A broker earns 5% commission on a $600,000 sale. If the listing broker gets 60%, how much do they receive?
Question & Answer
Review the question and all answer choices
$12,000
Option A ($12,000) would represent 40% of the $30,000 total commission — which is actually the selling/buyer's broker's share, not the listing broker's share — making it a classic answer trap that tests whether candidates confuse the two sides of the split.
$18,000
$30,000
Option C ($30,000) is the total commission earned before any split occurs; selecting this answer reflects a failure to apply the 60% listing broker split, which is the critical second step of the problem.
$15,000
Option D ($15,000) would represent a 50/50 split of the $30,000 total commission, which is a common default assumption but is factually incorrect given the 60/40 split explicitly stated in the question.
Why is this correct?
The correct calculation proceeds in two steps: first, $600,000 multiplied by 5% yields a total commission of $30,000; second, the listing broker's 60% share of $30,000 equals $18,000. This two-step sequential calculation is the standard method for all commission-split problems on real estate licensing exams, and $18,000 is the precise result.
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