real estate commission

jt tailgater

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May 22, 2006
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thinking of listing house in a few months. Any realtors on here or any that have sold a home lately? Question is; since the market is so slow, how far will realtors come off the full 7%? Have negotiated 6% on last sell 6 yrs ago, any possibility on anything less?
 

Covenant Clone

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Aug 30, 2006
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I am a realtor, 6% is the pretty much the norm in the market now a days. You will have a hard time getting less than that because when agents take less than the market it doesn't sit well with other firms in town. Avg. time on the market has definitely changed in this environment.
 

dosry5

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Nov 28, 2006
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Johnston
We sold our home in October. Our realtor screwed up, cost us money, and in then end we almost lost the buyer. We ended up using the officer manager in our realtor's office to close the deal. They wouldn't even give us the tiniest of breaks on the rate when we requested compensation.

I guess $500 bucks was more important to them than my future business or having me trash them to anyone and everyone I know who is buying and/or selling. We ended up using a new realtor and different company for buying our new place.

My point? I don't think you're going to get a break---especially with this new $15,000 tax credit looking like a done deal.
 

brianhos

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Jun 1, 2006
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We sold our home in October. Our realtor screwed up, cost us money, and in then end we almost lost the buyer. We ended up using the officer manager in our realtor's office to close the deal. They wouldn't even give us the tiniest of breaks on the rate when we requested compensation.

I guess $500 bucks was more important to them than my future business or having me trash them to anyone and everyone I know who is buying and/or selling. We ended up using a new realtor and different company for buying our new place.

My point? I don't think you're going to get a break---especially with this new $15,000 tax credit looking like a done deal.

I think that tax credit got pulled.
 

Wesley

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Apr 12, 2006
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Omaha
We sold our home in October. Our realtor screwed up, cost us money, and in then end we almost lost the buyer. We ended up using the officer manager in our realtor's office to close the deal. They wouldn't even give us the tiniest of breaks on the rate when we requested compensation.

I guess $500 bucks was more important to them than my future business or having me trash them to anyone and everyone I know who is buying and/or selling. We ended up using a new realtor and different company for buying our new place.

My point? I don't think you're going to get a break---especially with this new $15,000 tax credit looking like a done deal.


Sorry, Nancy pelosi juist took away the $15k tax credit and reduced tax break doiwn to $800. Good old Nancy Pathetic.
 

erikbj

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Aug 31, 2006
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Sorry, Nancy pelosi juist took away the $15k tax credit and reduced tax break doiwn to $800. Good old Nancy Pathetic.

I thought it was only for brand new home purchases, so it was not going to help many people out anyways.
 

cytech

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Apr 10, 2006
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Hiawatha, Iowa
Honestly it looks to me like they are trying to improve it. I am not sure about you but I would rather have a $7500 grant than a 15,000 0% intrest loan.
 

dosry5

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Honestly it looks to me like they are trying to improve it. I am not sure about you but I would rather have a $7500 grant than a 15,000 0% intrest loan.


The $15G wasn't a loan at all--under the original plan it was a tax credit and non-refundable. You didn't pay it back, but could only take the credit to extent that you owed federal taxes. It was a good thing, I would have used on the house I'm building...but I really don't think it would have spurred people to buy.
 

JRCampy

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Apr 11, 2006
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Des Moines, IA
My wife and I are trying to sell our house right now, Iowa Realty is still asking 7%, at least they were 2 months ago when we put our house on the market.
 

drmwevr08

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Nov 25, 2006
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My wife and I are trying to sell our house right now, Iowa Realty is still asking 7%, at least they were 2 months ago when we put our house on the market.

Asking is the key. Sign the agreement and write in 6 over the 7. If a realtor doesnt want your business at that point, you didnt want them anyway. And don't buy any of the BS arguments about why you should pay 7 rather than less either. They have them all ready just in case but when it comes down to it, its still good money and if they have a chance to sell your place, they will - for 5, 6 or 7%.
 

wartknight

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Mar 24, 2006
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Our realtor cut ours down to 4 or even 3 so we would lower the price on our townhouse. The issue came up though when other realtors would show the place then we would have to have it at 6.
 

cytech

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Apr 10, 2006
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Hiawatha, Iowa
The $15G wasn't a loan at all--under the original plan it was a tax credit and non-refundable. You didn't pay it back, but could only take the credit to extent that you owed federal taxes. It was a good thing, I would have used on the house I'm building...but I really don't think it would have spurred people to buy.

Ah I see the current 7500 credit for first time home buyers is a 15 year 0% interest loan. But it looks as if that will be changing with the stimulus
 

ericlambi

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Mar 24, 2006
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I am not sure about you but I would rather have a $7500 grant than a 15,000 0% intrest loan.

I would rather have a $15k 0% interest loan for 15 years than $7500 free. $15k 15 years from now is definitely worth less than $7500 now. I am assuming you don't have to make payments on the loan, which I believe is the case.

Edit: okay, I shouldn't say definitely. Depending on your discount rate, it could be better to take the $7500.
 

cycloneworld

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Mar 20, 2006
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No offense to the realtors here but charging 7% of the entire home's value is freaking ridiculous. You can't tell me a realtor does much more work on a $300,000 home versus a $150,000 home...yet they charge twice the commission.

I know someone who recently used Next Generation Realty, who charges a flat rate of $4,990. While they had to do a more work, they saved a bunch of money in the end.
 

CYCLONE STATE

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Dec 8, 2007
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What percentage of money goes to the real estate agent on say a 7% listing and what does the real estate company keep? Just curious.

Also my girlfriend just sold her home by herself with no advertising other than 2 signs in her yard. It took about 5-6 weeks.