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Realtor's to charge Gas Surcharges to Buyers for Driving Them Around!

I can't belive it...on my way into the office this morning I was listening to the radio and they had their hourly piece on the daily news stories. Since gas here last night was 3.99 a gallon and rising you can guess that was one of the featured news stories.

The reporter goes on to say how all Americans are feeling the crunch and that service industry professionals are starting to add fees on to their regular bills. One example she used was that plumbers are adding a $5 surcharge to your bill if they have to go back to the shop to get a part to complete your job.

She then so kindly added at the end of the story in her "the real estate market is going to hell in a handbasket" voice.... "and Realtors will soon begin charging their clients for driving them around looking at homes for sale too."

Surely this woman has never bought a house in her life nor took the time to look into how we are actually paid and no Realtor with any sense of good business practice would ever attempt to charge their buyer a fuel surcharge for looking at houses...they are not even the clients who pay us (in most cases).

So I'm putting it out there...do any of you have plans on charging a fuel surcharge to your clients?

Posted by Allison Cummins on 05/22/2008 08:04 AM

Comments (13)

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13 Comments on Realtor's to charge Gas Surcharges to Buyers for Driving Them Around!

MAY

2008

I couldn't imagine a Realtor charging a fuel surcharge.

Allison,this is a very good question and I wouldn't be surprised if someone tried this.

Try and succeed are 2 totally different things though

BLRGUY

I plan on putting my buyers in a little red wagon and pulling them on my 10 speed.

LOL Ida! Great post and talking points! I guess the delicate way to do so would be a bump in the initial buyer brokerage non-refundable retainer fee. I've never charged a retainer (yet) but it is permissible under the law and the portion retained deductible from the potential commission to be paid (as indicated in the MSLI Libor carbonless exclusive right to represent contract).

Hmmm... you've given us food for thought... LOL

Allison,

Yeah... that's going to happen. Realtors already have a bad reputation in many people's minds. Can you imagine the impact of a fuel surcharge?

A lot of agents and companies charge a "transaction" fee. Just add a "transportation" fee. Noone will notice. Soon real estate trainers everywhere will get on the bandwagon. Disclaimer: Comment is heavily laced with sacasm.

Allison - I think excessive driving should have a surcharge. Its on a client to client basis. You know the client that just wants to see every home on the market....LOL

I think we need an up front transportation fee (especially during tourist season in Florida) so that we can get paid for those people that just want a guided tour of the town.

*sarcasm noted & repeated*

Chrissi,

You could always moonlight as a tour guide...what better way to be an "expert" in the area!

*sarcasm noted, appreciated, and repeated!!!*

Hi Allison,

I just try to minimize unnecessary driving by doing as thorough a matching of the buyer's needs with the listings I have sent them by email. One thing that continues to annoy me is a lack of photos and broker remarks for both sale and rent listings. Don't listing agents realize how many potential buyers they are losing when there are no photos or comments... there is nothing to say 'yes' to. With the price of gas, we need to pare down the places we are seeing. I've lost count of the number of emails I've sent to agents, asking them if they plan to add photos, because my buyers will not look at something that does not appeal to them in their listings. And another helpful thing is GPS. As of this moment, we have 52,539 listings of all types in Broward County, in many neighborhoods, so GPS gets me to those I'm not familiar with more directly.

A fuel surcharge? Absolutely not. If I'm driving a buyer all over the Las Vegas valley, I either don't know my market as well as I should or I haven't clarified and understood the buyer's needs in a home. This reporter's comment is just another example of misinformation spread by the media.

Many agents in Dallas have been charging a transaction fee to their clients (I have seen them range from $50 to $500 depending on the agent) for several years. Several of them have simply raised that fee by an additional amount to cover their increasing gasoline expense. I think there might be more pushback on a fuel charge, but roll that expense into a more generic transaction fee and I doubt it would raise an eyebrow.

MAY

2008

Not sure if a fuel charge is going to work here in central Ohio. I can see agents making the decision to quit working with buyers. I have also seen some charging buyers on an hourly rate. Another option might be for agents to specilaize, possibly in a market area. For us, if the project does not fit the niche then we don't even schedule the appointment.

MAY

2008

Naw, I just started requiring a buyer's agreement. I'm not ready to nickel and dime my clients to death either.

As long as I work with serious buyers, I can deal with $4 gallon fuel - I hope!

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