Builder dilemma-please help! (Charlotte: sales, real estate, home builder)

[doubleblessings]

We are looking at a builder here in the Charlotte area. We already own our land and would just need them to build our home. They will pay a realtor 3% if we hire a realtor and bring them with us but they will not discount the home 3% if we don't?!!!
For some reason, that really gets under my skin and makes me not want to build with this builder. I know we've heard this before when we were looking at Ryan homes (and coincindentally this sales person used to work for Ryan homes). Would you just say forget it? Can I hire I realtor and just give them $500 to do nothing and we take the rest?
What would you do?

[baybook]

Ethically, a realtor is not supposed to work out that arrangement with you.

I would hire a realtor and let them work for me. There will be some degree of negeotiation adn a lot of paperwork that the builder will handle for you. They are basically saying they will pay if you bring a representative, but they are not going to pay YOU if they do all the work. ;-)

If it bothers you, find another builder. Or I'm sure, if you search hard enough, you'll find someone hungry enough to entertain your offer.

I would work with a realtor and let them earn their 3%.

[lumbollo]

This sounds like a bit of a scam to me. You don't need a real estate agent to build a home on land you already own. Find another builder because if you are having these kinds of issues, imagine what it will be like once he has some of your money and things are not going as you expect.

There are a lot of decent honest builders in this area looking for work.

[Boss]

I agree with lumbollo. I think there are a lot of custom builders who will work with you. If you are in the rowan county area try Smith and son builders. they built my home and I have no complants. They came in on budget and on time asper the expected compleation date.

[baybook]

I think the point was the OP wants the 3% comission that would be paid to an agent to go to them. The builder is unwilling to do this. Makes sense to me. If it is as simple as you are saying, why give the buyer the 3% comission as a discount. Prehaps they are already discounting the job??

Or, get some representation from someone that works in the actually business and let them earn a fee. Costs the buyer nothing.

[pink caddy]

Originally Posted by baybook

I think the point was the OP wants the 3% comission that would be paid to an agent to go to them. The builder is unwilling to do this. Makes sense to me. If it is as simple as you are saying, why give the buyer the 3% comission as a discount. Prehaps they are already discounting the job??

Or, get some representation from someone that works in the actually business and let them earn a fee. Costs the buyer nothing.

I'm drawing a blank here and not following the logic. Help me out. Builder is willing to give a 3% commission to an agent but not to the client. Why not?
"Makes sense to me". What does, the builder not giving to buyer?
"get representation from someone that actually works in the business cost nothing" Isn't the buyer 'managing' his own money? Doesn't it cost the buyer 3%?
Seriously, I'm confused.

[Bramca]

Doubleblessing.... I completely understand your thought process on this. But change your thinking... The builder is offering this 3% bonus to all realtors to get them to bring buyer's in. They aren't offering a 3% reduction because as another poster mentioned with the economy the way it is their prices are already probably lower then 3%. Plus can't they write off the 3% as a business fee that they pay the realtor. So even though you didn't need a realtor to bring you to the builder and want the discount yourself, that is not the offer the builder is giving so take advantage of using the realtor. It is no cost for you, you are helping out another person (the realtor) times are tight for them as well and tell them up front you expect them to work for it. They can often negotiate a lot of freebies for you. Upgrades, more custom details, appliance costs etc... You may be saving more then if you did it yourself and didn't know about the 3% realtor commission. Would you have been as upset with this builder if you didn't know about the commission incentive? It is just a business promotion they are using to get more buyers to them.

[baybook]

read the post below yours. The comission never costs the buyer. It's a cost for the builder/seller.

Originally Posted by pink caddy

I'm drawing a blank here and not following the logic. Help me out. Builder is willing to give a 3% commission to an agent but not to the client. Why not?
"Makes sense to me". What does, the builder not giving to buyer?
"get representation from someone that actually works in the business cost nothing" Isn't the buyer 'managing' his own money? Doesn't it cost the buyer 3%?
Seriously, I'm confused.

[coastalgirl]

my question is why would it be ethically wrong for a realtor to work out a deal with you? any good realtor should be willing to negotiate. my neighbor is a realtor and he offers all of his friends that are clients a percentage back when he gets his commission. is this a NC thing? we interviewed 7 or so realtors when we were selling in SC and negotiated with each one of them.

OP: if you want this builder, find a realtor who will give you a percentage back.

[ugaillini]

I know this is frustrating and confusing. My husband is a custom home builder, and I asked him your question. He said that ethically the builder cannot reduce the price for the buyer because that would be penalizing everyone who uses a realtor. As other posters have said, the commission is a fee that the seller (in this case, the builder) is paying for the referral from a realtor.