Negotiate Realtor Commission? Cinco Ranch

[livincinco]

Each time that I have purchased a house, the agent has been extremely clear to me about the financial relationship and open about how their compensation is structured and that's with several different agents in different cities. A lawyer is an option, but I would recommend a reputable agent over a lawyer, because a reputable agent has a higher degree of knowledge in the subject area than a lawyer does as well as better knowledge of market conditions.

In terms of negotiating commission, I would recommend asking the question, but in fairness to the agent, I would ask the question early in the relationship. The answer is probably going to depend on the level of work that you are asking the agent to do. If you have a property identified and negotiated, you may be able to reduce the fee. If you're asking the agent to take you around to multiple areas and visit a large number of houses with prolonged negotiation and multiple offers, then it's probably not reasonable to ask for a reduction.

You're going to get good agents and bad agents, just like any other profession so I'd try to get a referral from someone you trust. A good reputation and the subsequent referrals are a great incentive for any agent and good ones will make sure that they maintain it.

[htownproud]

Someone mentioned it above, but the internet has really changed this relationship.  You no longer need to look at 25 or more houses in person to find the one you want, because they are all online and you can look at great pictures of them.  There used to be real value added for a buyer's agent to pick good houses to show potential buyers, describe neighborhoods and schools, etc.  --  none of that is needed anymore.  Sure the buyer's agent may still have to show a few houses, but the value added by the buyer's agent has gone down significantly.  

 

What I would suggest doing is asking for a sliding scale commission.  If the agent shows you fewer than five houses, then he/she gets 1.5%; if the agent shows you 5 to 10, then he/she gets 2.0%; etc.   Obviously you can pick the number of showings and the percentages, but you can negotiate on a fair price.  Several friends have negotiated such deals with their agents recently.  

 

Good luck.  

[august948]

Someone mentioned it above, but the internet has really changed this relationship. You no longer need to look at 25 or more houses in person to find the one you want, because they are all online and you can look at great pictures of them. There used to be real value added for a buyer's agent to pick good houses to show potential buyers, describe neighborhoods and schools, etc. -- none of that is needed anymore. Sure the buyer's agent may still have to show a few houses, but the value added by the buyer's agent has gone down significantly.

We did it more or less this way when we moved to Houston from Atlanta back in 1999. We researched online while we were prepping for the move and at the top of my to-see list was a nice little house, about 2400 sqft, right on the fairway at a golf course, listed at $100k. I couldn't believe the deals to be had in Houston (housing in Atlanta at the time was much more expensive than Houston and probably still is). We found an agent and insisted he take us to see it. He wasn't sure that's what we should look at but took us anyway. Turned out it was in Innwood Forest and what we couldn't see from the picture was that all the windows had bars on them, as did many other homes we saw driving through the neighborhood.

Using the internet to find properties and focus your search is a great aid, but having an agent who knows the area inside and out can be well worth the commission. You just have to understand how he's getting paid and make sure you remain in control on the negotiations.

[MovingSoon]

Can anyone clarify that by using a real estate attorney instead of realtor one can get the buyer's agent compensation back and simply pay the lawyer his/her fee based on their billing schedule. I remember seeing an old thread on HAIF that attorneys can only act as agens for themselves. If the "3% comisison" can be saved can someone PM me with attorney recomendations?

 

I've found a house that I want without an agent (listing agent showed it to me) and looking to see which route to go - attorney, discount/rebate agent or ...

[richardyoo]

the short answer to your questoin is yes - but you'll need to consult with your attorney to work out the details on what you want to do.

 

I don't have a specific attorney to recommend, but you search should include "residential real estate attorney" - last time I did the research I found many... and any attorney will meet with you for free to listen to what you're trying to do an see if they can help you - if you don't like their advice, or you don't like them you're not obligated to use them.

 

I learned about this new company recently that solves most of the problems with commissions in the new era of real estate... even though they are doing this nationally, it turns out they are local to houston... 

 

https://jasonshouse.com/

 

 

[TGM]

Hard working real estate agents earn there commissions. Good agents really should create an itemized list of each task or item they handled or facilitated in a deal. We purchased a home from an attourney that acted as their own agent and my wife, a realtor had to continue to remind them that a given task was actually their responsibility. Again your mileage may vary.

A good percentage of my wife's clients have come from people that have "fired" their previous realtors. There is a great amount of horrible real estate agents out there that think that they can get rich doing as little as possible. It's agents like these that make people question the commissions they have to pay.