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I was referring to your other posts in other threads where you did not qualify your comments. I'm all for a free market. Clients are free to negotiate commissions and rebates and agents are free to refuse.
Paid well made. I'll be sure to mention my location in one of the highest price real estate markets in the US.
What are you splits? Why don't you get your broker's license or work under a broker that gives you 100% commission splits? One of the reasons why I contribute as much as I do is because the commissions are so high in Southern California and because I have a 100% commission split with my broker. Maybe $100-$200 would be work, but it's up to you really (itt also depends on how much time and work you sent on your transactions). Every little bit counts for buyers because if you contribute it through escrow it's not commission revenue that you will be taxed on, it just lowers your buyer's cost basis in the home.
For the record, I do have a broker's license.
You came onto this forum with both guns blazing with blanket statements on how commission rebates should be the norm. If you've been an agent for any length of time, you should know that real estate is truly local - many different markets and business practices make up the flyover states.
If it works for you, fantastic. But to say every agent should participate in your business model is rubbish.
I agree that if your agent has earned her keep, then she has every right to keep the commission. But what about in cases where the agent has thoroughly let you down? I didn't know that I could have asked for a commission rebate, but now I wish I had (we close Monday). My only lesson learned is that I don't need an agent in the future when buying a home--either that, or I'll get my own license and take care of things myself, because I seemed to know more of what was going on than she did most of the time.
Our agent never found a single home that we wanted to see--I found all of them, usually by just taking a stroll around Redfin at 7am, then at noon, then in the evening, every day. Isn't that what an agent is supposed to do?... and yet, the few times I didn't see something come on, it took her at least 24 hours or more to send us a listing. I disliked that, since homes here go under contracts within 24-48 hours all the time. We never saw the inside of her car--we drove ourselves or walked to every showing, and she would meet us there; oftentimes, though, she would just "send" me to the agents' opens (of houses that I found), or we would wait for the open house.
She wrote up our contracts (3 offers total), but would never say a word when we asked her opinion on how much to offer--she just agreed with basically whatever we said. But then she would forget to clarify/ask important things every time... who our preferred escrow was, how much our downpayment was, etc. I had to catch her mistakes and point them out. And then there was her attitude of being more concerned with offending the sellers/agents than with representing our interests and concerns as buyers (even when it came to making our repair requests, and she insisted that we had no leverage to do so--we went ahead and requested anyway, and the sellers were willing to accommodate them at the tune of $650--now THAT's customer service).
One good thing she taught us was the escalator clause, but that's not exactly worth $6600 (1.5%), is it? Sorry for the vent, I'm just irritated with the whole thing. If she came back around and offered us a rebate out of the blue, that would redeem her a little--but I bet she won't, since she's a part-timer/SAHM and doesn't seem to have any other clients right now. I should be paying y'all on here that commission, because the professional agents of this forum have given us far better advice and information than our own agent has done.
Last edited by caravan; 02-17-2010 at 09:37 AM..
Reason: iPhone making my correct spelling incorrect
Wow, that's so my current...I mean 'former' agent.
While I have no problem with commission based pay for service, there's no question the 6% fee is too high. Times are tough and the housing market is saturated with hungry agent hunting down a sales commission. They represenent the buyer, but they are still 'selling' the product. Financial guru Dave Ramsey says a buyers agent should be like a pitbulll, latching on and viciously shaking the seller into the reality their house won't possibly sell at any other offer than yours. In 15 years of home searches, I've never found a realtor with this very logical business mode. They usually end of 'waffling' and claiming defeat due to the 'competitive market'.
So yes, let the realtors offer incentives and rebates to their customer. The bottom feeders who cross the picket lines and submarine their fellow professionals for a buck will have no shame or depth to their greed. I will continue to seek only the rare gem of a realtor who knows what it means to represent a buyer.
A waffler, that is definitely a good description, thank you.
My question is now, should I write up a comment sheet for our agent, to help her hone her trade? I can see her taking offense/getting defensive about it, which is also the wrong attitude when you're in a service industry (she should be asking US for comments). Any thoughts?
...Financial guru Dave Ramsey says a buyers agent should be like a pitbulll, latching on and viciously shaking the seller into the reality their house won't possibly sell at any other offer than yours.....
Good for Dave. Does he propose how to do this? Reminds me of the old saying, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink." I'm all for trying to convince the seller of your pricing position, but if the seller doesn't want to hear it, then it's a dead end. I'd also be concerned about assault charges if I got too vicious .
Hopefully that Dave Ramsey seller will have a good agent who tells them the truth and the buyer to take a flying leap. The buyers agent almost never has contact with the seller. We must work through their agent who acts as a wise buffer of experience.
A stupid low ball offer has no justification to a seller who has a low motivation to sell.
The seller is under no obligation to sell at any price. They are obligated to pay a commission if the offer matches the listing agreement. But the offers never do.
You have a much better chance of getting a lower offer accepted if it is framed by current comps, making a large em payment or some other detail that the seller "needs."
Wow, this has been an eye opening discussion about commission rebating. When I was in AZ, the avg sale in my market was $100k, If you asked me to cut my commission 25-50% I would laugh in your face. But I agree with some of the points made, some markets 6% of 500k is a lot different story. I'm all for negotiation, etc and making it a fair deal, but let's be realistic. Giving this type of advice on a national forum just leads to more confusion for the public.
No, it leads to more transparency in the industry, so that the public has options to choose from instead of being forced to adhere to one set price no matter how good/bad the quality of service.
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