[quote=Rustico]
Cabal, With the sale you are disappointed with, did you pay 4% total or just to the listing agent? There are a lot of ways to do things. I guess you don’t want to do a FSBO. [/quote]

On that sale, we paid a total of 4%. He was the listing and buyer agent. The entire process lasted 3 weeks, from initial contact to close of escrow. He did recommend new carpet throughout, painting, minor repairs, etc and we reluctantly agreed. In retrospect, it was probably unnecessary since it was a strong sellers market and the house would have sold as-is for the same price; a nice 10K lesson. Turned out the carpet guy and repair crews were his buddies and it wouldn’t surprise me if he got a kick back.

I have done a FSBO before in my younger days and the transaction went smoothly. I don’t want to do a FSBO now simply due to a lack of time resulting from the demands of my job.

As far defining a fair flat fee for the listing agent, I have no idea. I look to the Pigg experts for advice. If I can find an agent that I can trust 100%, I would hire him/her in a second and pay top commission. Unfortunately, my limited interactions with realtors have not been the best experiences, sometimes adversarial and cordial at best. In my experience with the buying/selling of 5 homes, I’ve found their only interest is self-interest in closing quickly and getting that commission check. Even the so called “high powered” agents with the polished presentation who seem to dominate a certain region offer no greater integrity. It’s amazing the unethical stories they will tell when you speak to them in a social function after a few drinks.