Not saying they shouldn’t be paid. Just that 6% is too fluffy. I am sure realtors in other countries work just as hard, for 2%. So why not 2%? What did I get for paying $10,000 - $20,000 per day to list the house to sell? Educate me.
If they are really as worth as they get paid currently, they should open up the fee schedule instead of locking it at 3%. They will earn just as much if not more. It is locked in to protect their profits.
You got what you wanted - your home sold.
I wonder if anyone does commission based on % of offered price paid ? So it could go down…or up.
I don’t dismiss your concern of overpayment. I imagine people offer what they will and a realtor accepts that offer (say 1%) or declines.
But I guess the lawsuit felt otherwise.
So will be interested to look back in 30-60 days to see what, if anything, has changed.
Realtors are on call to both sellers and buyers every day of the week. When we bought our first home my realtor was at the seller’s house getting them to accept our offer (they had gotten two), while the realtor was also hosting a fourth of July BBQ at her home (she had left her own guests to do this for us).
We had something like 24 showings of our home during a 3 day period (over a weekend). That was 24 different realtors who accompanied their potential buyers spending at least 30 minutes (not counting travel time) to show them our home.
I think the problem with the realtor fee is that it is based upon the price of the house. Does it take 50% more work to sell a house that is 50% more expensive and thus justify earning 50% more?
I get that they work hard. In my example, let’s say my agent worked 20 hours a day, everyday, on my listing exclusively. Usually, they will be working on multiple listings not just on one listing. And I doubt even the hardest working agent works 20 hours a day, everyday. But let’s just assume that for argument’s sake. That brings her fee to $500-$1,000 an hour. Most lawyers don’t get that much. Do realtors’ expertise, work, skill, training, etc. exceed those of lawyers? They wouldn’t get that much if the fee wasn’t locked.
The restaurant argument /does the server at Outback do any less, in theory, than Flemings?
Their expected gratuity is different.
I always wonder how a realtor in Toledo, as an example, survives vs one like where I live and homes cost several times more on average. That person in Toledo or Fort Wayne needs to sell a lot more to make a decent living.
The cost of living is lower there too.
But this is getting way off topic to the OP of this thread, in my opinion.
As have you. I’m the OP. As noted many times I just wanted to learn about the impact of the court case.
I suspect in 60 days we’ll know more.
Welllll, as a Toledo resident I can tell you as would many regions of the country that our cost of living (income vs expenses) is variable for where we all live. My salary in California would be way different than my salary here, same for costs if houses. It balances out quite a bit.
And also I’ll say that real estate market here is quite hot. We looked 3 years before finding and getting our recent home. Our middle class house sold a good bit over asking with a cash offer with only two days of people going through (24 scheduled visits) and 7 offers on the table.
I think the under 400k markets still do well and many that were left behind are now experiencing gains. The Midwest, in general (not all areas) has an advantage here.
realtors usually work in teams where one would provide a backup for the other who is vacationing in Europe. At least that’s how it works here. They share in the slice of the “pie” they get. After buying and selling several local properties here, that was our experience. Our kids were viewing a house while their realtor was surfing in Hawaii. His buddy let us in and stood around while we looked. And unlike a doctor’s appointment that is set in stone, home showings can be scheduled at the realtor’s convenience.
Where I live, houses under a half million are either severe fixer-uppers/tiny/ rural-far out (geographically undesirable)/in a gentrifying area or any combination thereof. And where my s just put a contract, there is nothing in that price range. At all.
I guess today is the big day.
I believe it took effect here in Ohio August 1. I’m hearing people report that even if you go into an open house - just to look - you have to sign a paper to say that hosting realtor is “contracted” with you for that day. Something like that. If true I think that is going to reduce the traffic at open houses - at least unless someone is really a serious looker.
I was trying to figure this out. It sounds like the listing brokers can end up being the big winners here, as they will more often end up with a dual commission. Just stop in at an open house without your broker, and now the broker listing the house is your broker for that house only? Wonder what happens if you’ve already signed a contract with a buyers broker? I’m so confused! I’m going to look again at this forum in a few weeks when you guys have it all figured out!
I think in our state it will be a slightly different game:
Meaning pretty much everything stays the same.
Yay, thanks! I was thinking the situation would be, now when people buy their million dollar home in Seattle (because that’s what it costs for a starter home here), they are going to have to come up with a buyers fee along with the down payment, and the sellers (who are already sitting pretty) just shuffle the commission on to the buyers, without reducing their price. I was also thinking that a lot of people are just going to get a real estate license so they can write up the contract and not pay a broker. I sure would do that if this affected me. Glad to know this won’t affect us here, as I have friends and family who still hope to purchase property at some point in their lives.
Incidentally, I am in the market to buy a property. The properties I am looking were all listed months ago. The seller’s contracts should still carry the 6% commissions. Would my agent insist on getting paid by me as well? I’d be happy to pay if the agent isn’t getting paid by the seller and negotiate the price accordingly. If the agent insist on getting paid by me as well, I think I’d go to the listing agent.
The contract may have changed today.
Hopefully we can all learn from how yours plays out.
We’ve been looking for a place in Florida. The market there is not good for sellers, at least where we’re looking. Inventory is up, very little is moving, its just not good. We aren’t at the point of being really serious yet but we’ve been looking at online listings a lot, and going to many open houses, mostly to educate ourselves on the local market, issues, etc.
My husband and I have discussed it and there is no way we are signing anything to go to an open house. Often we go to several open houses in a row. No way are we signing something saying we are committed to a broker for the day. I wouldn’t even commit to them for an hour. If they insist on this, we’ll stop going to open houses. I’m not sure how we will look going forward. Maybe we’ll just wait until we see something on line that we like, contact the listing broker to see it.
I could be wrong on what I posted but with several realtors posting on a local FB thread that seemed to be what they were saying - some paper, somewhere has to be signed. I wish I could find the post. Maybe if you already have a realtor and are signed with them you are good to go to open houses.