After the 2024 NAR settlement, East County sellers are only contractually obligated to pay their listing broker, not the buyer's agent. Whether a seller contributes to buyer-broker compensation is fully negotiable, off-MLS, and governed by your listing agreement and California law, not any default rule.
No. As of 2026, sellers in Contra Costa County are contractually obligated to pay their listing broker only. Whether you contribute anything toward a buyer's agent is fully negotiable, must be arranged off-MLS, and is governed by your listing agreement and California law, not by any automatic rule. The old assumption that sellers always fund both sides of the commission is gone.
This is one of the questions I get most often from sellers preparing to list in Brentwood, Antioch, and Discovery Bay. The short answer is straightforward. The longer answer, what's actually negotiable, what California law requires, and how the local Bay East MLS now handles all of this, is worth understanding before you sign anything.
What Changed, and When It Hit East County
The National Association of REALTORS® settlement, announced in March 2024, rewrote how broker compensation is displayed and communicated across every REALTOR®-affiliated MLS in the country. The two core changes that matter most to East County sellers:
Compensation offers can no longer appear on the MLS. Listing brokers cannot post what they'll pay a buyer's agent inside the MLS database.
Buyers must sign a written representation agreement before touring homes. That agreement spells out exactly how their agent gets paid, and from whom.
Locally, the Bay East Association of REALTORS®, the MLS that covers most of East County and the East Bay, moved fast. On August 12, 2024, Bay East removed all compensation fields from its MLS for every property type and status, including historical data. The Bay East CEO put it plainly at the time: any indication of compensation or commission is eliminated, and you can't even look at historical data. That's more aggressive than many MLSs in California, and it means East County commission conversations happen entirely in private agreements and broker channels, not on any listing screen a buyer or seller would see.
California then codified new requirements at the state level. California Civil Code §1670.50, effective January 1, 2025, formally addressed buyer-broker compensation arrangements, confirming that buyers may pay their own brokers directly, that sellers are not legally required to do so, and that all such arrangements must be documented in the buyer-broker agreement.
The timeline in brief
March 2024: NAR settlement announced; new MLS and buyer-representation rules outlined
July 2024: California Association of REALTORS® releases updated listing and buyer-representation forms
August 12, 2024: Bay East removes all compensation fields from the local MLS
September 2024: Contra Costa County Bar Association publishes analysis confirming that fees, splits, and who pays what are all negotiable
January 1, 2025: California's statutory buyer-broker agreement requirements take effect
By the time you're reading this in 2026, these aren't new rules anymore, they're just how transactions work here.
What You Actually Owe as an East County Seller
Your listing agreement is the governing document
The updated C.A.R. Residential Listing Agreement (RLA), which East County agents have used since July 2024, is drafted so that your contractual obligation runs to your listing broker only. There is no built-in provision automatically committing you to pay a buyer's broker. According to C.A.R.'s post-MLS-rules-changes guidance, the seller's obligation defaults to the listing broker, full stop.
Any sharing of compensation with a buyer's broker is internal to your listing broker, handled broker-to-broker, off-MLS, under California Business and Professions Code §10137, which governs how compensation flows among licensed brokers and salespersons. You don't negotiate directly with the buyer's agent. You negotiate with your listing broker, and your listing broker handles any downstream arrangements.
One thing that is not negotiable: every listing agreement in California must contain a statutory notice, in at least 10-point bold type, stating that the amount or rate of real estate commissions is not fixed by law, is set by each broker individually, and may be negotiated. The California DRE's RE 6 guidance requires this disclosure in every listing and sales agreement. If an agent ever implies there's a "standard" rate you can't negotiate, that's wrong, California law explicitly prohibits that framing.
Do you have to pay the buyer's agent? The honest answer
No, you are not legally required to. California Civil Code §1670.50 expressly permits buyers to compensate their own brokers directly. The Contra Costa County Bar Association's analysis is direct: "The fees, the split and who pays what can all be negotiated."
That said, the practical reality in East County is more nuanced. Some sellers still choose, through their listing broker, to offer compensation to buyer brokers as part of their marketing strategy. Others list with no such offer and expect buyers to handle their own agent's compensation. There's no data source that captures which approach is more common right now, and the right answer depends on your price point, your competition, and current market conditions in your specific city.
Here's how I frame it for our clients: not offering buyer-broker compensation isn't automatically the right move, and offering it isn't automatically the wrong one. It's a strategic decision, and it belongs in the same conversation as your list price and your marketing plan, not as a default assumption either way.
How the current East County market looks
Recent Zillow market data (trailing approximately 90 days, as of August 2026) gives a sense of where prices and pace stand across the area. These are area-level medians, an individual home's value depends on condition, street, build year, and timing.
| Area | Median Sale Price | Median Days on Market |
|---|---|---|
| Brentwood | $757,500 | 40 |
| Discovery Bay | $735,000 | 46 |
| Antioch | $590,000 | 42 |
| Pittsburg | $560,000 | 56 |
| Bethel Island | $590,100 | 57 |
With 175 active listings and 232 homes sold in Brentwood alone over the past 90 days, this is a market with real transaction volume. How you structure your compensation offer, and whether you make one at all, is worth a specific conversation about your home's position in that inventory, not a generic answer.
How Compensation Is Negotiated and Communicated Now
Because Bay East's MLS shows zero compensation information, the mechanics of how buyer brokers learn about and negotiate compensation have shifted entirely. Here's where those conversations happen now:
Three separate documents govern what each party owes
Your listing agreement (you and your listing broker): sets what you owe your listing broker, with full disclosure of all compensation terms as required by the California DRE's agency guidance.
The buyer's representation agreement (buyer and their broker): the California buyer-broker requirements effective January 2025 require this agreement to specify the compensation amount or rate, confirm it's negotiable, and cap what the buyer's agent may receive from any source. The buyer's agent cannot collect more than the amount agreed in this document, regardless of what a seller or listing broker offers.
Off-MLS broker communication: listing brokers may communicate offers of compensation to buyer brokers through their own brokerage websites, IDX/VOW feeds, emails, or private broker networks, just not through the MLS. Bay East's guidance confirms this is permitted.
At closing, escrow disburses funds according to the purchase contract and separate instructions. Your listing broker receives what you agreed to in your listing contract, then internally handles any shares owed to cooperating brokers. If the buyer has agreed to pay any portion of their agent's compensation directly, those amounts appear in the closing instructions and must be fully disclosed.
Seller concessions as a related tool
One thing worth knowing: a buyer can ask for a seller concession, a credit toward their closing costs, and use that credit to cover their broker's compensation. This is a separate negotiation from your listing agreement, happens in the purchase offer, and is subject to lender limits depending on the loan type. It's one of several ways buyers and sellers can structure who ultimately funds buyer-broker compensation without the seller making a direct upfront offer. Whether it makes sense for your transaction is a conversation worth having before you list, not after you're in contract.
If you're weighing how all of this affects your bottom line, that's exactly the kind of analysis I walk through with every seller before we set a strategy. Your specific situation, your home's condition, your timeline, and where buyer demand sits in your city right now, drives the answer more than any general rule does.
Frequently Asked Questions
After the NAR settlement, do I still have to pay the buyer's agent when I sell in East County?
No. Under California Civil Code §1670.50 (effective January 1, 2025) and the updated C.A.R. listing agreement forms, your legal obligation as a seller runs to your listing broker only. Paying the buyer's agent is optional and negotiable, some sellers choose to offer it as a marketing strategy, others don't. There is no legal requirement either way, and the Contra Costa County Bar Association confirmed this is fully a matter of negotiation.
If commissions aren't listed in the MLS anymore, how do buyer's agents get paid on Contra Costa County listings?
Since August 12, 2024, Bay East's MLS shows no compensation information at all, not even historical data. Buyer's agents learn about any compensation offer through off-MLS channels: the listing broker's own website, direct broker communication, or private networks. The buyer's agent compensation is also specified in the buyer-broker representation agreement the buyer signs before touring homes, which governs the maximum the agent may receive from any source.
Does the new California law mean buyers, not sellers, have to pay their own agents in Brentwood or Antioch?
Not exactly. California Civil Code §1670.50 confirms that buyers may pay their own brokers directly, but it doesn't require them to. A seller can still choose to contribute to buyer-broker compensation through their listing broker. What changed is that this is now an explicit, documented negotiation rather than an assumed default. The written buyer-broker agreement governs how the buyer's agent gets paid and from whom.
As a seller in Contra Costa County, am I only obligated to pay the listing broker now, or can I still offer something to the buyer's broker?
You're only contractually obligated to pay your listing broker, that's what the current C.A.R. Residential Listing Agreement defaults to. But you can absolutely choose to have your listing broker offer compensation to buyer brokers off-MLS, as part of your marketing strategy. It's a strategic choice, not a requirement, and it belongs in the same conversation as your pricing and marketing plan. According to C.A.R.'s post-MLS guidance, any such arrangement is handled broker-to-broker, off-MLS.
Are real estate commissions in California set by any standard rate, or can I negotiate them for my East County home sale?
There is no standard rate. The California DRE requires every listing agreement to include a bold statutory notice that commission amounts are not fixed by law, are set by each broker individually, and are negotiable between the seller and broker. Any agent who implies otherwise is misstating California law. Commissions are fully negotiable, full stop.
The right commission structure for your East County sale depends on your home, your timeline, and what the current market in your city actually supports. That's a conversation worth having with someone who knows this market specifically, not a number to pull from a general article.
If you're preparing to sell in Brentwood, Antioch, Discovery Bay, or anywhere else in East County, I'm happy to walk through exactly what your listing agreement should say, what the current buyer-broker landscape looks like in your price range, and how to structure your approach before you hit the market. Schedule a consultation., no obligation, just a real conversation about your situation.
This article is general information only, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Verify all costs, tax obligations, market figures, and transaction specifics with your attorney, tax advisor, lender, or escrow officer before proceeding.
