I am close to believing that agents just sit and wait for the phone to ring. I have had a house on the market for 14 months. Pat

I've heard this several times (and one realtor's success story in another state beating out the competition). But when it came down to it, when I asked my realtor and a realtor friend, they both said it's not --supposed-- to make a difference and we'd have higher showings if we lowered the price instead. But I was really curious. I think it's worth a good try right out of the gate, instead of going with a lower price. You could always lower the price and remove the commission in a week or two if you're not getting the action you want.

You would have more money in your pocket with a lower selling price and standard commission than by increasing the BA's percentage.

Giving a higher commission is dangerous in the long run as it may set a precedent for higher commissions, thus raising the already expensive cost of selling the home.

It's a realtor's job to show your home if it's in the area, price range, etc., for their buyer. Yes, competition is stiff in this market, but having higher commissions only lines the pocket of the realtor, not you.

Giving a higher commission is dangerous in the long run as it may set a precedent for higher commissions, thus raising the already expensive cost of selling the home

Since I buy or sell every 10 years or so not something I would really worry about

Curious about the answer in general too

I think it depends on how similar other houses are. I would not go to see a house if it was not my style no matter how much the agent pushed. However if your house is an average house that is similar to all the others in the cul de sac then maybe this would set it apart

"Giving a higher commission is dangerous in the long run as it may set a precedent for higher commissions, thus raising the already expensive cost of selling the home."
Not offering a reasonable co-op for your location and competition, will be much more "dangerous" to you in not getting an offer.
I do not believe in offering buyers agents above what is a normal commission for my location, but if the competition is offering 3.5% or 4% (primarily builders/new construction), I would encourage a seller to be competitive.

you may stand better chance if you offer that extra .5% amount as some sort of closing credit to the potential buyer...

just my thoughts

When we sold in Columbus, we offered an the buyer's agent $2000 for full price offer. It didn't increase our showings or anything. We got a full price offer in 2 weeks and the buyer's agent was rebating that money to the buyers. I think we would have had the same outcome if we had offered the buyer's the $2000.

DH thinks it's a great idea but he's in sales too. He thinks we should offer 4% to buyer's agent w/a full price offer. I don't think it would bring more buyers to us. Our home is in a gated subdivision with about 200 homes. I guess one would call them cookie cutter. But high end cookie cutter. Prices are all over the place anywhere from $450k for the smalled home @ 2600sq ft to $706K for 3500+ sq ft.

My agent pulled the other listings in our neighborhood. All the listings have interior photos. After looking at all these homes, not one has anything to offer comparable to mine.

We bought our house in 2003, it was an inventory home for the builder. It was the floor plan I wanted but hated everything the the buyers had picked out in the interior. So what did I do - gutted it.

Ripped out the maple/corian kitchen and replaced w/custom cabs, granite, stainless.
Carpet on lower level had to go - replaced with brazilian cherry wood.
Ceramic tile had to go on lower level - also replaced w/brazilian cherry
replaced all cabinetry in baths
added granite to 3 baths
replaced master shower w/semi-frameless enclosure
replaced all light, plumbing fixtures & bath hardware in all baths

So I think we are in a good position with what we are working with but unfortunately the agents seem to show their buyers what they want to show them. I feel that with today's market (which is bad) they should not eliminate any home because a sale is a sale. So what they may make a few less $ in commission. They made more $ from that sale than if there were not sale.

It will be interesting to see what our agent thinks we should list at although she said we determine the price, not her.

Actually, the market should determine the price- not the seller or the agent.

But Marv, how do you determine the price?? There has not been one sale in our subdivision in at least 3 months. We are in Tampa, have been on the market 5 weeks and haven't even had a showing. I'm ready to tear my hair out, but I have talked to several agents and they don't have anyone looking. We had an agents OE (16 agents came) and all liked the house, said it showed well, and was priced very reasonably. Where do we go from here? Should we try an open house, increase BA commission, offer money towards closing? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I know I show any home that a client wants to see. I don't look at the commission at all. I do look for buyer incentives though, such as: carpet allowance, paint allowance, amount of closing costs seller is willing to pay, etc.

jgirl, based on everything you've listed, if your house is competitively priced (and not priced out of the neighborhood!) and everyone else still has all the "builder stock" stuff, I don't think you need to offer extra commission! People will want to see your house just based on the photos and descrption alone! I know if I were looking in that neighborhood (and you were still within my price range), yours would be at the top of my list, regardless of what my realtor said! So perhaps, take that extra .5% and lower your list price. Buyers might think they're getting a steal.

I think the extra commission would only have a greater impact if, like someone else said, all the homes on the block are the same, you're not getting any showings (but that's a price problem too), and/or your house is lacking compared to the competition.

jgirl - I'm with Julie that it's not overpriced. From the description of the house, is it possible that you over-improved it for the neighbourhood?

Isn't there a saying about the best house in the neighbourhood being the worst to buy because the improvements won't garner a higher selling price?

Your home sounds like it belongs in a more upscale area than what you described.

I offered a 4% commission to the buyer's agent and it didn't make a difference. Just do what is the norm for your area.

Follow-up
We listed on Sunday and DH insisted on offering 7% commission split equally between agents. I think that's way out of line but he seems to think it may bring more buyers. Our agent said not one other home in the subdivision is offering less than 3% to buyer's agent and felt it would bring in more potential viewings.

Cpowers21 - i would hope that any good agent would to the same as you. However, it seems that too many are out for themselves and their own $.

Anyway, we agreed to do this and see what kind of showings we get. Plus DH & agent feels it's also a negotiating tool.

We'll see! Oh, listing price is $639k so we are right in the middle of everyone else.

One reason we do want a quick sale is that we are building another home and need our equity to finish it. Plus it would be a big monkey off our back.