The real estate agent or real estate negotiator commission in Malaysia varies a lot when dealing with
- New properties from developers (usually known as Project).
- Properties from the secondary market (usually known as Subsale).
Below are the general commission schemes payable to Real Estate Negotiators for both Project and Subsale which complies to the BOVEAP Board Fee scale. Please use tables below as guidelines only because they are not 100% accurate. Commission varies mostly on a case to case basis.
Project Commission Schemes 2022
| Project | ||
| Pricing | Commission For Populated Location | Commission For Secluded Location |
| Below 300k | Small Fix Amount | Bigger Fix Amount |
| 300k to 500k | 1% to 3% | 3 to 6% |
| 500k to 1m | 1.5% to 4% | 3% to 8% |
| above 1m | 2% to 5% | 4% to 15% |
Generally more Malaysians can afford new projects with selling price below RM300,000. When it is within a densely populated location, these properties are much easier to sell. Commission for hot properties usually ranges from RM500 to RM2000 per unit. We often see these schemes on affordable housing such as Rumawip, Rumah Selangorku, PR1MA, PPA1M, PPR, RIR etc.
However when there is a hot project with very high demand. It is common for negotiators to use their own or friends name to pre-book multiple units with intention to perform a flip. Buyers who are willing to pay a “reservation fee” ranging from RM500 to RM20,000 per unit can get a unit of these hot properties. Real estate negotiators make up the low commission receivable from the developer.
On the extreme side, property prices above RM1,000,000 located at a secluded location like within a forest will be much harder to sell. This requires negotiators to perform extensive research to identify these buyers and to find channels to reach them. Therefore their commission can be as high as up to 15%.
Subsale Commission Schemes 2022
| Subsale | |||
| Type | Commission | Who Pays In Klang Valley | Who Pays In Other States |
| Sale | 2-3% | Mostly Seller | Mostly Buyer and Seller |
| Rental | 1 Month | Mostly Landlord | Mostly Tenant and Landlord |
Usually agency firms pay a range from 60% to 80% (depending on remuneration package) of the total commission regardless if it is sale or rental to the real estate negotiator (who is the closer).
The commission for the rental market may look small at only 1 month, but there is higher transaction volume than sales in Malaysia. Real estate negotiators can also earn a commission when there is rental renewal.
The commission for sale is usually higher because of the larger transaction amount. However the transaction volume is not as much as the rental market. Meaning it is easier to close a case in the rental market than selling a property because buyers are scarce resources.
There are cases where subsale negotiators can convince sellers to set a net receivable price and whatever above the net price will be agency fee. Sometimes this amount can be way higher than 3% commission. They often bill as 3% commission + “consultancy fee” from the client to fulfil legal requirements.
Is Real Estate Negotiator Commission Malaysia Lucrative?
The answer is yes. The critical factor for a negotiator to be successful is they must possess a lot of buyers. Buyers are scarce resources in the Malaysian property market. Negotiators with buyers are at the upper hand to dictate the amount of commission they can earn. Supply of sellable listings is never an issue because listings can be obtained easily by cobroking with others.
Real estate negotiator is not a career path suitable for everyone. To avoid wasting time, job seekers can use ListingMine.com (free) to self judge their connection potential. Only those with good networking have a higher chance to succeed.
It is also a good practice for existing real estate negotiators to use ListingMine.com as a CRM software to manage their private network and groups to minimise the risk of leads mismanagement.