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I am just curious... did the realtor in the OP's story ever show the buyers FSBOs? I have personally worked with 3 buyers agents in the last five years and none have ever shown me a FSBO; if I found one I was interested in they would discourage me to the point where I would just deal with the FSBO seller myself. So if a buyer has to do his/her own research to find certain properties, make appointments to see the property on his/her own time, and negotiates his/her own contracts then what exactly is the agent being compensated for? I am playing devil's advocate here. From a personal standpoint I CERTAINLY would not be paying the agent THOUSANDS of dollars in compensation but would certainly offer a gift card or something of the like as a good-will gesture. It would also depend on how much effort the agent put in (i.e. did they merely e-mail me properties which I then had to preview myself and then contact them to set up appointments, were they showing me alot of properties that did not fit my criteria, did they actually take me to see the properties or not..etc..etc..)
You just have to step back and admire the astounding arrogance of realtors from time to time. It seems like everyone of them has the same sense of scumbag entitlement, they must teach it in some class or something. Hmm I never attended a continuing ed class that taught that, and really in every business you have some scum, whether it is lawyers, car salesmen, doctors, etc
It is real simple, if they buy your listing or a house that you serve as the buyer's agent for, then you get a commission. If you spend hundreds of hours showing them countless houses and they don't purchase one, then you don't. Just because you tried to help them, doesn't mean that you deserve anything. I disagree, out business is much different than others, but it's ok to disagree. If she had the buyers sign a buyers agent contract, they would have been on the line for the commission. It is done here, but it is rare.
In fact, a different point of view might be that you wasted hundreds of hours of their time when you failed to do your job and find them the right house, they eventually had to give up on you and find it for themselves.
I can guarantee that the OP and other real estate agents on this thread don't pay all of the various salespeople that they come into contact with in their daily lives a commission just because it is the right thing to do.
How many realtors pay a commission to the car salesman that takes them on a test drive even though they don't buy the car?I would not test drive a car I am not planning on buying. The last two cars I drove, I shopped around, did my research and went in and bought the car the same day to the guy that gave me the best price over the phone - I am not kidding, I understand peoples time is precious as is mine. I already knew what I wanted, the person who gave me the best deal, got the sale.
Do all realtors toss a few bucks to the retail sales clerk on the way out of a store in which they tried on a few items, but didn't buy anything?e comparing apples to oranges, they do not work on commission, they CHOSE to work for an hourly wage. However, I will talk to a mgr or write a letter immediately when I get good customer service.
When you take buyers to multiple properties and they eventually buy only one, do you get in touch with the listing agent of every property that you took the buyers to and give them a cut of the commission that you receive from the purchase to compensate them for their time? NOPE, sometimes I never even talked to them, if I had to go through centralized showing to make the appointment, then why would I ? HOWEVER, if another Realtor sends me a referral, I would in turn compensate them for the referral if I made a sale.
I hope this helped some, to clarify at least how I do business, i can't speak for anyone else.
I am just curious... did the realtor in the OP's story ever show the buyers FSBOs? I have personally worked with 3 buyers agents in the last five years and none have ever shown me a FSBO; if I found one I was interested in they would discourage me to the point where I would just deal with the FSBO seller myself. So if a buyer has to do his/her own research to find certain properties, make appointments to see the property on his/her own time, and negotiates his/her own contracts then what exactly is the agent being compensated for? I am playing devil's advocate here. From a personal standpoint I CERTAINLY would not be paying the agent THOUSANDS of dollars in compensation but would certainly offer a gift card or something of the like as a good-will gesture. It would also depend on how much effort the agent put in (i.e. did they merely e-mail me properties which I then had to preview myself and then contact them to set up appointments, were they showing me alot of properties that did not fit my criteria, did they actually take me to see the properties or not..etc..etc..)
I dont know the answer to this, however I would expect not. I will call fsbo's myself if all else fails and ask if they would work with a buyers agent and then make an appt to show the home, only once did a seller say no.
You just have to step back and admire the astounding arrogance of realtors from time to time. It seems like everyone of them has the same sense of scumbag entitlement, they must teach it in some class or something.
You know broad generalizations aren't good for anyone. It's in poor taste for agents to generalize that some buyers and sellers aren't competant to represent themselves in a transaction and its in poor taste for consumers to generalize that all agents are scumbags.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sco
It is real simple, if they buy your listing or a house that you serve as the buyer's agent for, then you get a commission. If you spend hundreds of hours showing them countless houses and they don't purchase one, then you don't. Just because you tried to help them, doesn't mean that you deserve anything. In fact, a different point of view might be that you wasted hundreds of hours of their time when you failed to do your job and find them the right house, they eventually had to give up on you and find it for themselves.
This is old school thinking and why the commission structure remains a dominant force. The commission structure has a built in risk factor for agents. They win or lose big on a transaction. If consumers really want lower fees, then that means lowering the risks because real estate agents are business people and expect to make a profit.
This attitude is fine, but don't turn around and then say commissions are too high. You don't get to have it both ways.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sco
I can guarantee that the OP and other real estate agents on this thread don't pay all of the various salespeople that they come into contact with in their daily lives a commission just because it is the right thing to do.
How many realtors pay a commission to the car salesman that takes them on a test drive even though they don't buy the car?
Do all realtors toss a few bucks to the retail sales clerk on the way out of a store in which they tried on a few items, but didn't buy anything?
The problem is buying a car is not like buying a house. If you think they are, then you will potentially get reamed on a real estate purchase. I also think buying a $10 shirt isn't the same as buying a $400,000 home that will house children. You may see them as the same, but most people don't.
Having said that what you need to realize is that the problem in real estate is that this isn't a sales profession. The problem is that state licensing laws haven't dealt with that problem. Real estate agents should have a program similar to paralegals that has a lot of education and an internship.
Professional agents step up to the plate and do the education that they need on their own. Unfortunately there are those that don't and I feel bad for consumers that get those agents. Real estate agent really should be a professional service career like a paralegal. You have "old school" thinking on what agents should be. Times have changed and the standards have not. That is the crux of the problem in real estate.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sco
When you take buyers to multiple properties and they eventually buy only one, do you get in touch with the listing agent of every property that you took the buyers to and give them a cut of the commission that you receive from the purchase to compensate them for their time
This argument makes no sense to me. Considering that the predominant model is for listing agents to control commissions, they can control their take. If a listing agent is spending a lot of time on a listing, they can decrease the buyer agent compensation if they want. Listing agents can compensate themselves for their time.
This attitude is fine, but don't turn around and then say commissions are too high. You don't get to have it both ways.
Silverfall, you are one agent that I think has a big-picture outlook on the RE industry. I get the sense that you really try to be objective in your posts, and not self-serving, which I appreciate. I don't agree with you 100% of the time, but much more often than not.
I thought this was a particularly interesting comment from your post, considering that the OP was lamenting the risk part of the equation. It seems that your feelings that you don't get to have it both ways would be equally applicable to those in the RE industry.
I don't agree with you 100% of the time, but much more often than not.
Okay...okay...99.99999% of the time I am right . I admit I might be wrong on the ever so small occasion...
As for the other comment...no one gets to have it both ways...well except for me because I am special...(that was a joke for those of you with no sense of humor)
Okay...okay...99.99999% of the time I am right . I admit I might be wrong on the ever so small occasion...
As for the other comment...no one gets to have it both ways...well except for me because I am special...(that was a joke for those of you with no sense of humor)
Actually, I disagree with you .00002 percent of the time, not .00001!
I am just curious... did the realtor in the OP's story ever show the buyers FSBOs? I have personally worked with 3 buyers agents in the last five years and none have ever shown me a FSBO; if I found one I was interested in they would discourage me to the point where I would just deal with the FSBO seller myself. So if a buyer has to do his/her own research to find certain properties, make appointments to see the property on his/her own time, and negotiates his/her own contracts then what exactly is the agent being compensated for? I am playing devil's advocate here. From a personal standpoint I CERTAINLY would not be paying the agent THOUSANDS of dollars in compensation but would certainly offer a gift card or something of the like as a good-will gesture. It would also depend on how much effort the agent put in (i.e. did they merely e-mail me properties which I then had to preview myself and then contact them to set up appointments, were they showing me alot of properties that did not fit my criteria, did they actually take me to see the properties or not..etc..etc..)
I don't know about the agent in the OP's case, but I do know that I'm writing a contract right now on a FSBO for some clients of mine, and, yes, I took them to see it - twice in 3 days - and will be negotiating for them and doing everything I would be doing for a listed house - and more, since the FSBO isn't going to be handling the part a listing agent would quite as professionally and so I have to be even more on my toes to make sure that my client's interests are protected and nothing falls through the cracks on the way to closing.
This is the second FSBO I've written an offer on for clients in the last few months. The major part of the work, however, as usual, was not in the finding of the property, but in everything that happened after that point up to closing.
OMG! I had a realtor that couldn't get us a house that we offered full price on. Instead it was sold to buyers that paid less. The reason for this is the realtor was so cheesy in the work he did that he was fired from the real-estate company that was representing the seller and they hated him so we suffered. We of course could have fought this, be we were so glad to get rid of him. Realtors are the most unfair when it comes to their bottom line. As a realtor you should know it is a doggie dog business.....
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. I admit I might be wrong on the ever so small occasion...
