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We know in this economy buyers are taking a serious hit. If I'm willing to reduce the cost of my home, is it reasonable to expect commissions under 6%??
Also, what does an agent do exactly for that 6% they will be making on my home?
I'm not trying to be disrespectful, I seriously don't know what they do beyond listing the property. I just bought a place, but the agent I used had nothing to do with me finding the property. I found the place on my own and then called an agent in the area who had shown me a different property in the area (and again, I called him that time too, because he was the listing agent on that property). He made a nice chunk of change on that considering what work he put into it which was very minimal.
Now as a seller, what do I have a right to expect from my listing agent? What are realistic expectations? I feel for the amount of money that will be made on the sale of my property, some serious work should be involved. Am I wrong on that?
We plan to interview several agents in the next few weeks and I want to know what to look for in a good agent, and one who will work to sell this home as quickly as possible.
Ask the agents you interview what exactly they are going to do for the money you are going to pay them. Then you can determine if that seems reasonable or not.
Personally, I wont do less than 6%, alot of my homes are offering 7% - 3% to me and 4% to the buyers agent. Myself I have a pretty extensive plan on how to sell your home, and normally when I average what I have put into selling a home, I average about 18/hr. It really depends on the agent. A good agent will bring his plan and go thru it with you, and then it's your responsibility to make sure he follows thru with what he says.
We know in this economy buyers are taking a serious hit. If I'm willing to reduce the cost of my home, is it reasonable to expect commissions under 6%??
Also, what does an agent do exactly for that 6% they will be making on my home?
<SNIP>
Now as a seller, what do I have a right to expect from my listing agent? What are realistic expectations? I feel for the amount of money that will be made on the sale of my property, some serious work should be involved. Am I wrong on that?
We plan to interview several agents in the next few weeks and I want to know what to look for in a good agent, and one who will work to sell this home as quickly as possible.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
First, the fact you are "willing to reduce the cost" of your home has nothing to do with looking for a lower rate from the agent you hire to sell it. Also, you aren't in fact willing to reduce anything, is my guess. You want to sell it for as much as possible. Unfortunately for you, as much as possible may still be less than you paid for it, but that doesn't mean you are willing to reduce it, it just means you want to sell it and no one will pay more.
Second, you are not wrong in thinking that for the money you pay the agent should be doing serious work. The agent should provide you with good reliable current information about your market so you can price it properly, as well as a serious & realistic plan to market your property, and then make sure he implements that plan and any changes that may become necessary, and should keep you informed along the way without needing you to call & ask for status reports.
You should be looking for an agent that can demonstrate a knowledge of the local market, an understanding of your situation and goals, and an ability to properly market yoru property to get it sold. You should be looking for someone you can trust and work well with, as you will be asking them to sell what is most likely your most valuable material posession. Ask questions about their process and learn who will be involved. Do they deal with everything, or are they a salesman who will turn you over to a marketing person nce the contract is signed? If that's the case, meet the marketing person too. Don't be afraid to ask whatever question you have before you sign the contract.
And remember, commissions are negotiable. Talk to the agent(s) you like, and make sure you feel you are paying what you believe is justified by the service you are getting. Just remember that that goes both ways. While the agent shouldn't expect to get paid for dooing nothing, neither should the seller expect to get top notch full service for a DIY bargain basement price.
We know in this economy buyers are taking a serious hit. If I'm willing to reduce the cost of my home, is it reasonable to expect commissions under 6%??...
Bill gave a good outline of what to expect from an agent. Regarding this economy and commissions, agents are already taking hits as prices drop even if commission % doesn't change. If anything commissions should be rising to offset the lower prices and more difficulty in selling. All that being said, all commissions are negotiable, so discuss with the agents you interview.
We still charge our full commission and give full quality service for that money. It actually costs me more today in time, money & skill to get many homes sold in todays market.
When it's difficult to sell a house and you need it sold ASAP at the best money you can possibly get, why would you want someone who will discount their fees ? If they will discount their fees to get the work they will very quickly discount your pricing to get it sold.
As with almost any product, Pay for the very best and you'll not be disappointed.
Amazing post. I just bought a home. We have been in our home for about a month now. I wouldn't have had the first clue about some of the things that my realtor brought up to me, papers we had to sign, offers and counter offers, and other issues having to do with the property. We bought a bank owned home and maybe some things are differant than buying from an individual. I wouldn't know. I do know this that I am glad that I used an agent. I seem to keep repeating myself within the Real Estate forum, but the idea is the same. If you are ever in court will you be representing yourself? When you go out to eat will you be cooking the food? I bet you could at least cook the food right? But why would you? Do you have any idea how to navigate all the paperwork needed to buy a home? Maybe because it was my first time but I just can't see going it alone. You on the other hand may be a lot more educated on the transaction than I am. From my point of view finding the home was the easy part. The real work began after we made an offer. While my realtor was taking care of the deal I was able to go to work, I didn't have to learn about real estate or what was needed, he took care of that. On top of that the other party, the bank, was represented by a realtor. How can you compete against someone with the knowledge and the background as someone that is in the business allready? I mean the old saying you don't show up to a gun fight with a knife applies here. I want to have the same tools as the other party. The fact is I want better tools if I can find them. This is a transaction that from what I see happens over a longer period of time than just finding a home.
First, the fact you are "willing to reduce the cost" of your home has nothing to do with looking for a lower rate from the agent you hire to sell it. Also, you aren't in fact willing to reduce anything, is my guess. You want to sell it for as much as possible. Unfortunately for you, as much as possible may still be less than you paid for it, but that doesn't mean you are willing to reduce it, it just means you want to sell it and no one will pay more.
Second, you are not wrong in thinking that for the money you pay the agent should be doing serious work. The agent should provide you with good reliable current information about your market so you can price it properly, as well as a serious & realistic plan to market your property, and then make sure he implements that plan and any changes that may become necessary, and should keep you informed along the way without needing you to call & ask for status reports.
You should be looking for an agent that can demonstrate a knowledge of the local market, an understanding of your situation and goals, and an ability to properly market yoru property to get it sold. You should be looking for someone you can trust and work well with, as you will be asking them to sell what is most likely your most valuable material posession. Ask questions about their process and learn who will be involved. Do they deal with everything, or are they a salesman who will turn you over to a marketing person nce the contract is signed? If that's the case, meet the marketing person too. Don't be afraid to ask whatever question you have before you sign the contract.
And remember, commissions are negotiable. Talk to the agent(s) you like, and make sure you feel you are paying what you believe is justified by the service you are getting. Just remember that that goes both ways. While the agent shouldn't expect to get paid for dooing nothing, neither should the seller expect to get top notch full service for a DIY bargain basement price.
Thanks, and you are right, "willing" is pretty much what we have to do in this market. It sucks though to have property decline in value because of this economy . It's very upsetting. This house is our biggest and only major asset. People often assume we have more wealth than we do because of it. Not so, at all, we're actually screwed because we put too much faith in the market. Ah, I'll save my gripes on that for a more appropriate forum.
Anyway, I'm sure I will learn a lot when we start interviewing agents. I'm just so clueless right now, I'm trying to learn so we do in fact hire the best agent. I want to ask the right questions, so your post was helpful. A teller at my bank was recently telling me about her "nightmare" with an agent with Howard Hanna, she claims he did "nothing".... but they were bound with him for six months. The house didn't sell.
Maybe I should have asked, what exactly does a good agent do?
Once a house is listed how does an agent market? How do they find the interested buyers? When we found our new place it was on our own, the listing agent didn't find us.
In reality I realize I am more concerned about finding a GOOD agent than I am about reducing commission. The responses here helped me realize that, so thank you to everyone who posted.
By the way, another question I have is are agents licensed by state? We are in NE Ohio right between Cleveland and Pittsburgh. A lot of people buy in this area for seasonal use only since it's on a lake. My closest neighbor is only here during the summer. They are wealthy and have multiple homes.... that is the case with several homes on my road. I am hoping whoever markets this home can do so in Ohio and PA, get a better shot at finding the people who can afford to buy a big home out here.
Maybe I should have asked, what exactly does a good agent do?
Once a house is listed how does an agent market? How do they find the interested buyers? When we found our new place it was on our own, the listing agent didn't find us.
In reality I realize I am more concerned about finding a GOOD agent than I am about reducing commission. The responses here helped me realize that, so thank you to everyone who posted.
By the way, another question I have is are agents licensed by state? We are in NE Ohio right between Cleveland and Pittsburgh. A lot of people buy in this area for seasonal use only since it's on a lake. My closest neighbor is only here during the summer. They are wealthy and have multiple homes.... that is the case with several homes on my road. I am hoping whoever markets this home can do so in Ohio and PA, get a better shot at finding the people who can afford to buy a big home out here.
Any other advice would be greatly appreciated.
A good agent does a lot of things. While the specifics within the following broad categories may differ, every agent shoud be able to address each category.
Market knowledge. A good agent knows the local market. What's for sale, what's recently sold, what's sitting on the market. Statistics like average days on market, average list to sale price, and absorbtion & supply. Knowing all this will put your agent, and therefore YOU, in a better position to accurately and realistically price yorur property to get it sold.
Marketing. A good agent has a plan. Whether it's basically the same for every property or customized for each one, the agent should be able to show you how they plan to attract potential buyers to come see your home. Obviously there are some avenues and tools that every agent should be using, such as the MLS, internet marketing, good photos, and yes signs. Most good agents will tell you which tools they feel are best and will generate the traffic you want in order to sell your place. Some may use tools that sound odd to you, and some may opt to NOT use tools that most agents use. Ask them to explain why they use or don't use them. (By the way, you mentioned that the listing agent didn't find you, but that you found the house on your own. How did you do that? Whether you saw a sign, located it on Realtor.com, or were driving by the house when they happened to be holding an open house, those are all tools put in play the listing agent. Unless you somehow knew the sellers and they told you they were selling, you likely found the house because of the listing agent's efforts.)
Negotiating. A good agent will negotiate on your behalf to get the house sold at the best price and under the best terms for you. A good agent knows that you aren't giving the house away, but that the object is to get your house sold, and not to prove how tough they are buy telling the other side to take their lousy offer & stuff it in a dark hole.
Project management. A good agent is a project manager, keeping track of all the little details and contingencies in the transaction, so you don't need to. Every agent who shows the house, every inspector that the buyer brings in, every date by which some form or money or information is required, yoru listing agent tracks and ensures these things are done. And a good agent knows that this means being proactive to get them done, and that it does not mean calling two days after the deadline to complain that it wasn't done.
Yes, agents are licensed by state. Many agents that live near state borders are licensed in both states, or work with someone in the neighboring state to market properties there as well.
We still charge our full commission and give full quality service for that money. It actually costs me more today in time, money & skill to get many homes sold in todays market.
When it's difficult to sell a house and you need it sold ASAP at the best money you can possibly get, why would you want someone who will discount their fees ? If they will discount their fees to get the work they will very quickly discount your pricing to get it sold.
As with almost any product, Pay for the very best and you'll not be disappointed.
Same here. There are a lot of possibilities. Honestly, I don't get asked to reduce the commission much but there are many possible responses with the end result is no. I suppose I would reduce it 1% if you the seller would be willing to reduce the price of your home 17% because that's cut I'd be taking. I know it would sell and I wouldn't have to work that hard.
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. It's very upsetting. This house is our biggest and only major asset. People often assume we have more wealth than we do because of it. Not so, at all, we're actually screwed because we put too much faith in the market. Ah, I'll save my gripes on that for a more appropriate forum.
