Realtors: Bonus for Seller's agent, Buyer's agent, or neither? (commission, contract, closing)

[ScreamingBagel]

Pardon me if this is a re-post - I could have sworn I posted this same message in this forum earlier this morning, but can't find it for the life of me...so I think I messed up and it never saw the light of day

Anyway, I am just about to have an agent list a property in the low-300K range and I'm looking for (aren't we all) a quick sale. I'd like to try and get it done in 30 days.

The listing price will be low-ish when compared to like properties in an attempt to help make things move. I'd really like to pull out all the stops however - for whatever reason, in my geography, things are either being sold fairly quickly, or sitting around forever.

I'd like people's thoughts on the following ideas:

A) Cash bonus to my Seller’s agent if we close in < 30-ish days (I should focus on closing, not going to contract, right?). He’s already going to get his 6%, but will an extra 5K make keep my listing in this thoughts

B) $5K Cash bonus to the Buyer’s agent if we close in < 30-ish days. This feels kind of “dirty” to me, but if it encourages more showings, it might be worth it.

C) Just drop the price another 5K – But will this make an impact against 300K+ asking price? It won’t get me to 299,900, for example – I’d still be in the “teens”.

D) None of the above – I’ve priced it well, so just suck it up and see what happens.

In a normal market, I’d go with “D” – a no brainer. But since this seems to be an “all or nothing” selling environment (either < 30 days vs. forever-and-a-half), I’m really nervous about NOT trying to do something extra.

What do you folks think? Ideas humbly accepted!

[Silverfall]

Bonuses make no difference to me. Make your home easy for an agent to sell. Offer a good commission, price the home for it's location and condition, and it should sell. People are looking for deals. If you want to close in 30, make sure you are a good deal.

300,000 and 325,000 are the price breaks for search engines. So for example, you'd be better off pricing at $325,000 and offering $5,000 in closing costs than dropping the price to $320,000. People searching in the $300,000 to $325,000 price break would catch you, as would the people searching in the $325,000 to $350,000 range. You would hit more people in the search engines that way. If you priced at $320,000, then you'd only hit the one group. Not sure what price is appropriate for you, but take into consideration how search engines work. This may not work for you at all since you are in the teens.

I'd go with option D.

[Captain Bill]

I would go with D also. But just to mention that closing is less than 30 days from listing is close to impossible. That would in most cases mean getting a contract signed on the first day because most escrows are 30 days. So that bonus would be useless.

I don't need a bonus. Just the fee that I customarily charge, and I'll work my best for my clients.

[gbone]

I don't accept bonuses either. If they are offered I negotiate that the bonus be used to reduce the house price or used to pay buyer closing costs. I would agree with some of the previous posts. Price it aggressively to sell, offer a commission that is typical for your area, consider paying some of the closing costs, have a pre-listing home inspection done and repair/update items before listing, offer a one year home warranty, and have the house spotless and staged appropriately. Good luck.

[bnewman]

My vote is also for D. In my opinion, a bonus offered to a buyer's agent is no incentive for a BUYER to purchase your home. As the buyer's agent, I want my buyer to get the best price and terms for their home...I'm not hoping for a bonus...just a done deal!

Make sure you're price is very competitive and your home is in tip-top shape.

[ScreamingBagel]

Thanks all, looks like I know what to do!

[newmover99]

I offered a $3,000.00 bonus to the "Selling Agent" in addition to the regular stuff. With 80,000 homes on the market for sale I needed to encourage agents to see our mint condition priced to sell home. I'm glad we did!

[newmover99]

Originally Posted by Silverfall

Bonuses make no difference to me. Make your home easy for an agent to sell. Offer a good commission, price the home for it's location and condition, and it should sell. People are looking for deals. If you want to close in 30, make sure you are a good deal.

300,000 and 325,000 are the price breaks for search engines. So for example, you'd be better off pricing at $325,000 and offering $5,000 in closing costs than dropping the price to $320,000. People searching in the $300,000 to $325,000 price break would catch you, as would the people searching in the $325,000 to $350,000 range. You would hit more people in the search engines that way. If you priced at $320,000, then you'd only hit the one group. Not sure what price is appropriate for you, but take into consideration how search engines work. This may not work for you at all since you are in the teens.

I'd go with option D.

Wow that is a very respectable attitude! But in FL where most agents HAD NOT a sale for over a year offerring a bonus is what we had to do(as sellers) to create excitement and interest!

[palmcoasting]

You had 80,000 homes for sale in your area? What area was that?

[newmover99]

Originally Posted by palmcoasting

You had 80,000 homes for sale in your area? What area was that?

Tampa/St Pete, That was in may 2007 so it's probably worse now--unless sellers took theirs off the market.