An agent when buying a flat from a developer – who pays the commission

An agent when buying a flat from a developer usually costs the buyer nothing: on the primary market the agency acts under a cooperation agreement with the developer, and it is the developer who pays its fee. The price of the unit follows from the price list that the developer must publish on its website, so you can check it yourself. Below we explain how this model works, what an agent really gives you, what to watch for in the brokerage contract and when it is better to buy without one.

Key facts

• On the primary market the agency's fee is usually paid by the developer. At TM Invest the buyer most often pays no commission – the fee is usually paid by the developer.
• A developer must publish on its website the price per m² of every unit including VAT and keep the history of price changes (art. 19a of the Developer Act).
• If the price when the agreement is concluded differs from the published one, you may demand the price most favourable to you (art. 19a sec. 6).
• A brokerage contract requires written or electronic form on pain of nullity, and the agent must hold mandatory liability insurance (art. 180 sec. 3 and art. 181 sec. 3 of the Real Estate Management Act).
• Our offer has 118 developments from 42 developers and 4,351 available flats in Warsaw and Wrocław (as of 27 September 2026).

Who pays the agent's commission on the primary market?

On the secondary market the commission is usually paid by the seller, and often by the buyer too – each under their own contract with the agency. On the primary market the model is different. A real estate agency concludes a cooperation agreement with the developer: it brings it clients, and the developer pays it a fee when the client buys a flat. For the developer it is one of the costs of sale, alongside the sales office and advertising. The buyer receives no invoice from the agency and does not have to sign a paid brokerage contract.

This is how TM Invest works: when buying a flat from a developer we most often do not charge the buyer a commission, and the selection of offers is free – our fee is usually paid by the developer. We describe the rates and rules of commission on the secondary market separately in the article An estate agency's commission – how much it is and who pays (in Polish).

It is worth distinguishing two situations. The developer's sales office represents one company and sells only its units. An independent agency works with many developers, so it can set the offers of different firms side by side for your budget. There are also agencies that on the primary market charge the buyer a commission – then it must follow from the brokerage contract signed with you.

Does an agent raise the price of a flat from a developer?

An honest answer: the developer covers the agency's fee out of its sales revenue, like any other cost. But the price of a specific unit is single and open – it is set not by the agent but by the developer in its price list. Since 11 July 2025 the Developer Act has imposed a duty to publish prices, so you can check this yourself without trusting anybody's word.

How to check the price step by step:

1. The developer's website. A developer must state on its website the price per m² of usable floor area of every unit offered and the price of the whole unit, the price of a parking space or storage unit (if they are not included) and other charges – everything including VAT (art. 19a sec. 1). The address of that site must be given in adverts and offers (art. 19a sec. 3).
2. The price history. With every change the developer updates the data with the date of the change and keeps earlier prices (art. 19a sec. 2). So you see whether the price has recently risen or fallen.
3. The dane.gov.pl portal. Developers pass this data once a day, and the minister publishes it on the open data portal (art. 19b).
4. The agreement. In the reservation agreement and the developer agreement the price is set as the product of the usable floor area and the price per 1 m² (art. 5a). Compare both numbers with the price list. If they differ, you have the right to demand a contract at the price most favourable to you (art. 19a sec. 6).

The price in the price list is an asking price, not always the final one. According to the NBP, the average transaction price on the primary market in Q2 2026 was lower than the asking price by about 9% in Warsaw (16,783 against 18,488 zł/m²) and by about 8% in Wrocław (14,312 against 15,575 zł/m²). These are data from different samples of flats, not a "discount" on a specific unit, but they show that a conversation about price and terms makes sense – regardless of whether you conduct it yourself or with an agent. You will find practical tips in the guide how to negotiate the price of a flat.

What does an agent do when you buy a flat from a developer?

The scope of an agency's work depends on the agency, so always ask what exactly the help covers. At TM Invest it looks like this:

• Choice. We compare developments from the catalogue for your budget, location and move-in date, arrange presentations of selected developments and flats, and help check the developer and the information prospectus.
• Reservation. We talk to the developer about the price and terms of purchase, and before you sign we go through the provisions of the reservation agreement.
• The developer agreement. Before the visit to the notary we discuss the developer agreement and the payment schedule.
• The loan. If you buy with a mortgage, a mortgage expert will check your borrowing capacity and compare banks' offers.
• One adviser from the first conversation to the notarial deed. We update the prices and availability of flats in the catalogue daily.

You do the handover of the flat after construction is completed – on your own or with an inspector. How to prepare for it we describe in the article Collecting a flat from the developer.

The biggest difference from a visit to a single sales office is the scale of comparison. According to data from the TM Invest offer, as of 27 September 2026:

City	Developments	Developers	Available flats	Developments ready / under construction	Median price per m²
Warsaw	73	21	2,237	37 / 36	18,000
Wrocław	45	24	2,114	24 / 21	15,736
Total	118	42	4,351	61 / 57	–

Who builds in both cities and what projects they have we show in the overviews developers in Warsaw and developers in Wrocław (in Polish).

Want to compare the offers of several developers without going round the sales offices? We will select a flat from the current catalogue and take you through the purchase – most often without a commission for the buyer, as the fee is usually paid by the developer.

On your own or with an agent – a comparison

Stage	On your own	With an agent (the model in which the developer pays)
Finding offers	You browse websites and portals, call sales offices	You get a summary of the offers of many developers for your budget and location
Checking the developer and prospectus	Yourself: KRS, the prospectus, the escrow account	Help with checking, the decision is still yours
Price and terms	You negotiate yourself with the sales office	The agent talks to the developer about price and terms
The reservation agreement and developer agreement	You read them yourself or pay a lawyer	A review of the provisions and the payment schedule before signing
The mortgage	You compare banks' offers yourself	A mortgage expert compares offers from several banks
Time	Many visits to different sales offices	Presentations arranged by one adviser
Cost to the buyer	0 zł commission	most often 0 zł commission – the fee is usually paid by the developer

An example: what a flat at 744 thousand zł costs with an agent and without

Take a 2-room flat in Warsaw of 40 m² at a price of 18,600 zł/m² – that is the median price per m² of 2-room flats in our Warsaw offer (as of 27 September 2026). The price under art. 5a: 40 m² × 18,600 zł = 744,000 zł.

Item	On your own	With TM Invest	An agency charging the buyer 2% + VAT (hypothetical)
The price of the flat	744,000	744,000	744,000
The maximum reservation fee (1% of the price, credited towards the price)	7,440	7,440	7,440
The buyer's commission	0	most often 0	14,880 + 3,422.40 VAT
Total price + commission	744,000	744,000	762,302.40

The other costs – the notarial fee, court fees, possibly the costs of a loan – are the same however you came to the developer. We calculate them in the article the costs of buying a flat from a developer.

What to watch for: the brokerage contract and the agent's liability insurance

A real estate agent is a business, and brokerage is by definition paid (art. 179a and 179b of the Real Estate Management Act). So the question is not "does somebody pay" but "who". Before you start working with an agency on the primary market, check:

• Whether you are given a brokerage contract to sign. The scope of activities is set by the contract, which requires written or electronic form on pain of nullity (art. 180 sec. 3). If you sign it, read whether it provides for a fee from you, in what amount and when it falls due.
• The liability insurance policy. An agent is subject to mandatory liability insurance (art. 181 sec. 3). A copy of the policy valid on the day the contract is concluded is an annex to the brokerage contract; if the agent does not produce it within 7 days of a written request, you may terminate the contract with immediate effect (art. 181 sec. 3a and 3b).
• How many developers the agency works with. An agency tied to one firm will not compare the market for you. Also ask whether it shows developments both ready and under construction.
• Whom you pay the money to. You pay the reservation fee (max 1% of the price from the prospectus) and the instalments of the price to the developer – with a developer agreement into the residential escrow account named in the agreement, never into the agent's account.
• Time pressure. "The last flat at this price" is an argument that is always worth verifying in the developer's price list and its history of changes.

An agent does not release you from your own verification. You will find a list of questions to ask in a sales office in the article What to ask a developer, and the most common traps in the text what to watch out for when buying a flat from a developer.

When is an agent not needed?

Since in the "developer pays" model help costs you nothing, the question is rather one of time and convenience than of money. Buying on your own makes sense when:

• you know exactly which development and which unit you want to buy, and you do not need a comparison with other offers,
• you are buying another flat from the same developer and know its procedures,
• you have experience with developer agreements and a mortgage or your own lawyer,
• the agency that contacted you wants a commission from you for a unit you can buy directly at the same price from the price list.

An agent is most useful when you are buying for the first time, do not know the districts, combine the purchase with a loan or are searching in two cities at once. If at the same time you are selling your current flat, the rules are different – you will find a comparison in the article selling through an agency or on your own (in Polish). We describe the whole route of buying in the guide how to buy a flat from a developer.

Frequently asked questions

Summary

An agent when buying a flat from a developer usually costs the buyer nothing, because their fee is paid by the developer. The price of the unit comes from the developer's price list, which is open, has a history of changes and goes to dane.gov.pl, and a discrepancy works in your favour. When choosing an agency, check who pays the fee, whether you are signing a brokerage contract, whether the agency has liability insurance and how many developers it works with.

Looking for a new flat in Warsaw or Wrocław? Use our help buying a flat from a developer – most often without a commission for the buyer, as the fee is usually paid by the developer. We will select offers from the catalogue of 118 developments, arrange presentations and take you through the process up to the notarial deed.

Legal status as of September 2026. The calculations are indicative, and the article is not legal advice.

Sources

• Act on the Protection of the Rights of a Purchaser of a Residential Unit or Single-Family House and on the Developer Guarantee Fund – consolidated text, Journal of Laws 2026 item 880 (art. 5a, 19a, 19b, 32).
• Real Estate Management Act – consolidated text, Journal of Laws 2026 item 399 (art. 179a, 179b, 180 sec. 3, 181 sec. 3–3b).
• NBP – the Residential Property Price Database, asking and transaction prices on the primary market, Q2 2026.
• The dane.gov.pl portal – asking prices of flats published by developers.
• Flat prices: the TM Invest catalogue of developments, as of 27 September 2026.