IS A COMMISSION DISCOUNT IN ORDER?
How would you spend $30k if you had it? You’d probably be careful, spread it around, prioritize what you need, make the most out of it. But, when you sell your $500k house and sign on the dotted line of a Listing Agreement you spend $30k just like that. Wham Bang thank you Ma'am.
Why is that? You don’t give it a second thought. Go ahead and take $30k of my hard earned equity to sell my home.
Is there a better way? Yes. 6% commissions were established in 1940 when the median price, adjusted for inflation, of a CA home was $37k and the commission was $2200. The price of that same home is $550k now with a commission of $33k. Same job but a commission 15 times as much. As home appreciation outpaced the cost of living, commissions should have come down. They didn’t.
It’s up to you to spend your money more wisely when selling your home or buying a home. The standard 6% commission is split evenly between the owner’s agent and the buyer’s agent. Using the example of a $500k home or sale, if you bring the commission down to 4% also split evenly you save $10k and they each get paid $5k less. Your agent and the buyer’s agent each get $10k. Is that enough for a job that takes about 40 hours? That’s an hourly rate of $250.
The agents will claim that if they agree to 4% and offer half of that in the MLS to the buyers agent, your house won’t be shown. That was true when Realtors regulated which houses their clients saw. Before everything was available online, they would compile a list of houses for their client to view based in part on the commission % in the MLS. Now, the client does this work online previewing the properties and preparing the tour list of what THEY want to see. And if the agent wants to skip a low commission home, the client says, sorry, I’ll find another agent.
Times have changed. Be commission smart.
Come see us at MSullivan.com or subscribe to this youtube channel, Law Office of Marilyn Sullivan, to learn more about Commission Discounts & Rebates.
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