Broker Transaction Fee - Common Practice?

[Cory Dill]

Hello all,

I have been actively looking for my first investment property for the last few months and have had the opportunity to put in one offer so far based on what I am looking for numbers-wise. One thing that caught me by surprise was a "Broker Transaction Fee" of $995 in the buyer's agreement I was told to sign. I was surprised by this because I thought the seller paid for all commissions/fees on a real estate sale/purchase. When I asked about this I was more or less told that because they run the purchase/sale through the agent's brokerage firm it makes the process more efficient and there are all these moving parts etc. I have no reason to not trust this agent because he has been very good to me so far but there was no disclosure of this until I read through the contract. Is this a common practice? This fee amount seems a bit high, especially because my purchase price is 150k or less. Looking for any insight if possible! Also, I am in the Jacksonville, FL market if this helps given different costs nationally.

Best,

Cory Dill