Selling my house: What Commission % can be negotiated?

[Beeg]

Started a new thread, as things may change due to it be near the end of summer and a slower sales cycle is beginning.

-I heard that buyers agent gets 2%

-Listing agents get 2%

Is this the best out there or can it be negotiated?

[sslinn]

Everything can be negotiated, but keep in mind there is no motivation for the buyers agent to bring their clients to your house when they know they will be compensated less.

[Icedawn]

Just do it yourself and pay 0%...

Just sold a condo myself in about a week, managed about 4 competing bids with buyers both w/ and w/o agents, and yet they were all within 2% of each other. Personally, I think the housing market is fairly efficient and unless you are too busy to do it yourself, you're not going to lose out on money because you're doing it yourself and instead you get to save on commission.

[Beeg]

I'd like to(!), but I'm in a market that is rather unsophisticated in terms of buyers.

I've seen other homes for private sale in the area stay on the market for months, and then they get a realtor and they sell.

[duner]

but keep in mind there is no motivation for the buyers agent to bring their clients to your house when they know they will be compensated less.

I don't think realtors can afford to cherry pick sales right now.

[Goober56]

The agent who sold my first house got 0%. I told her I wasn't interested in losing a bunch of money on a small house and she folded right then and there, heh. Negotiate EVERYTHING. You'll never know, unless you ask.

[spf1971]

The agent who sold my first house got 0%. I told her I wasn't interested in losing a bunch of money on a small house and she folded right then and there, heh. Negotiate EVERYTHING. You'll never know, unless you ask.

Are you saying that she sold your house for no fee? I find that hard to believe.

[sslinn]

No fee? Was the realtor your mom or dad? :)

[deuce]

I don't think realtors can afford to cherry pick sales right now.

we can in toronto.

[Angela V]

Instead of getting a 2.5% commission our agent is getting a 2.0. We are buying and the house we really wanted had a lower commission. Our agent was fine with this. Some agents won't even bother with you if the commission is too low.

[tjthemanto]

Instead of getting a 2.5% commission our agent is getting a 2.0. We are buying and the house we really wanted had a lower commission. Our agent was fine with this. Some agents won't even bother with you if the commission is too low.

Do you have a BUYERS REPRESENTATION AGREEMENT with your agent ?

Does it state 2.0 % on it or 2.5 % on it ( BRA ) as Buyer's agent commission ?

If you have a BRA which states a higher commission on it & if the seller/seller's agent pays your agent ( buyer's agent ) less than that then you have to make up for the difference according to the BRA .

[tjthemanto]

I'd like to(!), but I'm in a market that is rather unsophisticated in terms of buyers.

I've seen other homes for private sale in the area stay on the market for months, and then they get a realtor and they sell.

You can sell privately but still work with the buyer's agent .

You can pay the buyer's agent a nominal finder's fee if you want ( no commission ) & tell them that the buyer is completely responsible for his commssion and not you.

You will see lot of private sales stating that Buyer's agent are welcome . ( A finder's fee might/might not be paid & the buyer is responsible for his agents commission )

[brunes]

You can sell privately but still work with the buyer's agent .

You can pay the buyer's agent a nominal finder's fee if you want ( no commission ) & tell them that the buyer is completely responsible for his commssion and not you.

You will see lot of private sales stating that Buyer's agent are welcome . ( A finder's fee might/might not be paid & the buyer is responsible for his agents commission )

It's not always the buyer. Friend of mine sold his house privately last year and he told buyers agents he would pay 1.5% commission. He paid for a property guys listing and used Kijiji.

He sold his house in under two weeks, and saved almost 10 grand over what he would have paid with a sellers agent.

I think real estate agents are starting to wake up to the fact that the MLS is not the be-all-end-all of house buying anymore, and that young buyers today are much more sophisticated and have more tools available to them than in the past.

I think being a real-estate agent is a dead end career. In a marketplace where a seller sells a single item directly to a single buyer, salespeople add no value. The only reason they have been able to keep their grip on things is the exclusive MLS - however the necessity of "being on the MLS" to sell is diminishing ever year.

You can tell that they know they are in trouble by the number of REALTOR commercials that have been on TV recently, out of the blue.


I know a couple of people actually looking for houses right now - none of them have buyers agents. They just check the listings daily themselves, and they are not limited to the MLS they also check Kijiji and PropertyGuys and other listing sites.

As such, you see properties an agent would never even show you. And when people who DO have agents find out about that great house their agent never told them about, they get POed.

[houska]

I think real estate agents are starting to wake up to the fact that the MLS is not the be-all-end-all of house buying anymore, and that young buyers today are much more sophisticated and have more tools available to them than in the past.

I think being a real-estate agent is a dead end career. In a marketplace where a seller sells a single item directly to a single buyer, salespeople add no value. The only reason they have been able to keep their grip on things is the exclusive MLS - however the necessity of "being on the MLS" to sell is diminishing ever year.


Sounds exactly like what was being said 2 years ago or so about travel agents. They're still around though less important than before. I think what will happen is that the pricing will disaggregate, sellers will pay their own agents if they want them and buyers will pay their own as well. We'll have fewer real estate agents and the ones out there will be more specialized.

May or may not be a good thing. There's a lot more people having hassles and being in over their heads arranging their own travel these days - as well as happy people saving money.

As I've said before, when we bought, our buyer's agent was worth every penny of the 2.5% commission he indirectly received. The seller's agent in this case clearly wasn't, since we would have cheerfully paid $40k more for our house.

[brunes]

Sounds exactly like what was being said 2 years ago or so about travel agents. They're still around though less important than before.

Travel agents do a lot more than real estate agents. They actually do work to book your travel. And they actually can help you out when things go wrong. Most travel agents offer semi-guarantees on your trip, etc, as part of the commission.

A real estate agent can't do anything for you either before or after the transaction - everything ends up going through your attorney.

All a sellers real estate agent does is a) input your house into MLS, b) Spends money putting some ads in the newspaper no one reads anymore, c) Stands around during open houses saying "come see me with any questions".

All a buyers real estate agent does is drive you around.

As I've said before, when we bought, our buyer's agent was worth every penny of the 2.5% commission he indirectly received.
What did your buyer's agent do exactly to win your favour? - I am actually curious.

Do you still think he was worth it when you consider you paid him/her $10,000-$20,000 for their "work"? Yes, *you* paid them. Do not be deluded into the idea the seller is paying them - you are the one paying them because that money is coming out of your pocket when you bought that house.

[spf1971]

Travel agents do a lot more than real estate agents. They actually do work to book your travel. And they actually can help you out when things go wrong. Most travel agents offer semi-guarantees on your trip, etc, as part of the commission.

A real estate agent can't do anything for you either before or after the transaction - everything ends up going through your attorney.

All a sellers real estate agent does is a) input your house into MLS, b) Spends money putting some ads in the newspaper no one reads anymore, c) Stands around during open houses saying "come see me with any questions".

All a buyers real estate agent does is drive you around.

What did your buyer's agent do exactly to win your favour? - I am actually curious.

Do you still think he was worth it when you consider you paid him/her $10,000-$20,000 for their "work"? Yes, *you* paid them. Do not be deluded into the idea the seller is paying them - you are the one paying them because that money is coming out of your pocket when you bought that house.

If that's all your agent ever did for you, you didn't get your moneys worth. The same can be said for some travel agents, all they do is book your ticket and any problems have to go through your travel insurance.

I guess you think that the buyers agent just drives you around aimlessly looking for houses with "For Sale" signs on them. Generally you tell them what you want and they look for houses that fit your criteria, determine what they should sell for and then show them to you.

You obviously don't like real estate agents and that's fine. Trying to dismiss what they do as simply drive you around and list your house either shows how little you know about their work or how much you don't like them.

[Ebtek]

Would someone please dumb this down for me as ive never bought a resale home, nor have i sold a home.


if i list my house, and use and agent, and my house sells:

my agent gets x% of the sale price (out of my pocket)

the agent of the person who bought my house gets y% of the sale price (out of my pocket)

is this correct?


ive always heard (in the past) that x + y usually equals around 6%. but it seems times have changed. now the standard is 4 or 5%? and people are negotiating even less?

[spf1971]

Would someone please dumb this down for me as ive never bought a resale home, nor have i sold a home.


if i list my house, and use and agent, and my house sells:

my agent gets x% of the sale price (out of my pocket)

the agent of the person who bought my house gets y% of the sale price (out of my pocket)

is this correct?


ive always heard (in the past) that x + y usually equals around 6%. but it seems times have changed. now the standard is 4 or 5%? and people are negotiating even less?

That is generally how it works. When you list your house, you negotiate a commission. Usually (in NL anyway) the buying agent gets 2.5% and the selling agent gets the rest.

[TrevorK]

Would someone please dumb this down for me as ive never bought a resale home, nor have i sold a home.


if i list my house, and use and agent, and my house sells:

my agent gets x% of the sale price (out of my pocket)

the agent of the person who bought my house gets y% of the sale price (out of my pocket)

is this correct?

That's correct - both the selling agent and buying agent get a percentage of the sale price (even if they are the same agent).


ive always heard (in the past) that x + y usually equals around 6%. but it seems times have changed. now the standard is 4 or 5%? and people are negotiating even less?

I'm not sure what they charge in Toronto, I seem to recall people here stating 5%.

However, yes, you can negotiate with your agent to accept less. The downfall is that unethical buying agents may not show your property to buyers if the commission you offer them is not what they feel they should be (So if you cut the commission for the buying agent to 1% from 2.5% or something). And yes, this does happen.

[dealguy2]

1% for the listing agent and 2% for the buying agent. The buying agent is the important equation in the transaction.

[i6s1]

Real estate agents should be paid by the hour.

[brunes]

I guess you think that the buyers agent just drives you around aimlessly looking for houses with "For Sale" signs on them. Generally you tell them what you want and they look for houses that fit your criteria, determine what they should sell for and then show them to you.

I can do all that myself... I am not an idiot? If you know what you want why do you need an agent to tell you? Do you pay someone to go car shopping for you as well?

I honestly do not understand why people feel the need to have an agent... they do NOTHING any non-halfwit can not do themselves online.


Trying to dismiss what they do as simply drive you around and list your house either shows how little you know about their work or how much you don't like them.

I have nothing personal against real estate agents, I just do not value their service. To me they are akin to car salesman - they don't add any real value to the equation for the consumer.

[spf1971]

I can do all that myself... I am not an idiot? If you know what you want why do you need an agent to tell you? Do you pay someone to go car shopping for you as well?

I honestly do not understand why people feel the need to have an agent... they do NOTHING any non-halfwit can not do themselves online.



I have nothing personal against real estate agents, I just do not value their service. To me they are akin to car salesman - they don't add any real value to the equation for the consumer.

But yet you claim a travel agent does provide a service? That makes no sense, they provide similar services so either they both provide a service or neither provides a service.

As far as someone paying someone to do a service for them, the same can be said for anyone and pretty much any profession. Why pay anyone for anything you can do yourself? People pay others to cook for them, fix their cars, mow the lawn, shovel snow etc. I guess none of those people actually provide a service either.

[houska]

What did your buyer's agent do exactly to win your favour? - I am actually curious.


Our buyer's agent

a) pointed out several houses to us on MLS that we would have missed (and saved us time once we realized we could depend on him to point out good stuff and therefore didn,t need to spend our time looking each day). Pre screened 2 houses to see if they would be what we wanted.

b) In houses we visited, provided good advice on the condition house was in and what were issues. He was a structural engineer by training. We were looking at 100 year old houses. He was able to point out where clueless renovation had accelerated beam sagging and where uneven floors had been stabilized by steel supports- something we didn't think of. Told us which houses were overpriced for location/condition. Added more value than the building inspector for sure.

c) Gave us ballpark figures for how much renovations would cost in different places. In the place we bought, his estimates were accurate.

d) Counselled us to exit a bidding war on one place as it was clear other party genuinely valued the place more than we did.

e) On the house we did buy, gave us advice on how to react to erratic negotiation style from vendor

f) Made sure to tell us about the energy audit program, which we didn't know about

g) Kept our spirits up when there was a period of several weeks where we thought we'd never find anything

He wasn't perfect - I did notice all the private sale houses we went to see with us were ones we found, not him - and he messed up times once or twise. But all in all, pretty clearly saved us more money than the commission we paid - never mind paying for his professional time.

[houska]

I honestly do not understand why people feel the need to have an agent... they do NOTHING any non-halfwit can not do themselves online.

I have nothing personal against real estate agents, I just do not value their service. To me they are akin to car salesman - they don't add any real value to the equation for the consumer.

Agents like this can provide a) priviledged access to information, b) insight on specific situations through their experience, and c) time savings for you.

I think we all agree a) is eroding, whether for travel, cars, or houses. It is still somewhat there (e.g. MLS historicals), but less and less.

c) has some value, but fundamentally anyone can do it themselves. Whether it is cost effective depends on the value of the buyers' time and the efficiency of the agent.

b) can be huge for real estate, where every home is different. It can be moderate for travel. It is next to nil for new cars since they come in standardized models.

Of course, it depends on agent competence as well. You need a competent and experienced agent to provide b) and c). In many cases, poor agents could survive on a) alone but will not when a) fully erodes.

[hehehaha]

i'm planning to sell the current place about 200k, and buying another one about 400k, got a few quote from different agents. Most of them charge 4% on selling, but one of them charge only 2.25%(buyers agent fee). As most people mentioned that it may lead to lower service quality, so i have not decided which one to go with yet. is there anything i should be aware of?

[Keetla]

Our buyer's agent
He wasn't perfect - I did notice all the private sale houses we went to see with us were ones we found, not him - and he messed up times once or twise. But all in all, pretty clearly saved us more money than the commission we paid - never mind paying for his professional time.

I noticed that you are in Ottawa, I was wondering whether it would be possible to get your agent's name?

[dlhunter]

Usually buyers agent gets 2.5% and sellers - 0.5-1% and up
3.5% total is fair, depending on situation, of course
(if you do all showings and agent only comes at offer presentation)

if you buy another property with the same agent, consider 0.5% + 2.5% to buyer's agent for a total 3%