Listing agent fee?

[Anonymous]

What percent are agents quoting these days?

We had someone out to look at our house and he quoted us 8%. I nearly choked. I had thought the general standard was about 6% now? 8% would be more than 1/3 of what we'd clear after paying off the bank if we sold for the full asking price and would cause us to take a nearly $30K hit from what we paid for the house even though we'd be listing it for more than we originally paid.

I realize you can always negotiate fees, but that one seemed pretty steep out of the gate.

[Anonymous]

Find someone else. That person realizes you have no idea and is trying to take advantage of you. 5% seems to be the going rate based on other posts but you can also get 4%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Find someone else. That person realizes you have no idea and is trying to take advantage of you. 5% seems to be the going rate based on other posts but you can also get 4%.

Well, I wasn't going to go with him, I found most of the "advice" he doled out to be suspect. Everything he pointed out that he thought we needed to spruce up was immediately followed by "I have a great guy who can do that for you." Including things like mulching the garden beds. Thanks, but I'll go to Lowes, buy a little mulch for my 4x2 flower bed and spread it myself for a fraction of the cost.

Just wondering what people are generally being quoted. 4 or 5% is much more palatable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What percent are agents quoting these days?

We had someone out to look at our house and he quoted us 8%. I nearly choked. I had thought the general standard was about 6% now? 8% would be more than 1/3 of what we'd clear after paying off the bank if we sold for the full asking price and would cause us to take a nearly $30K hit from what we paid for the house even though we'd be listing it for more than we originally paid.

I realize you can always negotiate fees, but that one seemed pretty steep out of the gate.

I have never, ever heard of 8%. Ever.

[Anonymous]

We got 5% in NoVA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We got 5% in NoVA.

Good to know. We're in NoVA. 5% would put us much closer to breaking even. I'm fairly certain we are going to take a hit on the house, but I was hoping it would be more in the $10K range than the $30K range.

[Anonymous]

09:10 here. We interviewed a few realtors and some quoted us 6%. When we chose the 5% realtor, I let the others know and suddenly they were willing to deal "we can match their rate." But it was too late. So make sure you shop around. But don't just go on rate alone. One companay (Samson) does it at 4.5% but the realtor we met from there did not know our market very well.

[Anonymous]

I was told that sometimes agents might (justifiably) charge a higher percentage for a house that will be difficult to sell and is selling at a low price point ($100k or something like that, so that the commission barely makes all of the work it would take to sell worth it).

But for a normal house selling situation, 5.5 or 6 seems to be the going rate.

Make sure you ask what the split is -- i.e. what your selling agent takes and what he/she gives to the buyer's agent. Because if it is 6 percent, but the selling agent takes 4 and gives the buyer's agent 2, that is problematic.

It should be an even (or close to even) split. If it's 5.5 percent, seller's agent takes 3 and buyer's agent takes 2.5. if it is 5 percent, it should be an even split (2.5/2.5). if it is 6, it should be close to even.

With internet sites (like redfin and trulia), a lot of buyers will look up houses they're interested in. But it still makes a difference if the buyer's agent feels they'll get an unfair commission.

[Anonymous]

OP here: I don't think our house will be difficult to sell and it's definitely not $100K!

Don't the agents usually work that out among themselves as to the split? Is it my concern as the seller what the buyer's agent gets?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here: I don't think our house will be difficult to sell and it's definitely not $100K!

Don't the agents usually work that out among themselves as to the split? Is it my concern as the seller what the buyer's agent gets?

the contract will say what the split is.

[Anonymous]

When I sold real estate many years ago, we were told to ask for 7% on listings, but our branch would accept 6% if the prospect balked at paying the higher commission.

With prior approval from the branch manager, we sometimes could go as low as 5% to get the listing. For upper-brackets at that time ($1 million+), we were generally permitted to go 5%.

I wouldn't pay more than 6% today for a home under $400,000.

And DO NOT EVER pay the stupid records maintenance fee - or whatever they're calling it today. It was around $250 the last I saw it. It's a total junk fee designed to put more money into the broker's pocket. Tell the agent to eat it if they want your listing. Salespeople work very hard for their clients, but I hated the nickel and diming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here: I don't think our house will be difficult to sell and it's definitely not $100K!

Don't the agents usually work that out among themselves as to the split? Is it my concern as the seller what the buyer's agent gets?

the contract will say what the split is.

Yes, because if the buyer's agent's cut is too low, they will steer their clients to another home. You want it so your agent takes the hit and the buyer's agent still gets 3%.

[Anonymous]

Long & Foster stupidly tried to formally go to 7% years ago. The move was stupid and poorly timed and cost them big time. It's back at six but always negotiable. But I usually negotiate it down when a problem arises at the contract stage. If the agent wants to make it work, they will take a smaller commission to make it work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here: I don't think our house will be difficult to sell and it's definitely not $100K!

Don't the agents usually work that out among themselves as to the split? Is it my concern as the seller what the buyer's agent gets?

the contract will say what the split is.

Yes, because if the buyer's agent's cut is too low, they will steer their clients to another home. You want it so your agent takes the hit and the buyer's agent still gets 3%.

So if you talk someone down to 4.5%, and you require that they give the buyer's agent 3% and have them take 1.5%, knowing that maybe they see 1% of that after the split with their broker, and that out of that 1% they have to pay marketing costs, what do you think is going to happen?

I'll tell you.

You'll get unprofessional pictures that are blurry and have the agent's thumb in them, and sloppy marketing pieces. LOL. Good luck with that!

[Anonymous]

^^^^ That's why I (20:55) negotiate the fee down later - when the contract comes in and some difficulty arises. I don't argue about it upfront. Often the agent himself will offer to drop their percentage as a way to make the deal go through if their side is presenting some difficulty.