dbd33

Local Re/Max and Royal LePage agents both quoted 4 1/2% to sell our last house to someone having a buyer's agent, both of them full service firms.

not2old

times have changed.

see if I understood that correctly 'sell only' was 4.5%?

I wonder what the rate would have been if you'd used the same brokerage for sell & buy?

not2old

Are there any 'full service' RE agents that are members of BE that can jump in on these last several posts, who can help with the [how to' tricks of the trade] 'negotiating down the commissions' to offer some input or suggestions on how to get a lower rate for a one-way 'sell only' deal?

dbd33

3 1/2.

SchnookoLoly

Not sure any of them will jump in and tell you how to reduce their commission, haha, as that's their income!

When we bought our place, our contract had 2.5% for each of the selling and buying agents, of course paid by the seller.

In our case, the house we bought never went on the market. It was sort of a private sale - the sale was still brokered through our agent's brokerage. Our agent represented both sides. She charged full commission on the buying side, as she'd been working with us for a full year, but for the sellers, she had minimal work to do - there was no staging, no MLS listing, no open house, nothing, just the paperwork, so she reduced the commission considerably.

not2old

dbd, back to your post #61 - 4.5% for a one way deal with a full service broker. Not bad!

I was wondering, if anyone knows or has gone down this road, that when listing with one of those no frills low percent MLS brokers, if the seller could include in the listing that a 'bonus' would be paid to the selling agent?

Of course, the idea is the total money (commission +bonus) dished out by the seller would be 2.5% or less of the selling price

Would that work?

dbd33

Some might say that a single salesperson cannot properly represent conflicting interests and that the sellers might have done better to list.

SchnookoLoly

They were aware of that, in this case... but the sellers were a much older couple (pushing 80) who had no desire to declutter, stage, list, leave for the weekend for showings, etc. They were happy to take a slightly lower price in order to not have to deal with any of that. The agent sat with them and said "if you sell privately, x is a fair deal; if you list you'll probably get y. Here are some similar sales in this area. Let me know if you have any questions." There was a lot of back and forth while they agreed a price that was fair value for the house, keeping in mind they did not want to list. They presented us with the price, we said we would pay it, and that was that. The couple was THRILLED. They did not want the stress of having to prepare the house to list - they would have had to spend a ton of money to get someone in to help them tidy up etc before listing the house. The wife was not in the best of health (almost immobile), and the husband was already picking up a lot of the extra work... as I said, both pushing 80. We felt like we got a fair deal, and they felt like they got what they wanted for the house without having to list. Worked great all around.

HGerchikov

I am a full service agent (Remax). There are no tricks to negotiating down the commissions. You ask and the person you are asking will say yes or no. If its yes then all good, and if its no then decide whether they are worth what they are asking to you and if not ask someone else. There are no fixed rates for commission it is down to the individual salesperson. Not all salespeople in the same office will charge the same rate, in fact I don't necessarily charge the same rate myself for different homes, it depends on the situation.
Make sure you understand what you are agreeing to, some adverts say x% listing commission - that is not the whole commission, that is the amount you will pay to the listing broker, read the small print and you will see that you will also be paying to the agent who brings in the buyer. So 1.5% listing commission, is likely 4% overall (with 2.5% to the agent with the buyer).

You may be able negotiate a better deal on your selling commission if you are also buying a home with the same salesperson, or if they bring in the buyer for your place. Some agents do that and some prefer to see each deal as a separate transaction. Get it in writing at the beginning.

HGerchikov

They may well have done, but the stress of listing could well have been too much for their health which is more important than a few extra bucks, particularly when you are 80. Provided that was explained to them, and it sounds like it was then its a win win situation.

I have had a similar situation a couple of times, both times the sellers were fully aware that they could have got more on the open market but it was well worth it to them just to get a reasonable price with no stress.

BristolUK

There was something in one of the papers about that recently. Might even have been that place.

not2old

HG, thanks for your reply & input post#69

Let me understand what you posted back too me, so folks including myself can get up to speed

For a property of $500k, the seller lists it with one of those discount brokers . Lets say the 1% + a bit (1.3%) MLS broker. When the property is sold & closes, on the basis the discounter did not sell the property - it was sold by another brokerage firm, is the seller on the hook to pay that brokers commission, which could be in the region of 2-2.5%?

In that case, the total commission the seller ends up paying is approx 3.3% - 3.8%?

HGerchikov

The paperwork you sign when you list should spell out what commission you are liable for in total and how much of that goes to the co-operating brokerage. It is worth asking that question at the first meeting though.

Almost Canadian

In Alberta, the typical listing contract provides for commission of 7% of the first $100,000 and 3.5% of the remainder. This is split between the listing agent and the purchaser's agent. Typically, 50%/50%.

If one is using the same agent to sell one's current property, and purchase the next property, it is usual to be able to persuade them to forego their commission on the sale (or to significantly reduce it) on the basis that they will make a tidy sum on the purchase. In which case, the seller only directly pays the purchaser's agent's commission.

The issue with the 1% deals is the same issue that one faces when listing the property for sale oneself: the purchaser's agent has no interest in showing a potential purchaser the property as their commission will be massively reduced when compared to what they will receive on a "normally listed property", unless they are able to negotiate something different with the vendor directly. Many, but not all, do not wish to do so and would rather pick low hanging fruit.

I don't know if that applies in other Provinces too, but I would be amazed if it doesn't.

Juggernaut1064

i asked and when i sold mine i didn't pay extra to another broker, the two brokers split my fee between them which is what i thought was normal ????