I spent an inordinate amount of time this past week on a potential deal for one of my listings. We had seven offers on the table – yes, SEVEN, in this supposedly dead real estate market (more on that later as this market is certainly not dead!). The subject of my commission came up several times – my seller and more than one of the bidders asked us to reduce our commission in order to pull the deal together. I can’t let that go without some sort of comment … I have two messages:
- To the Buyers, commission is between the seller and the listing agent, you cannot change that and if your agent wants to reduce his or her commission to make your offer stronger, he or she needs to present a letter from their managing broker agreeing to that fact before I will let my seller sign the contract.
- To the Sellers, you signed a listing agreement giving me and Weichert Realtors the exclusive right to sell your property and you agreed upon a commission rate at the time that you signed that contract – please don’t ask me to address my commission again when we are negotiating a contract.
Take a look at my current article over at the Basking Ridge Patch, it addresses real estate relationships in the state of New Jersey. It is important to understand the difference between Buyer’s Agents, Seller’s agents and Disclosued Dual Agents. You won’t necessarily get a better deal as a buyer if you work with directly with the listing agent; and as a seller, if your agent brings the buyer, he or she immediately becomes a disclosed dual agent and you will not have the upper hand in the transaction.
If you have any questions about agency relationships please don’t hesitate to contact me directly.
Considering a move into or out of Basking Ridge? It’s a great time to make a move – buyers and sellers alike. The market is moving in Basking Ridge; showing activity is up on most of my listings and as I said earlier, I am even entertaining multiple offers in some instances. I can set you up for listing alerts in Basking Ridge or you can search Basking Ridge homes or townhomes yourself.
I have to say that I have read the posting “What Real Estate Relationship is Right For You?”. I have to disagree with you on the choosing dual agents or not. If a buyer knows about the market well, then choosing a dual agent is beneficial. If one does not know the market has to depend on an agent to buy, then getting a buyer agent is useful. I guess part of it is dependent on the trust. If one really thinks that her/his agent is for the best interest of his to buy or sell a home, then choosing his or her own agent is helpful. Otherwise dual agent doesn’t make different, only can add benefits if one knows about the market. No matter what, it is buyer and seller finally decide the price point.
Hi Christie,
Thank you for all the comments on my blog today! I wanted to clear up one thing – I am not totally against dual agency. I guess what I was trying to convey is the fact that I think it is a good thing to connect with an agent you trust and then rely on that agent to look out for your best interests, to watch the market and maybe give you a head start on a new listing. Rather than simply limiting yourself to contacting the listing agents for each of the homes you like – then you are starting from scratch with the relationship each time instead of getting to know an agent and letting them help you get the best deal on any property regardless of who is listing it.