3 ms·
Not in any way a defender of the current real estate system, but I've never understood this mindset. It presupposes completely irrational behavior on the part o
by hash872 8y ago
Not in any way a defender of the current real estate system, but I've never understood this mindset. It presupposes completely irrational behavior on the part of the seller- that they will choose to give you a 3% discount for.... no reason at all?
Rational agents want to get as much money as they can for their homes, and begrudgingly pay any fees that they are forced to. If the seller gave you a 3% discount here for no reason, it would be the same as if they'd hired an agent- except, they wouldn't be getting anything for it? So why would they discount you the 3%? It's a zero sum transaction where your gain of 3% (very significant money in the Bay Area, as you note!) is the seller's loss.
IRL, real sellers will charge as much as they can. They are not giving out 4 or 5 figure discounts randomly or because they're nice. Do you randomly give strangers 4 figures of money for no reason?
- prepend 8y agoIn IRL when I bought my house I factored in 3% to the buyer’s agent. I had offers from normal agents who get 3%, all manner of “kickback” agents who collect 3% and give some back to the buyer, and one agent less buyer that included an explicit 3% calculation in their offer. While, sure, I would love to get more and pay less commission, I don’t care how that 3% is distributed. It’s fixed part of the transaction and is in the MLS listing because I was afraid of missing some buyers. When I bought a house, my contract with my buying agent said that 50% of the buying commission came back to me at closing as a prepaid closing cost.
- megaman8 8y ago3% is what the buying agent asks for. Without a buying agent, that's 3% the seller doesn't have to pay.