4 ms·

It's the same when you try to buy a house in the US and you have to pay a realtor to represent you, who takes 3% of sell price as commission. You'd then bargain

by ZYinMD 5y ago

It's the same when you try to buy a house in the US and you have to pay a realtor to represent you, who takes 3% of sell price as commission. You'd then bargain "I already found the house myself, I just need you to draft the offer, can you do it for less", and they'll reply "no, but don't worry, you only pay for the house, and our commission is paid by the seller".

tonyedgecombe 5y ago
The way houses in the US are sold looks insane from outside. When I last sold a house in the UK I paid the estate agent 1.5%, there were no buyers fees.
- pcardoso 5y ago
  I sold my house without any agents in Portugal. They are common and people use their services frequently, but I figured I could do it by myself and pocket the fees.
- wil421 5y ago
  OP is full or crap or misinformed. Buyers almost never pay any fees for realtors in my area of the US. Unless the seller is trying to rip you off or something. Maybe it’s different on the west coast. Everyone I know who has bought a house (not selling) has the seller pay the commission. I bought a house 2 years ago and the seller didn’t have a realtor, he paid 3% to my realtor. It’s baked into the price, you don’t pay $500k for a house and then add on 6% or 3% percent commission to pay the realtors. The commission comes out of the sale price.
  - plorkyeran 5y ago
    Where you do think the money for the commission comes from? Houses aren't a fixed-price good where you declare that you're selling a house for $500k and stick exactly to that price regardless of what you're offered. If a buyer without an agent to pay offers you $490k, that's a better offer than one with an agent offering you $500k if it means you don't have to pay that 3%, and the buyer has saved $10k by not having an agent.
    - lotsofpulp 5y ago
      No one is forced to use an agent or pay agent fees in the US.
  - acchow 5y ago
    >OP is full or crap or misinformed. Buyers almost never pay any fees for realtors in my area of the US I think you've missed the point of this comment thread. Head up to great-great-great-grandparent comment: "IME this is one of the most common economic misconceptions that people have, to think that the economic cost of a tax is borne by whoever nominally pays it. Most people with no economics background will for example think that it's just companies that pay salary related taxes, or consumers who pay VAT. Those are both true in the accounting sense that the money is paid by those respective parties to the government but not in the economic sense of who would have the extra money if there were no tax." Elsewhere in the thread is the example of credit card feeds which technically are paid for by the merchant, but economically are paid for by the consumers. Now try to carry these concepts to your Real Estate Agent scenario. I shall leave that as an exercise.
wil421 5y ago
I completely disagree unless your state has some specific details that forced the buyer to pay commission. A buyer should not be paying the commission of any realtor. The seller should have it baked into the price, or they should be fine with losing 3-6% of the sale price after the sale.

by ZYinMD 5y ago

tonyedgecombe 5y ago

The way houses in the US are sold looks insane from outside. When I last sold a house in the UK I paid the estate agent 1.5%, there were no buyers fees.

pcardoso 5y ago
I sold my house without any agents in Portugal. They are common and people use their services frequently, but I figured I could do it by myself and pocket the fees.
wil421 5y ago
OP is full or crap or misinformed. Buyers almost never pay any fees for realtors in my area of the US. Unless the seller is trying to rip you off or something. Maybe it’s different on the west coast. Everyone I know who has bought a house (not selling) has the seller pay the commission. I bought a house 2 years ago and the seller didn’t have a realtor, he paid 3% to my realtor. It’s baked into the price, you don’t pay $500k for a house and then add on 6% or 3% percent commission to pay the realtors. The commission comes out of the sale price.
- plorkyeran 5y ago
  Where you do think the money for the commission comes from? Houses aren't a fixed-price good where you declare that you're selling a house for $500k and stick exactly to that price regardless of what you're offered. If a buyer without an agent to pay offers you $490k, that's a better offer than one with an agent offering you $500k if it means you don't have to pay that 3%, and the buyer has saved $10k by not having an agent.
  - lotsofpulp 5y ago
    No one is forced to use an agent or pay agent fees in the US.
- acchow 5y ago
  >OP is full or crap or misinformed. Buyers almost never pay any fees for realtors in my area of the US I think you've missed the point of this comment thread. Head up to great-great-great-grandparent comment: "IME this is one of the most common economic misconceptions that people have, to think that the economic cost of a tax is borne by whoever nominally pays it. Most people with no economics background will for example think that it's just companies that pay salary related taxes, or consumers who pay VAT. Those are both true in the accounting sense that the money is paid by those respective parties to the government but not in the economic sense of who would have the extra money if there were no tax." Elsewhere in the thread is the example of credit card feeds which technically are paid for by the merchant, but economically are paid for by the consumers. Now try to carry these concepts to your Real Estate Agent scenario. I shall leave that as an exercise.

wil421 5y ago

I completely disagree unless your state has some specific details that forced the buyer to pay commission. A buyer should not be paying the commission of any realtor. The seller should have it baked into the price, or they should be fine with losing 3-6% of the sale price after the sale.