We are looking for a home in an area that is not close by and where we do not know the neighborhoods extremely well. So we believe that we need a buyer's agent who knows the area/market and can take a first look at properties for us. We have no problem paying for this service - our question is how much.
We anticipate that perhaps 6-8 homes will come on the the market that we'll have the agent look at for us, that we'll make 2-3 bids and that we may need a moderate amount of help with the offer/contract/settlement. We've bought and sold before. So at 3% on a $1.5M home, that's $45K for perhaps 20-30 hours of work? We understand that the agents need to give some of the fee to the brokerage, and have other business expenses.
We interviewed several agents and they all told us that they want 3% and that almost all sellers are still paying 6% for total agent comissions. That may be true, we don't know. But obviously, our bids will be evaluated based on the total offer - price minus our requested consession for our buyer's agent. Plus, if the seller doesn't offer 3%, we'd have to make up the rest. We pushed back on the 3/6% claims, as we know in other areas commissions are now running 4% total, but they didn't soften their stances.
So we're unsure about how to proceed - we want someone to work for us, we want to be fair, but we don't want to be taken for a ride. WWYD? We're debating offering him a flat fee - perhaps $20K? Or perhaps 2% (which still would be $30K).
We anticipate that perhaps 6-8 homes will come on the the market that we'll have the agent look at for us, that we'll make 2-3 bids and that we may need a moderate amount of help with the offer/contract/settlement. We've bought and sold before. So at 3% on a $1.5M home, that's $45K for perhaps 20-30 hours of work? We understand that the agents need to give some of the fee to the brokerage, and have other business expenses.
We interviewed several agents and they all told us that they want 3% and that almost all sellers are still paying 6% for total agent comissions. That may be true, we don't know. But obviously, our bids will be evaluated based on the total offer - price minus our requested consession for our buyer's agent. Plus, if the seller doesn't offer 3%, we'd have to make up the rest. We pushed back on the 3/6% claims, as we know in other areas commissions are now running 4% total, but they didn't soften their stances.
So we're unsure about how to proceed - we want someone to work for us, we want to be fair, but we don't want to be taken for a ride. WWYD? We're debating offering him a flat fee - perhaps $20K? Or perhaps 2% (which still would be $30K).
Statistics: Posted by MTNLVR — Tue Aug 27, 2024 8:53 am — Replies 14 — Views 557