How common is it for buyers to get part of the commission?

[Anonymous]

Not OP, but 2023 re-bumper here.

Let’s run some numbers?

I’m looking to buy a $2.5 million house. Standard 2.5% commission would be $62,500 going to the buyers agent/firm.

I’m an experienced homeowner and know exactly where I want to be and what I want. I don’t need to walk through open houses with an agent. I don’t need real estate listings emailed to me. I don’t need to know about coming soon properties. I don’t need your comp information, I’ve lived in this area 10+ years and follow my local real estate inside out like many homeowners because it is a major investment.

I do need an experienced and trustworthy real estate agent once I find the house I want, to walk through it with them once, to interface with the sellers agent and negotiate if needed, to navigate the standard paperwork, and to help with any unusual issues.

How many hours of work can this possibly be? 20? 50? 100?

Let’s grossly overestimate and say 100. That’s a juicy $625/hr for buyers commission.

My guess is 25 is more realistic. That’s $2500/hr.

Yes I know some inexperienced first time buyers are buying at 400k and dragging agents to 20-30 properties. Not as good a yield there but that’s not me.

I am only asking to pay a reasonable amount for the services of a good real estate agent. The traditional real estate commission system does not work for me. I’ve found those working with the big brokers unable to work out better terms and thus I’ll be looking elsewhere.

If someone else would like to post good leads on experienced and reliable agents who rebate some of the buyers commission please contribute to this thread. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Every house we purchased since 2007 we have gotten a 2.25% buyer rebate but we do all the work and the realtor just makes the offer contract

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not OP, but 2023 re-bumper here.

Let’s run some numbers?

I’m looking to buy a $2.5 million house. Standard 2.5% commission would be $62,500 going to the buyers agent/firm.

I’m an experienced homeowner and know exactly where I want to be and what I want. I don’t need to walk through open houses with an agent. I don’t need real estate listings emailed to me. I don’t need to know about coming soon properties. I don’t need your comp information, I’ve lived in this area 10+ years and follow my local real estate inside out like many homeowners because it is a major investment.

I do need an experienced and trustworthy real estate agent once I find the house I want, to walk through it with them once, to interface with the sellers agent and negotiate if needed, to navigate the standard paperwork, and to help with any unusual issues.

How many hours of work can this possibly be? 20? 50? 100?

Let’s grossly overestimate and say 100. That’s a juicy $625/hr for buyers commission.

My guess is 25 is more realistic. That’s $2500/hr.

Yes I know some inexperienced first time buyers are buying at 400k and dragging agents to 20-30 properties. Not as good a yield there but that’s not me.

I am only asking to pay a reasonable amount for the services of a good real estate agent. The traditional real estate commission system does not work for me. I’ve found those working with the big brokers unable to work out better terms and thus I’ll be looking elsewhere.

If someone else would like to post good leads on experienced and reliable agents who rebate some of the buyers commission please contribute to this thread. Thanks.

Okay, Tiger.

Do you have access to the homes you want to see?

Do you have access to GCAAR forms and know how each term and contingency works?

Do you know a good home inspector? (Again, how will you access the house)?

I am SURE you know how to negotiate home inspection items!

Do you have access to a good title company who will assure you receive clear and marketable title?

All that being said, GOOD AGENTS are NOT DISCOUNT AGENTS!

[Anonymous]

What are you all for real? I had no idea this was a thing. How do I approach this with my sellers agent?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are you all for real? I had no idea this was a thing. How do I approach this with my sellers agent?

How old are you that you need to ask this question?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not OP, but 2023 re-bumper here.

Let’s run some numbers?

I’m looking to buy a $2.5 million house. Standard 2.5% commission would be $62,500 going to the buyers agent/firm.

I’m an experienced homeowner and know exactly where I want to be and what I want. I don’t need to walk through open houses with an agent. I don’t need real estate listings emailed to me. I don’t need to know about coming soon properties. I don’t need your comp information, I’ve lived in this area 10+ years and follow my local real estate inside out like many homeowners because it is a major investment.

I do need an experienced and trustworthy real estate agent once I find the house I want, to walk through it with them once, to interface with the sellers agent and negotiate if needed, to navigate the standard paperwork, and to help with any unusual issues.

How many hours of work can this possibly be? 20? 50? 100?

Let’s grossly overestimate and say 100. That’s a juicy $625/hr for buyers commission.

My guess is 25 is more realistic. That’s $2500/hr.

Yes I know some inexperienced first time buyers are buying at 400k and dragging agents to 20-30 properties. Not as good a yield there but that’s not me.

I am only asking to pay a reasonable amount for the services of a good real estate agent. The traditional real estate commission system does not work for me. I’ve found those working with the big brokers unable to work out better terms and thus I’ll be looking elsewhere.

If someone else would like to post good leads on experienced and reliable agents who rebate some of the buyers commission please contribute to this thread. Thanks.

Okay, Tiger.

Do you have access to the homes you want to see?

Do you have access to GCAAR forms and know how each term and contingency works?

Do you know a good home inspector? (Again, how will you access the house)?

I am SURE you know how to negotiate home inspection items!

Do you have access to a good title company who will assure you receive clear and marketable title?

All that being said, GOOD AGENTS are NOT DISCOUNT AGENTS!

DP. Don't oversell your value.

- Seller's agent can provide access. They're getting paid to sell the house.
- Seller's agent can provide the forms. Those forms have been around ages and don't pretend they're worth more than the paper they're written on.
- in this area, half the $2 million houses are being bought by big law lawyers. Yeah, they can understand the term and contingency. This isn't a complex deal.
- most people in the market for $2 million know the basics of negotiating.
- I found my prior real estate agents by asking friends. Guess what, that's the same way I'll find home inspectors. I certain don't need to pay you thousands for a referral.
- same on the title company. Title searches aren't that hard, and title insurance exists for a reason. The agent certainly isn't assuring anything about the title.

You've maybe offered reasons that you should charge $5k flat fee. You haven't offered a single reason that you should extract $50k from a straight forward residential real estate sale as a buyer's agent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not OP, but 2023 re-bumper here.

Let’s run some numbers?

I’m looking to buy a $2.5 million house. Standard 2.5% commission would be $62,500 going to the buyers agent/firm.

I’m an experienced homeowner and know exactly where I want to be and what I want. I don’t need to walk through open houses with an agent. I don’t need real estate listings emailed to me. I don’t need to know about coming soon properties. I don’t need your comp information, I’ve lived in this area 10+ years and follow my local real estate inside out like many homeowners because it is a major investment.

I do need an experienced and trustworthy real estate agent once I find the house I want, to walk through it with them once, to interface with the sellers agent and negotiate if needed, to navigate the standard paperwork, and to help with any unusual issues.

How many hours of work can this possibly be? 20? 50? 100?

Let’s grossly overestimate and say 100. That’s a juicy $625/hr for buyers commission.

My guess is 25 is more realistic. That’s $2500/hr.

Yes I know some inexperienced first time buyers are buying at 400k and dragging agents to 20-30 properties. Not as good a yield there but that’s not me.

I am only asking to pay a reasonable amount for the services of a good real estate agent. The traditional real estate commission system does not work for me. I’ve found those working with the big brokers unable to work out better terms and thus I’ll be looking elsewhere.

If someone else would like to post good leads on experienced and reliable agents who rebate some of the buyers commission please contribute to this thread. Thanks.

Okay, Tiger.

Do you have access to the homes you want to see?

Do you have access to GCAAR forms and know how each term and contingency works?

Do you know a good home inspector? (Again, how will you access the house)?

I am SURE you know how to negotiate home inspection items!

Do you have access to a good title company who will assure you receive clear and marketable title?

All that being said, GOOD AGENTS are NOT DISCOUNT AGENTS!

Oh my, this is utter BS.

1. Yes, providing access to the houses is part of what a buyer agent does. If a buyer locates a house they want to buy reasonably quickly, as in PP's scenario, providing this access is a few hours of low-skill work.
2. The forms are standardized and easy to understand. No one in their right mind would rely on an agent to interpret the forms. Yes, buyers agents commonly fill out the forms for buyers' approval, but this is simple and perhaps another hour of work.
3. https://www.google.com/search?q=home+inspector+near+me. Across different purchases, I have both used my own inspector and one recommended by an agent.
4. Huh? You read the inspector's report and then tell the sellers which items you'd like fixed. If they object to any items, it would be in writing, and in easy-to-understand terms.
5. https://www.google.com/search?q=title+company. Title services are a commodity that any of dozens of companies can provide.
6. Sorry, not paying you 3% of a ~$3M house for a few hours of your time. Not anywhere close to worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are you all for real? I had no idea this was a thing. How do I approach this with my sellers agent?

+100 is this real before I embarrass myself with my buyers agent?

[Anonymous]

I would not expect a realtor from a major brokerage to give you much of a discount on sellers commission or even consider a rebate on the buyers commission. My guess is the partners in these major realtor firms and the higher powers that be will not allow it and are likely in understanding with each other and other firms that if they go this route the flood gates will open and they will see the cash cow model that makes them easy money disappear.

I bet the average realtor would consider some greater discounts on commissions/rebates in the right circumstances / right client, but I don’t think they are really allowed when associated with a major firm.

You likely have to find an independent agent separate from the major firms. They are much less common. They don’t pop up on internet searches right away. Their names are not household names. My guess is they don’t spend much on marketing. They probably get most business from referrals and word of mouth.

So don’t be surprised if you get a no or minimal discount when you ask for one from a regular agent at a major firm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Okay, Tiger.

Do you have access to the homes you want to see?

Do you have access to GCAAR forms and know how each term and contingency works?

Do you know a good home inspector? (Again, how will you access the house)?

I am SURE you know how to negotiate home inspection items!

Do you have access to a good title company who will assure you receive clear and marketable title?

All that being said, GOOD AGENTS are NOT DISCOUNT AGENTS!

That was adorable.

[Anonymous]

Only fools don’t get a rebate.

Cannot wait for that whole scammy industry to go away!

[Anonymous]

We got half of the commission, so 3%, but it was a friend. It was significant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We got half of the commission, so 3%, but it was a friend. It was significant.

We were the buyer by the way.

[Anonymous]

When I was buying, I did it without an agent and had the seller's agent give me the GCAAR contract. I wrote into the contract that I would receive the 2.5% commission for the buyer's agent as a closing cost credit. I also negotiated about 5% off the listing price (it was a stale listing). It was so nice to have that huge closing cost credit; would 100% do it again.

[Anonymous]

I've never heard of this. How do you go about asking about this? Anyone???