Selecting a Realtor

[GoinAllTheWay]

Looks like we are getting pretty close to getting our condo on the market.

My logic so far with selecting a realtor is to just go with the one that sold the unit next door to us. She's apparently sold a number of units in our complex and not knowing any realtors at all (bought the one I'm in now 20 yrs ago), she seemed like the right choice.

We met with her in fall and she left us with a pamphlet that shows her fee break down (7% on the first 100k, 3% on the rest).

After a really short chat with my step dad, he mentioned he negotiated a better rate with his realtor years ago as he used the same individual to sell current place and buy new one.

So that's got me curious, is the 7%, 3% pretty standard? Anyone have any experience with this recently that did better?

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

I'd suggest you ask Travis.

Then I'd suggest you use Travis.

But either way, do the first one.

https://www.tmunroe.com/

[troutman]

7/3 is the standard, but I often see the listing realtor take $1k or $2k off their side, to get the deal. It is certainly negotiable.

With all things though, you often get what you pay for, and a top realtor could earn the standard.


https://www.reca.ca/consumers/real-e...-calculations/

[Hevishot]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

I'd suggest you ask Travis.

Then I'd suggest you use Travis.

But either way, do the first one.

https://www.tmunroe.com/

I also suggest you use Travis. He was awesome to deal with and got our house sold quickly.

[BigNumbers]

I know a good guy who's also a CP member, if you need another top agent in town. PM me

[BagoPucks]

Dont hesitate to interview a few and ask why you should go with them. Take your time as well.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

Looks like we are getting pretty close to getting our condo on the market.

My logic so far with selecting a realtor is to just go with the one that sold the unit next door to us. She's apparently sold a number of units in our complex and not knowing any realtors at all (bought the one I'm in now 20 yrs ago), she seemed like the right choice.

We met with her in fall and she left us with a pamphlet that shows her fee break down (7% on the first 100k, 3% on the rest).

After a really short chat with my step dad, he mentioned he negotiated a better rate with his realtor years ago as he used the same individual to sell current place and buy new one.

So that's got me curious, is the 7%, 3% pretty standard? Anyone have any experience with this recently that did better?

We were in the exact same boat last year. I wouldn't be so quick to use your selling realtor as your buying realtor though, if you do all of your own house hunting through MLS you can save a lot of money by talking to the other selling realtor directly. We did that when we bought our house and saved a lot more than the couple thousand our realtor was offering if we used them for both sides

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

We were in the exact same boat last year. I wouldn't be so quick to use your selling realtor as your buying realtor though, if you do all of your own house hunting through MLS you can save a lot of money by talking to the other selling realtor directly. We did that when we bought our house and saved a lot more than the couple thousand our realtor was offering if we used them for both sides

This is why I consult the oracle. That's an excellent suggestion I hadn't though of.

Great suggestions all, will consider every one of them.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

We were in the exact same boat last year. I wouldn't be so quick to use your selling realtor as your buying realtor though, if you do all of your own house hunting through MLS you can save a lot of money by talking to the other selling realtor directly. We did that when we bought our house and saved a lot more than the couple thousand our realtor was offering if we used them for both sides

Sorry, but that's really bad advice.

The only person who benefits here is the listing agent who gets to "double end" the commission.
They get the full 7/3% instead of having to split it with your buyer's agent.

You think you saved money but how do you know a good buyer's agent couldn't have negotiated a way bigger discount than you saved on the commission you weren't even paying in the first place?

You don't have anyone looking out for issues in the property, strange zoning, stigmas that will effect the long term value of the home, bad construction techniques, poor electrical wiring, asbestos, mold, renovations done without appropriate permits....

The listing agent certainly doesn't care about you finding things, they may have a long term relationship with the seller, why would they care about you?
They certainly don't care about you getting a good deal, they want their seller to get as much as possible, you're just some random stranger.

You also don't have someone going through all comparable sales data for the area with you and explaining exactly what appropriate market value and a good deal is. Unless you relied on the listing agent for that, who again doesn't care about you, they care about their client.
Values can vary dramatically even on 2 streets right beside each other, there's intricacies most people don't even realize.

Maybe you're the exception, and your purchase worked out perfect but this goes wrong for buyers way more often than it goes right.

We're legally not even allowed to do this in BC anymore since so many clients were getting unethical treatment on double enders.
I'm surprised it's still allowed in Calgary, probably won't be for long.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

Looks like we are getting pretty close to getting our condo on the market.

My logic so far with selecting a realtor is to just go with the one that sold the unit next door to us. She's apparently sold a number of units in our complex and not knowing any realtors at all (bought the one I'm in now 20 yrs ago), she seemed like the right choice.

We met with her in fall and she left us with a pamphlet that shows her fee break down (7% on the first 100k, 3% on the rest).

After a really short chat with my step dad, he mentioned he negotiated a better rate with his realtor years ago as he used the same individual to sell current place and buy new one.

So that's got me curious, is the 7%, 3% pretty standard? Anyone have any experience with this recently that did better?

Nothing wrong with speaking to multiple agents.
Any good agent is completely understanding of that and happy to present their services vs other.

Commission is definitely negotiable but not all agents will negotiate. Busy and successful agents are sometimes hard to get down on commission because they know what they bring to the table.
Having said that, it's their job to convey that to you in your meetings and for you to decide if you see that.

I always reduce my listing commission when my client will be buying with me as well, or for repeat clients. Relationships are more important than any 1 transaction.
I'm in Vancouver, but expect many Calgary agents will approach things this same way.

And as I illustrated in the previous post, I highly recommend using your own agent on the buy, even if you decide to hire 2 different agents (one on your listing, different on your buy).
You might feel the expert for your sale is different from the area or property you're buying, so you may choose 2 separate agents for each transaction.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

Sorry, but that's really bad advice.

The only person who benefits here is the listing agent who gets to "double end" the commission.
They get the full 7/3% instead of having to split it with your buyer's agent.

You think you saved money but how do you know a good buyer's agent couldn't have negotiated a way bigger discount than you saved on the commission you weren't even paying in the first place?

You don't have anyone looking out for issues in the property, strange zoning, stigmas that will effect the long term value of the home, bad construction techniques, poor electrical wiring, asbestos, mold, renovations done without appropriate permits....

The listing agent certainly doesn't care about you finding things, they may have a long term relationship with the seller, why would they care about you?
They certainly don't care about you getting a good deal, they want their seller to get as much as possible, you're just some random stranger.

You also don't have someone going through all comparable sales data for the area with you and explaining exactly what appropriate market value and a good deal is. Unless you relied on the listing agent for that, who again doesn't care about you, they care about their client.

Maybe you're the exception, and your purchase worked out perfect but this goes wrong for buyers way more often than it goes right.

We're legally not even allowed to do this in BC anymore since so many clients were getting unethical treatment on double enders.
I'm surprised it's still allowed in Calgary, probably won't be for long.

You're giving the buying realtors way too much credit here, we did try going through them the first time we listed our condo and went looking at houses, but they only wanted to show us "their" houses, and got annoyed when we brought them our own list to look through. They also insisted that we would only be able to knock a few thousand off of asking price since the market was "so hot" (we ended up buying for $40k below asking). They seemed pretty useless which is what got us to go the next round by ourselves. Also the selling agent didn't "double end" the commission, they ended up giving the sellers a reduced fee because they didn't have to split the commission, which is why we we able to get a decent discount

I also had our own inspection done on the house prior to signing off so I was quite confident we weren't getting a raw deal. Also had separate lawyers do up the paperwork (that part is law), so no issue with zoning or renovation permits. I honestly don't see the purpose of going through a separate realtor to buy if you're capable of doing your own research, the realtor isn't going to go out of their way to look out for you. They're just interested in earning the most commission, the same as the selling side

[bizaro86]

so no issue with zoning or renovation permits

I don't think the lawyer you're using for conveyancing generally checks that stuff.

Liens/clear title, definitely. But an undocumented reno I don't know how they would do that. Its not like they go to the property.

[afc wimbledon]

I never used a realtor when I bought my house, offered an insultingly low ball offer to the listing agent verbally who said the offer was to low and would annoy the vender, told her I didnt care how she got the price down there if she wanted the double ended commish it was in her interest to go to work on the vendor, she did and a month later they accepted my offer.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

I don't think the lawyer you're using for conveyancing generally checks that stuff.

Liens/clear title, definitely. But an undocumented reno I don't know how they would do that. Its not like they go to the property.

Well the only thing that was done to the house in the last 10 years was a basement development, which the lawyers pulled the permits for

[NuclearFart]

I'd also recommend Travis Munroe. I've used him as a buying and listing agent on a condo x2, and two houses.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

You're giving the buying realtors way too much credit here, we did try going through them the first time we listed our condo and went looking at houses, but they only wanted to show us "their" houses, and got annoyed when we brought them our own list to look through. They also insisted that we would only be able to knock a few thousand off of asking price since the market was "so hot" (we ended up buying for $40k below asking). They seemed pretty useless which is what got us to go the next round by ourselves. Also the selling agent didn't "double end" the commission, they ended up giving the sellers a reduced fee because they didn't have to split the commission, which is why we we able to get a decent discount

I also had our own inspection done on the house prior to signing off so I was quite confident we weren't getting a raw deal. Also had separate lawyers do up the paperwork (that part is law), so no issue with zoning or renovation permits. I honestly don't see the purpose of going through a separate realtor to buy if you're capable of doing your own research, the realtor isn't going to go out of their way to look out for you. They're just interested in earning the most commission, the same as the selling side

Sounds like you just hired a really bad realtor, so I can see why you went how you did.

That bolded statement makes no sense.
Earning the most commission and looking out for your clients is inseparable. 90%+ of any top agents clients come from repeat or referral business; looking out for your clients is the most lucrative thing you do.

[Flamenspiel]

^^I agree with Windsor, sometimes you need to really look hard but their is no substitute for a good realtor. A realtor showing only their own listings is just a bad realtor, and like bad lawyers it happens.

After moving through various realtors I found a really good one and ended up completing 4 deals with him. The guy was outstanding in every way and provided a discount due to the multiple transactions.

Now i need a good financial analyst and a broker! Where is the thread for that?

[calumniate]

I can tell you who not to use.. ugh!

[Leondros]

+1 Travis, bought 3 homes and sold 1 through him, great guy to deal with and super knowledgeable.