What a crock, so are you saying the realtor WON'T show the interested buyers your home,unless you give them 4%??? Talk about sleazy....Though i guess if you get a full priced offer, then maybe i'd put up with the sleaziness...This type of garbage gives the few "professional" realtors a bad name

I think you answer was perfect.

diane~~~
I will be VERY interested in what your lawyer has to say. With every realtor here wanting 7% and don't seem to want to budge, I am thinking of trying to sell myself.

What did you do to advertise your house?

Actually not much so far. I have a friend who is in the profession make me a flyer and I have a sign and info tube out front. I also put one flyer in a plastic bag and hung it permanently on the sign in case the tube runs out. It did have to be refilled regularly for the first few days but has been stagnent for a while. It is a horse property so I took flyers to the local feed stores. Also had my son make a webpage with freewebs and posted it in the local paper that has a horse column.

We have had about 10 calls and 6 showings so far but no returns and none of them had their house on the market yet. Also put it on Craig's list, should update those. Next step is to put ads in the local papers in the RE sections. Being able to add the web address means i can be pretty brief

I originaly told each RE agent I interviewed that if I decided to go with a RE agent I would be going with someone other than them. Just told this agent that called that my husband wants me to go with a RE agent soon and he chose one of the others so if she wants to make a deal at 4% she had better call me soon.

Do you think this BUYER'S agent is going to tell THEIR CLIENT that they just made a deal with you? Tread very carefully . . .

Good point!!

I'd tell the agent that you will only pay them 2% and that they'd better bring you the buyers or you'll report them to the authorities, boards or whomever has jurisdiction in your area.

You have done nothing wrong in presenting this deal because you have no certification by any organization that oversees your professional ethical obligations to any party, BUT that agent sure does. What a sleaz!

There are some good websites that will give you a listing on REALTOR.com, and local MLS as well as alot of the listserv sites (ie - Craig's list) for flat fees and no seller's commission. I would recommend them. The more exposure the better. On the other hand, if you're getting alot of traffic without MLS - more power to you.

ONe final note - if you're a buyer reading this, DO NOT HIRE A REAL ESTATE AGENT!! Their time has come. They are the most overpaid professionals in the world and most barely qualify as professionals. If you are smart enough to be reviewing forums before buying, than use the available free information that exists on the web find your new property yourself and put these crooks out of business!! You'll save yourself alot of money in the process!!

Ok, I must chime in about REAs. RE is a slimey business.It doesn't need to be, IF the broker were cut out.

According to my friend, REAs (working for a large outfit) are not the ones making a lot. According to Jayne, the BROKER (the pimp)gets most of the money. The REAs(prostitues)don't get that much but work hard. Excuse my vile analogy, but I've been explained how the industry works.

Most large brand name RE companies do not want to take listings with less than 6%. Reason being is that they spend a lot of money pushing their brand name. They have huge overheads. They have legal teams, & other people on their payrolls. The AGENT ( my friend is relatively new) clears approximately 1%, after the broker & the industry (lots of fees!)gets through with taking out all the fees out of their checks. The 1% is based on the commission being 6%. If it's less, the agents net less then 1%. Some of the older agents make more, but MOST do not. Ten percent of agents do most of the sales. The rest work for peanuts. However, the BROKER is a big fat middleman.Just splainin.

I'm guessing that the RE business has gotten too big. The consumer is paying way too much because the industry has gotten out of control. The costs associated with a SIMPLE buying/selling a home have been elevated to something that only REAs with a BROKER can do, fakely, to make money off people by huge RE companies. They are trying to tell people that they cannot function, buy or sell witout their service. What a crock.

I'm not saying that REAs are not necessary. They have a function. Most buyers will not look at a house without an agent. However, we need to get rid of the middleman, the broker who gets MOST of that commission. My guess is that many REAs resort to tacky commission bargaining because they want a little more money than what the BROKER pays them. Just a guess.

I can see why you might say that, wigglyworm, but as long as humans are involved in the real estate transactions, there will be Realtors. If every transaction was smooth as silk, straightforward, and without conflict, then I'd agree with you. But that is NOT always the case. Emotions get involved, tempers flare, problems occur, and guess what? Sellers and buyers often have to work full time, and literally don't have the time nor the inclination to do the grunt work that's often necessary to see those difficult transactions to closing.

There will *always* be people who CAN do it themselves, but don't want to. Did Home Depot and Lowes "kill" the pay-a-contractor-to-do-work industry? Hardly. Just because people have more opportunities to do things themselves, doesn't mean it's always the road they take.

I do think, howevevr, that Realtors (and I are one...) have to have their finger on the pulse of what the public wants and needs, and adjust accordingly. I'll work with a seller if they want to make their own flyers, pay for their own advertising, etc. I have a builder for whom I do a VERY minimal listing fee, as he already advertises, usually mans his own houses for open houses, etc. But not all listings are that easy, and some require much, much more work.

I could (but won't) bore the room with stories of how deals would have completely busted if it weren't for Realtors, but chances are I'd be excoriated here anyway, as this board is decidedly anti-Realtor.

Diane, I think that my response would be to bring the person by to look and if they are interested we will talk commission once you accepted an offer. Now, depending on your price and how much the extra commission would be, would it be cost effective to give a $1,000 bonus instead of that extra %?

I'm not nuts about offering agents incentives but it sounds like you're in a smaller town and have no choice.

I think it is really sleazy what they are doing.

Do check out those sites that will list you on the MLS and do it now. This way a buyer can always find it themselves online in their searches.

Good luck!

I don't even believe that 4% agent had a buyer, s/he was just testing the waters for co-op.
Your response was good, however, mine would have affirmed co-operating with agents, with the caveat, that depending on the offer it COULD be more or less than 3%. Show me the offer and we will talk %.

Thanks everyone,

Here is where we are at. The RE agent wrote back asking why I would go with an agent that was further out of the area and did I think they would drive 40 minutes to show the house. I wrote back that it was my understanding that the listing agent did not show the house unless they had a buyer. She also said, and I quote, "I was trying to get buyers there before I pressured you into the lisitng."

!!!

I told her thanks but to save her considerable salesmanship skills for her role as the buyers agent as the realtor we picked to go with if we do has a website that is geared towards horse properties and they come up first when googled for horse properties in our state. I also told her I was not happy with the thought of duel representation anyway but said I knew that might be inevitable, implying that if I went with the other realtor I could see that happening.

She just wrote back and said that 4% for a FSBO is pretty standard, especially in this market, which I do know it is not just FSBO as I see a lot of discussion about upping the buyer's agents % to get an edge. i offered to have her come out beforehand and discuss commisions but she said that once they know when their buyers want to come out and see the property we can discuss the commission then so Berniak I guess you were on track with the idea that I should wait for the offer and then discuss %'s. I just thought the RE agent would want something in writing beforehand to protect themselves.

I did the math and think I could live with the 4% down to the lowest offer we would take anyway. But I have to admit I am having a little fun ;)