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4% goes to the buyers realtor, NEXTHOME collects 995.00 up front to do the listing work (website, flyers etc). NEXTHOME agent does the paperwork, (for which I pay an additional small fee) to keep things rolling.
On the point here is a brief statement from a Florida RE lawyer...
"Obviously no business should be required to represent clients at a loss, and having brokerages continue to work for ever-decreasing commission schedules will cause, at some point, a loss to be sustained by the brokerage and/or agent because of the reduced commission schedule. Therefore, it is up to the individual brokerage or agent to determine when they are potentially going to cross this line, which will result in the agent not showing a specific property solely due to the cooperating compensation offered in the MLS."
The article notes that the remark is made in the context of FL law and may be different elsewhere.
Whew, going a long way to defend your practice of searching for the highest commission. The fact that there are so many discount brokerages and internet FSBO services available speaks to the fact that most average Joe's do not have a high opinion of Realtors. Yes, realtors do work and I'm sure it's pretty frustrating, but I don't see how it's different from any other occupation that deals with people. $10K's to pay someone to take some photos of your home, post them, and then wait for a phone call. Hmmm...
Sorry, that last bit was a little harsh. I have several realtors in my family, and I work somewhere that gives me an opportunity to be "behind the scenes" at realtor functions and open houses. It's not pretty. I know it's like anything else, there are good eggs and bad eggs.
Whew, going a long way to defend your practice of searching for the highest commission. The fact that there are so many discount brokerages and internet FSBO services available speaks to the fact that most average Joe's do not have a high opinion of Realtors. Yes, realtors do work and I'm sure it's pretty frustrating, but I don't see how it's different from any other occupation that deals with people. $10K's to pay someone to take some photos of your home, post them, and then wait for a phone call. Hmmm...
Sorry, that last bit was a little harsh. I have several realtors in my family, and I work somewhere that gives me an opportunity to be "behind the scenes" at realtor functions and open houses. It's not pretty. I know it's like anything else, there are good eggs and bad eggs.
I don't search for the highest commission. If they offer more than 3% I inform the buyer and offer to rebate it to them. If the coop is reasonable I take it. If it gets below reasonable and the house fits well I offer the buyer an opportunity to see it if they augment the commission. Such a circumstance is almost always a FSBO.
Most transaction are as you describe. Some however end up with ten and twenty times the effort for the same pay. Some of the alternative models may work...particularly if they can get the volume. It is however tough and very subject to competitive pressure. That is why there are not very many old discount firms.
We require every buyer to sign a Buyer Rep Agreement before we do anything, period. It's a simple 1 page form. This outlines the fees we charge to the buyer. And yes, it is the BUYER, who pays us, not the Seller. This is not to say that the Buyer has to come out of pocket to pay us, since the fee is normally covered by the Listing Broker's offer of Buyer Rep compensation, but we make it clear that we get paid by the Buyer, not the deal. We work for the Buyer.
As for picking and chosing which homes to show based on commissions, I can't even imagine doing that. It would be unethical, stupid and incompetent.
Our buyer rep gives anything over our fee back to the buyer as a rebate. Anything less has to be covered by the buyer, so it's the buyer who would be motivated by a Buyer Agent commission offering, not us. I could care less, since I get paid the same no matter what.
Every MLS listing available is displayed on the buyer search portal regardless of buyer commission offered, so how would an agent "hide" or "not show" certain listings?
Reading the Realtor code of ethics is fascinating.
I wish buyers and sellers knew how much was packed in there.
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