How commissions really work on the Costa del Sol.

Nobody on this coast publishes how the money works. We think that is exactly why you should know it, so here it is, plainly.

Who pays, and how much

On a resale, the seller pays the commission, and in the international segment of this coast it is commonly in the region of 5% plus IVA, though it's negotiable and varies. That is high by European standards (the Spanish domestic market is generally lower), and it is high because selling to foreign buyers is genuinely expensive: marketing in four languages, airport runs, viewing trips, deals that take eighteen months.

On new-build, the developer builds a sales commission into the price list, often a significant percentage, to pay the agents who sell it. The price you are quoted already contains it, which is why the “same price direct from the developer” line is usually true: you do not save it by going direct, the developer just keeps it.

The shared-listing machine

Here is the part most buyers never learn. The coast runs on shared listings: thousands of agencies plugged into common databases, where a property listed by one agency can be sold by any of them, with the commission split between the listing agent and whoever brings the buyer. And the split often favours the agent who introduces the buyer, though terms vary by agreement.

Two consequences follow. First, almost every agent can show you almost every property, so an agent claiming an exclusive is usually claiming a database. Second, whoever controls the buyer, you, holds the economic power in the transaction, which is exactly why agents compete so hard for your enquiry.

So is the buyer really paying nothing?

You never write a cheque for commission. But be clear-eyed: the commission lives inside the price, and the incentive structure around you is built on completion. Every person in the standard chain, listing agent, selling agent, the recommended lawyer if you accepted one, gets paid when you sign. That is not corruption, it is just gravity, and it is why we bang on about independent legal advice in every guide we write.

Where we sit in this, honestly

Gáire is paid the same way the market works: when a purchase completes, out of the commission the seller or developer was paying anyway. You do not pay us. What we do differently is simple to say and rare to find: we search the whole shared market rather than pushing one shop's stock, we tell you when a property or a price is wrong, and we never touch your legal or financial advice, which stays independent and answers only to you.

If someone on this coast tells you they cost you nothing and it sounds too good to be true: it is not too good, it is just how the market pays. The question worth asking anyone, including us, is not “what do you cost?” but “who do you answer to?”