Asking a Realtor to Cut Commission

[photon]

I wouldn't let a deal die over $4000, that's probably what, 1-2%?

You could ask but you agreed to the commission when starting to work with them, asking now is crossing the line from negotiation to extortion (give up $1000, or give up a lot more of your time and/or lose me as a client). Well not really, but a little bit.

That said I did have a realtor voluntarily chip in to get the deal done once.. Not officially on the deal, but they purchased a super nice central vacuum and had it installed for me.

[V]

Not at all. I walk into open houses all the time without my realtor. They'd be more than happy to sell the house to me and keep the commissions.

[MelBridgeman]

Originally Posted by HammeR_

why should I be paying for the next 4 months for her? As I said she has worked 10-15 hours max for me, I dont need her for the next 4 months... not my problem.

4k doesnt seem like much I know, but if your streching already 4k is a big deal.


Jeeze CP I thought your negotiating skills would be a little better. No one like cutthroat?

Cause your making some huge assumption to justify a benefit to you. As someone who works in realestate marketing - some of these realtors pay huge monthly fees just for a phone number/email address. There is some overhead/taxes/gas/fees on that commission.

Heck ask her already.

[HammeR_]

I havent asked her yet because the seller hasnt got back to us on our last offer and likely won't until morning

And as I am not selling a place i have not entered into a contract with any realtor so there has never been any negotiation over commission. Commission is tied to the seller not the buyer

[flamesfan6]

reverse the roles, imagine if you were the realtor, and you were just asked if you would cut out on some commission in the 3k to 4k range, that's not a small amount...

let me guess.. you'd say no

[photon]

Sorry you are right about the commission.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by HammeR_

why should I be paying for the next 4 months for her? As I said she has worked 10-15 hours max for me, I dont need her for the next 4 months... not my problem.

If you're looking at it hourly then you should have worked out an hourly rate you would pay her regardless of purchasing.
You're trying to have it both ways. If you spent 3 months looking with her and then decided not to buy, I doubt you'd be talking about paying hourly rates.

The job of a Realtor is not to spend lots of time with you. It's to find you the right place and get you the right price.

Who deserves more commission?

Realtor A: Has no knowledge of the properties in the area you're looking, can't seem to understand your needs and wishlist, shows you dozens of properties but most are completely not what you're looking for or out of your budget. You finally find one you like after months.

Realtor B: Knows the area intimately; shows you 5 places that all have lots of your criteria matched in the first week.
Has a strong grasp on what you're after, as well as the good & bad buildings or streets in the search area; so filters out the wrong properties without needing to see everything. You buy a place that week.

Point is it's not an hourly job; it's a results job. Doesn't matter how much time she spent with you, depends on the result you get tonight.

I worked from 9-9 today on a Sunday & made $0. Should I send out invoices to the 4 clients I met?

[calf]

Originally Posted by HammeR_

why should I be paying for the next 4 months for her? As I said she has worked 10-15 hours max for me, I dont need her for the next 4 months... not my problem.

4k doesnt seem like much I know, but if your streching already 4k is a big deal.


Jeeze CP I thought your negotiating skills would be a little better. No one like cutthroat?

You're looking desperate - which puts your realtor in the dominant position. That's not a good way to get what you want.

[V]

Windsor, I'm not sure if you're under a significant reaty company like Remax, but if you are, can you give us an idea of what percentage of your cheque goes to the mothership? I have a friend with Remax and he's never given me a number, but he says it's pretty significant.

[HammeR_]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

If you're looking at it hourly then you should have worked out an hourly rate you would pay her regardless of purchasing.
You're trying to have it both ways. If you spent 3 months looking with her and then decided not to buy, I doubt you'd be talking about paying hourly rates.

The job of a Realtor is not to spend lots of time with you. It's to find you the right place and get you the right price.

Who deserves more commission?

Realtor A: Has no knowledge of the properties in the area you're looking, can't seem to understand your needs and wishlist, shows you dozens of properties but most are completely not what you're looking for or out of your budget. You finally find one you like after months.

Realtor B: Knows the area intimately; shows you 5 places that all have lots of your criteria matched in the first week.
Has a strong grasp on what you're after, as well as the good & bad buildings or streets in the search area; so filters out the wrong properties without needing to see everything. You buy a place that week.

Point is it's not an hourly job; it's a results job. Doesn't matter how much time she spent with you, depends on the result you get tonight.

I worked from 9-9 today on a Sunday & made $0. Should I send out invoices to the 4 clients I met?

Again missing the main point. I dont pay her, the selling realtor does.

And its very hard for me to switch shoes as i know very little about her, who knows maybe she hasnt sold anything for months, or maybe she has. All i know is if i could make even 4k in less than a week, i'd be happy.

[jayswin]

Very, very sleazy.

[HammeR_]

Originally Posted by flameswin

Very, very sleazy.

Thanks for the input.

Go back to the OP this was meant to be a what if discussion about negotiating. I thought the number one rule was to maintain your position of power

[Street Pharmacist]

I have a friend/acquaintance who wants to help me sell my place. I'm not sure I want to go that route as units in my complex are selling very fast (less than a month for almost all of them in the last year. 4 days in one case). Is it tacky for me to ask for a reduced rate if he helps me find a new house?

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by V

Windsor, I'm not sure if you're under a significant reaty company like Remax, but if you are, can you give us an idea of what percentage of your cheque goes to the mothership? I have a friend with Remax and he's never given me a number, but he says it's pretty significant.

Sure
I'm actually not 100% sure if my brokerages have any restriction on me publishing the numbers so I'll keep it somewhat general.

Every agency is different, you as an agent decide what makes sense to you. Some give you things like office space, internal marketing resources, lead generation etc. for your costs. Some have stronger brand equity like Remax.
Some charge heavy monthly fees vs others that charge nearly no monthly fees but take a larger commission cut instead.

I'm part of 2 brokerages since I carry a license in AB & BC, so my costs are doubled up in some sense.

Most Remax offices will cost you between $700-$1500/month regardless of doing deals. You have to pay Remax fees, and then the individual offices have their own fees which vary.

My Calgary brokerage is one of the cheapest and it's only a small fee each month + small fee each deal. (low hundreds)

My Vancouver brokerage Macdonald Realty is very well known out here, only hires full time agents and has a very good reputation. For that, I pay a lot but I like being around other professionals with a high standard in what we do. About 30% on most of my deals goes to them.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

I have a friend/acquaintance who wants to help me sell my place. I'm not sure I want to go that route as units in my complex are selling very fast (less than a month for almost all of them in the last year. 4 days in one case). Is it tacky for me to ask for a reduced rate if he helps me find a new house?

Rates aren't fixed, so nothing tacky about it at all. Just do it upfront and agree upon it like 2 professional adults.

[Daradon]

Originally Posted by HammeR_

Thanks for the input.

Go back to the OP this was meant to be a what if discussion about negotiating. I thought the number one rule was to maintain your position of power

But your supposed to be negotiating with the seller, not the realtor. Unfortunately you came across someone who is willing to pay more for the house. That's not the realtors problem, it's yours.

As a few have said, if you wanted to discuss commission, you should have at the beginning, not now. To do it now is a little dodgey. You asked for thoughts and many seem to be in agreement.

However, if you want to do it, there's no reason why you can't. I'm thinking she'll just tell you no anyway.

[photon]

It's not making $4k in a week, for every time that happens there's other times where people look at 20 houses and buy nothing, or put in offers but don't get accepted, or have a house up for sale for a year with no movement, or whatever else.

All the realtors I've ever worked with work really hard for the money they make, and they aren't raking it in compared to the effort.

[bizaro86]

If you`re really going to do this (and I personally never have or will) I`d try to make it seem win-win. When they come back to you with a price and you`re really close, say something like: ``This is a great place, but I`m already at the absolute max I can pay for it. Is there any way we can work together to make this deal happen``

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

I have a friend/acquaintance who wants to help me sell my place. I'm not sure I want to go that route as units in my complex are selling very fast (less than a month for almost all of them in the last year. 4 days in one case). Is it tacky for me to ask for a reduced rate if he helps me find a new house?

As long as it's negotiated before you start, then it's all good. They can either accept or pass, at that point, instead of thinking they're working for a commision and then having someone tell them they need to give up commision because the process went quicker than expected.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by HammeR_

why should I be paying for the next 4 months for her? As I said she has worked 10-15 hours max for me, I dont need her for the next 4 months... not my problem.

4k doesnt seem like much I know, but if your streching already 4k is a big deal.


Jeeze CP I thought your negotiating skills would be a little better. No one like cutthroat?

The amount of hours is irrelevant, you made an agreement with her initially on the commission rate right?

Its not her responsibility to make your deal by cutting her pay.

As someone that works in a different industry but with a chunk of what I make in commission, if someone asked me to cut my commission to make a deal, I'm probably good enough at what I do to find another buyer and completely cut you out of the deal just on principle.

Your 4k has nothing to do with her pay, nor does the amount of hours that she puts into making a deal. If you agreed with the commission rate at the start then you should live up to that agreement.