Because any sale is better than no sale at all.

You get that for which you pay. Low commissions are directly related to funds spent on marketing. More incentive usually equates to more effort.

I understand “the effort” and that should be compensated IF you need it. My thinking is I want a certain amount out of a house I want to sell, keeping it within market prices. If any agent can get me that amount, plus their commissions etc - we’re good to go.

Great success with disounted real estate commissions
 

Real estate commissions of 6% may have been justified before the internet, and computerized forms, but not anymore.
- Once a house is listed on the MLS or VLS, buyers are able to search and find candidate homes without any real estate agent assistance.
- Sellers can stage their own homes, following guidelines on the Internet.
- And a lot of the paperwork is now the responsibility of the seller/buyer to complete, after an agent emails access to online forms.

I sold my home, in MD, after interviewing 5 agents and selecting a very successful RE/MAX agent who seemed the most capable and only charged a 1% commission.
- My wife and I had already staged our house, and I took a great set of ~70 photos.
- I hired the agent at 2pm, signed an agent agreement at 4pm, and the home was listed on the MLS by 7pm.
- The first open house was 4 days later and yielded 2 competing offers. The sales contract was in place 2 days later, $26K over the asking price of $780,000 ($806K sale price).

The brokerage fees were:
- Listing agent commission 1% $8,060
- Selling agent commission 2.5% $20,150
- Total commission 3.5% $28,210
- A savings of $20,150 (42%) over the traditional 6% commission of $48,360.

If enough sellers push back on the traditional 6% commission, and select discount brokers, then the market will eventually respond with lower commission rates.

By your savings calculation, you could have saved an additional $28,210 by selling it yourself and paying no commission. So, you are assigning zero value to the agents involved in the sale. That is not how real estate sales work. Good, experienced agents sell houses for more money than bad agents or no agent.

Good for you. This isn't Maryland.

It's an absolute blood bath in the rest of the state and that is now impacting homes here in the Villages. They are now building more spec homes than custom homes because the buyers are not there. I've had my home for sale in South Florida for a year and have dropped the price by almost half - still without ANY offers.

The days of Villagers flipping homes every few years are OVER. Existing homes are now competing against unsold new construction that is being discounted.

If you want to sell in this market, you are going to have to be 10 - 15% lower than everyone else, and you have to have a good agent.

One way to lower your price
 

One way to lower that price is to skip the realtor who is licking their chops to get 4 or 5% of your sale. List it for 5 to 10 k cheaper than anyone else and still come out on top.

In a hot market this is the way to go. Friends in Orange County, CA and on the Big Island of HI bought and sold multiple homes and condos similarly for many years. They found a listing agent for $500 - $800 (the price went up over time), paid a top notch photographer a similar amount, staged the property themselves and paid the selling agent 2.5%. They did this 10 or 15 times in as many years with spec condos as well as their own homes. Two of their personal residences they sold themselves just by chatting with someone looking at other homes in the neighborhood.

In a slow market it is a whole 'nother story.

Some agents are just listers, signing homeowners up, listing the property in MLS and collecting half the commission when another broker brings in a buyer. That is why the el cheapo listers became popular. Why pay an agent so much for so little? Now if a listing agent lists, otherwise advertises, holds open houses and so on where they actually earn their commission use one of them, especially in a sluggish market, as they will earn their compensation.

Price it right! Thats the most important thing. It’s a buyers market now, price it for the location, lot and any unique features. A view lot with a great home sells, a regular lot sits. The inventory is high so buyers can be choosy.

Monarch Grove isn’t new. Many in the Monarch Grove/Fenney area are selling and moving to even newer. It’s a good location and as far as resales it’s desirable. You can be at Eastport in minutes. You are competing with new.

I don’t think it matters which listing agent or company as much as price. People want a deal and in this market they can get one.

Because they don't do anything other than put it in mls w/an 800 to call for showings. So much more needed to sell your home.

What is the address? We can skip the commission.

I see houses for sale in the classifieds right on this website. That can't cost much at all. I wonder if any are ever sold that way.

10 to 15 percent lower, really! Good advice. Everyone should panic and cut their price quickly and be 50-75k lower than everyone else? Realtors do add value. For me primarily on the buy side once my home is in MLS, zillow,etc and as I mentioned you can do that for $100 and then pay full commission or otherwise on the buy side.

Real Estate Agents are vastly overrated!

To get your listing, they typically suggest a price for your home which exceeds other similar homes for sale. When it does not sell within three weeks, they suggest you drop the price, sometimes markedly. They tie you into a one year listing so you cannot get out. In the traditional 6% formula, let's look at this more carefully. The 6% is typically split 3 to the listing agent and 3 to the selling agent. The listing or selling agent then each splits their 3 percent with their broker. So, a sales agent actually gets 1.5 % of the transaction...typically. So, when they suggest you drop your price by let's say $50,000, you wind up with 50 k less. For the actual agent, they lose $750. hmmm....

On another note, when houses cost $100,000, agents had to pay for newspaper ads and had to drive prospects around all day long. They paid their brokers for desk space, business cards and sometimes phone lines. Now, the agent simply enters the listing on the internet and waits till a prospect calls and says lets see a particular house. Even though the costs to the agent are significantly less now, the agent gets 6% not of 100K but 6% of 500K. hmmm....

So, there are multiple sources around where you can list your home for sale on the MLS for a flat fee (a couple of hundred dollars). If you are any good at negotiating (and most people are), why would you ever want to hire a real estate agent? Most agents are simply doing this as a side gig and have no real expertise. They don't have a strong education and would otherwise be selling used cars. In my years of buying and selling real estate, I have found very very few agents who I thought were honorable or trustworthy. Most just want to make a quick sale and get their money and run...and really are only focused on one thing, how can they get their commission quick!

Sorry to all you agents out there who have a different approach. But, this has been my experience with some of the best real estate brokers and agents around.

I guess I am going to get some flack now. So be it!

I agree!
 

No flack at all. I totally agree with your post.