What’s a Transaction Fee?
….and Why We Call BS on Them
Have you ever spotted a "transaction fee" on your closing disclosure (formerly the HUD-1) and wondered what it was actually for? Or maybe you just paid it without a second thought?
If you've been following the news lately, you know that the real estate industry is facing unprecedented legal scrutiny. From the landmark NAR (National Association of Realtors) antitrust settlement to ongoing class-action lawsuits challenging traditional commission structures and junk fees, the push for industry-wide reform is at an all-time high. While an overly litigious environment can sometimes create an administrative spiral, there is one major upside to these legal battles that we wholeheartedly champion here at zhuzh: absolute transparency, disclosure, and consumer education.
That brings us back to the transaction fee.
At zhuzh srq, we never add a transaction fee onto the consumer. Honestly, we don't even charge it to our agents. In our opinion, charging a couple hundred dollars to "process a file" belongs to a 1980s brokerage model—one that actually had to pay for physical storage units to hold mountains of paper contracts.
But guess what? The cloud exists. It’s 2026, and it’s time to buy and sell real estate accordingly. We don't need to charge you $475 just to upload digital documents to a server for our own regulatory compliance.
If your agent or brokerage charges a transaction fee, we highly encourage you to ask questions:
Who is ultimately paying this fee?
What specific service does it cover that isn't already included in standard commissions?
Regulatory bodies and courts are demanding clearer disclosures for consumers, and you should too. Don’t blindly agree to closing fees unless you fully understand their background and value.
Stay informed,
Ashley