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momtoollie

Are Realtors less apt to show flat fee MLS properties

momtoollie
13 years ago

We will selling our home this spring and I'm thinking about flat rate MLS rather than list with an agent/broker.

Are Realtors less apt to show a property because it's been listed by the owner? We're more than happy to pay 2-3% to buyers agent, we'd just like to save on the listing.

Would appreciate any insight. Thanks

Comments (40)

  • Billl
    13 years ago

    If you are paying the going rate, agents will have no problem showing your home.

    The part you will miss out on is the behind the scenes relationships between agents. That may or may not have a lot of influence depending on your area.

    If you are going to go the flat fee route, just be sure you think through the process well. Your listing is going to get to buyers through some sort of search engine filter. eg 3 bedroom, 2 bath in this price range in this neighborhood. Buyers will likely get a lot of hits this way, so make sure yours stands out with excellent pictures and descriptions.

    Also, be prepared to do the work an agent normally would. You probably won't need to show the house yourself (at least very often) but you need to be available by phone to set up appointments on short notice. You'll also need to be prepared for whatever disclosure laws your state requires and be available for any inspections, appraisals etc.

  • ncrealestateguy
    13 years ago

    I dread showing these listings, because it means I am going to do double work, and deal with a home seller who is emotional and unexperienced in the process.

  • gmp3
    13 years ago

    ...wow NC realestate guy, you are so lucky to never encounter those types of clients listed with an agent!

    So by double work...do you take pictures of these properties, make brochures, suggest strategies to sell, hold open houses, list the property on the MLS, etc., etc., or just double work at closing? At that point you actually know you'll make your commission, so to me I'd rather have some extra work in this market with a payout at the end.

    About 10 years ago we had an out of state condo we were selling. I spoke to the president of the condo association who still lived in the complex about local selling prices and decided to list at $125,000. I hired an agent who assured me the market was horrible and I would never get a penny over $110,000. I told her that was fine and I was in no hurry, but we'd list at my price. After two weeks of dragging her feet, she finally listed the property. I asked for her to fax the listing, which had a few errors, although I had sent her complete correct information, so she had to correct it. The following day she called with an offer of $112,000 telling me I better jump on it because it was probably the last offer I'd get and I was lucky to get anything over $110K. I informed her it was day one and I was willing to take a bit more time, as it hadn't been on the market over a weekend. Two days later I had an offer of $125K. This was not her buyer. My agent told me I had this price because she was such a great agent!!!!!! Repeatedly during the closing she gushed about how lucky I was to have her services!

  • momtoollie
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    ncrealestateguy - I appreciate your response, but you didn't answer the question. If you were representing a buyer and they were looking for a home similar to the one that I am selling (size, price, etc. all within their parameters) would you show them the house? To go one step further, let's say these same buyers weren't searching on line resources, would you point the listing out to them?

    In the interest of full disclosure, I sold our last house myself and paid the buyers agent 3%. That, however, was 8 years ago - this is a much more difficult market. I consider myself to be an informed, cooperative and motivated seller. I'm willing to do the work; photos, virtual tour, staging etc. I'd even do a broker open and invite local agents to preview the house. I just want to price the house very competively and I think I can do a better job of that by saving my 3% listing fee. By the same token, I don't want to be blackballed.

    Comments, insights, suggestions are appreciated.

  • sylviatexas1
    13 years ago

    Actually, he did answer the question;
    he doesn't like doing his own work as the buyer's agent as well as making sure that the work that would ordinarily be done by a seller's agent gets done, all the while taking care to "treat all parties fairly".

    In his/her client's interest, the agent would discuss your property with the client but might caution the buyer about seller's lack of representation & know-how.

    "I dread showing these listings, because it means I am going to do double work, and deal with a home seller who is emotional and unexperienced in the process."

    Amen to that.

  • ncrealestateguy
    13 years ago

    Sylviatexas gets what I am saying.
    Of course, I would show the home. But I also educate my buyers that the process is likely to be a lot more bumpy than one that used a sellers agent. Most of the time these offers never get to contract because of the fact that there is no middle man to facilitate the deal. I know this as, I have been involved with quite a few over the years.

    gmp3 wrote:
    ..."wow NC realestate guy, you are so lucky to never encounter those types of clients listed with an agent!
    So by double work...do you take pictures of these properties, make brochures, suggest strategies to sell, hold open houses, list the property on the MLS, etc., etc., or just double work at closing? At that point you actually know you'll make your commission, so to me I'd rather have some extra work in this market with a payout at the end."

    gmp3, when I do run into sellers like this, they have a professional acting as a middle man to keep the sellers focused on the process to keep it moving forward.
    Because of the condition of the market, I am even more particular with whom I work with, not less, as you say I should be.

  • Jamie
    13 years ago

    Rant alert. Also hijack alert - my apologies.

    I'm not a realtor.

    But I tell you what. I can take photos and write text and post things on line (and scrub, and make appointments, and keep them.) And my emotions do not impact any of this negatively.

    I have begun to think of the 6% commission as a tax I am forced to pay because of the long habit of buying and selling through realtors. A By Owner sign on the lawn scares people.

    Title insurance on my no-possibility-of-any-questions-regarding-ownership-house is another tax. I own title insurance right now, yet I have to buy it again for the next owner. It's a racket.

    In my part of the world we are just coming to realize that a house is a place to live, not an investment that everybody can get a piece of. A house value now shrinks, rather than grows, and the whole coattail profit-making retinue is going to have to come to terms with that. As of right now, the entire burden of loss in value is being borne by me, the seller. Title company still gets. Realtor still gets. All document handlers still get.

  • jay06
    13 years ago

    ncrealestateguy--Could it be that your dealings with flat fee listers have been "bumpy" because you enter the process having already told your buyers that the sellers are "emotional and inexperienced", and warning them that negotiations will be difficult? Wow. That kind of pre-determined attitude from an agent and his clients is sure to make any seller "emotional." Maybe it's time to change your approach.

  • sylviatexas1
    13 years ago

    modern-day Freudian theory:
    It's always the Realtor's fault.

  • ncrealestateguy
    13 years ago

    jboling... I wish it was my approach, because I could change that. It is fact that dealing with the seller directly opens up a lot of potential hurdles than if there was an experienced professional on the other end. This is a generalization, of course, but a true one none the less. I will continue to educate my buyers of the potential pitfalls of dealing directly with a seller, the same way I advise them of the pitfalls of dealing with a bank. Not doing so would be a disservice to them.

    Jamies wrote: "But I tell you what. I can take photos and write text and post things on line (and scrub, and make appointments, and keep them.) And my emotions do not impact any of this negatively."
    Jamies, you are right, any numbskull can do these things. But, you are missing the most valuable service that us agents bring to the table... we are great at finding buyers and sellers. And these qualified buyers and sellers just do not condense out of hot air. We spend thousands of dollars to find them and bring them to each other in a win / win situation.

  • momtoollie
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    ncrealestateguy - I agree with you to a degree. In general, I think buyers agents earn every penny of their commission. In today's market, a buyer is a precious commodity and it takes time, talent and money to find/keep them.

    I do, however, have issues with the vast majority of listing agents. I've been monitoring the MLS listings in my town for the past several months. I also check zillow, trulia and all print ads. Here's what I've seen:

    Uninspired copy which seems canned and IMO would do little to motivate a buyer to even look at the property.

    Poor photos. I've seen more furniture than real estate. In most cases, the 20 pictures allowed aren't even posted.

    Very few virtual tours
    Very few open houses
    Limited print/newspaper exposure
    Little or no staging advice

    I've been tracking this for months and I've only seen one agent that seems to have a cohesive, coherent marketing strategy for his listings. If I were to list my house, he would be the only one that I would consider.

    Btw, I don't live in "bumpkinville." There are 8 real estate offices in my town including all of the major franchises - P*****, CB, 21 (actually there are two), etc.
    It's a competitive market with a fairly affluent, informed demographic. These agents should be using every tool available to market properties, and they're not.

    I think it's a sad commentary and perhaps that is why there is an undercurrent of resentment toward the real estate profession. My opinion only...

    I appreciate all comments, suggestions, opinions - even ranters, it's cathartic!

  • barbcollins
    13 years ago

    gayled - I agree with many of your comments.

    We sold a house FSBO via a flatfreemls listing, and I told every potential buyer to get their own realtor for their protection. All her agent had to do was show the house, fax me the contract, set up the inspection, negotiate the modification (one more fax), schedule the closing. How would this have been different for her if we had a listing agent?

    I monitor the MLS in my area (Maryland Suburban) and a lot of the listings are terrible. Short descriptions that don't tell me anything that isn't in the data fields. No pictures, or very few pictures. And as you said, close up pictures of furniture. My favorite was a picture of a kitchen were all of the kitchen counters were piled high with dirty dishes, and stacks of newspapers.

  • badgergrrl
    13 years ago

    "My favorite was a picture of a kitchen were all of the kitchen counters were piled high with dirty dishes, and stacks of newspapers."

    Because it's the realtor's responsibility to clean the kitchen before the photo shoot? If the sellers don't want to clean or prepare their house for sale, what is the realtor supposed to do? Especially when EVERYONE (ourselves included, lol) are experts on how to sell houses and what our houses are worth. "My house will sell itself."

  • sylviatexas1
    13 years ago

    I once listed a house, & sellers told me to wait "a few days" to take photo to give them time to clean the house.

    Two weeks later, I called & asked the husband if I could take the pics, & he said yes.

    went out there, everything was still a mess;
    I started out energetically, moving stuff around, making the boys' beds, etc...

    but eventually I ran out of steam & just took photoes.

    Wife called me & yelled & hollered & told me that a "motivated Realtor" would have moved things around so that the vacuum cleaner was not in the photo, etc.

    I apologized & told her I would do just about anything to help my clients sell their homes, but I stopped short of cleaning their entire house, & we mutually agreed to terminate the listing.

    Last time I checked, they had listed with someone else & the photos showed a clean house.

  • terezosa / terriks
    13 years ago

    Because it's the realtor's responsibility to clean the kitchen before the photo shoot? If the sellers don't want to clean or prepare their house for sale, what is the realtor supposed to do?

    I have a RE license and used to work as an assitant to an agent. I took the pictures of the listings for him, and also for other agents. I DID move things off of counters, take shots that DIDN'T show laundry baskets of dirty clothes, etc. If a room was just too messy or cluttered to take a good picture I didn't take one. ALL the pictures in a listing should show a positive aspect of the home that makes buyers want to see more. There is NO point in putting unflattering pictures on the MLS!

  • Billl
    13 years ago

    "Why are so few agents uninformed or too lazy to embrace new marketing strategies, and why would I want to list with an agent who isn't doing everything possible to sell my home? "

    Maybe they have tried some of these strategies before and aren't doing them anymore because they were flops?

    From my experience doing a flat listing:

    1) I tried social media sites. Total flop. My friends already know I was selling a house and nobody trolls facebook looking for homes.
    2) I tried Craigs list. Decent response but most of them weren't really serious buyers. Lots of weirdos which is a major downside if you have to show the house yourself.
    3) I tried open houses. Total flop.
    4) I tried newspaper ads. Total flop.
    5) I paid for the flat fee MLS listing. Drove the vast number of showings.
    6) I tried Zillow. Some response, but not much.
    7) I intercepted showings for other homes in the neighborhood and got them to see my home "while they were there." This actually worked pretty well, but you had to be home on the weekends and not afraid to be pushy.

    Overall, if I had to sell right now, I'd skip those first 4 things and spend my time and money on options that seemed to bring in more buyers.

  • jay06
    13 years ago

    Billl, I'm tracking the number of visitors I'm getting to our website who came from the social media sites, and the most are coming from Facebook. I didn't use my personal page to publicize my home. I set up a separate, business-type page, and then "liked" as many sites as possible that related to real estate in my area. This way, Realtors and buyers who go to those pages see my "like" and sometimes click on my page. I'll let you know if I get any bites. :-)

  • barbcollins
    13 years ago

    "Because it's the realtor's responsibility to clean the kitchen before the photo shoot?"

    I never said that.

    I just said I couldn't believe a realtor would post such a picture on the MLS.

  • terezosa / terriks
    13 years ago

    I just said I couldn't believe a realtor would post such a picture on the MLS.

    For some reason there are many agents that think that they have to have a picture of each and every room in the house, regardless of how well it shows. Many, if not most agents don't know how to take a decent picture, and they don't know how to fix too dark or overexposed shots.

  • momtoollie
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    barbcollins - I agree with you that a Realtor should not post pictures if the house is a mess. In a perfect world, the listing agent would guide the seller about price and presentation - and the seller would listen. I think this is what separates the good agents from the mediocre/bad agents. The good ones insist upon cooperation and will walk away; the mediocre/bad ones just want the listing.

    sylviatexas - you must be a good agent - you walked away. IMO it's completely unreasonable to expect the realtor to clean the dang house! Insane.

    jboling - Will you be my listing agent? LOL - you're doing everything. Impressive. Before you went on the market did you have a few agents provide you with comps? I think this is an area where a lot of FSBO's go wrong; they pull a number out of a hat. Btw, have you checked out activerain? In my area the blog is pretty active, but I need to research it some more. I'm interested to hear what's working, what's not. Keep us posted.

  • berniek
    13 years ago

    Even listed with a flat fee RE company, here, minimum service standards are required:
    CP-36 Commission Position on Minimum Service Requirements

    The Commission has received numerous inquiries regarding the minimum services that brokers must provide to buyers or sellers of real property. para.12-61-803, C.R.S. requires that any broker performing the activities requiring a real estate broker's license as set forth in para.12-61-101(2), C.R.S., act in the capacity of either a transaction broker or a single agent in the transaction. The minimum duties required to be performed by a real estate broker acting in the capacity of a single agent are set forth in para.12-61-804 and 12 para.61-805, C.R.S. para.12-61-804, C.R.S. Single agent engaged by seller or landlord states, in part:

    1. A broker engaged by a seller or landlord to act as a seller�s agent or a landlord's agent is a limited agent with the following duties and obligations:
    a. To perform the terms of the written agreement made with the seller or landlord;
    b. To exercise reasonable skill and care for the seller or landlord;
    c. To promote the interests of the seller or landlord with the utmost good faith, loyalty, and fidelity, including, but not limited to:

    I. Seeking a price and terms which are acceptable to the seller or landlord; except that the broker shall not be obligated to seek additional offers to purchase the property while the property is subject to a contract for sale or to seek additional offers to lease the property while the property is subject to a lease or letter of intent to lease:
    II. Presenting all offers to and from the seller or landlord in a timely manner regardless of whether the property is subject to a contract for sale or a lease or letter of intent to lease;
    III. Disclosing to the seller or landlord adverse material facts actually known by the broker;
    IV. Counseling the seller or landlord as to any material benefits or risks of a transaction which are actually known by the broker;
    V. Advising the seller or landlord to obtain expert advice as to material matters about which the broker knows but the specifics of which are beyond the expertise of such broker;
    VI. Accounting in a timely manner for all money and property received; and
    VII. Informing the seller or landlord that such seller or landlord shall not be vicariously liable for the acts of such seller's or landlord's agent that are not approved, directed or ratified by such seller or landlord.
    d. To comply with all requirements of this article and any rules promulgated pursuant to this article; and
    e. To comply with any applicable federal, state, or local laws, rules, regulations, or ordinances including fair housing and civil rights statutes or regulations.

  • jay06
    13 years ago

    gayled--No, we didn't consult with a Realtor about the price. We're in a condo after downsizing in 2007 when our kids were in their last years of college. We're one of two "penthouse" units on the top floor of our building. The owner of the other unit, which is practically identical to ours but a bit smaller, sold her place in November. We're basing our price on that comp...for now. She was lucky to find a rich widow who paid cash for what is a pretty pricey condo. We'll see if we can find someone like that.

    Yeah, I'm trying all sorts of marketing ploys. Last time we sold with a flat fee listing, it was the sign in the yard that did the trick. It's much harder now, though.

    And as for being your listing agent :-), I enjoy the marketing work in real estate--it's kind of like fishing. But I could never sell myself as an agent to try to get listings. I just wouldn't be a good saleswoman when it comes to selling myself.

    Will go check out activerain now.

  • live_wire_oak
    13 years ago

    You only have to read this forum to see the hostility towards realtors that many too emotional homeowners have. They can't separate their "home" from a business transaction involving a house. IF you were a realtor, would you want to bring a client to a house listed by someone that hostile to your profession? No, you wouldn't. In a buyers market, and it IS a buyers market, there are plenty of other homes that you can take your client to FIRST before taking them to any flat fee listings. Last on the list are FSBO.

    The realtors here are being way too diplomatic about the reality of flat fee and FSBO. They're not being blunt. But, the reality is, those types of listings are last on any realtor's list to take your client to because they wont' be working with another business professional on the other side. They'd be working with nonprofessional homeowners who interject their emotions and their ignorance of proceedure into the sale, and it beomes a giant PIA for the realtor. So flat fee and FSBO are last on the list. You're not being "blackballed" at all. They'll show their client your house. Eventually. If the client doesn't choose one of the other 50 homes in their price range in their zip code before they tour your home.

  • kats_meow
    13 years ago

    I do see some hostility to realtors here. On the other hand, I see some realtors who seem to over-generalize about homeowners. And the above post is over-generalizing as well. I've always used a regular listing agent to sell my house. I just haven't had time to do anything. However, I could see doing flat fee. And I'm not "nonprofessional" and not ignorant of procedure. I'm an attorney and am perfectly capable of doing the paperwork for a sale. And, I see selling a house as a business matter and am not emotional about it in the least.

    The fact is that there are certainly unreasonable sellers our there. At the same time, not every agent is as stellar as one would like.

  • david_cary
    13 years ago

    Agree Kats - hostility all around.

    I've sold a number of home with flat fee MLS. All were in down markets.

    On one of them, I upped the buyer's agent fee. It was an unusual house with a smaller market. It sold for a good price and I paid 3% instead of the customary 2.4% here. I think that probably helped motivate the realtor - and she did have to do more work than dealing with an agent. We got a 92% offer and we countered at 95% and closed. No big emotional meltdown on my part.

    As an aside, the buyer got relocated quite quickly and the house went on the market 6 months later. The house closed a full 10% less than we had sold it for and it was on the market longer. Sure the market was declining but not that fast. The only reason I say this is that having a listing agent didn't exactly help the seller (at least in this one instance).

    I know our pictures and brochures were better than what 90% of the realtor's listings.

    Realtor's have a definite role what is the biggest transaction in most people's lives. The future probably holds more internet and less realtor involvement in these transactions - that is pretty obvious.

    As a complete aside, my spell check highlights realtor because it isn't capitalized. Why is that? It doesn't do the same for doctor, lawyer, teacher....

  • jay06
    13 years ago

    david--Realtor is a copyrighted term, like Kleenex, Xerox, etc., even though we use the word kind of generically. As an editor, I come across this quite frequently. That's "editor" with a small "e". :-)

  • dreamgarden
    13 years ago

    "I just said I couldn't believe a realtor would post such a picture on the MLS.
    For some reason there are many agents that think that they have to have a picture of each and every room in the house, regardless of how well it shows. Many, if not most agents don't know how to take a decent picture, and they don't know how to fix too dark or overexposed shots."

    It seems nutty that sellers would need to be reminded to clean and/or that agents wouldn't know how to take good pics of something they are selling.

    Two of the things that attracted me to my house were the numerous, clean pics (25) of both the interior/exterior. I also liked being able to attend an Open house before contacting the sellers agent for a personal showing.

    Being able to look at an clean, unoccupied house at my leisure was a big selling point.

  • terezosa / terriks
    13 years ago

    It seems nutty that sellers would need to be reminded to clean and/or that agents wouldn't know how to take good pics of something they are selling.

    It seems nutty, but it is definitely true!! In my current job I enter the listings for agents into the MLS, but they upload their own pictures. I can't tell you how many agents will upload dark pictures, pictures with dirty sinks and laundry, etc. If I catch the bad pictures I will ask the agent if they want me to tweak the dark pictures, and gently suggest that the really bad ones just be removed.
    I don't want to be too negative as there are quite a few agents in my office that do a decent to good job of taking pictures. And a couple that will hire a pro for their higher end listings. But it truly is amazing the condition that homeowners will have their house in when they know that pictures will be taken. I have also seen homes in a horrible mess on the Realtor caravan day. Some people are just clueless!

  • jen18e
    13 years ago

    One of the reasons we eventually decided to go FSBO was the pictures we saw being used by some of the realtors we interviewed.

    We saw so many pictures which either showed only a bare wall and part of a window, weren't in focus, or actually showed a MESS. I realize that realtors aren't professional photographers, but they must take family photos like the rest of us. Why put up such horrible shots?

    Another thing that irked us, in our area the mls allows 12 photos per listing. We see so many with only 1-3 shots. Why do that if you are paying for the service?

  • kats_meow
    13 years ago

    When I see a listing with only few pictures I just assume that everything else looks worse....

  • ncrealestateguy
    13 years ago

    First, I put in as many pics as the home allows. A lot of the cookie cutter homes only have enough features for maybe 6 pics. I do not usually post pics of secondary bedrooms, as everyone knows what a bedroom looks like... walls, floors and windows. Other homes can justify having 16. Most of my listings do get the full 16.

    Here is a story... I took a listing of a family that were slobs. I went through my 34 page pamphlet on how to stage a house. She needed the training real bad... dirty dishes everywhere, dirty laundry everywhere, kids toys strewn all over the home, just a mess of a place. Otherwise it was a nice home in a desirable area. We agreed that I would give her two weeks to clean, organize and declutter. She called me up a while later and told me to come over for the pics. I let myself in since no one was home. To my dismay, the house had dirty dishes, and the master bed had a pile of dirty clothes piled on it, (yes, underwear and bras too) and the kids toys were still everywhere. I was so pissed, I took the pics the best I could, put them in the MLS, and waited a couple of days for them to be fed onto Realtor.com. When they did, I sent her a link to her listing. She called me the next morning in a panic, saying that she can not have pics like that on the internet! My plan had worked. I went back a week later and the home was presentable. I suppose some people can not see their own mess until they view it from a different perspective.
    If I still have these pics, I will post them. They were really bad.

  • momtoollie
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    I don't know about all of you, but I struggle every day to stay on top of my game professionally. It's a fast paced, ever changing world out there and, as hard as it is, I have to re-learn and re-train to keep abreast of new technologies. This is not easy - I'm not a spring chicken! I just don't want to be rendered obsolete before my time.

    So, here's my questions:

    If the realtor is supposed to be the professional in the transaction, why aren't they more skilled in the basic fundamentals needed to sell real estate...like taking pictures? The transition from one photo print advertising to multi-picture on-line marketing started evolving at least 5-7 years ago. It seems to me, taking quality photos is a very basic and necessary skill to sell real estate.

    So, tell me, how can realtors sell real estate in 2011 and beyond without some decent photography skills?

    My house is going on the market in about 7 weeks, flat-fee listed. I'm going to hire a professional photographer to snap the pic's and do a virtual tour - I know my limitations. LOL.

  • dreamgarden
    13 years ago

    "Here is a story... I took a listing of a family that were slobs. I went through my 34 page pamphlet on how to stage a house. She needed the training real bad... dirty dishes everywhere, dirty laundry everywhere, kids toys strewn all over the home, just a mess of a place."

    Amazing. I saw a property on 7 acres that looked like this. The family was home watching tv and the dad was out in the garage. Chickens and cats roaming around. As we went through the house I wanted to go out on the deck but froze when I saw all the doggie doo out there. Made me tip toe on my way out.

    The place went into foreclosure and was snapped up for 100k.

    It seems as if only a really optimistic realtor would want to want to list a house/garbage dump like this!

    Did this house sell?

  • terezosa / terriks
    13 years ago

    ncrealestateguy - I can understand your frustration, but it would probably have been better to take the pictures, then email them to the seller "for approval" before posting them on the MLS for all the world to see. The seller would have still gotten the message, without showing it to the public.

  • ncrealestateguy
    13 years ago

    terricks,
    She is the one that called me to come out to take the pics! I drove 25 minutes one way to get there. I was taking the darn pics! I just beleived that this was as good as it was going to get.
    The house did sell, but the mess, which came right back, caused her to lose money.
    Gayled, the best thing to get rid of those agents is to not use them. As you did. In a market like this, they get weeded out pretty quickly.

  • jay06
    13 years ago

    The OP might be interested in an email I received from an agent who showed us a home we're interested in. She know's we're flat fee-listed, and I told her we're thinking of raising the buyer's agent fee from 2.5 to 3%. Here's what she said, taken with a grain of salt:

    "Thanks for the update. I have had several sellers increase the buyers agent fee anywhere from a 3% to 4%. Two of the properties sold within 3 weeks of changing the buyer agent fee. I currently have another with a 4%, because it is a newer small 2 bedroom home. What I have noticed it does get the attention of some agents, therefore generates more traffic , but we all know an agent can't make a buyer buy. They need to have a buyer actually like the property enough to make the decision and one who can buy at that moment. The season is young. You have entered into the market on the front end that was a good move."

  • gmp3
    13 years ago

    jboling, that's a smart agent. I think lots of the agents are stuck on outdated business models. Yes, some FSBO sellers might be a pain, but seriously, aren't sellers who expct Realtors to take pictures of a disaster zone a pain too? The fact is that buyers and sellers can use the internet now so Realtors cannot be gate keepers of information. They can adapt or buyers will find other agents. Lack of adaptation to changing market conditions have ruined newspapers and Blockbuster.

    I think it is unethical to agree to be a buyers agent but avoid properties that might be a good fit for your buyer because they MAY be troublesome for the agent, unless you let your clients know this upfront. Many properties with listing agents are troublesome and short sales are troublesome as well.

  • momtoollie
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    jboling, you read my mind! In an effort to expedite a sale, we would like to offer an incentive to buyers agent to show/sell our house. I imagine this is spelled out in the MLS listing. I didn't know if it was ethical or allowed. It's kind of like the wild west out there....

    gmp3 - good point about ethics and a buyers agent avoiding a property because it might be troublesome.

    Another question - Is it best to vacate the house when it's being shown by an agent and buyer?

    Thanks so much - this info has been invaluable.

  • terezosa / terriks
    13 years ago

    In an effort to expedite a sale, we would like to offer an incentive to buyers agent to show/sell our house.

    Just FYI, legally you must offer the incentive to the agent's broker, not directly to the agent themselves. By law, agents cannot directly receive compensation - they can only be paid through their broker

    Another question - Is it best to vacate the house when it's being shown by an agent and buyer?

    Yes!