Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Massachusetts
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 05-17-2018, 03:36 PM
 
66 posts, read 80,848 times
Reputation: 56

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rick Solie View Post
We expect to put our house on the market shortly and have spoken with two realtors. Both quoted us a commission of 5%. My neighbor, whose son is knowledgeable in the RE business, was shocked, saying that 5% was much too high. She thought 4% was more appropriate. Our house is in a desirable suburb north of Boston and is situated ideally for a family with children. We've been assured that it will sell quickly and indeed that seems consistent with recent history in our town. We have no wish to leave money on the table so I'm asking here for opinions. We do thank you; it's been a while since we've done this.
This realestate market, in a highly desirable area/good schools/priced well.....

IMO NO real estate agent.

That's what I would do. No offense but lets be honest what value are they providing in a highly desirable market like Boston/radius? I found many realtors unknowledge about the property/not welcoming at all.

If you price it right save yourself the money on your end.....if you decide to sell yourself do an open house, don't disclose that you are the owner unless asked and don't babble at the mouth, just be nice and answer questions to the point...GL
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 05-17-2018, 07:00 PM
 
15,693 posts, read 20,211,420 times
Reputation: 20859
I always thought the work that my realtor did for me was after agreeing on a sale. That's when all the running around started. I'd go to work like normal and my realtor would be the one running around getting paperwork and such.

Now...is that worth 5%?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-17-2018, 07:14 PM
 
Location: near bears but at least no snakes
26,637 posts, read 28,452,188 times
Reputation: 50443
Quote:
Originally Posted by BostonMike7 View Post
I always thought the work that my realtor did for me was after agreeing on a sale. That's when all the running around started. I'd go to work like normal and my realtor would be the one running around getting paperwork and such.

Now...is that worth 5%?
Wouldn't a real estate lawyer do that for you too? (Not sure.)
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-17-2018, 07:17 PM
 
3,176 posts, read 3,668,443 times
Reputation: 2676
Quote:
Originally Posted by in_newengland View Post
Wouldn't a real estate lawyer do that for you too? (Not sure.)
They draft the purchase and sale agreement and can negotiate with the other party to modify it. They aren't going to go to a home inspection or deal with most of the other nonsense.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-17-2018, 07:34 PM
 
Location: Massachusetts & Hilton Head, SC
9,919 posts, read 15,488,689 times
Reputation: 8525
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dm84 View Post
They draft the purchase and sale agreement and can negotiate with the other party to modify it. They aren't going to go to a home inspection or deal with most of the other nonsense.
They sometimes do get involved in a home inspection, but it usually doesn't come to that. Not that they would attend it, but maybe deal with the aftermath.

Last edited by CaseyB; 05-17-2018 at 07:46 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-17-2018, 09:28 PM
 
64 posts, read 78,157 times
Reputation: 151
In CA you tell the realtor what you are willing to pay for a commission. There are so few homes for sale, too many realtors, and homes that sell in minutes, it’s crazy to pay a realtors quoted price.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-17-2018, 09:53 PM
 
Location: Needham, MA
8,525 posts, read 13,910,379 times
Reputation: 7908
Quote:
Originally Posted by G-fused View Post
Always wondered about that. In such a hot market how can a good agent get more $? It seems to me that all they do in recent times is hold an open house and tons of people come and make offers on the spot and the highest one is taken or they say that bids are being accepted until x date and take the highest one from there. How is it that a better agent gets you more $?
I can train a monkey to get a house sold in this market. There's a big difference between getting a house sold and getting it sold for the most money possible. In order to do that you need to effectively market the house to bring in the most potential buyers possible, sell the house to them at the open house, effectively navigate and negotiate a multiple offer situation, vet the buyer who ends up with the most attractive offer, negotiate the inspection, and I'm just naming a few things here.

Quote:
Originally Posted by sawyer2 View Post
Says the realtor
Yup! The guy most involved with the real estate industry.

Quote:
Originally Posted by sawyer2 View Post
This is a sellers market and realtors are not doing a lot more than opening the door and collating offers. Buyers have to accept a lot of conditions or lose out to the next 10 or so in line.
The real estate agent who believes what you wrote is exactly the one you don't want to hire. Again, big difference between getting a house sold and selling one for the most money possible. There's a lot more work and skill involved in getting the most money possible.

Quote:
Originally Posted by sawyer2 View Post
I would suggest 5% max ...... also negotiate that if the buyer comes without an agent they only get 2.5%. They will grumble but will accept it.
Honestly, you're free to hire anyone you like. What concerns me about what you've written is that you'll likely end up with an agent who's not going to do squat for you. How good of negotiator do you think that guy is if he's giving up his own money so easily? How hard do you think that agent will fight for your money?

I hear what you'e saying and I can understand why you would say it. However, I stand by the fact that there's a difference between getting a house sold and getting it sold for the most money possible. I see it happen all the time.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dm84 View Post
Of course you feel that way, you're a realtor lol.
So . . . if I was a real estate lawyer instead would that make a difference? I live and breath real estate. I see daily how a bad agent can affect a sale negatively and how a good one can have a positive affect.

Quote:
Originally Posted by BostonMike7 View Post
I always thought the work that my realtor did for me was after agreeing on a sale. That's when all the running around started. I'd go to work like normal and my realtor would be the one running around getting paperwork and such.

Now...is that worth 5%?
There's a ton of work I do before the house goes on the market, there's a ton I do once it's on the market, and there's a ton I do once it's under contract to make sure it closes.

There's already a million discussions about this on the real estate section of the forum. I see no need to rehash those. So, I'm just going to bow out at this point. However, my advice stands . . . don't just hire the cheapest agent who has a heartbeat and a valid RE license. Hire someone who will do a good job.

Last edited by MikePRU; 05-17-2018 at 10:11 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-18-2018, 08:13 AM
 
Location: Cape Cod
24,267 posts, read 16,939,309 times
Reputation: 35501
A great agent is well worth the money they earn through the commission but there are many agents that are part time and others that are just plain worn out.
My wife and I started our real estate company in 2006 and we consider it "boutique". We are a small company and certainly don't do the volume that the big companies do but that gives us more time to work closely with our buyers and sellers.

We have seen ups and downs in the market and we have seen lousy agents come and go.

Commission percentage is always negotiable but usually set at a certain amount by the listing agent as a total package to attract the most buyers and to secure the best price and terms for the seller.

Generally in my area we have seen commissions at 5% with the million dollar plus properties at 4% and houses at the lower end of price scale at 6%.

Given this market I would suggest to the OP to negotiate with the agents and try to get the 4% which is 2% to the listing agent and 2% to the buyers agent. If a direct buyer comes along then you could also negotiate that your listing agent gets 2.5% or 3% but that can get tricky if the buyers want to be legally represented by the listing agent in a dual agency situation.

Hire the best full time agent for the smoothest transaction.
Good luck.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-18-2018, 06:51 PM
 
18,630 posts, read 33,198,289 times
Reputation: 36952
Quote:
Originally Posted by brainbree View Post
Though technically you can do these things yourself, a good agent will have contacts to rent staging furniture, clean your house, recommend high value low cost services to improve appeal (trash cleaning, yard trimming etc) and most importantly ensure that good photography is taken and open houses are held. You'd be surprised.
My realtor for my current house sale in Littleton has been heroic in preparing the house for an open house and sale while I'm 2200 miles away in my new house. She's getting 5 percent and has gone more than an extra mile. Her photographer is even taking drone pictures!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-18-2018, 08:03 PM
 
3,755 posts, read 4,775,873 times
Reputation: 2856
Look at Redfin. They're fees tend to be lower than most other agencies and their service and work is fantastic.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Massachusetts

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top