Grabs Turds Bare
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2017
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The part that pisses me off about realtors is the % structure. Selling a $1mm house takes the same effort as selling a $250k house, yet the realtor gets paid 4x more. Also, the realtor's interests and mine are not in any way aligned in that fee structure. If I'm selling a $1mm house, it makes no difference to the realtor if I sell it for $950 or $1,050 - they get paid either way. Their economic interest is to move the house, and they are ready to drop the price to make it happen. That $100k spread is real money to the seller, but it's the difference between a $29k or $31k commission to the sellers realtor - an extra $2k that takes them a lot of extra time to earn.
If you want me to call you a Realtor, agree to this fee structure when we sell my $1mm house:
- 3% to the buyers agent. You can't save the world.
- hourly rates for all the time you invest, up to 1% of the purchase price. On my house, that's $10; if you are getting $200/hour for your 50 hours of time that you spend on the process, that's a good living.
- 25% of any proceeds in excess of 90% of asking price (in this case, 900k is the threshold).
Under your traditional structure, you'd earn $29-31. Under my proposal, you'd earn $10 if we sell for $900; $22.5 if we sell for $950; $35 if we sell for $1mm even, and $47.5 if we sell for $1,050. Now I believe your interests and mine are aligned.
Here's a neat answer to your scenario: I'm your sellers agent, and I'm not going to tell you this, but I will dissuade/refuse to show your home to potential buyers who already have a buyer's agent. I will instead farm potential buyers from my other clients and leads I get from (other) open houses. Thus, I will now collect the buyer's agent fee when my potential buyers makes an under-market offer that I advise you to accept because your house has been on the market for six months.
I didn't come up with the idea. I've seen realtor's do it, and it's frustrating, at best.