[MikePgh]

Just remember you get what you pay for.

[retiredguy123]

When you hire a real estate agent to sell your house, you are paying them to find a buyer. Period. You are not paying them anything to do paperwork. Read the listing contract.

[SaucyJim]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

LOL. Why didn't the low commission agent sell the house?

Low commission affects listing and selling agent. Why would an agent show a house when they’ll make less money? That’s why traffic drops with commission, right?

[willimmac]

Picking a honest experienced agent who produces is more important than penny pinching on a little bit of commission.

[Andyb]

Originally Posted by mvbird

Getting ready to sell investment home, vacant soon, south of 44 in 'new area of The villages' Monarch Grove. Has anyone used listing agents who advertise 'low commission'. .. many advertising 4% or less. Rather not sell it ourselves, but also don't care to pay total 5 -6% fees. I'd like to hear from those who have tried them or have someone to refer.

Better worry more about capital gains, that’s what will eat you up.

[easeonby]

Originally Posted by mvbird

Getting ready to sell investment home, vacant soon, south of 44 in 'new area of The villages' Monarch Grove. Has anyone used listing agents who advertise 'low commission'. .. many advertising 4% or less. Rather not sell it ourselves, but also don't care to pay total 5 -6% fees. I'd like to hear from those who have tried them or have someone to refer.

It does not cost the realtor any more to sell a $100,000 home or a $400.000 home.
It has become very pricey to sell your home due to the rising values of real estate.
There needs to be a cap on realtor fees, not set on percentages.

[larcha]

You have to consider who gets the 4 or 5 percent. If, as in years past, the commission is split between the seller's agent and the buyer's agent that's one way. In today's market the 4 or 5 percent may be for the seller's agent only. Your point is well taken though. The agent is more likely to work harder for the listing they will make the most money from.

[kingofbeer]

Originally Posted by larcha

You have to consider who gets the 4 or 5 percent. If, as in years past, the commission is split between the seller's agent and the buyer's agent that's one way. In today's market the 4 or 5 percent may be for the seller's agent only. Your point is well taken though. The agent is more likely to work harder for the listing they will make the most money from.

Can you share the address? Maybe you can avoid the commission by selling directly to the buyer.

[Joecooool]

Good luck selling your home if you go with one of the low commission agents. Sure, they will list your home, but no other agents are going to show it to their clients.

And there isn't going to be open houses if nobody is making money.

Might as well list it for sale by owner.

[gldfin]

You should consider using a National flat fee listing agent like Beycome. That is what I am doing right now. The fee is $100 and that gets you in MLS and allows realtors to schedule through MLS. Then ypu negotiate the commission with the buyer agent and they will show your home. I recommend paying the buyer agent 2.5%, since the std here is generally 5% total. The buyers agent and their agency then gets the std amount.so they really do not have incentive not to sell your house. If you just reduce the overall commission the agent selling your home has less incentive. A bonus is you can do a one time contract with a Villages agent for their buyer and you now have MLS and vls not having less incentive to sell. I have had 2 VLS agents show mine and an offer with one.

[kingofbeer]

Originally Posted by Joecooool

Good luck selling your home if you go with one of the low commission agents. Sure, they will list your home, but no other agents are going to show it to their clients.

And there isn't going to be open houses if nobody is making money.

Might as well list it for sale by owner.

It all depends on the listing agreement. The selling agent could get 3% and the listing agent could get less than 3% (2%,1.5%,1%).

[Normal]

Originally Posted by gldfin

You should consider using a National flat fee listing agent like Beycome. That is what I am doing right now. The fee is $100 and that gets you in MLS and allows realtors to schedule through MLS. Then ypu negotiate the commission with the buyer agent and they will show your home. I recommend paying the buyer agent 2.5%, since the std here is generally 5% total. The buyers agent and their agency then gets the std amount.so they really do not have incentive not to sell your house. If you just reduce the overall commission the agent selling your home has less incentive. A bonus is you can do a one time contract with a Villages agent for their buyer and you now have MLS and vls not having less incentive to sell. I have had 2 VLS agents show mine and an offer with one.

You really can’t go wrong by giving it a try. If things don’t pan out a month down the road, hire a realtor. There isn’t a need in today’s market to really have the extortionate realtor. Most couples look at Zillow anyway. There isn’t a higher price realtor listings are caused mostly by the added padding price to pay off the realtor. A home listed below their crazy prices sells much more quickly.

[jimhoward]

Listing agents don't sell houses, they market them. Its a pretty big difference. They make a marketing plan, they advise you on the price, they advise you on what improvements to make to increase demand, they advertise and sometimes stage the house, they make sure your house can be found by buyers and other agents on zillow and MLS. They don't have a stable of buyers that they personally know and to whom they can promote your house. In fact, much of the marketing is not directed at buyers at all, its directed at other agents. The hope is that buyers will contact an agent looking to buy a house, and then that agent will call your agent.

Now if the listing agent has a big reputation, so that buyers call them directly when looking for a house, then its just a big win for them; they would definitely direct them to their own listings first.

I hate the system, but it is what it is.

Now as to the low commission agents.......the first question is what are they going to do for the commission? Are they just going to take the listing, do little and hope to get lucky? Probably. I'd want to know what tangible things they would be doing at their own expense. The second question is, how exactly is the low-cost agent going to get buyers? If other commission-seeking agents aren't calling him/her where are the buyers coming from. Is it just people who see your house on zillow? That could be okay, but its best to know.

These are just observations from someone with no real estate experience except having bought and sold 15 houses.

[Lisanp@aol.com]

"Typically" what happens with a cut rate brokerage is that they throw it up on the MLS, but put the buy side commission out at a lower percentage (1%?) then is customary for the area. This means that agents WILL NOT show your home.
I was licensed for over 20 years, and I had to bring in a certain percentage commission to the brokerage on every transaction. Thus, if my "side" of a deal was less then the percentage that the broker required, I would have had to make up the difference from my own pocket. If the cut rate broker put the buy side out at 1% I would have walked away PAYING 1% from my own pocket to my brokerage to close that sale. Why would I show that listing when it will cost me money to sell it? Make certain you know what you are going to get from the reduced commission broker, and percentage they are putting out to buy side on MLS. At 1% or even 1.5% your house will not be shown. Real Estate commissions should not really "cost" you money as a good agent should be making up that percentage in the quality of the offer that they bring you. Keep in mind with today's interest rates and difficulties getting mortgages, and home/flood insurance as required by lenders, a quality deal is one that will close and is about a whole lot more then price alone. Get a good "quality" agent or you might get burned at the 11th hour by a deal that can't close.

[Velvet]

Originally Posted by MikePgh

Just remember you get what you pay for.

Not necessarily. When I bought in TV I walked into a house I was driving by, which was open for viewing. Bought it. I didn’t even ask for the agent’s name. And I didn’t care who was showing it either. And I love my home.