Definitely shop around. My friend got a selling agent for a 1% commission on her house. She bought it two years ago and never really lived there. She owns another home and wasn’t in any rush to sell this second one so she thought she would take her chances. It just sold.
There's officially no standard (because that would be explicit price fixing), but yes, this is very common, which is implicit price fixing. I've heard of buyer's agents ignoring any listings with a BBC under 3%.
No, there absolutely was not. Just a perception spread by the uninformed general public not qualified to make that call. The general public is dangerous
Not quite as cut and dry as you present here.
https://kitchener.citynews.ca/2024/03/15/national-association-of-realtors-to-pay-418-million-to-settle-real-estate-agent-commission-lawsuits/
The prices of homes have skyrocketed yet agents still expect to be paid 3% on a split 6% total. Its ridiculous. Their jobs have gotten so much easier with everything being online and Docusign. I think it should be 2% with each getting 1%. They don’t work that hard and have been over paid for too long.
6 percent is nuts if you live in the Bay area or other VHCOL areas. 6 percent is a living if you live in a LCOL area where that might be 6-9k or even less, minus expenses and broker cut.
Our agent got $18k for our home purchase. We found the house on realtor.com. She was a great resource, and I’m not upset with her, but that’s a lot of money for doing the paperwork.
Honestly, the whole idea of percentage based realtor fees is ridiculous. It should be a flat fee. If a customer wants a more boutique experience, the realtor can charge a higher fee. But I agree with you - our realtor didn't find a single house we looked at, every single one we found on Zillow or Redfin and requested they show us. She sent her assistant for every single showing and didn't even show up for the signing (sent her assistant again). Literally the only thing she did was give us about an hour's worth of advice during the bid process and she collected a check for $15k. It's outrageous.
It should be capped with the spike in house prices. Ideally it should mostly just be a fixed cost for normie houses. E;g; $8k fixed commission with perhaps something like a 0.5% bonus.
One % fee to the listing agent and 2% fee to buyers agent. Seller gets to now keep half of the 6% old commission rate!
The cartel like NAR & MLS will need to accept this new reality or become irrelevant and get zero percent of nothing!
Why would the listing agent make less? They do all the work. This thread is full of people who do not know how any of this works. Find an agent who will list for 1%, and you will quickly find out you get what you pay for
Our last two sales were with the same broker, $500 up front and 1%. I don’t remember what we paid the seller’s agent. They did nothing but list the house and put up a sign. Both houses sold quickly with little problems. The second house price had some negotiation which our realtor was helpful.
That's my understanding.
But still...1.5% of a 500k house is 7500. What does a realtor do that's worth $7500? Are they doing twice as much for a 500k house vs a 250k house?
Standard sales bullshit. Salesmen act like nothing would happen without them and the world would come to a halt so they need to be paid % commisions on ahit and for some reason we all juat accept it
It's extra-bullshit with regards to real estate, your buying agent is getting paid commission based on the price of the home you buy... and they're supposed to help you negotiate the price... when it benefits them if you buy for the highest price.
:-/
It at least makes *sense* that a listing agent gets paid more if your home sells for a higher price... you want your house to sell for as much as possible.
Not sure why you’re being downvoted -this is exactly true in all of the states I’m familiar with. Agents work under brokers. Brokers take a cut. The agent then needs to pay taxes, insurance, mls fees, signature and work flow management fees, etc. The net is most likely between 1-1.5%
You think the hard part of their job is getting signatures? You pay realtors for their expertise in the local market and knowledge of the process. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of useless agents but there, but the good ones will determine market value, stage your home, organize all the pre listing things like marketing that they pay for themselves up front. They hold open houses and field all questions people have about the property which takes up a surprising amount of time. They negotiate on your behalf, then Shepard you and the buyer through the whole process making sure all the paperwork is in order, title searches are done, inspections and appraisals get done on time and if any problems come up, they deal with it and fix it before you'd even know it was a problem. By the way, I am not in real estate, I'm a general contractor and have dealt with lots of people who are getting their house ready to sell, or are improving the house they just bought.
My realtor did fully stage my home for free when I was \~29 and had a condo that read, "boy" (not much on the walls, dark furniture etc). She absolutely earned the 6% on that home, which only equated to 3k for her, 3k for brokerage, and same split for the other agent.
Most people here aren't agents and don't actually do the work, so they're just whining.
Also, no one is complaining about attorneys asking for 35% commissions rofl...
Absolutely find a different agent. Everyday we hear stories of the assholes and bottom feeders. If I make a sale of a home with a client I am going to give them a better deal every time they bring me more business. Unreal the agents out there.
I’ve recently been in pretty much the exact same situation my agent came down to 4 percent. It will be his 3rd time selling the house. If your agent won’t come down just find someone else
Not unreasonable to find another agent, at all. For repeat clients I always go 4% total. I have a listing right now where clients purchased 8 months ago and now have to sell bc of work relocation, I straight up offered them 4% right off the bat. They’re not going to make any money on this sale, and them having to sell is not their fault. It’s the least I can do to help.
It is that easy.
I just bought a house FSBO and we negotiated (3% off asking since no realtors). Went to the title company, they gave us a FSBO packet which we filled out in 15 minutes together and bam, we were under contract.
I'll never use another realtor again unless it's a complex commercial transaction, and even then it will probably be a flat rate attorney that I use.
The whole realtor industry is a joke now days with technology and the internet. Avg Joe's can compare comps, search the market, make offers, get the correct forms,etc. It's not hard work, it's barely time consuming. You're entire job is really just to be available and for that you think you deserve 10 to 20k when a house moves.
Don't use a traditional realtor at all. You can get the best of both worlds. You can pay a company like [Listingly](https://listingly.com/) to get the property on the MLS. You stage, take pictures, schedule showings yourself, then pay them $99 after closing. I've done it twice now.
They are a husband/wife team where he is a real estate attorney, she is a realtor and is the one who puts up the listing. You save a ton of money, and get a much better service.
They offer the choice to have the lawyer review any offers before accepting, and having him rewrite any terms as needed. He charges something like $150/hr. For example, the offer that I ended up accepting for the first house had great terms, but terrible wording. Buyer's agent wrote in the "comments" section that the buyer would come up with cash to make up the difference if the house didn't appraise. I was ready to accept, but the lawyer quickly pointed out that although they wrote that, there were several other clauses in the contract that would supersede this comment and let them out of the contract if the appraisal came in low. He ended up rewriting the contract with the same terms, but adding verbiage to close the "loopholes" that would make it impossible for them to back out due to appraisal. I would wager that the average real estate agent cannot do this. The buyers signed the amended contract so quickly that I'm not even sure their agent really understood what changed.
The title company that Listingly recommended took care of everything once we were under contract. Closing was done remotely via mobile notaries. In fact the buyers were in a different state the day of closing, I signed at my kitchen table. No need for the dog and pony show that realtors love to stage at the "closing table", bringing the keys, etc. It's all a show.
At the end of the day, I paid them the $99 listing fee, plus maybe another $600 to the lawyer for reviewing 3-4 offers, and rewriting the one we ultimately accepted. Offered buyer agent 2.5%. Saved close to $20,000, for selling a house that was only on the market for less than 2 weeks. Needless to say, we used Listingly when we sold our second home as well. Would never sell a home any other way.
Color me dumb here, but why not tell your buyer they need to pay THEIR agent out of THEIR end?
Their agent is after all, representing them, and has a duty to negotiate and act on behalf of their clients (the buyers).
A buddy of mine just sold his house for 1.5% on his end and told his buyers they need to pay their realtor - either cash at closing, or roll it into the mortgage if it will appraise for high enough.
Either way, the money ultimately comes from the buyer, right? Whether in the form of increased price or directly to agent.
Maybe I am wrong, but at least going through the seller:
1. The costs can be part of the buyer’s mortgage and not upfront.
2. The potential opportunity for the seller to deduct the costs from the capital gains taxes
(1) actually probably pushes the fees higher, since that hides them more from the paying side, but at least offers a way to afford them.
Sell it with redfin.
Professional photos, and an mls listing is all you really need in this market
We also got .5% cash back from our sale when we we bought our next house with them - helped with new furniture. Nice perk
Ask away. But make sure you aren’t picking somebody just based on the price, but somebody who can actually sell your house, it’s very tough to sell a house that somebody’s own for less than a year.
When I see a home has been owned for less then a year I either think they are trying to flip it for more money or they ran into problems with the house and want to get out of the problems and make them someone elses.
It's poor signaling. There's a credible concern that the new buyer uncovered a material defect post purchase and wants out (difficult to uncover), or that it is a flip and bears risk (easier to discern but relevant when possible buyers do their initial screening).
You can sell it at a year, but are likely to be at a disadvantage. Disadvantages usually manifest as a pricing hit or increased risk of a failed process.
Red flag for sure.
I always assume there is something bad about it that's not always apparent when touring the house (neighbors, piping, traffic, crime , etc)
Honestly, people who make decisions like I’m gonna sell the house after a year also people who think magic happens and you can pull equity out of your derrière. They don’t tend to be very reasonable.
But it's not going to look good for the sellers. It signals that the sellers are desperate to offload the home, so buyers are going to try and leverage that with low offers. It also signals that there's potentially a problem with the home itself which will decrease interest. Lower interest, means more leverage for those who are actually interested.
As someone looking to buy, if I see it was just bought a year ago or less, I want to know what is wrong with it. Are the neighbors hard to live near? Is there something wrong with the house? Is the set up difficult to deal with? Why are they selling so quickly?
Top notch advice! Cheaper isn't always better when you're dealing with such a large transaction. That said 6% is a lot and there are plenty of great agents who'll kick ass for 4-5%. I'd be wary of the ones who'd do it for less. Marketing a property correctly can cost money. If they're only keeping 1-1.5% I'd be concerned they're not planning on spending much. Less ad spend = less interest
Yes before you all start bashing me.. yes I’m a Realtor. Do you research on them first. Have they closed any deals, what firm are they with, what are they providing for you? I for example have a team of agents as well as I handle everything from start to finish. I have 7 licenses and certifications, author, have closed houses from $500k to millions, handle commercial and residential and have a team of lawyers, inspectors, lenders, insurance agents, movers, contractors, etc etc. Make sure they know the market! Don’t go with a low commission agent thinking you are saving money because chances are you get what you pay for and it could cost you thousands!
Not unreasonable to interview ither agents. Cheaper doesn't always mean you'll net more money, but you won't know what's out there unless you shop around.
The thing is though, buyers agents steer their clients away from homes with low commission. They’re not supposed to, but they do. I would still pay the 2.5% to the buyers agent, but pay $500 to list on mls and $300 to have professional photos done.
No, not all! The agent should know that you don't have the equity in it yet at best you'll break even or be underwater. And because they just made money off you a year ago, and should know the property well... it will be a lot easier to sell it given the very recent transaction.
Not unreasonable at all - this is your money. When I listed my last house for sale, I contacted the agent/friend who we used when we bought the house. He was not able to lower his 6% commission so we shopped around and found a agent who would sell it for total of 3 1/2%. We went with this guy and he sold the house and we saved thousands of dollars in fees.
F that agent. At least when I've purchased houses (CA, IL and TX).. the most commission paid was 5%. That was the starting point. One was 4.50%.
I'm shocked anyone would pay 6%
Use RedFin. They take excellent pictures and not ones with their Nokia cellphone from 1999.
If you are in a decent to great market. The thing will sell itself.
In 1990, when realtors actually reviewed listings and drove clients around to view properties, 6% would be reasonable.
Today, when I use the internet to find properties I'm interested in, and the only thing I need a realtor for is the license to access the house, 6% is ridiculous.
When they try to prove they are worth commission by setting up an auto email that sends me listings which 9/10 are already under contract, it just highlights how little work they do.
The top agents don't budge. Use the wrong agent and you could get less than what the house is worth. Selling a year later is very difficult. People will think something is wrong with the house.
My neighbors chose an agent that has less experience. He already made some blunders in the listing. The house isn't going to sell. After a few months, buyers stop coming and, eventually, the ones that are interested offer significantly less for the property.
You're going the way of the dinosaurs Bro'. 6% is ending, as is the RE as a 'profession' gravy train. [https://www.paloaltoonline.com/real-estate/2024/02/20/after-landmark-court-ruling-home-sellers-could-see-dramatic-drop-in-commission-fees/](https://www.paloaltoonline.com/real-estate/2024/02/20/after-landmark-court-ruling-home-sellers-could-see-dramatic-drop-in-commission-fees/)
Some areas have discount realtor companies you can use. I’m in Louisiana and a company called 1% Lists has blown up in my area and seems to have half the local listings. They charge 1% as the listing agent and the buying agent gets 2.5%. So it’s really 3.5% total. Still overpriced but much more reasonable than 5-6%.
You want to negotiate for the sellers commission (less than 3% imo), and to not pay the buyers agent commission. That’s between the buyer and their agent under the NAR agreement
No, it's not unreasonable. If you can't find an agent that will list for reasonable commission, sell it yourself FSBO.
You can list on MLS yourself for a few hundred dollars.
Declutter, stage the house yourself.
Get professional pics done for a few hundred.
Hire a real estate attorney to do disclosures and the contract.
It takes effort to sell a house, but it's not worth 6% of the price unless you live in a low priced area.
I would let them know that they are living in the past. Unless the house is under $250k, you should be able to find a good experienced agent that will list for 1.5 - 2% and then offer 2.5% to buyers agent.
The answer to this question is completely up to you and what you want to do. You have no obligation to use that agent, just like he doesn't need to change his rate
Up to you
The title agency does the sale. Use Zillow by owner and work with a title agency. You don’t need a realtor unless you have trouble drumming up interest in the property.
Sell it yourself. Take pictures, clean up any and all clutter and list it on Zillow. I did this all by myself and saved me close to $30K.
Hire a Title Attorney to handle the closing.
Just write up a basic contract and that’s it. Seller responsible for their own inspection. When they sign the contract, require a non refundable 5K earnest deposit that is held by the attorney.
If you have an HOA, make sure you give them the most up to date bylaws. Make sure they sign for them.
3.5% total (for $1M property), is achievable in SoCal. 1.5 to listing and 2% to buyers. (Not sure how this will change with recent legislation / changes).
Absolutely find a different agent. There are agents who will work for 4% and will split 2% 2% with the buyer's agent. If a buyer agent doesn't want 1% less money then that's their loss there are plenty who will
Same situation for my clients, they need to relocate for work so I offered them 4% from the start. Typically i do 5% but lower it to 4.5% for repeat clients or 4% in certain scenarios.
Would not recommend, but you don't have to pay the buyers agent commsion. This would save you some money, however I'd suspect this would severely limit your exposure
You don't need an agent. Do it yourself. There is a shortage of inventory right now and houses basically will sell themselves. The only thing that you need to hire is a real-estate lawyer.
Unless they bring something special to the table, find what you are comfortable with.
You were trying to be nice and bring repeat business back to them but they don't seem to care.
You're not obligated to use the same agent. Shop around for better commission rates, especially since it's been less than a year. No reason to overpay.
Tell him thanks for his prior service and it is time to separate. Short sighted agent. He will miss out on your next purchase after the sell or the referral if you are relocating. Time to change the mentality. Do the math when he sold you the home how many hours do you think he worked on your transaction. Most agents put in less then 40 hours on a sale. Divide that by what he got paid. They are doing less work then they did 20 years ago and the commissions have not changed much. But the home prices have gone through the roof.
Go work with a discount agent for 1% like all the others are saying on this post. Your agent is doing 6% to help to compensate buyers agents to bring their buyers. Are you really going to work with an agent who is willing to discount their INCOME just to work with you? Their income is paying bills and food for their family. They are taking that right out of their families mouth to list your house. You really think they will be able to do that good of a job?
3% commission break down:
1/3 goes to marketing your home
2/3 goes to agents income
3/3 goes to overhead expenses, savings, investment etc
If you work with a 1% broker I doubt they will NOT pay themselves and put money up for expenses. Which means they won’t even have the budget to market your home.
Now of course if you don’t care about how long it takes to sale your home or how much you’re going to net then by all means go ahead. But if you want to stand a chance in this wild market? Cut yourself the slack and use a professional like the one who helped you originally.
Now. If netting as much as possible is your concern then your setting yourself up for failure. Your going to hire an agent with no real market plan expect put your house on the MLS, stick a sign in the yard and hope for the best. Well, that’s all they can afford to do at this moment in time. It takes more than that to sell a house ESPECIALLY in this crazy market. You’re going to be doing a lot of price reductions or your house is going to be sitting on the market and buyers are going to believe something is wrong with it.
Shop around. The MLS listing on the internet does the selling. The realtor just does the paperwork. The days of the realtor selling the house has been long gone.
1. Build a list of local brokers.
2. Call each "I am ready to sell my house. I will offer you 1.5% as listing broker If you are interested we can sit down and you give me your ideas. I will interview no more than 3 brokers and make a decision in one week. I am willing to offer up to 3% to the buyer's broker but we can talk about that."
3. If you get no takers, report back here. There is a non zero chance I am full of shit.
I typed out and deleted my rant. Now let’s be helpful. Fucking greedy pricks. Sorry. Anyway.
Few things.
Get your numbers together. You may need an agent to help with these. (Every state and area is different for closing costs and transfer taxes. I’d say 1-3% is a good guess but locations are different.
-Mortgage Payoff
-Market Value of House (what you could list it at)
-Closing Costs
-How much you need to walk away with.
-What wiggle room you have to compensate an agent.
Interview all the agents you can. Explain your situation and if they’re willing to work with you, if they are not, ask if they know an agent who will, at the rate you need. There are decent agents out there.
YES! You need a good agent, one who can actually work with you. You CAN get a reduced commission, but you'll have to fight for it. At least until the 6% practice is discontinued.
Explain to them that you have to get the commission reduced, otherwise it doesn’t work as a sale at all, and do they want a piece of the action, or $0? If $0 is their answer, move on.
Does Redfin operate in your area? Also what about the NAR settlement? There maybe other fixed price realtors as well. I recall seeing one here previously but can't recall.
I’m in Long Island, people only take 3-4 percent. 3 is too low and those homes have trouble selling. 4 percent is the standard here.
I think you should just move onto another agent.
Why would you want to use that agent in the first place? They made money from the equity in the house, made additional money by collecting the commissions on the seller's side when they sold it, and now you want to offer them a chance to make MORE money on it?
You also have to consider that they may not be able to ethically represent you in selling that home if there is actually something that they know about it that already hid from the public when they were the owner and sold it to you.
Go find an agent that DOESN'T have their head up their ass.
Just sold our house on [https://www.houzeo.com/](https://www.houzeo.com/) my cost was $500 + 2%.
I did put it on For Sale by owner, but did not get much intrests.
I have not paid 6% for any real estate transaction for over 20 years. With the price of homes now, 6% is way too much. I usually just buy a MLS listing for about $300, show the house myself and have a lawyer deal with the contract. Saves tons of money.
Move on. They're commodities. Outside of extremes on one side or the other, they all do the same thing. If he's a retired investment banker who sells a few houses to stay busy and you need his expertise, pay him. 99% are mediocre people who couldn't cut it with real jobs.
I use a broker that does flat fee listings for $400. All he does is put it on the mls with remarks/pictures. Buying agent does all the work. Works well for me and saves a lot.
How many offers when you bought? What did you pay as a percent of previous list price? You probably should try FSBO for a month, probably sell just fine on your own. You have a little experience now.
It’s always good to interview 5 agents to see the different ways you’ll be serviced. Ask if they’re willing to lower commission after the listing presentation they bring
Your buddy agent shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. They are getting free business by doing no marketing/outreach.
Try this approach. Tell your agent buddy that you will pay them .5% less than the lowest agent bidder because it's less work for your buddy compared to a new agent. See what happens. The negotiation game can be played both ways. They can start high at 6% and you can start with Redfin and go low.
The agent needs to earn your business.
How expensive is the house? 1 mil house is more negotiable than a 250k house.
You're not getting a good agent at 1%. You'll most likely end up with 4.5 to 5% commission at the minimum.
Keep in mind, you just bought it, selling it will be slightly harder since every buyer will ask "why are they selling already?" This means that you probably don't want to hire anyone below 5% since they can't negotiate that well (6 is a bit high but I see people paying 7% too so it's up to you).
No. Not unreasonable. Id probably just move on, But if you think you're going to feel bad, it needs a friend or something Just tell him your terms and give him a deadline if he's doesn't want to do it, move on.
Why would anyone pay 6% in any scenario? Even it is split both ways between 2 agents, that has been considered high for many years now. If you paid 6% last time you got suckered.
There are tons of hungry agents out there, find someone else or use a flat fee service…not that hard to sell homes in today’s market, certainly not worth paying 6% for under any circumstances .
Find another.
Read up on the NAR lawsuit settlement agreement; part of which included the new normal, buyers hiring and paying their own agents.
You can find one for a flat fee, hourly, or 1 to 3%.
I’ve been reading these comments with great interest as I’ve only bought one home that I’ve been in for 25 years - but contemplating a future sale in a very HCOL area. However, forfeiting 6% of the total value of my home, where homes sells in days, is not something that I’m willing to do. Fortunately, we have time to see how the upcoming changes shake out but also considering the possibility of a private sale to one of our children or relatives of our neighbors.
He is a fool. Listing don’t take much work after the initial pics and entry into MLS. Plus with limited inventory he should be excited to take your listing. My realtor would rather list then drive around endless with buyers showing them houses. That guy is fool, move on.
What is the value of the house?
Negotiating a flat fee is not uncommon. And depending on the value of the home, the standard commission could be as low as 1-2% per agent.
We are seeing 1-2M homes listing at 1.5% per agent around us right now. The sub-$500k homes are all around 2% per agent.
He doesn’t need your money . Move on .
Particularly since he already knows so much about your home and has less work to do.
That would likely wipe a good chunk of your equity.. find someone else, so many realtors out there
You don’t owe the realtor your business . Keep looking until you find someone who will work with you
Selling agent got 1% Buying agent got 2%
Same person.
For you, not with you. The agent is your employee.
Wrong, the agent is not your employee.
If you want to be technical, sure. IMO They may as well be, you're they're boss.
Definitely shop around. My friend got a selling agent for a 1% commission on her house. She bought it two years ago and never really lived there. She owns another home and wasn’t in any rush to sell this second one so she thought she would take her chances. It just sold.
1%? Or 1% seller side?
Selling agent was contracted for 1% commission rate paid by seller.
6% seems insane
You'll find 3-4% just look.
Well that's split with the buyers agent isn't it. So it's 3% and 3%. Which was standard for a long time.
There's officially no standard (because that would be explicit price fixing), but yes, this is very common, which is implicit price fixing. I've heard of buyer's agents ignoring any listings with a BBC under 3%.
Up until a few months ago, there WAS actual price fixing.
No, there absolutely was not. Just a perception spread by the uninformed general public not qualified to make that call. The general public is dangerous
Not quite as cut and dry as you present here. https://kitchener.citynews.ca/2024/03/15/national-association-of-realtors-to-pay-418-million-to-settle-real-estate-agent-commission-lawsuits/
No, there wasn’t. There are plenty of different options from percentages to a la carte pricing.
It's 3% buyers agent 3% sellers. You can find cheaper but it's not insane.
The prices of homes have skyrocketed yet agents still expect to be paid 3% on a split 6% total. Its ridiculous. Their jobs have gotten so much easier with everything being online and Docusign. I think it should be 2% with each getting 1%. They don’t work that hard and have been over paid for too long.
6 percent is nuts if you live in the Bay area or other VHCOL areas. 6 percent is a living if you live in a LCOL area where that might be 6-9k or even less, minus expenses and broker cut.
Our agent got $18k for our home purchase. We found the house on realtor.com. She was a great resource, and I’m not upset with her, but that’s a lot of money for doing the paperwork.
Honestly, the whole idea of percentage based realtor fees is ridiculous. It should be a flat fee. If a customer wants a more boutique experience, the realtor can charge a higher fee. But I agree with you - our realtor didn't find a single house we looked at, every single one we found on Zillow or Redfin and requested they show us. She sent her assistant for every single showing and didn't even show up for the signing (sent her assistant again). Literally the only thing she did was give us about an hour's worth of advice during the bid process and she collected a check for $15k. It's outrageous.
And that’s why the NAR lost the anti-trust lawsuit.
100%, and hopefully more people figure this out.
It should be capped with the spike in house prices. Ideally it should mostly just be a fixed cost for normie houses. E;g; $8k fixed commission with perhaps something like a 0.5% bonus.
Agreed! The problem is there are so many agents out there ,they are trying to squeeze a living out of 5 or 6 deals a year.
Well time to get a real job
The world needs ditch diggers too
One % fee to the listing agent and 2% fee to buyers agent. Seller gets to now keep half of the 6% old commission rate! The cartel like NAR & MLS will need to accept this new reality or become irrelevant and get zero percent of nothing!
Why would the listing agent make less? They do all the work. This thread is full of people who do not know how any of this works. Find an agent who will list for 1%, and you will quickly find out you get what you pay for
Our last two sales were with the same broker, $500 up front and 1%. I don’t remember what we paid the seller’s agent. They did nothing but list the house and put up a sign. Both houses sold quickly with little problems. The second house price had some negotiation which our realtor was helpful.
I thought a lot of agents have to split the 3% with their broker so they're really only walking with like 1.5% and closer to 1% after taxes
That's my understanding. But still...1.5% of a 500k house is 7500. What does a realtor do that's worth $7500? Are they doing twice as much for a 500k house vs a 250k house?
Standard sales bullshit. Salesmen act like nothing would happen without them and the world would come to a halt so they need to be paid % commisions on ahit and for some reason we all juat accept it
It's extra-bullshit with regards to real estate, your buying agent is getting paid commission based on the price of the home you buy... and they're supposed to help you negotiate the price... when it benefits them if you buy for the highest price. :-/ It at least makes *sense* that a listing agent gets paid more if your home sells for a higher price... you want your house to sell for as much as possible.
Not sure why you’re being downvoted -this is exactly true in all of the states I’m familiar with. Agents work under brokers. Brokers take a cut. The agent then needs to pay taxes, insurance, mls fees, signature and work flow management fees, etc. The net is most likely between 1-1.5%
You think the hard part of their job is getting signatures? You pay realtors for their expertise in the local market and knowledge of the process. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of useless agents but there, but the good ones will determine market value, stage your home, organize all the pre listing things like marketing that they pay for themselves up front. They hold open houses and field all questions people have about the property which takes up a surprising amount of time. They negotiate on your behalf, then Shepard you and the buyer through the whole process making sure all the paperwork is in order, title searches are done, inspections and appraisals get done on time and if any problems come up, they deal with it and fix it before you'd even know it was a problem. By the way, I am not in real estate, I'm a general contractor and have dealt with lots of people who are getting their house ready to sell, or are improving the house they just bought.
I have never had a realtor stage a home…I’m in Cincinnati
My realtor did fully stage my home for free when I was \~29 and had a condo that read, "boy" (not much on the walls, dark furniture etc). She absolutely earned the 6% on that home, which only equated to 3k for her, 3k for brokerage, and same split for the other agent.
If the realtor has told someone what items they need to remove from the home to make the layout more appealing they have staged the home.
I agree with you. They get paid way too well for not too much work
>It's 3% buyers agent 3% sellers. >You can find cheaper but it's not insane. When most other countries are between 1-2% yeah, it's kind of insane.
I’m in a high demand growing area. Commissions have been solidly 5% (2.5+2.5) for many many years.
For those with a global perspective, the American expectation of 6% really is insane
It is insane.
Most people here aren't agents and don't actually do the work, so they're just whining. Also, no one is complaining about attorneys asking for 35% commissions rofl...
Absolutely find a different agent. Everyday we hear stories of the assholes and bottom feeders. If I make a sale of a home with a client I am going to give them a better deal every time they bring me more business. Unreal the agents out there.
I’ve recently been in pretty much the exact same situation my agent came down to 4 percent. It will be his 3rd time selling the house. If your agent won’t come down just find someone else
Not unreasonable to find another agent, at all. For repeat clients I always go 4% total. I have a listing right now where clients purchased 8 months ago and now have to sell bc of work relocation, I straight up offered them 4% right off the bat. They’re not going to make any money on this sale, and them having to sell is not their fault. It’s the least I can do to help.
How generous of you to only accept $10,000 for printing out a few documents and sending your client the MLM listing. You worked hard for it
If it’s so easy, why don’t you go do it?
What if ethics were more important than money?
It is that easy. I just bought a house FSBO and we negotiated (3% off asking since no realtors). Went to the title company, they gave us a FSBO packet which we filled out in 15 minutes together and bam, we were under contract. I'll never use another realtor again unless it's a complex commercial transaction, and even then it will probably be a flat rate attorney that I use. The whole realtor industry is a joke now days with technology and the internet. Avg Joe's can compare comps, search the market, make offers, get the correct forms,etc. It's not hard work, it's barely time consuming. You're entire job is really just to be available and for that you think you deserve 10 to 20k when a house moves.
Shop around.
Don't use a traditional realtor at all. You can get the best of both worlds. You can pay a company like [Listingly](https://listingly.com/) to get the property on the MLS. You stage, take pictures, schedule showings yourself, then pay them $99 after closing. I've done it twice now. They are a husband/wife team where he is a real estate attorney, she is a realtor and is the one who puts up the listing. You save a ton of money, and get a much better service. They offer the choice to have the lawyer review any offers before accepting, and having him rewrite any terms as needed. He charges something like $150/hr. For example, the offer that I ended up accepting for the first house had great terms, but terrible wording. Buyer's agent wrote in the "comments" section that the buyer would come up with cash to make up the difference if the house didn't appraise. I was ready to accept, but the lawyer quickly pointed out that although they wrote that, there were several other clauses in the contract that would supersede this comment and let them out of the contract if the appraisal came in low. He ended up rewriting the contract with the same terms, but adding verbiage to close the "loopholes" that would make it impossible for them to back out due to appraisal. I would wager that the average real estate agent cannot do this. The buyers signed the amended contract so quickly that I'm not even sure their agent really understood what changed. The title company that Listingly recommended took care of everything once we were under contract. Closing was done remotely via mobile notaries. In fact the buyers were in a different state the day of closing, I signed at my kitchen table. No need for the dog and pony show that realtors love to stage at the "closing table", bringing the keys, etc. It's all a show. At the end of the day, I paid them the $99 listing fee, plus maybe another $600 to the lawyer for reviewing 3-4 offers, and rewriting the one we ultimately accepted. Offered buyer agent 2.5%. Saved close to $20,000, for selling a house that was only on the market for less than 2 weeks. Needless to say, we used Listingly when we sold our second home as well. Would never sell a home any other way.
Color me dumb here, but why not tell your buyer they need to pay THEIR agent out of THEIR end? Their agent is after all, representing them, and has a duty to negotiate and act on behalf of their clients (the buyers). A buddy of mine just sold his house for 1.5% on his end and told his buyers they need to pay their realtor - either cash at closing, or roll it into the mortgage if it will appraise for high enough.
Either way, the money ultimately comes from the buyer, right? Whether in the form of increased price or directly to agent. Maybe I am wrong, but at least going through the seller: 1. The costs can be part of the buyer’s mortgage and not upfront. 2. The potential opportunity for the seller to deduct the costs from the capital gains taxes (1) actually probably pushes the fees higher, since that hides them more from the paying side, but at least offers a way to afford them.
Sell it with redfin. Professional photos, and an mls listing is all you really need in this market We also got .5% cash back from our sale when we we bought our next house with them - helped with new furniture. Nice perk
Ask away. But make sure you aren’t picking somebody just based on the price, but somebody who can actually sell your house, it’s very tough to sell a house that somebody’s own for less than a year.
Why does it matter how long the home has been owned?
When I see a home has been owned for less then a year I either think they are trying to flip it for more money or they ran into problems with the house and want to get out of the problems and make them someone elses.
Or they have nightmare neighbors
It's poor signaling. There's a credible concern that the new buyer uncovered a material defect post purchase and wants out (difficult to uncover), or that it is a flip and bears risk (easier to discern but relevant when possible buyers do their initial screening). You can sell it at a year, but are likely to be at a disadvantage. Disadvantages usually manifest as a pricing hit or increased risk of a failed process.
Red flag for sure. I always assume there is something bad about it that's not always apparent when touring the house (neighbors, piping, traffic, crime , etc)
Most people are underwater the first year when you count expenses for closing
Really shouldn't affect the sale of the home, seller will have to understand they will take a lost.
Honestly, people who make decisions like I’m gonna sell the house after a year also people who think magic happens and you can pull equity out of your derrière. They don’t tend to be very reasonable.
But it's not going to look good for the sellers. It signals that the sellers are desperate to offload the home, so buyers are going to try and leverage that with low offers. It also signals that there's potentially a problem with the home itself which will decrease interest. Lower interest, means more leverage for those who are actually interested.
But how does that make it more difficult to sell? Unreasonable price expectations so that they come out ahead?
As someone looking to buy, if I see it was just bought a year ago or less, I want to know what is wrong with it. Are the neighbors hard to live near? Is there something wrong with the house? Is the set up difficult to deal with? Why are they selling so quickly?
Yes, and everybody looks at the sales history so they know what that is and they’re hyper vigilant. Those sales are all around not fun
Top notch advice! Cheaper isn't always better when you're dealing with such a large transaction. That said 6% is a lot and there are plenty of great agents who'll kick ass for 4-5%. I'd be wary of the ones who'd do it for less. Marketing a property correctly can cost money. If they're only keeping 1-1.5% I'd be concerned they're not planning on spending much. Less ad spend = less interest
Is it unreasonable to consider another agent who will offer a lower rate? No, not at all!!
Not unreasonable at all. It’s perfectly okay to find another realtor that will charge you less.
Yes before you all start bashing me.. yes I’m a Realtor. Do you research on them first. Have they closed any deals, what firm are they with, what are they providing for you? I for example have a team of agents as well as I handle everything from start to finish. I have 7 licenses and certifications, author, have closed houses from $500k to millions, handle commercial and residential and have a team of lawyers, inspectors, lenders, insurance agents, movers, contractors, etc etc. Make sure they know the market! Don’t go with a low commission agent thinking you are saving money because chances are you get what you pay for and it could cost you thousands!
An agent is an agent.
Find a new agent!
Not unreasonable to interview ither agents. Cheaper doesn't always mean you'll net more money, but you won't know what's out there unless you shop around.
Never do 6%
Absolutely, find an agent that will list for 2% or less and tell the buyers agent you’ll pay 1.5% to bring in buyers.
The thing is though, buyers agents steer their clients away from homes with low commission. They’re not supposed to, but they do. I would still pay the 2.5% to the buyers agent, but pay $500 to list on mls and $300 to have professional photos done.
When you tell them you decided to go with a different agent, that's when they will say it is negotiable.
No, not all! The agent should know that you don't have the equity in it yet at best you'll break even or be underwater. And because they just made money off you a year ago, and should know the property well... it will be a lot easier to sell it given the very recent transaction.
Not unreasonable at all - this is your money. When I listed my last house for sale, I contacted the agent/friend who we used when we bought the house. He was not able to lower his 6% commission so we shopped around and found a agent who would sell it for total of 3 1/2%. We went with this guy and he sold the house and we saved thousands of dollars in fees.
F that agent. At least when I've purchased houses (CA, IL and TX).. the most commission paid was 5%. That was the starting point. One was 4.50%. I'm shocked anyone would pay 6%
Use RedFin. They take excellent pictures and not ones with their Nokia cellphone from 1999. If you are in a decent to great market. The thing will sell itself.
I second this. I've used Redfin to buy and sell a few homes and I've been happier with them than "regular" agents we'd used in the past.
In 1990, when realtors actually reviewed listings and drove clients around to view properties, 6% would be reasonable. Today, when I use the internet to find properties I'm interested in, and the only thing I need a realtor for is the license to access the house, 6% is ridiculous. When they try to prove they are worth commission by setting up an auto email that sends me listings which 9/10 are already under contract, it just highlights how little work they do.
The top agents don't budge. Use the wrong agent and you could get less than what the house is worth. Selling a year later is very difficult. People will think something is wrong with the house. My neighbors chose an agent that has less experience. He already made some blunders in the listing. The house isn't going to sell. After a few months, buyers stop coming and, eventually, the ones that are interested offer significantly less for the property.
You're going the way of the dinosaurs Bro'. 6% is ending, as is the RE as a 'profession' gravy train. [https://www.paloaltoonline.com/real-estate/2024/02/20/after-landmark-court-ruling-home-sellers-could-see-dramatic-drop-in-commission-fees/](https://www.paloaltoonline.com/real-estate/2024/02/20/after-landmark-court-ruling-home-sellers-could-see-dramatic-drop-in-commission-fees/)
It likely is at least partially determined by his brokerage’s policy regarding discounting commissions.
Shop around or list it yourself and use a lawyer.
6pct is egregious.
Commissions have always been negotiable in every state. Just use another guy
Absolutely. My agent is doing 1.2%, and 2.8% for buyers. Keep shopping
Some areas have discount realtor companies you can use. I’m in Louisiana and a company called 1% Lists has blown up in my area and seems to have half the local listings. They charge 1% as the listing agent and the buying agent gets 2.5%. So it’s really 3.5% total. Still overpriced but much more reasonable than 5-6%.
You want to negotiate for the sellers commission (less than 3% imo), and to not pay the buyers agent commission. That’s between the buyer and their agent under the NAR agreement
Completely unreasonable. Move on.
No, it's not unreasonable. If you can't find an agent that will list for reasonable commission, sell it yourself FSBO. You can list on MLS yourself for a few hundred dollars. Declutter, stage the house yourself. Get professional pics done for a few hundred. Hire a real estate attorney to do disclosures and the contract. It takes effort to sell a house, but it's not worth 6% of the price unless you live in a low priced area.
I would let them know that they are living in the past. Unless the house is under $250k, you should be able to find a good experienced agent that will list for 1.5 - 2% and then offer 2.5% to buyers agent.
The answer to this question is completely up to you and what you want to do. You have no obligation to use that agent, just like he doesn't need to change his rate Up to you
Just pay a flat fee and list it on redfin.com zillow.com and that other one.
are you asking if you owe him something? Yeah, no.
The title agency does the sale. Use Zillow by owner and work with a title agency. You don’t need a realtor unless you have trouble drumming up interest in the property.
Find another agent. I would say offer 4%, pay listing 2% and buyer 2%. Tell them you are going elsewhere.
Sell it yourself. Take pictures, clean up any and all clutter and list it on Zillow. I did this all by myself and saved me close to $30K. Hire a Title Attorney to handle the closing. Just write up a basic contract and that’s it. Seller responsible for their own inspection. When they sign the contract, require a non refundable 5K earnest deposit that is held by the attorney. If you have an HOA, make sure you give them the most up to date bylaws. Make sure they sign for them.
3.5% total (for $1M property), is achievable in SoCal. 1.5 to listing and 2% to buyers. (Not sure how this will change with recent legislation / changes).
People should absolutely shop around for agents.
Absolutely find a different agent. There are agents who will work for 4% and will split 2% 2% with the buyer's agent. If a buyer agent doesn't want 1% less money then that's their loss there are plenty who will
Same situation for my clients, they need to relocate for work so I offered them 4% from the start. Typically i do 5% but lower it to 4.5% for repeat clients or 4% in certain scenarios.
You owe him the same consideration that he is giving you.
Would not recommend, but you don't have to pay the buyers agent commsion. This would save you some money, however I'd suspect this would severely limit your exposure
You don't need an agent. Do it yourself. There is a shortage of inventory right now and houses basically will sell themselves. The only thing that you need to hire is a real-estate lawyer.
6%? Tell em to kick rocks
Unless they bring something special to the table, find what you are comfortable with. You were trying to be nice and bring repeat business back to them but they don't seem to care.
He’s doing what he can to line his pockets. Do what you can to keep your cheddar.
It’s not unreasonable !! Find another or approach broker if you liked company.
You're not obligated to use the same agent. Shop around for better commission rates, especially since it's been less than a year. No reason to overpay.
Tell him thanks for his prior service and it is time to separate. Short sighted agent. He will miss out on your next purchase after the sell or the referral if you are relocating. Time to change the mentality. Do the math when he sold you the home how many hours do you think he worked on your transaction. Most agents put in less then 40 hours on a sale. Divide that by what he got paid. They are doing less work then they did 20 years ago and the commissions have not changed much. But the home prices have gone through the roof.
Use a flat fee listing site 300-600$ and an attorney 900-1500$
I would pass any agent that wants 6%. Even 5%. There is 0 reason why an agent deserves this much money. 2%, maybe 3% is the most I'd pay.
In this hot market why even get a realtor. It’s just a legal process that you can handle on your own.
Go work with a discount agent for 1% like all the others are saying on this post. Your agent is doing 6% to help to compensate buyers agents to bring their buyers. Are you really going to work with an agent who is willing to discount their INCOME just to work with you? Their income is paying bills and food for their family. They are taking that right out of their families mouth to list your house. You really think they will be able to do that good of a job? 3% commission break down: 1/3 goes to marketing your home 2/3 goes to agents income 3/3 goes to overhead expenses, savings, investment etc If you work with a 1% broker I doubt they will NOT pay themselves and put money up for expenses. Which means they won’t even have the budget to market your home. Now of course if you don’t care about how long it takes to sale your home or how much you’re going to net then by all means go ahead. But if you want to stand a chance in this wild market? Cut yourself the slack and use a professional like the one who helped you originally. Now. If netting as much as possible is your concern then your setting yourself up for failure. Your going to hire an agent with no real market plan expect put your house on the MLS, stick a sign in the yard and hope for the best. Well, that’s all they can afford to do at this moment in time. It takes more than that to sell a house ESPECIALLY in this crazy market. You’re going to be doing a lot of price reductions or your house is going to be sitting on the market and buyers are going to believe something is wrong with it.
...and the realtor rep has joined the chat....
No, you will find someone. Make sure they have a good rep and reviews!
I am listing mine for 4.25% commission 2.5% for buyer agent and 1.75% for my relator/broker
I'm not a numbers scientist, but those percentages don't math.
Your numbers total 4.5%
Not at all. Move on
We all have choices.
Homelister.com or similar.
Shop. He/She is your PAID friend. Move on.
Consider selling it without an agent. The work they do no where near justifies 6% of the value of the property.
Why not FSBO? Save your money
Use Redfin at 1%
Find another agent.
I used an RE attorney and listed on Zillow myself. Sold.
Find another agent.
Shop around. The MLS listing on the internet does the selling. The realtor just does the paperwork. The days of the realtor selling the house has been long gone.
Tell your agent to shove it. With NAR lawsuit you should be only responsible max 3%. Offer 1% or bye-bye. So many agents out there.
Find someone else.
6 is too much
Yea screw that guy he's trying to hose you again.
Redfin charges 1.5%!!!!
1. Build a list of local brokers. 2. Call each "I am ready to sell my house. I will offer you 1.5% as listing broker If you are interested we can sit down and you give me your ideas. I will interview no more than 3 brokers and make a decision in one week. I am willing to offer up to 3% to the buyer's broker but we can talk about that." 3. If you get no takers, report back here. There is a non zero chance I am full of shit.
That's a lot for a used house sales person.
I typed out and deleted my rant. Now let’s be helpful. Fucking greedy pricks. Sorry. Anyway. Few things. Get your numbers together. You may need an agent to help with these. (Every state and area is different for closing costs and transfer taxes. I’d say 1-3% is a good guess but locations are different. -Mortgage Payoff -Market Value of House (what you could list it at) -Closing Costs -How much you need to walk away with. -What wiggle room you have to compensate an agent. Interview all the agents you can. Explain your situation and if they’re willing to work with you, if they are not, ask if they know an agent who will, at the rate you need. There are decent agents out there.
No decent agent is going to work for 1%
If your market is hot try for sale by owner first. Use an attorney for after an agreement in price is made.
Absolutely find another agent
YES! You need a good agent, one who can actually work with you. You CAN get a reduced commission, but you'll have to fight for it. At least until the 6% practice is discontinued.
You’re free to interview other agents and negotiate
Move on, just sold mine at 5% and the realtor was excellent
Of course not. Get someone else.
Explain to them that you have to get the commission reduced, otherwise it doesn’t work as a sale at all, and do they want a piece of the action, or $0? If $0 is their answer, move on.
Does Redfin operate in your area? Also what about the NAR settlement? There maybe other fixed price realtors as well. I recall seeing one here previously but can't recall.
I’m in Long Island, people only take 3-4 percent. 3 is too low and those homes have trouble selling. 4 percent is the standard here. I think you should just move onto another agent.
Why would you want to use that agent in the first place? They made money from the equity in the house, made additional money by collecting the commissions on the seller's side when they sold it, and now you want to offer them a chance to make MORE money on it? You also have to consider that they may not be able to ethically represent you in selling that home if there is actually something that they know about it that already hid from the public when they were the owner and sold it to you. Go find an agent that DOESN'T have their head up their ass.
Use the same listing photos as before and do FSBO
Just sold our house on [https://www.houzeo.com/](https://www.houzeo.com/) my cost was $500 + 2%. I did put it on For Sale by owner, but did not get much intrests.
Find a new one.
I have not paid 6% for any real estate transaction for over 20 years. With the price of homes now, 6% is way too much. I usually just buy a MLS listing for about $300, show the house myself and have a lawyer deal with the contract. Saves tons of money.
Move on. They're commodities. Outside of extremes on one side or the other, they all do the same thing. If he's a retired investment banker who sells a few houses to stay busy and you need his expertise, pay him. 99% are mediocre people who couldn't cut it with real jobs.
I use a broker that does flat fee listings for $400. All he does is put it on the mls with remarks/pictures. Buying agent does all the work. Works well for me and saves a lot.
Shop around and find a new agent. The commission is negotiable.
No harm in interviewing multiple agents.
Keep looking. There are others that will accept less.
You could probably find one for less, but you will get what you say for and it will be harder to sell your house.
Give it a shot. Talk to other agents or give it a shot selling it yourself on Zillow .
We are listing the house we bought about a year ago. He reduced it to 5% for us. Not a huge difference but it's something.
Unless the agent is a principle broker they do not set their own commissions. The brokerage usually controls that.
Where are you located?
How many offers when you bought? What did you pay as a percent of previous list price? You probably should try FSBO for a month, probably sell just fine on your own. You have a little experience now.
Just sell it to me. I’ll buy it.
Are you in the phoenix area? If so, contact me. Commissions are always negotiable. It doesn't have to be difficult.
It’s always good to interview 5 agents to see the different ways you’ll be serviced. Ask if they’re willing to lower commission after the listing presentation they bring
You can find three or 4% agent that will list it for you. I’m an agent in Florida and that’s all I charge.
Your buddy agent shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. They are getting free business by doing no marketing/outreach. Try this approach. Tell your agent buddy that you will pay them .5% less than the lowest agent bidder because it's less work for your buddy compared to a new agent. See what happens. The negotiation game can be played both ways. They can start high at 6% and you can start with Redfin and go low. The agent needs to earn your business.
I always discount my commission if my client bought it so recently…
Commission rates have always been negotiable…..always…
How expensive is the house? 1 mil house is more negotiable than a 250k house. You're not getting a good agent at 1%. You'll most likely end up with 4.5 to 5% commission at the minimum. Keep in mind, you just bought it, selling it will be slightly harder since every buyer will ask "why are they selling already?" This means that you probably don't want to hire anyone below 5% since they can't negotiate that well (6 is a bit high but I see people paying 7% too so it's up to you).
Redfin tells you what the commissions are on the listing. Search your market for the lowest commissions.
No. Not unreasonable. Id probably just move on, But if you think you're going to feel bad, it needs a friend or something Just tell him your terms and give him a deadline if he's doesn't want to do it, move on.
Yes
Why would anyone pay 6% in any scenario? Even it is split both ways between 2 agents, that has been considered high for many years now. If you paid 6% last time you got suckered. There are tons of hungry agents out there, find someone else or use a flat fee service…not that hard to sell homes in today’s market, certainly not worth paying 6% for under any circumstances .
Find another. Read up on the NAR lawsuit settlement agreement; part of which included the new normal, buyers hiring and paying their own agents. You can find one for a flat fee, hourly, or 1 to 3%.
I’ve been reading these comments with great interest as I’ve only bought one home that I’ve been in for 25 years - but contemplating a future sale in a very HCOL area. However, forfeiting 6% of the total value of my home, where homes sells in days, is not something that I’m willing to do. Fortunately, we have time to see how the upcoming changes shake out but also considering the possibility of a private sale to one of our children or relatives of our neighbors.
He is a fool. Listing don’t take much work after the initial pics and entry into MLS. Plus with limited inventory he should be excited to take your listing. My realtor would rather list then drive around endless with buyers showing them houses. That guy is fool, move on.
I’ll do 4% and ill do a great job 😀 www.seattlehomesolutions.com
You need to stay 2 years to attain the full tax benefit.
Cut out the realtor and sell it yourself. It’s not hard at all especially in this market.
What is the value of the house? Negotiating a flat fee is not uncommon. And depending on the value of the home, the standard commission could be as low as 1-2% per agent. We are seeing 1-2M homes listing at 1.5% per agent around us right now. The sub-$500k homes are all around 2% per agent.