Realtor Commission

[sdrealtor]

A good listing agents job starts when the offer is recieved.

FYI, selling agent is the proper terminology for the buers agent

[urbanrealtor]

[quote=Cabal]Thanks to all for their inputs. I’m thinking why not a commission as high as 3%-4% for the selling agents and a small, fixed fee to the listing agent just to get it in the MLS. No offense to listing agents, but how much persuasion (or negotiation power) can a listing agent provide with todays market conditions. My expectations are all offers will be lowballs anyways. Is this approach reasonable ?[/quote]

While I disagree that the agents job starts when the offer is received, I think doing the sale without a full service listing agent is foolish. I am showing a fsbo tomorrow. I have zero doubt that I will have a pretty sizable advantage over the seller. I can always find comps that support my buyer’s lower offer price and he is unlikely to know the area as well as I do. Further, he is unlikely to know how to read the offer I submit. Knowing this, I will first suggest that he get representation (I will mention a few reputable agents I know).When he rejects this, I will advise him (both verbally and in writing) that I am not his agent and am representing the other side. He will then forget this and tell me something that gives me leverage (eg: “well the minimum I would accept is…”).
He will then end up netting far less than he would have if he had just paid the 3 percent for a listing agent.

I am not trying to be cynical or dismissive but simply to describe a pattern I have come to recognize. Usually the seller is intelligent (like an attorney or engineer or entrepreneur). Most skills can be easily acquired but there is no substitute for being experienced and comfortable.

Also, this is not to say that FSBO’s cannot be done well. I just completed one that went quite smoothly. In this case the seller was a commercial leasing agent (had never sold a place but had some experience in the “biz”). However, trying to sell a house with zero experience in real estate can be like trying to do something equivalent with your car or with your health.

[urbanrealtor]

[quote=Cabal]Thanks to all for their inputs. I’m thinking why not a commission as high as 3%-4% for the selling agents and a small, fixed fee to the listing agent just to get it in the MLS. No offense to listing agents, but how much persuasion (or negotiation power) can a listing agent provide with todays market conditions. My expectations are all offers will be lowballs anyways. Is this approach reasonable ?[/quote]

While I disagree that the agents job starts when the offer is received, I think doing the sale without a full service listing agent is foolish. I am showing a fsbo tomorrow. I have zero doubt that I will have a pretty sizable advantage over the seller. I can always find comps that support my buyer’s lower offer price and he is unlikely to know the area as well as I do. Further, he is unlikely to know how to read the offer I submit. Knowing this, I will first suggest that he get representation (I will mention a few reputable agents I know).When he rejects this, I will advise him (both verbally and in writing) that I am not his agent and am representing the other side. He will then forget this and tell me something that gives me leverage (eg: “well the minimum I would accept is…”).
He will then end up netting far less than he would have if he had just paid the 3 percent for a listing agent.

I am not trying to be cynical or dismissive but simply to describe a pattern I have come to recognize. Usually the seller is intelligent (like an attorney or engineer or entrepreneur). Most skills can be easily acquired but there is no substitute for being experienced and comfortable.

Also, this is not to say that FSBO’s cannot be done well. I just completed one that went quite smoothly. In this case the seller was a commercial leasing agent (had never sold a place but had some experience in the “biz”). However, trying to sell a house with zero experience in real estate can be like trying to do something equivalent with your car or with your health.

[urbanrealtor]

[quote=Cabal]Thanks to all for their inputs. I’m thinking why not a commission as high as 3%-4% for the selling agents and a small, fixed fee to the listing agent just to get it in the MLS. No offense to listing agents, but how much persuasion (or negotiation power) can a listing agent provide with todays market conditions. My expectations are all offers will be lowballs anyways. Is this approach reasonable ?[/quote]

While I disagree that the agents job starts when the offer is received, I think doing the sale without a full service listing agent is foolish. I am showing a fsbo tomorrow. I have zero doubt that I will have a pretty sizable advantage over the seller. I can always find comps that support my buyer’s lower offer price and he is unlikely to know the area as well as I do. Further, he is unlikely to know how to read the offer I submit. Knowing this, I will first suggest that he get representation (I will mention a few reputable agents I know).When he rejects this, I will advise him (both verbally and in writing) that I am not his agent and am representing the other side. He will then forget this and tell me something that gives me leverage (eg: “well the minimum I would accept is…”).
He will then end up netting far less than he would have if he had just paid the 3 percent for a listing agent.

I am not trying to be cynical or dismissive but simply to describe a pattern I have come to recognize. Usually the seller is intelligent (like an attorney or engineer or entrepreneur). Most skills can be easily acquired but there is no substitute for being experienced and comfortable.

Also, this is not to say that FSBO’s cannot be done well. I just completed one that went quite smoothly. In this case the seller was a commercial leasing agent (had never sold a place but had some experience in the “biz”). However, trying to sell a house with zero experience in real estate can be like trying to do something equivalent with your car or with your health.

[urbanrealtor]

[quote=Cabal]Thanks to all for their inputs. I’m thinking why not a commission as high as 3%-4% for the selling agents and a small, fixed fee to the listing agent just to get it in the MLS. No offense to listing agents, but how much persuasion (or negotiation power) can a listing agent provide with todays market conditions. My expectations are all offers will be lowballs anyways. Is this approach reasonable ?[/quote]

While I disagree that the agents job starts when the offer is received, I think doing the sale without a full service listing agent is foolish. I am showing a fsbo tomorrow. I have zero doubt that I will have a pretty sizable advantage over the seller. I can always find comps that support my buyer’s lower offer price and he is unlikely to know the area as well as I do. Further, he is unlikely to know how to read the offer I submit. Knowing this, I will first suggest that he get representation (I will mention a few reputable agents I know).When he rejects this, I will advise him (both verbally and in writing) that I am not his agent and am representing the other side. He will then forget this and tell me something that gives me leverage (eg: “well the minimum I would accept is…”).
He will then end up netting far less than he would have if he had just paid the 3 percent for a listing agent.

I am not trying to be cynical or dismissive but simply to describe a pattern I have come to recognize. Usually the seller is intelligent (like an attorney or engineer or entrepreneur). Most skills can be easily acquired but there is no substitute for being experienced and comfortable.

Also, this is not to say that FSBO’s cannot be done well. I just completed one that went quite smoothly. In this case the seller was a commercial leasing agent (had never sold a place but had some experience in the “biz”). However, trying to sell a house with zero experience in real estate can be like trying to do something equivalent with your car or with your health.

[urbanrealtor]

[quote=Cabal]Thanks to all for their inputs. I’m thinking why not a commission as high as 3%-4% for the selling agents and a small, fixed fee to the listing agent just to get it in the MLS. No offense to listing agents, but how much persuasion (or negotiation power) can a listing agent provide with todays market conditions. My expectations are all offers will be lowballs anyways. Is this approach reasonable ?[/quote]

While I disagree that the agents job starts when the offer is received, I think doing the sale without a full service listing agent is foolish. I am showing a fsbo tomorrow. I have zero doubt that I will have a pretty sizable advantage over the seller. I can always find comps that support my buyer’s lower offer price and he is unlikely to know the area as well as I do. Further, he is unlikely to know how to read the offer I submit. Knowing this, I will first suggest that he get representation (I will mention a few reputable agents I know).When he rejects this, I will advise him (both verbally and in writing) that I am not his agent and am representing the other side. He will then forget this and tell me something that gives me leverage (eg: “well the minimum I would accept is…”).
He will then end up netting far less than he would have if he had just paid the 3 percent for a listing agent.

I am not trying to be cynical or dismissive but simply to describe a pattern I have come to recognize. Usually the seller is intelligent (like an attorney or engineer or entrepreneur). Most skills can be easily acquired but there is no substitute for being experienced and comfortable.

Also, this is not to say that FSBO’s cannot be done well. I just completed one that went quite smoothly. In this case the seller was a commercial leasing agent (had never sold a place but had some experience in the “biz”). However, trying to sell a house with zero experience in real estate can be like trying to do something equivalent with your car or with your health.

[sdrealtor]

UR,
You misquoted me. I didnt say an agents job starts when the offer is received, I said a “GOOD” agents job start then. Any tool in the shed can list a property and get an offer (just keep lowering the price), a good agent will help guide you through wether it is a good offer, whether it is a viable buyer, will keep that buyer in line, will keep the transaction moving forward, knows when to push and when to give in and can solve problems. A failed escrow can cost you alot of money in this market as the best offers tend to come first and we are in a downward trejectory. A good agent will get rid of a buyer that will not perform sooner than later.

sdr

[sdrealtor]

UR,
You misquoted me. I didnt say an agents job starts when the offer is received, I said a “GOOD” agents job start then. Any tool in the shed can list a property and get an offer (just keep lowering the price), a good agent will help guide you through wether it is a good offer, whether it is a viable buyer, will keep that buyer in line, will keep the transaction moving forward, knows when to push and when to give in and can solve problems. A failed escrow can cost you alot of money in this market as the best offers tend to come first and we are in a downward trejectory. A good agent will get rid of a buyer that will not perform sooner than later.

sdr

[sdrealtor]

UR,
You misquoted me. I didnt say an agents job starts when the offer is received, I said a “GOOD” agents job start then. Any tool in the shed can list a property and get an offer (just keep lowering the price), a good agent will help guide you through wether it is a good offer, whether it is a viable buyer, will keep that buyer in line, will keep the transaction moving forward, knows when to push and when to give in and can solve problems. A failed escrow can cost you alot of money in this market as the best offers tend to come first and we are in a downward trejectory. A good agent will get rid of a buyer that will not perform sooner than later.

sdr

[sdrealtor]

UR,
You misquoted me. I didnt say an agents job starts when the offer is received, I said a “GOOD” agents job start then. Any tool in the shed can list a property and get an offer (just keep lowering the price), a good agent will help guide you through wether it is a good offer, whether it is a viable buyer, will keep that buyer in line, will keep the transaction moving forward, knows when to push and when to give in and can solve problems. A failed escrow can cost you alot of money in this market as the best offers tend to come first and we are in a downward trejectory. A good agent will get rid of a buyer that will not perform sooner than later.

sdr

[sdrealtor]

UR,
You misquoted me. I didnt say an agents job starts when the offer is received, I said a “GOOD” agents job start then. Any tool in the shed can list a property and get an offer (just keep lowering the price), a good agent will help guide you through wether it is a good offer, whether it is a viable buyer, will keep that buyer in line, will keep the transaction moving forward, knows when to push and when to give in and can solve problems. A failed escrow can cost you alot of money in this market as the best offers tend to come first and we are in a downward trejectory. A good agent will get rid of a buyer that will not perform sooner than later.

sdr

[NotCranky]

SDR why is Cabal’s house losing 26%-56% anually? This is from your house losing 1% every 1-2 weeks?Based on yor recent posts, I thought you were rather bullish? I don’t believe he even mentioned his sub-market, just price range, maybe I missed it?Can I have that damn pebble now?

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. You could try a modified FSBO. This might be something like getting an offer yourself and having an agent handle the acceptance,counter if any, and transaction. I did this for someone, as a complete rookie, and it worked out fine. The buyer paid their own agent a flat fee too. I caught the guy trying to put a commission in, to himself,from the seller though.I think I got paid $1500 on a 225k condo.The woman, my friend’s mother, put up a post-it in the some common area of the complex.You never know…

What do you think is a fair flat fee for an average listing effort of a 1.5M house? I basically think MLS plus price sells houses when going the realtor route. Many realtors disagree, of course.Yes, some competence is mandatory.

If you are going to offer a low commission or flat fee you might have to convince someone that you are very willing to gravitate toward the best reasonable offer instead of,for example, chasing the market down for a few years. If the equity situation is too tight to target a decent meeting of the minds on what the best reasonable offer is, that might be problematic. If you have room to be creative, just try some things.

[NotCranky]

SDR why is Cabal’s house losing 26%-56% anually? This is from your house losing 1% every 1-2 weeks?Based on yor recent posts, I thought you were rather bullish? I don’t believe he even mentioned his sub-market, just price range, maybe I missed it?Can I have that damn pebble now?

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. You could try a modified FSBO. This might be something like getting an offer yourself and having an agent handle the acceptance,counter if any, and transaction. I did this for someone, as a complete rookie, and it worked out fine. The buyer paid their own agent a flat fee too. I caught the guy trying to put a commission in, to himself,from the seller though.I think I got paid $1500 on a 225k condo.The woman, my friend’s mother, put up a post-it in the some common area of the complex.You never know…

What do you think is a fair flat fee for an average listing effort of a 1.5M house? I basically think MLS plus price sells houses when going the realtor route. Many realtors disagree, of course.Yes, some competence is mandatory.

If you are going to offer a low commission or flat fee you might have to convince someone that you are very willing to gravitate toward the best reasonable offer instead of,for example, chasing the market down for a few years. If the equity situation is too tight to target a decent meeting of the minds on what the best reasonable offer is, that might be problematic. If you have room to be creative, just try some things.

[NotCranky]

SDR why is Cabal’s house losing 26%-56% anually? This is from your house losing 1% every 1-2 weeks?Based on yor recent posts, I thought you were rather bullish? I don’t believe he even mentioned his sub-market, just price range, maybe I missed it?Can I have that damn pebble now?

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. You could try a modified FSBO. This might be something like getting an offer yourself and having an agent handle the acceptance,counter if any, and transaction. I did this for someone, as a complete rookie, and it worked out fine. The buyer paid their own agent a flat fee too. I caught the guy trying to put a commission in, to himself,from the seller though.I think I got paid $1500 on a 225k condo.The woman, my friend’s mother, put up a post-it in the some common area of the complex.You never know…

What do you think is a fair flat fee for an average listing effort of a 1.5M house? I basically think MLS plus price sells houses when going the realtor route. Many realtors disagree, of course.Yes, some competence is mandatory.

If you are going to offer a low commission or flat fee you might have to convince someone that you are very willing to gravitate toward the best reasonable offer instead of,for example, chasing the market down for a few years. If the equity situation is too tight to target a decent meeting of the minds on what the best reasonable offer is, that might be problematic. If you have room to be creative, just try some things.

[NotCranky]

SDR why is Cabal’s house losing 26%-56% anually? This is from your house losing 1% every 1-2 weeks?Based on yor recent posts, I thought you were rather bullish? I don’t believe he even mentioned his sub-market, just price range, maybe I missed it?Can I have that damn pebble now?

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. You could try a modified FSBO. This might be something like getting an offer yourself and having an agent handle the acceptance,counter if any, and transaction. I did this for someone, as a complete rookie, and it worked out fine. The buyer paid their own agent a flat fee too. I caught the guy trying to put a commission in, to himself,from the seller though.I think I got paid $1500 on a 225k condo.The woman, my friend’s mother, put up a post-it in the some common area of the complex.You never know…

What do you think is a fair flat fee for an average listing effort of a 1.5M house? I basically think MLS plus price sells houses when going the realtor route. Many realtors disagree, of course.Yes, some competence is mandatory.

If you are going to offer a low commission or flat fee you might have to convince someone that you are very willing to gravitate toward the best reasonable offer instead of,for example, chasing the market down for a few years. If the equity situation is too tight to target a decent meeting of the minds on what the best reasonable offer is, that might be problematic. If you have room to be creative, just try some things.

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