Realtor Commissions

[ecallarman]

You own a home (or anything). You probably should try to sell it for what it's worth since it's your money.

If the house will sell for 200k then you sell it for 200k. You can't just add 6% and someone will magically pay 212k for it.

And if someone does pay 212k for the house that 12k is still YOUR money from YOUR investment that you risked in the housing market.

What "it is worth" is what someone is willing to pay you the seller. The MARKET is actually is not some independent thing. The Market is actually made up of the buyers and sellers. If the market value of my home is $200k and I add $12k to cover realtor fees and someone agrees to pay me $212k, that is the market for my house. Supply and demand.

[BrianL]

As the value of the property increases, I tend to find ways to do it myself. I'll pay up to about 12000.00 and feel like I get my monies worth, but when it starts commision start being $20-60K+ I just don't see that much value and will sale myself.

[elliscountyhog]

Our realtor we buy houses and the ranch through charges 2-4% and is a great guy. He does his work. Also he gives great kickbacks. So far a Yeti cooler and is now a suppressor for my rifle. Good ones are hard to find. I tried using a "site sponsor" but they brushed me off because I wouldn't sign some paper or something retarded but anyhow I can see why they take a lot of risk but the reward can be great as well. I will always use a realtor.

[RiverRat1]

Everytime I've sold something this quick, it was typically a cash buyer and I had multiple offers on the table over asking price.

So was your asking price way too low? That's the question

[wingnut]

I've had good experiences with selling with and without a realtor. I think it really just depends on how good of property you have for sell and how it is priced. I've had realtors tell me we need to drop the price because we haven't had a solid offer. I asked by how much they said $10,000 I said no way and two days later get an offer and have a contract. Might have been just lucky but realtors don't get paid unless you the property sells. Sometimes they can be a little pushy to get it sold. I'm sure there is examples both ways. If it was me I'd add the 6% into the price and only list it with a realtor for 3months instead of the typical 6 months. With the internet lots of folks are looking at the properties.

[Antlers86]

What "it is worth" is what someone is willing to pay you the seller. The MARKET is actually is not some independent thing. The Market is actually made up of the buyers and sellers. If the market value of my home is $200k and I add $12k to cover realtor fees and someone agrees to pay me $212k, that is the market for my house. Supply and demand.

Exactly my point as well. Every house shape, material, property, layout, location are different. Some people will pay more for something if they really want it.

[wingnut]

So the people who say a realtor sold their home in 24-48 hours..... Do you think you got fair market value? You would have to assume the realtor found the person willing to pay the most (out of a huge pool of buyers) in 24-48 hours. I would assume they left lots of money on the table.

I think that your statement might not be totally correct. I think the really good realtors have enough customers that are looking for properties. When something is going to come on the market they already have buyers that want that property before it hits the market. The reason I say that is because I have bought a property like that before. Realtor called me and said I have just what you r looking for. Next day I went and looked at it with realtor and signed a contract that day. Had it appraisaled and it was a good price for the seller and good price for me. It didn't even make it to the market.

[CaptainDave]

Throw me in the boat with the ones saying a good realtor is worth their weight.

We wouldn't be in the house we are in right now without a realtor. We were able to see the house before it even got listed because our realtor happened to know the sellers from a previous transaction.

No question, our realtor kept the ball rolling and pushed the mortgage Company to get us to close. He provided references for inspectors, contractors and even had multiple LO contacts if necessary. The process was fluid.

Sure, some of it is market depending, but make no mistake, if you are FSBO, no question, you will get way less exposure to the open market. Not worth the effort if you ask me. As a seller, 6% sucks, but you probably will make up much of that with - higher sales price, combined with faster turnover. Sounds like the OP isn't in a rush to sell. However, some sellers don't have that luxury. I don't know how many of you have owned two homes at once, but it gets expensive fast.

[TeamAmerica]

#1 - make sure it listed on MLS (don't have to have an agent to get this done).
#2 - you almost will never get out of paying the buying agent 3%. they probably only get half that. they will not be showing your property to their buyers.

[Chad C]

So was your asking price way too low? That's the question

No, I always have her do a market study for the area, pull comps and then we come up with a price. I never shoot for below market and have no problem spending $400 for an appraisel.


In the end, it's worth whatever a person is willing to pay for it, especially when it comes to cash!


If you sale to someone who needs to mortage the property, It's only going to sale for the appraised value that comes in and in the end, it could come in higher or lower than the signed contract..

[Throwin Darts]

What "it is worth" is what someone is willing to pay you the seller. The MARKET is actually is not some independent thing. The Market is actually made up of the buyers and sellers. If the market value of my home is $200k and I add $12k to cover realtor fees and someone agrees to pay me $212k, that is the market for my house. Supply and demand.

Man this is a real head scratcher. You call the market value (what someone is willing to pay) $200k. Then you throw fees on it and somehow add value? Now what someone is willing to pay is $212k. Let me break this to you but if someone is willing to pay $212k, then $212k is the market value of your house even when you were selling it for $200k.

Say you have two identical homes sitting next to each other. One is selling with a realtor and one is not. Using your crazy way of thinking these two homes have different market values. They do not.

To summarize, the market value of a home does not change based on whether or not you have a realtor. If you are selling a home and you add fees to the "market value" and the home transacts at the "market value" price + fees then your "market value" was never the market value.

[Birddog66]

What "it is worth" is what someone is willing to pay you the seller. The MARKET is actually is not some independent thing. The Market is actually made up of the buyers and sellers. If the market value of my home is $200k and I add $12k to cover realtor fees and someone agrees to pay me $212k, that is the market for my house. Supply and demand.

Taking supply and demand into account, if your homes market value is 200k, you would be asking a buyer top pay above market value at 212k. This certainly can happen, but when the appraisal comes in at 200k or 202k, some modifications to the transaction will need to be made.

[hooligan]

so why is it standard for the seller to pay the 3% for the buyers agent? They haven't done near the work that the selling agent does?

nobody knows why? They're working for the buyer, why is the seller paying their fee?

[BitBackShot]

It completely depends on the market in the area you're selling. There are times when homes in my area have 20 people lined up to see a house the first day it's on the market. There is a short "submit your highest offer" process and then a bid is taken.

The realtors aren't selling that house. They're doing almost nothing. They don't deserve $60k in commissions.

On the other side of the table is that there are times when there are way too many homes on the market relative to interested buyers. If you can find a realtor that will hustle and market your property to the point of getting you an offer you might not have otherwise, they have earned every penny.

As with everything, situations aren't identical.

[dannorocks]

My last sale I was in a bind. Divorce. Realtor I used worked with a house stager and did a heck of a job. They had me put all my taxidermy away and took a bunch of pictures making the house look all yuppie like. I got my first offer in 3 days. If a realtor is really needed, ask around and try seeing who can help get the best price and sell it in a reasonable timeline.