Korean real estate agent fees are not whatever the agent says they are. There is a legal ceiling, it is set by city ordinance, and every licensed office in Seoul is required to display it on the wall. Almost no foreign tenant knows this, and agents are not in the habit of volunteering it.
The fee usually arrives as a single number at the end of the process, at the moment when arguing feels awkward and you still need the keys. On a 500 million won jeonse, the gap between the correct figure and a confidently quoted wrong one is about 700,000 won. On a wolse contract it is smaller in absolute terms but proportionally worse, because the conversion formula is where most of the errors happen.
This article covers the Seoul tables, the arithmetic for monthly rent contracts, what counts as extra on top of the fee, and what to do if the number you are handed is above the cap. If you are signing a lease, read this alongside how to protect your deposit — the fee is the small risk, the deposit is the large one.
What the law actually caps
Brokerage fees in Korea are governed by the Licensed Real Estate Agents Act, which delegates the actual rates to each metropolitan government. Seoul sets its own schedule by ordinance, and the figures in this article are Seoul’s. Rates in Gyeonggi or Busan are similar but not always identical, so if you are signing outside the city, check your own province’s table.
Two things follow from the word ceiling. The first is that the published rate is a maximum, not a price. An agent may charge less, and in a slow market many will, particularly on larger transactions where the percentage produces an uncomfortable number. Asking is normal and is not considered rude. The second is that the agent cannot charge more, under any framing — not as a “service fee,” not as a “foreigner support fee,” not as a rush charge.
Every licensed office must display the fee schedule and its business registration inside the premises, where clients can see them. If you are sitting in an office and cannot find the table on the wall, that is worth noticing before you sign anything. You can also pull the official version yourself from the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s property portal, which publishes the current table and a calculator.
How Korean real estate agent fees are calculated
The rate depends on the value of the transaction and on whether it is a lease or a sale. Leases — both jeonse and wolse — use the first table.
| Transaction value | Maximum rate | Fee cap |
|---|---|---|
| Under 50 million won | 0.5% | 200,000 won |
| 50 million – under 100 million | 0.4% | 300,000 won |
| 100 million – under 600 million | 0.3% | No cap |
| 600 million – under 1.2 billion | 0.4% | No cap |
| 1.2 billion – under 1.5 billion | 0.5% | No cap |
| 1.5 billion and above | 0.6% | No cap |
Purchases use a separate and slightly higher schedule.
| Transaction value | Maximum rate | Fee cap |
|---|---|---|
| Under 50 million won | 0.6% | 250,000 won |
| 50 million – under 200 million | 0.5% | 800,000 won |
| 200 million – under 900 million | 0.4% | No cap |
| 900 million – under 1.2 billion | 0.5% | No cap |
| 1.2 billion – under 1.5 billion | 0.6% | No cap |
| 1.5 billion and above | 0.7% | No cap |
Here is the part that catches people, and it is worth slowing down for. The rate is not applied in brackets the way income tax is. You do not pay 0.3% on the first 600 million and 0.4% on the rest. The single rate for your band applies to the entire amount.
That creates cliff edges at every boundary. A jeonse deposit of 599 million won sits in the 0.3% band and produces a ceiling of 1,797,000 won. A deposit of 600 million won sits in the 0.4% band and produces 2,400,000 won. One million won more in deposit, six hundred thousand won more in fee. If your negotiation is anywhere near one of these lines, it is worth knowing which side you are landing on before you agree to the final number.
Officetels and non-housing follow a different schedule
An officetel is legally not housing, which means the tables above do not automatically apply to it. There is a carve-out, but it has conditions.
| Property type | Sale | Lease |
|---|---|---|
| Officetel, 85㎡ or less, with kitchen, toilet and bath | 0.5% | 0.4% |
| Officetel not meeting those conditions | Up to 0.9% | Up to 0.9% |
| Shops, offices, land, other non-housing | Up to 0.9% | Up to 0.9% |
Both conditions have to hold. The unit must be 85㎡ or less in exclusive area, and it must have a kitchen, a toilet and bathing facilities. Most residential officetels pass easily. A studio converted from office stock, or a larger unit marketed as a live-work space, may not — and the difference between 0.4% and 0.9% on a 200 million won lease is 800,000 won against 1,800,000 won.
Mixed-use buildings are decided by floor area. If the portion used as housing is half or more of the total, the housing rates apply to the whole transaction. Below half, it is treated as non-housing at up to 0.9%. That 0.9% figure is a ceiling with a lot of room underneath it, and on commercial deals it is genuinely negotiated rather than simply charged.
Wolse contracts: the conversion that catches everyone
A monthly rent contract has two numbers, a deposit and a monthly payment, and the fee is calculated on a single converted figure. The formula is the deposit plus the monthly rent multiplied by 100.
There is a second step that is easy to miss. If the converted total comes out below 50 million won, you recalculate using a multiplier of 70 instead of 100. This exists to stop very small contracts from being pushed into a higher band by the conversion itself, and it always works in the tenant’s favour.
| Your lease | Conversion | Transaction value | Legal maximum fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deposit 10,000,000 / rent 500,000 | 10M + (500K × 100) | 60,000,000 won | 240,000 won at 0.4% |
| Deposit 5,000,000 / rent 400,000 | Falls under 50M, recalculated at × 70 | 33,000,000 won | 165,000 won at 0.5% |
| Jeonse deposit 400,000,000 | Deposit only, no conversion | 400,000,000 won | 1,200,000 won at 0.3% |
Run your own numbers before you walk into the office. It takes a minute on a phone calculator, and arriving with a figure already in your head changes the conversation completely.
VAT, expenses, and when you actually pay
The capped amount is before tax. A general taxable business adds 10% VAT, so a 1,200,000 won fee is invoiced at 1,320,000 won. Smaller offices registered under the simplified taxation scheme add a lower rate. Ask which applies, early, because an unexpected 10% at the end feels like an overcharge even when it is entirely legitimate.
Separate from the fee are 실비, actual expenses. These cover things the agent pays out of pocket on your behalf — document issuance, certain verification costs. They are legal, but they must be itemised, genuinely incurred, and agreed in advance. A round number labelled “expenses” with no breakdown is not that. The fee itself already covers the agent’s core duty, which includes verifying the legal status of the property and explaining it to you in writing. You should not be charged extra for the confirmation and explanation document.
Payment is due on the balance day, when money and keys change hands, not at signing. Some agents ask for part of the fee at contract signing. There is no obligation to agree, and the timing is worth settling at the same moment you settle the amount.
When Korean real estate agent fees exceed the cap
If the number you are given is above the ceiling, the first move is quiet and usually sufficient. Point at the table on the wall, state the band your transaction falls into, and ask for the figure to be written down. Most disputes end there, because the agent now knows that you know.
If it does not end there, charging above the statutory maximum is a violation of the Licensed Real Estate Agents Act, and the excess is recoverable. Complaints go to the real estate division of the district office that licensed the agent, and the licence is the lever — this is a regulated profession with a real disciplinary process behind it. Keep the receipt, the contract, and any messages where the amount was discussed.
For free help in English, the Seoul Global Center runs consultations for foreign residents, and the Korea Legal Aid Corporation handles tenancy matters at no cost. Neither requires a lawyer on retainer and both are used to this exact category of question.
The short version
Korean real estate agent fees are capped, published, and posted on the office wall. Work out your band before you sit down, convert monthly rent properly, remember that the rate applies to the whole amount rather than in slices, add VAT, and pay on balance day. The system is more transparent than it appears from the outside — it simply assumes you already know how it works.
The fee is the smallest financial risk in a Korean lease. The large one is the deposit, and that is worth considerably more of your attention: how jeonse deposit protection works, and the two steps that create it.
Rates verified against the Seoul Metropolitan Government brokerage fee ordinance, Table 1. This is general information, not legal advice. Fee schedules are set locally and can be revised — confirm the current table for your district before signing.