[JeanneBeannie]

I hope you dont mind if I ask a quick question, I tried to find the right thread, but didnt know how to post a new question lol . But I am learning lol . I have been stewing all week long with my realtor and the owner's new rules.. I am quite perturbed to put it mildly lol . Anyway to the question: Last year my realtor fee was 5%, this year 7% and non negotiable (believe me...I tried) and these are friends (big mistake). I made a few stipulations before signing alittle over a month ago. First was I wanted a Realtor Open House so they can see the view etc. and not just from pictures. Okie...they moaned but said okie in two weeks. And I said I wanted it advertised in all the big cities (I live in the boonies lol) and they agreed. Long story short, I find out Sunday after not seeing it in any paper that they are not doing it anymore because its too expensive! Ugh! I understand the bad economy, but for 7% commision?!? She said they do one city a week (I think that was to pacify me), and for me not to worry its online and in their catalog. Woohoo big deal lol .
It is a good friend, but I dont have a problem telling her I want out of my contract (well, it wont be that easy lol). Okie sorry I am ranting, and this is getting too long lol. Has anyone experienced this, should I just go with the flow or should it be advertised in more papers? . I know it is expensive. I would appreciate any input. Thank you TOTV friends!

[SUNNYMARYANN]

The realtors here in Slidell, La are not doing open houses, I was told that they dont really generate sales. They are relying on the online virtual tours and from the number of hits i get on our house on line I can believe it. Our house had an ad with picture in the paper frequently but that also generated no calls. The realtors are if anything barely making a living with the poor sales market so I understand them not wanting to pay for ads but i wonder if you volunteered to pay for the ad if your agent would put the ad in the paper. I dont know that changing agents would solve the problem at all.
But if you want a Brokers open house go ahead and insist on it. You are the one doing all the work or preping your house the agent just has to arrange the time and date and show up.

[dfn8tly]

I have bought and sold several houses and everything should be negotiable. If I hadn't had open houses up north my last home would never have sold. My Realtor agreed to an open house every two weeks and it was listed in all the major newspapers. We originally had a 7% contract but he also agreed that this would be reduced to 5% if he "double ended" the sale (representing both buyer and seller). In these markets your "friend" is not doing you, or themselves, any favors.

[sschuler1]

We made the mistake of listing our home with a friend last year, and we decided to put it back on the market with a realtor that we had interviewed this year. We interviewed four realtors before we made our decision. The one we chose is the number one sales team for Coldwell Banker in the state of Michigan, and number 14 in the country. They are so confident in their abilities to sell your house that they don't ask you to sign for any specified length of time. You can get out of your contract anytime you want. They ask if you would be willing to pay 7% commission, because they offer the buyers agent 4% instead of the typical 3%. They say that this is enough incentive to have other agents really want to show your house over others. We declined, and went with the 6% commission. We had one other realtor that we were considering that said he would only take 5%, but he didn't have the sales numbers that this team could boast. We did bring up the fact that we could go with this other guy at 5%, and our realtor said they would only take 5% if their team sells the property.

This realtor does not do the print advertising that our realtor did last year. They told us that print advertising is a thing of the past in real estate marketing, and I tend to believe them. People are looking for homes on the internet nowadays, and the virtual tours really make open houses obsolete as well. We had four open houses last year, and they were a complete waste of time. We are averaging about 12 to 16 views on our virtual tour every week, and we are getting 1 or 2 showings every week from those views. We feel very comfortable that this real estate team knows what they are doing.

[KathieI]

I sold my house in Los Angeles in 3 months and through the realtor open house. A realtor in another township came through and recommended it to her clients as it fit almost all their requirements and also gave new opportunities to them. If she hadn't seen it in person, it never would have happened. There is nothing like seeing things in person rather than just MLS pictures.

Jeanne you must insist on the realtors open house. LA has a "realtors caravan" at the beginning of the listing time and it gets renewed periodically if it doesn't sell right away. It doesn't cost them anything and its important so I would insist upon it. They should do whatever they can to sell your house, whether its 5% or 7%. As a matter of fact, we have sometimes given them incentives to sell quicker, I'd give them 7% if they sell within a certain time frame, and only 5% after that. Put your foot down and don't let friendship get in the way. That's my 2 cents.

[Indy-Guy]

I have been in sales all of my life and have never been a realtor. Let me tell you a little story.

Several years ago I had a salesman who worked for me that was trying to sell his house that was listed at 6%. He was going to reduce the price of the home because there were very few showings of his home. I suggested that he raise the realtor fee to 8% rather than lower the price. He had many showings and sold the home.

Many times I have raised the commision on a particular item and many times the item was sold because it was always shown first rather than last.

Sometimes the cheapest deal isn't the best.

[benj]

JeanneBeannie
I am a Real Estate Broker in Colorado and a Real Estate Sales Associate in FL.
A You hired them you can fire them.
B They work for you not the other way around. You can demand they advertise wherever you want, or hold open houses ect. They can follow your wishes or cancel their listing.
C There is no set commission period.

[ssmith]

I am just a wannabe to the Villages but have moved several times. With our last Realtor we found a husband/ wife team. Both work full-time but it is like getting 2 Raltors for the price of 1. I have even seen a team that included grown children as part of the team. Needless to say sold house.

[champion6]

Originally Posted by Indy-Guy

I have been in sales all of my life and have never been a realtor. Let me tell you a little story.

Several years ago I had a salesman who worked for me that was trying to sell his house that was listed at 6%. He was going to reduce the price of the home because there were very few showings of his home. I suggested that he raise the realtor fee to 8% rather than lower the price. He had many showings and sold the home.

Many times I have raised the commision on a particular item and many times the item was sold because it was always shown first rather than last.

Sometimes the cheapest deal isn't the best.

THANKS!
That sounds like fantastic advice (if needed). I'm gonna remember that.

[l2ridehd]

Agree with raising the incentive. What I have done that seemed to be more successful, was to keep the commision as low as I could get, but provide a bonus, usually $2000 to $4000 depending on sale price, at the closing to the agent who closes the contract. Be that from the listing company or another company. Found that it helps drive everyone to show, promote, and sell your home.

[JeanneBeannie]

So nice of you all to take the time to respond and help in my dilemma. I appreciate everyone's advice. I shall take a break from the cleaning and waxing to sell this place lol....and absorb all this wonderful information.
Thank you so much all! You are all the best! Cant wait to move to TV!!
Jeanne

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by l2ridehd

Agree with raising the incentive. What I have done that seemed to be more successful, was to keep the commision as low as I could get, but provide a bonus, usually $2000 to $4000 depending on sale price, at the closing to the agent who closes the contract. Be that from the listing company or another company. Found that it helps drive everyone to show, promote, and sell your home.

Now see? You never grow too old to learn. I like both ideas, to raise commission and to offer a bonus!!

[diskman]

In this market realtors are cutting fees to get a sale. 3% is the norm that i am hearing in southern calif.
Of course i was the buyer not the seller!
When i purchased my condo in 99, the seller would not come down enough to make the deal work. I asked the broker to alter her fee she refused (they asked $160,00 I offered $140,000 they went to $142,000), i went home sent the broker an email and said I was terminating her services.

I walked into a diff broker, said i had already found the home that i wished to purchase and would they handle everything for $1,500 they said definetly and made the purchase.

[spk7951]

When we had our house in CT for sale last year we had two broker open houses. The 1st open house left us with suggestions on improving the inside look and we did follow through on a couple of suggestions they had (minor painting & tile guest bathroom floors). Our realtor, who is a friend, had agreed to a 5% commission. After 5 months of no offers we had the 2nd broker open house at which time our realtor let all the attending realtors know that we were offering a $1,000 bonus to the realtor that brought us a buyer. Sure enough in a week one of those brokers came through with a buyer who was "on the fence" regarding buying our house. The bonus was our suggestion and well worth the cost.

[SUNNYMARYANN]

Lots of good advice and experiences in here. You all gave me some good ideas and I am going to meet with my realtor with some of the ammo you have given me. Thanks for the information.