Selling a house, real estate commission

[jaxs]

I've bought and sold 9 properties over the years without using an agent and never had a single problem. I had one for sale by owner and a realtor approached me saying he had a buyer but would need a contract to pay commission. When I said I'll pay commission if you sell the place to the client waiting in the wings but refused to give him a 12 month exclusive listing he left in a huff. I was vetting agents to sale a lot for $50k when a highly rated realtor swore the lot would never bring more than $30k and that's what we should list it for. I told her to get out of my office because she was planning to buy the lot and get a commission to. I listed it with another agent and sold it for $47k within 90 days. Did I mention I have a low opinion of realtors and con men?

 

[mikester]

I've bought and sold 9 properties over the years without using an agent and never had a single problem. I had one for sale by owner and a realtor approached me saying he had a buyer but would need a contract to pay commission. When I said I'll pay commission if you sell the place to the client waiting in the wings but refused to give him a 12 month exclusive listing he left in a huff. I was vetting agents to sale a lot for $50k when a highly rated realtor swore the lot would never bring more than $30k and that's what we should list it for. I told her to get out of my office because she was planning to buy the lot and get a commission to. I listed it with another agent and sold it for $47k within 90 days. Did I mention I have a low opinion of realtors and con men?

Selling stuff direct is lots of fun I really enjoy dealing with time wasters and tire kickers. At least if you hire an agent you can ride their assess to promote and sell your place and earn their commission. 4-5% around here.

 

[JJT]

I sold real estate as a part time gig for many years. The typical commission around me is 6%, split 4 ways. 1/4 to each - seller's agent, seller's agent's company, listing agent and listing agent's company. Dual agency, where the listing agent sells his listing is frowned upon, an agent cannot ethically represent both the buyer and the seller, but it happens, a lot.....

My advice - Try to sell it by yourself, list it on Zillow and put up a sign. If it's not gone in 30 days it's probably priced too high. If it's snatched up quickly, you probably priced it too low.

 

[ultrarunner]

I worked with an Agent that brought me properties I would have otherwise never known about…

Mostly sales that had fallen through due to property needing work so as to not qualify for conventional lending… she really was the 30 year experience full time neighborhood professional that everyone knew in the neighborhood.

I’ve paid 2.5% when a broker brought me a full price offer from a cash buyer…

One other often overlooked aspect speaking from personal knowledge is when a prospective buyer was injured while viewing a listing… actually the child of the prospective buyer fell off a retaining wall fracturing an arm.

The brokers insurance ended up paying out… not my friend the homeowner…

 

[LD1]

I guess in this day and age of technology.....I really dont understand what a realtor does other than take pics and make a listing.

I have bought and sold ONE home with a realtor.....and it was 3% + 3% for a total of 6%.

Most people I know looking for a home look on realtor.com, or zillow or whatever. Find a house they want to see and contact the selling agent. Not sure what a buyer agent even does? Or why a buyer agent would "refuse" to show a house listed at a lower rate? If I wanna see a house.....I will find a agent to show it to me. So I guess some realtors see getting nothing in comission is better than a reduced one????

We have been in a pretty hot sellers market in the past 4-5 years around me. Most houses listed sell ABOVE listing price. And if you offer full listing price on the day of the listing you are not likely to be buying that house. But that has changed here in the last year or so.....starting to see price drops after a few weeks on the market, and houses being on the market longer and longer.

Anymore I think its just lazy buyers. Tell a realtor what they want.....and let them do all the leg work rather than simply get online and look at whats for sale in the area you want.

Also.....it seems everyone wants to buy used houses but have them in perfect condition.....dont see any "need some TLC" listings anymore.

 

[bnold]

I did for sale by owner in 2017. $1,000 for MLS listings, all the major website postings, and paperwork handled by a 3rd party.

3% for buyers.

Would definitely do it again at least to start out. I sold in 4 days.

 

[Hughman]

You could take the test, get your license and list it yourself. Having done that I found that you can have an upper hand when buying but I still find it better to use another agent when selling my own property because of the legal peril of missing some required disclosure or some other perceived misrepresentation.

 

[Torvy]

We have bought and sold 5 houses in 4 states and our current home has been on the market for about 2 weeks. We've used realtors because we don't have the time to mess with it. That being said, I hate the way realtors are compensated. The work involved in selling a $100k house and a $1000k house is essentially the same, but the pay is 10x. In some states, all realtors work for the seller. After all, it is the seller who is paying them and they all gain when the price is higher. In states like Texas, a buyer's agent has no incentive to get them a good deal or offer less money for a house that needs TLC. They just push the buyer to another house that is "in budget". Our current listing is 6%. If we find the buyer ourselves, it is 5%. They did a ton of work and we have had a lot of traffic. Current buyers in our neighborhood want model home condition at fixer upper prices. Family neighborhood, so most buyers are young and have little interest in sweat equity.

3100 Sq ft on 1/3 acre with pool. It needs interior paint (10-12k) Listed just below $600k. Price is $5-$10 a Sq ft less than comps. Our ISD is highly sought after, especially the HS for which we are zoned. Houses are still selling, but time on market has gone from <7 days to about 6 weeks.

 

[dodge man]

Some real estate agents work pretty hard, the good ones that is, and can earn their money. They work odd hours and take calls at tge drop of a hat.

Whats a reasonable commission? If it’s a $80k house 6% is pretty cheap. If it’s a $2 million dollar house, 3% is pretty good for the Realators. Realators are more likely to try to sell a house with a big commission obviously. Generally I like Realators but there are some sketchy ones.

 

[ultrarunner]

I guess in this day and age of technology.....I really dont understand what a realtor does other than take pics and make a listing.

I have bought and sold ONE home with a realtor.....and it was 3% + 3% for a total of 6%.

Most people I know looking for a home look on realtor.com, or zillow or whatever. Find a house they want to see and contact the selling agent. Not sure what a buyer agent even does? Or why a buyer agent would "refuse" to show a house listed at a lower rate? If I wanna see a house.....I will find a agent to show it to me. So I guess some realtors see getting nothing in comission is better than a reduced one????

We have been in a pretty hot sellers market in the past 4-5 years around me. Most houses listed sell ABOVE listing price. And if you offer full listing price on the day of the listing you are not likely to be buying that house. But that has changed here in the last year or so.....starting to see price drops after a few weeks on the market, and houses being on the market longer and longer.

Anymore I think its just lazy buyers. Tell a realtor what they want.....and let them do all the leg work rather than simply get online and look at whats for sale in the area you want.

Also.....it seems everyone wants to buy used houses but have them in perfect condition.....dont see any "need some TLC" listings anymore.

For decades buyers being transferred would have a relocation broker prepare a list and schedule a blitz of showings for the short time they had before flying back... it was often a valuable service when time is short far from home... now not so much as the trend has somewhat reversed in my part of California.

One of the neighborhood homes was left to a niece 3,000 miles away in not so good health... she only saw the property digitally... never set foot or traveled... the Realtor handled it all... clean, up, refinish hardwood and total paint... home sold and all were pleased with the net...

There are times when options are few...

One more observation on For Sale by owner in a down market... both sides are looking to capture the saving of no commission...

Disclosures are not difficult but errors and ommissions can come back and bite and there are sophisticated investors looking to prey on the uninformed...