[JSR22]

Did any of you offer an incentive for a realtor to sell your house. How much was the incentive and did it work.
Thanks

[graciegirl]

No. We thought the big chunk of change was enough. I think six percent in Cincinnati, or was it five?

Bill of Bill-n-Brillo gave us this exact advice;

"List it as LOW as you can stomach."

Worked.

Sold in nine days.

The one in Hadley wasn't listed. Some nice folks talked us into selling it to them.

[CarGuys]

I had to get out the Maalox as we Sold' or should I say Gave away our home to a nice young couple with cute kids. Made it easiser.

I tried the make a huge Profit Route and sat on it for four years. Started lowering it till the stomach hurt and bang it went.

The we bought the lot built got broke but also got Happy to soon be Villagers.

H

[momesu]

Nope didn't give my Realtor any extra incentive. Simply took her advice as to what the market would bear in the area my home was and the size it was. Priced it $5000 over that price to have some wiggle room and got a full price offer in 4 days. I am ecstatic that I am no longer a MD home owner! Same model home right around the corner is priced much higher and has been since January. They are still waiting to get the price and while they do they are paying on two mortgages........never did understand that logic. (oh and we are both original owners who lived in homes for 28 years).....I still got plenty of profit just not what I might have got 8 years ago.

Suzanne

[Posh 08]

I think it is unlawful to give "incentives" beyond the contracted percent. If not unlawful most likely against ethics.

[shcisamax]

Paying a realtor an incentive is not good value. You are much better off lowering your price which will draw the buyers in your direction. The house is what sells the house not the realtor. Buyers are very savvy now and know what they want. A realtor can do little other than point out its positive characteristics. But if it isn't the house a buyer wants, there is nothing the realtor can do. And in this market especially, value is the key to selling your house. If you are priced below your comps, you will sell.

[missypie]

I really think it depends what kind of a mkt you are in , in the area that one is trying to sell. Our neighbors offered a $2 grand incentive to the reraltor that sold the home. They had many showings triple what other neighbors had. Did that help to sell the home faster? Who knows.

[TrudyM]

Realtors get paid alot for little work on some listings and work alot with some buyers and sellers for not much on others. So those who have priced their homes right and staged them correctly and Those who do their research and know what they are looking to buy so as not to waste anyones time, end up paying for those who keep realtors running around showing listings when they are not really ready to buy or can't afford what they want.
I also hate realtors who don't preview the listings to see if they match what their customers are looking for but just drag them all over looking at whatever looks good on the MLS. A person can do that kind of search themselves with the internet. I found the last two houses we bought on the internet and the realtor spent a total of 20 hours showing us listings and negotiating the contract (after I fixed it) and for this he got 10 thousand dollars (1/4th of the commission). The commission on my house will be around 50 thousand dollars and it just kills me to pay it. My neighbor down the street had been brought three contracts on her house before they got one that closed because the realtors brought them buyers who didn't have the down to qualify for it.

In this climate people are finding they can't qualify for as big a mortgage as they could previously as the rules are tight again more like in the early 70's.

[JSR22]

My house has been on the market for 3 weeks and we have had 10 showings. My house is staged and priced competitively. I did not offer an incentive for a realtor to sell the house. The reason I asked is I know someone who had their house listed for over a year and several weeks ago offered a $2,000 incentive. The house went under contract last weekend. I am just curious if offering an incentive was becoming "normal".

[Billyworld]

I have a Real Estate license and have a suggestion that I know works. Rather than dropping the the commission, there are two ways to go. First, set the commission rate at 7% at the listing. Give the listing agent 2.5% and 4.5% for the selling agent. If your property is already listed, raise the commission to 7% giving 4% to the selling agent. Your listing agent won't like this but tough beans. Tell them if THEY sell the house, they get the full 7%. See, basically, Realtors are lazy and greedy. Picture this. You are working with one buyer and only one buyer that will buy a house. That is your only paycheck you will get for some time. If you can sell a house with a exta one or one and a half percent commission, which one will you show? As for Realtors getting rich, thats not true. On a $200,000 house with a 6% commission, here is the breakdown. Selling agent, $6,000. Buyers agent, $6,000. Most agents get 50% of that. Now that comes down to $3,000. Pay the govt 25% and you have $2,250. It costs approx $1,400 for board membership and multiple listing membership. You pay your own advertising, phone and fuel and pay extra money on your car insurance. Catch my drift?---Thats why I give it up. I hope my "splainin" makes sense.

[jeffy]

My son and i flip a lot of homes in the Washington DC area ( where he lives ).

He has his RE license ( i let my license lapse ) so that saves us on the sale and he gets the commissiion on the purchase. What we do is put the following in the remarks of the listing.

"$3000 bonus to buyers agent for any contract closed by ( we usually put 60 days from todays date as most closings take 30 to 45 days).

If it doesnt go under contract in the next 3 weeks, we will again extend the time deadline.

Understand that what usually sells your home is NOT your agent but putting it into the MLS and advertise to thousands of agents that your home is available. You will get a lot more showings ( especially on lower priced homes if you include this incentive )

jeff

[duffysmom]

Since there were so many houses similar to ours in price and location we asked that a note be added to the multiple listing indicating that the selling agent would receive a $1,000 bonus. That gave agents the incentive to show our home first. The showings did pick up and we sold rather quickly after the notice was posted. Good luck...

[Posh 08]

I emailed my agent about including a bonus in the listing. Waiting for a response.

[uujudy]

Wow! I've never heard of this! Is it really OK, legally & ethically, to give a kickback to the realtor? Now I have some serious thinking to do, since we still have a house to sell.

[Posh 08]

Originally Posted by uujudy

Wow! I've never heard of this! Is it really OK, legally & ethically, to give a kickback to the realtor? Now I have some serious thinking to do, since we still have a house to sell.

I'll let you now when I hear back from mine.