We mined 2,095 Google search queries related to the NAR settlement and found 708 distinct questions. Most ask what agents charge (52% of question searches). The only theme that grew: whether buyers need an agent at all, +20% in three years.
Stagingmate ResearchEach question assigned to a theme by keyword rules (who pays, do I need an agent, what agents charge, how agents get paid, the settlement itself, buyer agreements, other). Average monthly searches summed by theme.
Google reports rounded monthly search volumes, and very small volumes show as 10 or nothing, so small states and rare queries are noisy. Google may group close variants of a query. Search volume measures interest, not transactions. The planned second half of this study, grading how accurately ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity answer these questions, needs a paid AI-answer pull and is awaiting budget approval; it is not included.
change in searches asking whether buyers need an agent, 2022–23 to 2025–26.
of settlement-related question searches ask what agents charge.
monthly searches for "how do realtors get paid", the most-asked question.
change in searches asking whether you need a real estate agent to buy a house.
| Theme | Questions | Monthly searches | Change since 2022–23 |
|---|---|---|---|
| What agents charge | 416 | 26,694 | −9% |
| Who pays the agents | 105 | 8,557 | −2% |
| How agents get paid | 31 | 5,691 | −27% |
| Do I need an agent to buy | 29 | 5,681 | +20% |
| Other | 127 | 4,462 | −9% |
| Question | Theme | Monthly searches | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| how do realtors get paid | How agents get paid | 2,525 | −21% |
| do you need a realtor to buy a house | Do I need an agent to buy | 2,483 | +26% |
| what percentage do realtors get | What agents charge | 2,200 | −24% |
| how do real estate agents get paid | How agents get paid | 1,867 | −31% |
| how much are realtor fees | What agents charge | 1,600 | +14% |
| what commission for real estate agents | What agents charge | 1,575 | −10% |
| do i need a realtor to buy a house | Do I need an agent to buy | 1,500 | +13% |
| how much commission real estate agent | What agents charge | 1,150 | −13% |
| how much do real estate agents charge | What agents charge | 995 | +12% |
| how much commission do realtors get | What agents charge | 950 | −14% |
| who pays realtor fees buyer or seller | Who pays the agents | 879 | +23% |
| how much do realtors charge to sell a house | What agents charge | 853 | +17% |
| do buyers pay realtor fees | Who pays the agents | 788 | −25% |
| should i buy a house without a realtor | Do I need an agent to buy | 705 | +24% |
| who pays realtor commissions | Who pays the agents | 682 | −8% |
| how much do realtors get for selling a house | What agents charge | 677 | +119% |
| how are real estate agents paid | Other | 658 | −15% |
| how much do realtors get paid | What agents charge | 635 | +4% |
| do closing costs include realtor fees | What agents charge | 593 | +66% |
| how much do realtors cost | What agents charge | 522 | +2% |
| who pays buyer agent commission | Who pays the agents | 512 | +1% |
| who pays the broker fee when buying a house | Who pays the agents | 476 | −15% |
| how much commission real estate | What agents charge | 474 | −15% |
| do you have to pay for a realtor | Other | 466 | +11% |
| what are typical realtor fees | What agents charge | 461 | +37% |
| when buying a house who pays the realtor | Who pays the agents | 433 | +181% |
| what are realtor fees | What agents charge | 416 | −4% |
| what percentage do realtors get for selling a house | What agents charge | 398 | +197% |
| who pays the agent in real estate | Who pays the agents | 384 | −39% |
| who pays the commission when selling a house | Who pays the agents | 380 | +122% |
| do buyer pay real estate agent | Other | 378 | 0% |
| who pays for real estate commission | Who pays the agents | 366 | −31% |
| do sellers pay realtor fees | What agents charge | 357 | +40% |
| what commission do realtors get | What agents charge | 354 | +2% |
| how much are realtor fees when selling a house | What agents charge | 348 | +120% |
| how much percentage do realtors get | What agents charge | 340 | −29% |
| how much do you pay a realtor | What agents charge | 334 | −17% |
| who pays the commission when buying a house | Who pays the agents | 322 | +401% |
| what do realtors charge to sell a house | What agents charge | 299 | +35% |
| who pays buyer agent fees | Who pays the agents | 293 | +172% |
| do you pay a realtor when buying a house | Other | 278 | +20% |
| how do real estate agents get paid for rentals | How agents get paid | 278 | −25% |
| how much do real estate agents get | What agents charge | 273 | −2% |
| what are the realtor fees for selling a house | What agents charge | 264 | +67% |
| do you pay real estate agents | Other | 253 | −20% |
| do buyers pay commission to real estate agents | Who pays the agents | 240 | +7% |
| how much for a realtor | What agents charge | 210 | +14% |
| how much are referral fees in real estate | What agents charge | 205 | −19% |
| what percentage do real estate agents take | What agents charge | 203 | −5% |
| how realtors get paid | How agents get paid | 199 | −50% |
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Stagingmate Research (2026). "Do you need a realtor to buy a house?" searches are up 26% since 2022. https://stagingmate.com/research/nar-settlement-what-consumers-are-asking
Free to use under CC BY 4.0 with a link to this page. For the full dataset or a local cut, email press@stagingmate.com.
"how do realtors get paid" is the most-searched question, at 2,525 searches a month.