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Old 06-24-2013, 09:31 AM
 
8 posts, read 12,411 times
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I found a home I'd like to put an offer on but we don't have an agent yet. Commision is 5%, 2.5% each way (split with their company of course). Instead of using a rebate agent that offers 2% can I ask a regular agent who is local and more qualified to offer up .5% (around $9,000) to go toward purchase price (his company doesn't offer rebates so I believe we just pay less by letting seller agent know he'll accept 2% rather then 3%), he would keep $18,000 after paying his share to his company. Newer home, cash offer so should be fairly easy.
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Old 06-24-2013, 09:47 AM
 
1,835 posts, read 3,240,372 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by suerick View Post
I found a home I'd like to put an offer on but we don't have an agent yet. Commision is 5%, 2.5% each way (split with their company of course). Instead of using a rebate agent that offers 2% can I ask a regular agent who is local and more qualified to offer up .5% (around $9,000) to go toward purchase price (his company doesn't offer rebates so I believe we just pay less by letting seller agent know he'll accept 2% rather then 3%), he would keep $18,000 after paying his share to his company. Newer home, cash offer so should be fairly easy.
You can offer anything you want. Whether or not they will agree to it is another story. An agent may be more than willing to agree, but lots of agents brokers wont allow it....it enables them to keep a strong grip on the market.

Prepare yourself for the litany of agents who are about to call you greedy for asking for part of their paycheck...your about to learn that finding the home is the easy part - getting it to close is apparently the hard part.

That has not been my experience but its a common theme throughout these threads.

Cash deal with no financing should be a very easy slam dunk. Look hard, there are bound to be some good agents who will agree to your terms. Remember you are the customer. Dont let the agents try to make you feel like what you are asking for is greedy. You have already done the work, found the home, you don't need financing. You literally just need to get access to the house and make an offer. That is only worth so much.

Good luck! Also be wary of the current market being pretty tight in many areas...you could lose the house to someone else if it takes too long to find an agent.
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Old 06-24-2013, 10:41 AM
 
Location: Martinsville, NJ
6,175 posts, read 12,888,161 times
Reputation: 4019
Quote:
Originally Posted by suerick View Post
I found a home I'd like to put an offer on but we don't have an agent yet. Commision is 5%, 2.5% each way (split with their company of course). Instead of using a rebate agent that offers 2% can I ask a regular agent who is local and more qualified to offer up .5% (around $9,000) to go toward purchase price (his company doesn't offer rebates so I believe we just pay less by letting seller agent know he'll accept 2% rather then 3%), he would keep $18,000 after paying his share to his company. Newer home, cash offer so should be fairly easy.
Yes, of course you can ask any agent if they will accept whatever payment you want to offer. For a variety of reasons, some will be willing to accept that, and others will not. Talk to several, until you find an agent you are comfortable with, who you feel will represent you the way you want to be represented, for the fee you are willing to pay. I would suggest that the $9,000 you are looking to save as you purchase this $1,800,000 house shouldn't be the primary factor in choosing the agent to represent you in that transaction. Also, be aware that your agent being willing to accept a lower fee does not necessarily mean that the amount he is willing to forgo will go back to the seller. In many (perhaps most) places, the seller agrees to pay a certain fee, and the listing broker agrees to share that fee with the buyers agent. If that buyers agent is willing to accept less, it's entirely possible that the overage stays with the marketing broker.

Just out of curiosity, how do you come to know the details of what commission is being paid by the seller to their agent? That's not disclosed in my market.
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Old 06-24-2013, 11:08 AM
 
Location: DFW
40,920 posts, read 48,822,759 times
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First you say 2.5% then you say he gets 3%. Which is it ?
You realize his broker also gets a % of that in many cases.

Are you wanting to ask the sellers agent to reduce his % also ?
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Old 06-24-2013, 03:42 PM
 
Location: Needham, MA
8,523 posts, read 13,894,869 times
Reputation: 7908
Quote:
Originally Posted by suerick View Post
I found a home I'd like to put an offer on but we don't have an agent yet. Commision is 5%, 2.5% each way (split with their company of course). Instead of using a rebate agent that offers 2% can I ask a regular agent who is local and more qualified to offer up .5% (around $9,000) to go toward purchase price (his company doesn't offer rebates so I believe we just pay less by letting seller agent know he'll accept 2% rather then 3%), he would keep $18,000 after paying his share to his company. Newer home, cash offer so should be fairly easy.
You can definitely ask the agent if he'll reduce his commission in exchange for representing both sides. Some will, some won't but you won't know until you ask.

Quote:
Originally Posted by marksmu View Post
Prepare yourself for the litany of agents who are about to call you greedy for asking for part of their paycheck...your about to learn that finding the home is the easy part - getting it to close is apparently the hard part.
I don't think you have an accurate read on this group. I would be quite surprised if anyone starting bashing him for his inquiry. There's a huge difference between this situation and the typical discussion thread of "I've been working with an agent for 6 years to find a house and can I dump him now so that I can make an offer with the agent who only takes a commission of $1?"

Working with the public is HARD. A lot of people can be so nice when you meet them but as soon as money becomes involved you find there's another side to their personality which is less than pleasant. Some people are ignorant, some are lazy, some are distrustful because of the bad reputation of the profession, I could go on and on and on but I'm happy that you find this profession which you don't even work in so easy.
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Old 06-24-2013, 05:06 PM
 
Location: Danbury CT covering all of Fairfield County
2,619 posts, read 7,384,772 times
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Focus on the large #, the purchase price and forget about the rebate. You want someone that it going to work hard on your behalf to get you the home you want at a reasonable price. Often times, you get what you pay for. The service fee is already agreeded upon when the seller signs the listing contract with their agent.

Cash offers don't matter, because at the end of the day, everything it cash. Cash only matters if the house is in a state of disrepair, which doesn't seem to be the case here.
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Old 06-24-2013, 05:11 PM
 
Location: Pisgah Forest
145 posts, read 359,978 times
Reputation: 226
If you have a job, consider this: Once in a while, your task at work may be fairly easy or straightforward. You just do the work and get done and get paid. Most of your tasks are nightmares and take 5 times the time and 100 times the pain. You stay focused and get through it and make the client happy. You get done and get paid the same money you get paid for the occasionally easy deal. One justifies the other for you as you go through Life. Want us to get your Boss to stop paying you your regular salary when you are able to complete your tasks quickly? And only pay you for the hard ones?
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Old 06-25-2013, 03:15 AM
 
8,539 posts, read 12,259,217 times
Reputation: 16432
Quote:
Originally Posted by suerick View Post
I found a home I'd like to put an offer on but we don't have an agent yet.
What about the agent you said you signed with in your other post? Or the other agents who you said you used to show you houses?

Quote:
Originally Posted by suerick View Post
Instead of using a rebate agent that offers 2% can I ask a regular agent who is local and more qualified to offer up .5% (around $9,000) to go toward purchase price (his company doesn't offer rebates so I believe we just pay less by letting seller agent know he'll accept 2% rather then 3%), he would keep $18,000 after paying his share to his company. Newer home, cash offer so should be fairly easy.
If this "regular" agent's company doesn't offer rebates, why do you think this plan would pass muster? It's still a rebate. Your main problem is that the listing agreement which specifies the commission is a contract between the Seller and the listing broker. Unless you find a buyer's agent who will clearly give you a rebate from a stipulated buyer's agent commission, you will need the agreement of the listing/selling broker to relinquish any difference in the commission paid to the buyer's broker.

In your plan, if a buyer's agent agrees to "accept" 2%, rather than 2.5 or 3%, a listing/selling broker would need to agree to give up the difference--otherwise they could just keep the difference. But if they are truly looking out for the Seller's interest (as they should be), why shouldn't they just allow the Seller to keep that amount?
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Old 06-25-2013, 11:22 AM
 
27,203 posts, read 46,518,781 times
Reputation: 15651
You say the eal is easy...newer home....

I have seen it, heard it and seen easy ones and disaster ones...

Btw are you aware with no agent that nobpdy will be interested in your best interested and it might not be n issue but it could mke a difference if you are unaware of something that may later hunt you and the .5% may be a costy one...

On top of that a buyer doesn't pay the commission so is it really worth it to do an important purchase on your own while the other side is getting professional advise and you are not getting it...that is for you to decide and live with.

I just want to prevent another post bashing everything that went wrong... but perhaps your next post will be how well it went which would be great
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Old 06-25-2013, 01:59 PM
 
Location: northern va
1,736 posts, read 2,873,835 times
Reputation: 1688
Quote:
Originally Posted by bentlebee View Post
You say the eal is easy...newer home....

I have seen it, heard it and seen easy ones and disaster ones...

Btw are you aware with no agent that nobpdy will be interested in your best interested and it might not be n issue but it could mke a difference if you are unaware of something that may later hunt you and the .5% may be a costy one...

On top of that a buyer doesn't pay the commission so is it really worth it to do an important purchase on your own while the other side is getting professional advise and you are not getting it...that is for you to decide and live with.

I just want to prevent another post bashing everything that went wrong... but perhaps your next post will be how well it went which would be great
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