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Most, if not all, of the buyer's who hire me as their agent; choose which properties to see. Sometimes the houses they choose come from the automated listing match service, or they see some on the internet, or they drive by a house with a sign. I might suggest one or two based on the feedback they give me, but that's about all.
If I have a buyer's agency agreement with the buyer, it spell out specifically, all the compensation I can receive. If there is a bonus, and we are under agreement, they get the credit for the bonus. If the commission offered by the listing brokerage is less than the minimum; I am authorized to get a credit at closing from the buyer. If I have no agreement with the buyer, I either get all, possibly more than my usual fee, or come up short, and we all deal.
Which is better than the alternative but could still influence a buyer.
It's kind of like covering both ends. If the agent is greedy and doesn't tell the client then that agent would probably steer the client to the house that pays more. If the agent is upfront about the bonus and gives it to the buyer then would it not be in the agents best interest to steer to those houses due to reduced price and the odds that the buyer would take it first thereby reducing the time/money spent searching and getting your commission faster?[/QUOTE]
jimj, based on your comment it appears that agents are in a no win situation. On one hand we get accused of steering clients to higher priced homes because our commission will be higher and on the other hand we get accused of steering clients to lower priced homes because it will reduce the time/money spent searching and getting our commission faster.
IMO, for the vast majority of Realtors, neither of these is true. What is in my best interest is to satisfy the needs of my clients and exceed their expectations. Most of my business are referrals from previous clients because I did what was in their best interests and they appreciate it. Sure, there are exceptions, but there are exceptions in every profession.
There would be no "position" to be in if they were banned right? Kind of like cops not accepting gratuities to do their job. I'm not, nor have I ever said that all realtors are sketchy, there are many good honest ones out there but there's also a good portion of sketchy ones as well and as consumers there's really no way to tell who you've gotten at any given time. Remove temptation, remove the problem.
There would be no "position" to be in if they were banned right? Kind of like cops not accepting gratuities to do their job. I'm not, nor have I ever said that all realtors are sketchy, there are many good honest ones out there but there's also a good portion of sketchy ones as well and as consumers there's really no way to tell who you've gotten at any given time. Remove temptation, remove the problem.
In theory it sounds great, however there are very strict laws about standard commissions. While designed to prevent companies from getting together and agreeing to charging higher commissions the laws also prevent agencies from setting rules against accepting lower commissions or offering bonuses.
At the end of the day the buyer picks the home they want to buy. If they are satisfied with terms negotiated then they'll buy it and don't care what the agent makes.
We have several listings in areas where there are still builders building homes and every one of them offers a bonus to buyers agents. They've also lowered many of their base prices of homes and offer special financing.
If you are in a similar area, it's tough to compete with new construction and the extra commissions are a fact of life. You've got to offer the market rate to an agent and that might include a bonus.
Bonuses should be banned. However some realtors disagree w/this.
If you are for keeping bonuses, then you can argue they help homes get shown more (thus you go back to the problem of realtors showing homes that might not be in the best interest of the buyer....)
I am neutral on the topic. I know that homes with bonus incentive will probably get more showings but will not help a home get sold sooner or for more money than the market will bear.
If a seller is not priced to sell, that bonus is not going to make the difference, in this market.
And again, I disclose and rebate so it makes no difference to me.
I am neutral on the topic. I know that homes with bonus incentive will probably get more showings but will not help a home get sold sooner or for more money than the market will bear.
If a seller is not priced to sell, that bonus is not going to make the difference, in this market.
And again, I disclose and rebate so it makes no difference to me.
It may not make a difference to you, but there are some very bad apples out there.
Many agents aren't crazy about FSBO properties. The most common reason is that the selling agent will need to do the work load for both sides of the sale. Before becoming a licensed broker, I had sold a property FSBO. It was ok, I did a lot of work and it got sold but I came to see it would have been easier if I had it listed with a broker and negotiated a good commission.
From what I'm reading on the replys there seems to be a misconception that a commission is "regulated", it's not. A commission is negotiated. Any selling bonus or selling incentive that the seller or broker may wish to offer is a matter of marketing. All commissions and any type of bonus is to be listed on the settlement statement - for the eyes of everyone, the buyer, seller, lender, and both agents, closing company, etc.
Will a bonus paid to the selling agent help sell a property? ... hum... it's a marketing question. There are all kinds of ways to market a property, print ads, open houses, flyers, the local MLS, yard signs, on line marketing, etc. It's sometimes hard to know what actually works.
Contact your states Real Estate Commisioner to report the agent for extortion/blackmail.
The States DA would also be interested in this as well.
I do not understand your post. Can you explain your rationale to me?
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