Thinking of selling my home, have a realtor question

[92 5 oh]

I'd really like to sell my home, I've spoke with a few realtors in my area about it. I plan on talking to a few more, but is it appropriate to ask what their percentage is? is there a more acceptable way to ask this?

Thanks
Steven

 

[97RangerXLT]

they should be upfront with you on that. at least mine was. it is customary for them to take 3% of the selling price, but that can change, depending on how motivated the realtor is in getting the house sold.

AJ

 

[R***A**N**G**E***R]

It is my understanding that there is some type of weird unwritten rule that IN GENERAL / ALL Realtors charge the same, somebody once told me that but don't hold it against me.lol

 

[ThatGuy]

Around here it's pretty typical that they get 6%. 3 for the realtor and 3 for the realty company.
I sold the house I lived in and bought another using the same realtor and she "cut me a deal" by only taking 5% on each sale. She earned it though because we looked at 32 houses in less than 2 months before we chose the one we wanted.

 

[straycat]

One of our realtors sold our first house for us in less than three weeks and then sold us the house and property we have now. She did not charge a fee for the new house since she had already sold our house for us. She even brought over several expensive house warming gifts that we still have after 10years. She was a great lady!!! We used Caldwell Banker.

 

['99 EB Explorer]

My god....you guys have it easy. Going rate in my area is roughly 12% and they'll low-ball a house just to get the comission and get the house out of their hair.

 

[wahlstrom1]

Mine's charging me 3% but my company's paying for it because of my job transfer! Anywhere in the 3-6% is normal.

 

[strvger]

the feds looked at how realtors were charging fees nationwide a few years ago. rather than them getting slammed with price fixing and interstate commerce violations, they all decided to drop those set percentages. there is no longer any "standard" or "fixed" amount. negotiate your percentage or dollar amount. shop around to determine who will get you the most bang for your buck.

 

[robmedina]

It is actually illegal for realtors to "set a price" that would be price fixing. That being said, the standard commission is 6%, but that % is completely negotiable. You could come right and ask, it will be in your listing agreement as well, but remember, they work for YOU. Don't be afraid to talk numbers.

 

[Ranger Dave (B25)]

Ask. Be blunt. If you don't like their fee, tell them so, and advise if they want your listing, they'll negotiate.

You are the employer, they wouldn't be making anything without sellers. Make them be up front about everything.

 

[_@_]

here's an article you could benefit from reading.

The seller will attempt to screw you for obvious reasons. The seller’s real estate agent is getting paid to help the seller screw you. Your real estate agent will gleefully screw you as well because his commission increases as you spend more. The finance guy will try to screw you harder than anyone and when he forks you over, it can last for 30 years. On top of that, all of these people feel comfortable dicking you around because it’s not like they can expect you in the ‘store’ next month looking for something new. They know they’ve got one shot at you and they intend to make the most of it.

http://www.violentacres.com/archives/122/when-it-comes-to-money-dont-play-nice/

 

[92 5 oh]

Cool Thanks for the info guys!
As for the last post... I feel like that happened to me. Lol

 

[frankyb]

Real estate agent commissions were NEVER standard anywhere in the U.S. If an agent ever said they were they were either ignorant, used a poor choice of words or were fraudulent. There are commonly found percentages however such as 5 or 6%. If the commission is say 6%, the listing agent splits the commission with the buyer's agent. Each agent splits then their share (3%) with their respective brokerage. Before tax percentages might be 1 to 1 1/2 %.

The reason buyers agents don't charge a commission is because commissions all come from the seller...

The buyers agent (mentioned above) may be a very nice lady, she was paid however and paid well for representing you as they buyer. Her commission was paid directly from the seller via escrow out of sales proceeds.

These days it is harder to sell a home and agents spend more money advertising as they need to. Try to use a well experienced energetic Realtor who specializes in your area and who lives close by. Nothing worse than having an agent commute just to show your house. You know they won't be too eager when showing requests come in if they have to travel.

When discussing commission with a prospective agent, ask them what their advertising plan is and what specifically they plan to do to market your home. The gravy days (2000-2008) of simply listing a house on the MLS and waiting for the phone to ring are over. You need a clever, smart, ethical, market savvy and hard working person to get the job done these days.