Are most real estate agents both buyer's and seller's agents? (buyers, closing)

[Knepper3]

See that is why we switched, I'll take 100% of my commissions on every sale thank you. So much less math to deal with (though I love math to be honest)

[safak]

Originally Posted by gg

If that is true this is new. Only one company splits 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 if in house so the agent gets 1/3 instead of 1/2 of 1/2. In other words 100,000 X 6%= $6,000 total commission. In house an agent in all but one agency would get 1/3, or $2,000 for the agent. If it is in house with all other agencies it would be 1/2 of 1/2, so $1,500 to the agent. Now if the agent is a bigger seller they might be on a much larger split than only the 50%, they might be up to 90% if they sell a ton of real estate, but they have to get back up to that percentage from about 75% split. That split is in house or a co-broke. There are all kinds of deals in brokerage firms. Some will pay 100% if the agent is paying monthly dues.

Anyway, as far as I know the only one that pays a lot more is one agency in our region. There might be some little bonus in other agencies, but it wouldn't be enough to matter.

The other one i mentioned starts new agents at 50%, 66% in house as well, exactly the same

Only difference is you can negotiate your split up there. They will offer active agents at other brokerages more, 65/77 for instance. Maybe they can alter this per office, idk I only interviewed one but have the folder with the split offer to prove it.

As far as 100%, there are some upstart, fast growing ones that ..quite honestly I don't see how a place that never goes over 50%, and doesn't have a cap will survive in the long run. Huge local name or not, if you are one of the agents(most of them) who brings all their own business I dont see how you can just give up 5 figures for the right to put an ugly logo on your suv.

[gg]

Originally Posted by safak

The other one i mentioned starts new agents at 50%, 66% in house as well, exactly the same.

Hmm, that is new. I am out of real estate now, so my info is old.

To be honest I never thought about the in house split all that much. It is kind of shady if you think about it. Firms should be looking out for their buyers if they are a buyer agent and if there is any sort of a split difference that should be considered a conflict of interest. I am amazed the practice can exist with "buyer agency". Many years ago there was no buyer's agents, because the seller was paying the commission which is who agents worked for. Buyers only had a fiduciary duty owed them. When buyer's agency started one would think agencies would have to have no split difference!

Surprised the media hasn't picked up on this. I suspect they will at some point. Are commission splits public? I just know them from being in that business for a long time. Glad I am out of it.

[Knepper3]

Originally Posted by safak

The other one i mentioned starts new agents at 50%, 66% in house as well, exactly the same

Only difference is you can negotiate your split up there. They will offer active agents at other brokerages more, 65/77 for instance. Maybe they can alter this per office, idk I only interviewed one but have the folder with the split offer to prove it.

As far as 100%, there are some upstart, fast growing ones that ..quite honestly I don't see how a place that never goes over 50%, and doesn't have a cap will survive in the long run. Huge local name or not, if you are one of the agents(most of them) who brings all their own business I dont see how you can just give up 5 figures for the right to put an ugly logo on your suv.

Completely agree, my wife has been an agent for years and at 2 of the larger local/nationwide firms. 50-65% splits but she went with them for the training initially and then for the support at the 2nd. To be honest the training was nothing great and the support from either was still minimum. Could have just been a bad market center but I was very involved helping my wife which is why I ended up just getting my license so I can do more of the actual real estate stuff. When I got licenses about 2 years ago we switch to one of those small local firms with 100% and a monthly fee though the fee was barely more than she was paying at the others for their min support. Clients think big name = big results but again it comes down to what that agent will do for them. All brokers are on the MLS and any marketing is mostly up to that agent anyway. I can honestly say we are able to offer the same thing to clients pretty much at any firm. The plus to a smaller firm for a client is we get much more flex in how we handle things and at least for us our fees are much better. Everyone has an admin fee but ours is lower than most and that is it. These large firms have alot of overhead and certain ones have been adding more fees than just admin. Marketing fee I have heard a few times now from others.

[safak]

Originally Posted by gg

Hmm, that is new. I am out of real estate now, so my info is old.

To be honest I never thought about the in house split all that much. It is kind of shady if you think about it. Firms should be looking out for their buyers if they are a buyer agent and if there is any sort of a split difference that should be considered a conflict of interest. I am amazed the practice can exist with "buyer agency". Many years ago there was no buyer's agents, because the seller was paying the commission which is who agents worked for. Buyers only had a fiduciary duty owed them. When buyer's agency started one would think agencies would have to have no split difference!

Surprised the media hasn't picked up on this. I suspect they will at some point. Are commission splits public? I just know them from being in that business for a long time. Glad I am out of it.

They aren't public that I know of, though the more fair they are to the agent, the easier it is to get the complete structure as far as splits/fees.

If you have been out awhile then they were probably still Prudential and likely would have had a different model.
At least they aren't selling the whole 'give us 1000's of dollars and we will give you 50 bucks back for your car..if its green and you put a big ugly sticker on it'

I have done a lot of research if your interested in a comparison in take home between the different brokers pm me, its a simple spreadsheet but pretty eye opening.

[Geeo]

I've bought two houses in my life, the last being in 1998 (from which i will move directly to the old folks home), and I don't think buyer's agents were even a thing back then. I just looked at a bunch of houses with a real estate agent (she obviously had many houses in her inventory), made an offer on one I liked to the seller's agent, who called the seller, who accepted the offer. Did it the same way with my first house, which would have been in 1988. Is having two agents a common practice now?

[selltheburgh]

Originally Posted by Geeo

I've bought two houses in my life, the last being in 1998 (from which i will move directly to the old folks home), and I don't think buyer's agents were even a thing back then. I just looked at a bunch of houses with a real estate agent (she obviously had many houses in her inventory), made an offer on one I liked to the seller's agent, who called the seller, who accepted the offer. Did it the same way with my first house, which would have been in 1988. Is having two agents a common practice now?

In most transactions, there's a seller's agent (listing agent) and a buyer's agent. Sometimes the same agent represents both parties. That's dual agency. Statistically it isn't common, but it occurs and is disclosed to both parties.

[cb2008]

Originally Posted by Copanut

A buyer's agent will work for you and not the seller. A listing agent may act like he's helping you, but his main interest is getting the seller the highest price.

Not all agents/brokers are Realtors.

Aren’t both agents, all realtors, interested in a) selling the house b) get the highest commission possible? I don’t see a conflict of interest here. Both work for the seller. The buyer beware.

[cb2008]

Originally Posted by selltheburgh

In most transactions, there's a seller's agent (listing agent) and a buyer's agent. Sometimes the same agent represents both parties. That's dual agency. Statistically it isn't common, but it occurs and is disclosed to both parties.

Do buyers agents list properties also? The do they still work as buyers agent?

[PGH423]

Originally Posted by cb2008

Aren’t both agents, all realtors, interested in a) selling the house b) get the highest commission possible? I don’t see a conflict of interest here. Both work for the seller. The buyer beware.

I'm sure a realtor who is a seller's agent wants to be known for getting their clients good deals not for making them overpay.