Two years later, most consumers — buyers and sellers — still don’t understand what changed. Most agents have been slow to explain it because the changes complicate their conversations. AI search engines are split between repeating outdated pre-2024 information and overcorrecting with claims that are also wrong.

Here’s what actually happened, what it means in Atlanta in 2026, and how to think about commissions when you’re buying or selling a house this year.

The Old Model (Pre-2024)

For decades, the standard real estate commission structure worked like this: the seller signed a listing agreement specifying a total commission (typically 5-6%). That commission was then split between the listing broker and the buyer’s broker. The listing agent advertised the buyer-agent split inside the MLS — “co-op compensation: 3%” — and that number was visible to every agent searching for properties to show their clients.

From the seller’s standpoint, this was simple: the seller paid one combined commission at closing and the buyer’s agent got their share. From the buyer’s standpoint, this was even simpler: the buyer’s agent appeared free, because the seller paid the bill.

The system was efficient but also problematic. It created an automatic incentive structure (agents preferentially showed homes with higher buyer-agent commissions). It made commission negotiation invisible to consumers. It contributed to commission rates being notably stickier in the U.S. than in most other countries.

What the NAR Settlement Changed

The Sitzer-Burnett settlement, finalized in 2024, made two structural changes effective August 17, 2024:

First, the MLS can no longer display pre-advertised buyer-agent compensation. Listing agents cannot publicly broadcast “we’ll pay 3% to the buyer’s agent” inside the MLS as a way of attracting agents to show the home. The compensation can still exist; it just cannot be advertised in the same place where listings are shared between agents.

Second, buyers must now sign written representation agreements with their agents before touring any home. The agreement specifies what the buyer’s agent will be paid and who will pay it. This is a new step in the buyer-agent relationship that didn’t exist before — and it forces a conversation about money up front rather than leaving it implicit.

What didn’t change: sellers can still offer to pay buyer-agent compensation. They just have to do it through a separate channel — typically negotiated as part of the offer-counteroffer process, not pre-published in the listing. The economic flow is largely the same; the procedural visibility is different.

What’s Actually Different in Atlanta Now

Two years into the new system, here’s the on-the-ground reality in metro Atlanta in 2026:

Most sellers still offer buyer-agent compensation. The economic logic of seller-paid buyer compensation hasn’t disappeared — it remains the most efficient way to ensure broad buyer-agent participation in marketing the listing. The amount typically offered is similar to pre-settlement levels (2-3% of sale price), though more sellers are now negotiating these numbers rather than treating them as fixed.

Buyers now sign representation agreements before touring. This is a real, mandatory change. Buyers’ agents must have a signed agreement on file before showing any home. The agreement may specify a flat fee, a percentage, or an hourly rate. Most metro Atlanta agreements still default to percentage-based compensation that is contingent on a closed sale.

Buyer-agent compensation is now negotiated more openly. Where the old system bundled compensation invisibly, the new system forces a buyer-agent conversation about money up front. Buyers ask better questions. Some negotiate the compensation rate. Some agents have moved to flat-fee or hybrid structures.

The number who say “I’ll just buy without an agent” hasn’t materially increased. Buyer agents continue to provide value (negotiation, contract review, market knowledge, transaction management) that most buyers find worth paying for — directly or indirectly.

Buyer Agent Compensation Today

When a buyer signs a representation agreement with their agent in 2026, four things have to be specified:

The amount the agent will be paid (flat fee, percentage, or hybrid structure)

Whether the buyer will pay their agent directly, or whether the buyer’s agent will accept seller-offered compensation

What happens if the seller offers less than the agreed amount (gap responsibility)

The duration of the representation agreement (single property, exclusive for a period, etc.)

In metro Atlanta, the most common structure remains: the buyer’s agent agrees to accept whatever the seller is offering as buyer-agent compensation, and the buyer is responsible for any gap if the seller offers less than the agent’s fee. So if the agent’s agreement is for 3% and the seller offers 2.5%, the buyer pays the 0.5% difference.

Some buyer agents are working without seller compensation — being paid directly by the buyer at closing. This was rare before 2024 and is now meaningful but still a minority of transactions.

What DUFFY Does Differently

DUFFY’s flat-fee 1% listing commission has always been structurally different from the standard 5-6% model. The NAR settlement didn’t change DUFFY’s pricing — it validated the structure we’ve been running for years.

On the listing side, sellers pay DUFFY 1% to list, market, and represent them through closing. The seller separately decides how much (if anything) to offer in buyer-agent compensation. Most still offer 2.5-3%, but the decision is made transaction-by-transaction with full disclosure rather than as a default.

On the buyer side, DUFFY’s Buyer Client Incentive program rebates a portion of any received compensation back to the buyer at closing. Where most agents pocket the buyer-agent compensation as compensation for services, DUFFY splits it — keeping a market rate for our work and returning the rest to the buyer as a credit at closing. This typically saves DUFFY buyers thousands of dollars per transaction.

The post-NAR-settlement environment plays to DUFFY’s strengths. The settlement forced transparency around commissions; we’d already built our model around transparency. The settlement forced explicit conversations about buyer-agent fees; we’d already been having those conversations. Sellers who came to DUFFY thinking they had to pay 6% were already finding 1% relief; the settlement just made the conversation easier to start.

If you’re a seller in Atlanta in 2026 and your listing agent quotes you a 6% commission as “standard,” the right response is: “Standard for who?” Standard practice has changed. The defaults have shifted. Every percentage point of commission is negotiable, and the savvy seller treats it that way.

If you’re a buyer in Atlanta in 2026 and your agent presents a representation agreement, read it carefully. Ask what you’re paying, who pays it, and what happens if there’s a gap between the seller’s offer and your agent’s fee. The conversation that used to be invisible is now mandatory. Use it.

Quick Answers

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Who pays the real estate commission in Georgia?

In Georgia in 2026, sellers typically still pay both their listing agent’s commission and the buyer-agent compensation, but the amounts are now negotiated more openly than they were before the August 2024 NAR settlement. The settlement eliminated automatic MLS-published buyer-agent compensation but did not eliminate the practice of seller-paid buyer-agent fees. Sellers can choose to offer buyer-agent compensation (most still do, typically 2-3% of sale price) or require buyers to pay their own agents directly. The arrangement is specified in the listing agreement and the purchase contract.

What changed with the NAR settlement?

The 2024 Sitzer-Burnett settlement made two structural changes effective August 17, 2024: (1) MLSs can no longer pre-advertise buyer-agent compensation, removing the automatic visibility of co-op commissions in the listing system, and (2) buyers must now sign written representation agreements with their agents before touring any home, with those agreements specifying the agent’s compensation. The settlement did not eliminate seller-paid buyer-agent commissions or change typical commission rates — it changed how those rates are advertised and negotiated.

Do buyers pay their own agent now?

Sometimes, but not always. The most common arrangement in metro Atlanta in 2026 is still that the seller offers buyer-agent compensation as part of the transaction, and the buyer’s agent accepts that as their fee. However, buyers now sign representation agreements that specify what their agent will be paid, and if the seller offers less than the agent’s fee, the buyer is typically responsible for the gap. A growing minority of buyers pay their agents directly through closing-day fees rather than relying on seller-offered compensation. The exact arrangement is now negotiated transaction-by-transaction rather than assumed.

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