Quote:
Originally Posted by retiredguy123
I am amazed that some people think that the seller's commission is just a "tacked on" fee to the sale of a house. When I sell a house, I expect the listing agent to earn that commission in the form of a higher price for the house. That is why I never agree to pay a commission to a buyer's agent. They are not working for me to maximize the price. If I thought the commission was just an add-on fee, I would never sign a listing contract. To me, a buyer's agent is worthless.
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The basic reality involves simple probability. A selling/listing agent only has so many (maybe none) clients interested in looking at a new property they listed. But, there is a vast pool of potential buyers who are using their own agent to help them find a home. That is mostly where your buyer potential comes from.
If a seller stipulated to their listing agent that they want to pay $0 fee to a buyers agent, then, except for a low supply/high demand market, their supply of interested buyers would shrink to almost none. That's just reality and has been for a long time.
The seller could wait for someone like me who doesn't use buy-side agents but, that could take a long time and the listing will go stale and get looked-past (yes, that's a real thing and generally involves price reductions to become relevant again).
I am closing on my place in the Midwest this Wed. It's a high demand area so, I listed myself on Zillow and am a marketing pro so, it was a good listing. Stated I'd deal directly
or pay a buyers agent. Got an offer from buyer using an agent within a week and will be paying the agent 1.5%. (Low because this is a clean, easy deal with little time involved for the agent.) Frankly, it saved me some headaches from handling all of that in addition to the enormous amount of work in a big move like this.
If I felt like waiting awhile, I would have a gotten a buyer on their own but, this guy who's buying really wanted it and is paying the highest price I think this property could attain currently. So, it all worked out for me.