Sellers Want To Pay Lower Real Estate Commission?

Would you rather pay 5% or 7% commission? No brainer, right?

On a $200,000 home, the difference for each percent of commission is $2,000. Who wouldn’t want to add $2000 to the profit on their home?

But what if you LOST $5,000 (or more) by trying to save $2000? Is paying less commission still a bargain or an albatross dragging you down Remorse Lane? (hint: unless you actually live on Remorse Lane, you don’t want to go there!)

A higher commission usually comes with more advertising (compare companies for their marketing plans- they vary widely). With more advertising comes more exposure to your home. More exposure leads to more showings and that leads to a quicker sale. Of course, your home must be priced correctly from the start or all the advertising in the world is not going to bring buyers to your door.

Another thing that enters into the picture that you may have not have thought about is whether the  other approx. 1300 real estate agents in the York/Adams area are forwarding your listing off to their buyers.When you list your home for less commission, not only will the agent representing you get paid less, the buyer agent gets paid less also. In case you don’t know where I’m going with this, think of it this way: You represent a client that is looking for a specific product. You have found 20 items that are all very good possibilities that meet your clients’ needs. In order to not overwhelm your client, you have decided to send information on 10 of these items and reserve the other 10 in case she/he is not happy with the items you have sent. Of the 20 items you found for your client, some of these items will pay you $100 and some will pay you $200. You will do the same amount of work no matter which item your client buys.Which leads do you send first- the ones that pay more or the ones that pay less?

So, now that you have listed your home and saved money in commission by listing it at 5%, your home may not be shown as often due to less advertising and less exposure to buyers. The longer your home sits on the market, the chances of getting the offer you want diminishes. Not only do buyers start thinking that there is something wrong with your perfectly good home, but they start tasting blood in the water. After all, aren’t you so desperate at this point to sell your home that you will take their ridiculously low offer?… and it’s a buyers’ market… plus in this economy you should be happy that you even got an offer, right?

So in the end, the commission you pay does make a difference! Just not in the way you were expecting.

 

     Susan

  “Susan Sells Fast”

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