i know there’s a few guys on here in the real estate business. my question is, if i’m the buyer, and i get a real estate agent, does the seller pay both agent fees?
Not in the business. But, yes, seller pays both.
Yessir, Seller pays both side of the commission… You may have a “brokerage charge” due at closing… fairly common in Real Estate ranging from 245-445… Due at closing, so it basically gets rolled into the closign costs.
Let me know If I can help at all (Realtor with Coldwell Banker)
so what’s the best way to go about getting one. just call a realtor or what? foz, i’d give you the sale for sure, but i doubt you wanna travel. i’m in the west mifflin area
actually my wife worked in West Mifflin for a yr and a 1/2 … so yeah I don’t want to travel! I heard her complain about the commute everyday! If you want I can refer you someone… have them give you a call. Have you already seen a home your interested in? or just ready to take the plunge…
Here’s the real question…if you don’t have an agent, and you contact the buyer directly…do you think you might be able to get a better deal on the place if he’s not being forced to pay additional commissions?
Once it is listed through a broker there are commissions due… unless you are talking strictly ForSaleByOwner…
It’s a common misconception that you can get a better deal by working with the selling agent. What happens is that the selling agent gets both sides of the commission.
MORE IMPORTANTLY you are getting a lesser service. That agent becomes a dual agent representing both you and the seller. In an ideal world they become a nuetral party and guide both sides. In the real world, they are still looking out for their seller first.
It is always in your best interest to have your own representation. By having your own agent (buyer’s agent) they are required by law to put your interest before their own. To do otherwise is a violation of Real Estate Licensure laws, as well as the Realtor’s Code of Ethics. Violating either can be a real problem for a realtor.
long story short, the seller will still pay the full commission regardless of whether there are two agents or one involved…
the wife and i looked at the house last year (about 13 months ago). anyways, at the time there was a potential buyer that was putting off on closing b/c he was waiting on a better interest rate and the seller was getting tired of getting dicked around. so they showed us the house and we both liked it. we go to make an offer and they say that they’re gonna close. so we said fuck it and got into a town house b/c the wedding date was coming up quick and we didn’t have a place. so about two weeks after we moved in, the realtor called us back and said the buyer backed out completely and wanted to know if we were still interested. i said no b/c i just dropped an ass load of cash on furniture, carpeting, appliances etc.
we’re getting tired of where we are and want a house, the house is still on the market so i’m assuming he’s willing to deal.
on the market for 13 months? Yeah he’ll want out of that house pretty bad! PM me the address, I’ll see if I can’t dig out a little more info on it…
I didn’t realize all the intricacies of the market. There a pretty few deals that go down now without agents. I’m still not sure exactly how they can command such a high % of sale prices. Although recently sales have been down, it seems to be a good business model. Real estate will always be changing hands, and real estate agents will always be collecting money. The only thing more secure is taxes…they don’t even have to do any work to collect their share.
That agent becomes a dual agent representing both you and the seller. In an ideal world they become a nuetral party and guide both sides. In the real world, they are still looking out for their seller first.
…of course; because your purchase is paying there salary.
in theory, the seller’s agent CAN become the buyer’s agent and enter into dual agency, BUT because the seller’s agent has no doubt already been privy to knowledge that an impartial agent shouldn’t know, it’s customary for the seller’s agent to refer the buyer to another agent within the brokerage.
if there’s any grey area regarding ethics, it’s best to avoid it. ethics violations are a huge deal (big fines, loss of license, etc…)
it would be nice to see more agents referring the buyer’s to another agent. But it’s fairly rare to actually happen. Most agents will offer to refer to another agent, but not push the issue. A lot of agents shoot for a two-sided deal, it’s double the money for 1.5 times the work… It’s for this reason a lot of companies have dual-agency disclosures, and notices written into contract regarding dual agency…
On another note…no matter who the agent you choose is, they want you to purchase a home. This means that once you find the right home and are trying to come up with an opening bid, they will want you to come in higher than you probably should. They will try to convince you to raise your bid faster than you may want once negotiating as well. Take what their opinion is in but remember that it’s your money going into the deal and you need to get the best deal on the home. Real estate agents are a great help in doing all the work that none of us want to take care of just remember they make money if you buy and make a little more if you buy at a higher price.
Just my .02 since I see too many people purchase homes for more than they needed to.
not always true /, granted there are plenty of bad agents out there…
if you do the actual math of what an agent will make by increasing the price by 5,000 (less than 100 pre-tax) that small amount it’s not worth losing your license. By law, once under in a business relationship where you are representing a buyer, the buyer’s best interests must come before the agents. If anything they are banking off of their experience to try to either make a deal, or keep the deal together.
agreed, it’s you money only spend what you are comfortable spending… a buyer needs to use their own judgement, however a good agent should be able to prepare a Comparative Market Anaylsis to back-up or justify the price… and a mortgage company won’t fund a deal if the house doesn’t appraise for the value…
Agents have to earn the ends to pay their own mortgage. Even the most well intentioned people can err to the side of personal well-being. The current market should be reason to be even more skeptical and even more careful than usual. That being said, there appear to be many opportunities to make some purchases at good prices right now.
That extra 5, 10, 20, grand may not add much to a commision but if you do the actual math of what a buyer’s agent will make by actually having a buyer make the purchase (whatever amount the purchase may be for) as opposed to not make the purchase it is a significant amount, any commision > 0.
Absolutelty, what I’m saying is that an agent is not going to bump the price, or try to have the buyer spend any money than necessary. That it wouldn’t be worth “overcharging” a buyer to raise the commission. Good buyers agents genuinely want a buyer to pay as little as possible, and the opposite when representing the seller.