Weichert Ripoff (McLean: sales, real estate, relocation companies)

[barryhussein]

I found a house in NoVa that I am very interested in. I sent my mom and dad out to take a look (I'm 9000 miles away). We decided to make an offer. They call a Weichert agent. He Emails me a contract--23 pages. Page one says that I will pay an administrative fee of 295 usd (as the buyer). This is outrageous. Has anyone heard of this? or had to pay this?
This realtor was assigned to me through United Airlines FF program, where I get 3000 FF miles for every 10,000 the house cost. Is this a Weichert policy or just for people trying to get the "free" miles. I informed him, that I would be taking my business elsewhere. I think 3% for them is plenty, considering they have no reports, it's a cash sale, and he hasn't even stepped foot on the property.

[TN Lily]

I do not know about real estate agents/brokers charging such fees, but it is common in many parts of Virginia for car dealers to charge a processing fee of $400 (more or less) on the purchase of a new car. Our (hubby & me) attitude has been the same; the car dealer makes enough on the sale of the car that they don't need to charge this too. For that reason, we have bought cars in Pennsylvania.

I would think that your real estate agent would waive this fee rather than lose the sale.

Is the agent acting as your buyer's agent? You may want to check out websites that deal with buyer's agents. There is a National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents. There is also a National Buyer's Agent Association.

[barryhussein]

It did remind me of the car dealer ripoff fee. Except we are already paying a title company. I think I'll be going through ZIPREALTY; they give 20% of their comission back to the buyer.

[g3org3]

Yes, it's the same type of junk fee the car dealers add on, and it's common in the DC area. The few Realtors I've talked to about it claim they have to pay it personally if the client refuses. This is fine with me. If you threaten to take your business elsewhere, I'm sure the agent will strike it from the agreement (worked for me last time). Samson Reallty is another company in NoVa with a rebate program.

[twinmma]

We used Weichert and were very happy with them. I believe we paid the fee, but in the grand scheme of things and extra $295 wasn't a big deal. Yes, 3% is a good commission, but the $295 covers paper work and other things and the agent doesn't get that money, I believe Weichert does. And it doesn't matter if the agent stepped foot on the property...you are paying for someone to represent you, to look out for your best interest. And they will be there for inspections and closing...I don't know....the way I look at it is I wouln't go to a discount Dr for surgery and I certainly wouldn't go to a discount real estate agency. They are discount for a reason.
ANyway, good luck with your move.

[American Arrogance]

I have used Long and foster realtor and they do not charge a document fee of whatever they want to call it. I am currently using a Coldwell Banker Elite and there is no fee.

I think a fee for doing paperwork is bogus. Its a part of thebusiness that shouldhave been factored it in the sales commission. From what a few agents I spoke with I hear that out of the 3% they get they have to pay the Firm 1% of it...so why should the firm get another $295?

I'd tell the agent to get rid of the $295 charge or you can get another realtor at another firm who doesnt charge the $295 fee.

[slim04]

Just politely ask them to waive it or pay for it out of their own pockets. 99% of the time they will with no problem.

The only time I've ever heard an agent not waiving it when asked was at the height of the boom when some buyer's agents were too swamped and had too many clients. Obviously that isn't the case anymore.

[Margery]

Many of the large brokerages charge this fee to the agent, who can then choose to pass it along to the buyer or seller. When I was with Weichert, I always paid it myself. A buyer or seller is always free to refuse to pay this. I hadn't heard of the frequent flyer program, but there are many companies that have this sort of arrangement with Realtors (such as USAA and many relocation companies). They refer clients to you, but they want 35% of the commission off the top and then the agent has to split what is leftover with their broker. This is why I got my broker's license and went into business for myself.

[bungalowmo]

I don't recall if my agent (also Weichert) charged this or not. I got my place May 07. She got me a sweet deal tho...seller dropped the price, paid to have the roof scraped, primed & painted; paid to have the electrical upgraded & paid all my closing costs.

She worked to get me exactly what I needed & wanted & if I'd have had to pay that fee...I would have in a heartbeat!

She also bought me a nice housewarming gift...a cute wicker chair for my front porch! (no cheap potted plant!)

Mo

[sassimom]

I don't know about the fee. I'll have to look at my paperwork. But I used Weichert to purchase my house and the agent was horrible. Please tell me you're not using the office in McLean. My agent only went with me to see 4 housed (and I saw alot of houses), she was never available and always out of town. And when I called Weichert to complain, her boss ignored my calls (all seven of them). I ended up shutting her out of the settlement process and calling a regional manager for the company to handle it.