effect on August 17, 2024, buyers sign written agreements setting what their own agent is paid, and any seller contribution is a negotiated concession inside a specific purchase contract, not an obligation. Many sellers still choose to contribute; Redfin's data put the average buyer-side commission at 2.42% in late 2025. But choosing is the operative word.
What actually changed in August 2024?
Two dates matter. On August 1, 2024, ARMLS, Arizona's largest MLS, removed all compensation fields, stating plainly that it 'shall not publish any Listing that includes an offer of compensation.' On August 17, 2024, the national settlement's practice changes took effect: blanket offers of buyer-agent compensation through any MLS ended, and buyers working with an agent now sign a written buyer-broker agreement before touring homes, spelling out what their agent will be paid and by whom.
The old system made seller-paid buyer-agent commission a default you had to notice to escape. The new system makes it a request you have to receive and accept. That is the entire difference, and it is the difference the myth ignores.
So who pays the buyer's agent now?
Whoever the purchase contract says. In practice, three patterns: the buyer pays their own agent under their written agreement; the buyer asks the seller for a concession that funds it, negotiated like price or repairs; or, on unrepresented purchases, common on direct platforms, nobody pays a buyer-side commission because no buyer agent exists.
The data says most sellers still contribute when asked: Redfin's published average of 2.42% in Q3 2025 was actually up slightly from 2.36% a year earlier. A concession that wins you a stronger buyer can be worth funding. But treat the request as arithmetic, not etiquette: a $460,000 offer asking for a 2.5% buyer-agent concession, about $11,500, nets roughly the same as a clean $448,500 offer. Compare on net proceeds and choose deliberately.
What should an Arizona seller do with a concession request?
Arizona's own standard forms confirm how deliberate this has become. The Arizona REALTORS released a Seller Compensation Addendum in August 2024 for sellers who choose to compensate a buyer's broker through the purchase contract, and the November 2025 revision of the Residential Resale Real Estate Purchase Contract expressly added broker compensation as a permissible use of seller concessions. Nationally, Redfin reported that 44.4% of first-quarter 2025 transactions included seller concessions of some kind. The machinery for contributing exists and is well-oiled; what no longer exists is the presumption.
The sellers who come out ahead in the new system do the same three things. They price the concession into their net sheet the moment it arrives, instead of treating it as a separate favor. They counter on it just as they would counter on price; partial concessions are normal. And on a direct sale to an unrepresented buyer, they keep the entire buyer-side percentage, which on Arizona's median home is roughly $10,800 that the old system quietly presumed away.
Sources
- ARMLS settlement implementation: Compensation fields removed August 1, 2024; concessions handled as closing information.
- NAR settlement practice changes: Effective August 17, 2024: no compensation offers via MLS; written buyer agreements required before touring.
- Redfin research: buyer's agent commissions, Q3 2025: Average buyer's agent commission 2.42%, up from 2.36% a year earlier; most sellers who are asked still contribute.
- Redfin data: Arizona median sale price: Statewide median approximately $448,000 (May 2026), used for the dollar illustrations on this page.
Related questions
Can a buyer's agent refuse to show my home if I won't pay them?
Steering buyers away from listings based on compensation violates the buyer agent's obligations under their own written agreement and the settlement's terms. It may still quietly happen, which is why many sellers treat a modest concession as marketing spend. The decision is yours to make with open eyes, not a rule to obey.
If I sell by owner, do I owe anyone a commission?
Only what you agree to in the contract. An unrepresented buyer means no buyer-side commission exists at all. An agent-represented buyer may ask for a concession, which you can accept, counter, or decline. On ClozeEZ the platform charge is a flat $200 at closing, never a percentage.
Do buyers actually pay their own agents now?
Some do, and every represented buyer now signs an agreement making the amount explicit. But Redfin's data shows the average buyer-side commission held near 2.42% through late 2025, which tells you sellers are still funding most of it through concessions, by choice, deal by deal.