8 ms·

I second this. Recently purchased a property, and skipped a buyers agent. That usually lets gets you a 1-3% discount on the price. You can find standard contrac

I second this. Recently purchased a property, and skipped a buyers agent. That usually lets gets you a 1-3% discount on the price. You can find standard contracts and offer letters for free online. Or, in today’s market helps get you to the front of the line in a multi-offer situation. Since the sellers agent automatically becomes the buying agent, the listing realtor is highly incentived to push your offer to the seller. In a standard 3/3% commission, even if you negotiate a 2% discount, the listing agent nets 33% higher commission if your offer wins.

bob33212 6y ago
I did the same thing. The relator told us that she stopped taking calls after our offer. If this isn't a sign that you shouldn't trust realtors I don't know what is.
- tehwebguy 6y ago
  It's absolutely built into the business model unfortunately -- a done deal is worth 1-3% of the current deal price. But getting 1-3% of the delta on a higher offer that doesn't exist yet is not only a meaningless money difference, if it slows the deal down it costs them money.
  - exclusiv 6y ago
    Well if the parent used the listing agent for the buy side, then they stopped taking calls because they didn't want a higher offer to beat them from representing both sides. THAT is extremely meaningful for them. Now if they could get a stronger offer by still keeping it on market, and they're only the listing agent, then yes a new offer of like 50k more isn't going to mean that much for them. They'd rather get it sold. That is messed up too because that delta is meaningful for the owner. From what the parent said, they stopped taking calls because they wanted to represent both sides. It's fucked up.
jp57 6y ago
But generally (in the US) the seller's commission of 6% (or whatever) is a contractual agreement between the seller and their agent, and then the seller's agent pays out the commission to the buyer's agent (as specified in the purchase contract, which is a different contract than the one between the seller and their agent). If you go in without an agent, you must write into the sale contract that you want part of the seller's commission taken off the price, otherwise the seller's agent gets the whole 6% for herself. But in my experience, most buyers are clueless about how all this works and would never know to do that, and would not get a discount, regardless what the seller's agent might say. (Of course actually it's a bit more complicated, the 6% actually goes to the seller's broker, who pays out both the seller's agent and also the buyer's broker, who then pays out the buyer's agent.)
- blackrock 6y ago
  Geez. 6% is insanely expensive. The 6% commission fee for an $800,000 house is $48,000. The 3% is now $24,000. At that rate, the agent only needs to sell 1 house a month, to earn a decent living making $288,000/year. It’s no wonder the real estate profession’s goals are to make houses more expensive for everyone. This is a racket, and they just skim off the top.
icedchai 6y ago
When I purchased my place, I used the seller's agent. My offer was about 1% lower than someone else and I still got the place. I only assume he made up the difference.
- exclusiv 6y ago
  Or they just pitched you harder over other offers because they stood to make more. They love nothing more than representing both sides, which should be illegal. "This buyer has a higher down payment". "They have more reserves if it under appraises". etc. Price doesn't always win. And it shouldn't. But there are a lot of shady agents that do shady things.
  - icedchai 6y ago
    Quite likely. I had a 30% down payment, and near perfect credit. There was zero risk of my offer falling through due to a financing problem.
cwhiz 6y ago
I don’t know what market you’re in, but that’s not how it works in any market I’ve bought. The seller signs an agreement with their agent, and that agreement dictates the commission and fee structure. You, the buyer, don’t pay the commission, and you don’t negotiate the commission with the buyers agent. And in my experience, a buyer without an agent is just treated as an amateur. The offer is weighed against the headache of dealing with an amateur. It would be an extraordinary conflict of interest, and potentially illegal in some markets, for the listing agent to negotiate a reduced fee structure with the buyer.

bob33212 6y ago

I did the same thing. The relator told us that she stopped taking calls after our offer. If this isn't a sign that you shouldn't trust realtors I don't know what is.

tehwebguy 6y ago
It's absolutely built into the business model unfortunately -- a done deal is worth 1-3% of the current deal price. But getting 1-3% of the delta on a higher offer that doesn't exist yet is not only a meaningless money difference, if it slows the deal down it costs them money.
- exclusiv 6y ago
  Well if the parent used the listing agent for the buy side, then they stopped taking calls because they didn't want a higher offer to beat them from representing both sides. THAT is extremely meaningful for them. Now if they could get a stronger offer by still keeping it on market, and they're only the listing agent, then yes a new offer of like 50k more isn't going to mean that much for them. They'd rather get it sold. That is messed up too because that delta is meaningful for the owner. From what the parent said, they stopped taking calls because they wanted to represent both sides. It's fucked up.

jp57 6y ago

But generally (in the US) the seller's commission of 6% (or whatever) is a contractual agreement between the seller and their agent, and then the seller's agent pays out the commission to the buyer's agent (as specified in the purchase contract, which is a different contract than the one between the seller and their agent). If you go in without an agent, you must write into the sale contract that you want part of the seller's commission taken off the price, otherwise the seller's agent gets the whole 6% for herself. But in my experience, most buyers are clueless about how all this works and would never know to do that, and would not get a discount, regardless what the seller's agent might say. (Of course actually it's a bit more complicated, the 6% actually goes to the seller's broker, who pays out both the seller's agent and also the buyer's broker, who then pays out the buyer's agent.)

blackrock 6y ago
Geez. 6% is insanely expensive. The 6% commission fee for an $800,000 house is $48,000. The 3% is now $24,000. At that rate, the agent only needs to sell 1 house a month, to earn a decent living making $288,000/year. It’s no wonder the real estate profession’s goals are to make houses more expensive for everyone. This is a racket, and they just skim off the top.

icedchai 6y ago

When I purchased my place, I used the seller's agent. My offer was about 1% lower than someone else and I still got the place. I only assume he made up the difference.

exclusiv 6y ago
Or they just pitched you harder over other offers because they stood to make more. They love nothing more than representing both sides, which should be illegal. "This buyer has a higher down payment". "They have more reserves if it under appraises". etc. Price doesn't always win. And it shouldn't. But there are a lot of shady agents that do shady things.
- icedchai 6y ago
  Quite likely. I had a 30% down payment, and near perfect credit. There was zero risk of my offer falling through due to a financing problem.

cwhiz 6y ago

I don’t know what market you’re in, but that’s not how it works in any market I’ve bought. The seller signs an agreement with their agent, and that agreement dictates the commission and fee structure. You, the buyer, don’t pay the commission, and you don’t negotiate the commission with the buyers agent. And in my experience, a buyer without an agent is just treated as an amateur. The offer is weighed against the headache of dealing with an amateur. It would be an extraordinary conflict of interest, and potentially illegal in some markets, for the listing agent to negotiate a reduced fee structure with the buyer.