[PugMom17]

So we decided to put an offer in on a house that is in a nice neighborhood in Spring Valley. The realtor sent the contract over and I see that there's a $500 broker's fee that we're supposed to pay. I found the house myself and never heard of this broker. Is this something that is usually included in contracts? It was put way down low in the fine print. I don't want to pay $500 to someone who hasn't done a thing for me. Is this underhanded or is this a usual expense?

[airics]

The broker fee is an added expense and is common

[WestieJeff]

This topic comes up somewhat regularly. Yes it is common, but not required. $500 is a little steep in my opinion. I would argue anything over $350.

The agent I've been using charges $0 broker fee, so I guess it all depends.

[007 license to sell]

Originally Posted by PugMom17

So we decided to put an offer in on a house that is in a nice neighborhood in Spring Valley. The realtor sent the contract over and I see that there's a $500 broker's fee that we're supposed to pay. I found the house myself and never heard of this broker. Is this something that is usually included in contracts? It was put way down low in the fine print. I don't want to pay $500 to someone who hasn't done a thing for me. Is this underhanded or is this a usual expense?

That fee should've been disclosed to you at the beginning. That fee is charged by the broker and you should address the matter . I suggest that you speak to the realtors broker and complain that this fee wasn't disclosed to you and see if this issue can be resolved. It's unfortunate that realtors are hesitant to disclose this fee because they know that it could be a problem and it wouldn't be if the fee was dealt with to begin with.
It does sound excessive, some firms charge allot , brokers have to store contracts for up to 5 yrs and the charge is usually to cover that. Charging allot is just a huge junk fee. Hopefully someday the Nevada real-estate division will set a standard fee for this instead of having the fee be determined by the broker.
This fee is allot like the documentation fee that car dealerships charge it's additional monies charged.

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by PugMom17

So we decided to put an offer in on a house that is in a nice neighborhood in Spring Valley. The realtor sent the contract over and I see that there's a $500 broker's fee that we're supposed to pay. I found the house myself and never heard of this broker. Is this something that is usually included in contracts? It was put way down low in the fine print. I don't want to pay $500 to someone who hasn't done a thing for me. Is this underhanded or is this a usual expense?

Who is charging this fee? Your agent? The seller's agent? Some third party?

As WestieJeff points out a $350 fee to your agent is relatively common in all the bigger brokerages. They are however always negotiable and they have to get you to agree.

If you don't have an agent you now know why you should have had one.

If my client objects to the fee, which I don't personally care for, I will waive it on higher sales but will not on smaller sales. We will do a $50K sale. We will not pick up the fee on one.

[NU2LV]

@olecapt - What are the normal fees? Do you mean that under 50K you charge a fee and over you will waive it?
What are the normal comm. rates and why are these extra fees added?

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by NU2LV

@olecapt - What are the normal fees? Do you mean that under 50K you charge a fee and over you will waive it?
What are the normal comm. rates and why are these extra fees added?

The fee gets paid. Always. The issue is whether the client or the agent pays it.

I collect it more than 95% of the time. I will waive it if I get strong objections from the client and there is a significant commission involved. I will not waive it for a small commission.

All this stuff is always negotiable. I just gave up 1% of a 3% commission on a deal to make it fly. The other agent gave up all 3% of his commission. But we got a deal damaged by a bad appraisal to work by throwing the commission and other side money into the deal. It happens.

And no I do not know why the other agent threw in his entire commission...but I expect he has other dealings with the seller that convinced him this was a good time to throw it all in. Then again the deal may have gotten old enough that he just wanted to be rid of it.. that happens.

[Scott456]

I think this fee is charged by buyer agent's broker office, and it is listed as one of the closing fees. Buyers can always ask the agent to pay it before they negotiate a contract. It would be just like some agents pay for home owner insurance or some other small items, just to get the contract moving. Alternatively, you can always ask the seller to pay for X amount of the closing cost.

[Scott456]

speaking of closing cost...can some give me an idea how much it is for cash purchase? say how much is the typical closing cost for a $100K house paid on cash?

[007 license to sell]

[quote=Scott456;19532307]speaking of closing cost...can some give me an idea how much it is for cash purchase? say how much is the typical

closing cost for a $100K house paid on cash?

Closing costs on a cash deal runs around 1 to 1.2% of the purchase price. Property purchased with a loan closing costs can run from 3 to 4% of the loan.
Since allot of hoa's are asking one to two months up front closing costs can get higher. Also if your buying a bank owned property or a new property you will have to pay a 1% transfer tax.

If it's a regular sale the seller usually pays the transfer tax. Sometimes it's negotiable, but bank owned properties and short sales usually won't negotiate the transfer tax. You don't want to ask for anything if you want a distressed property. However there are some exceptions some bankowned properties will pay closing costs only in some cases.

Some new home builders will split the difference on the transfer tax, however new home builders usually will pay the closing costs.