Several weeks ago I had a closing on a listing of mine. As the buyer's agent was reviewing the settlement statement, she noticed that the commissionable sales price had been reduced about $1300. She was quite distraught about this and pulled the closing agent out into the hallway to discuss her displeasure (never mind that her buyers were actually paying LESS for the house than they originally thought; therefore the reduction was good for her client). The closing was held up for 15 minutes while she called her broker to find out what to do.
Ummmm.... Do the Math - The difference in her commission check was $36.40 (even less after her split).
A similar situation arose earlier in the year on another of my listings. The buyers offered $7500 above the asking price, with a $7500 closing cost credit, thus putting the net sales price to the seller back at the original list price. I asked the buyer's agent if he minded being paid on the net sales price and he was furious. He said he felt blindsided and that he was counting on that extra commission to buy his clients an extra special closing gift.
Ummmm... Do the Math - The difference in his commission check was $210.00 on a total commission of nearly $7,000.
Once I worked with a brand new agent who threatened to terminate her buyer's contract because my seller refused to do a rent-back for a 3-day delayed possession that the AGENT negotiated for her buyers. She asked for the rent-back after the fact (I guess once she realized she blew it) and said her buyers would "walk" if my seller wouldn't pay. I told her that she was welcome to pay it herself since she's the one who made the mistake and she refused, saying that she couldn't afford to.
Ummmm... Do the Math - It was a $900 monthly mortgage payment, so a 3-day rent-back would have been $90. Hardly a deal-breaker.
My all-time favorite is how real estate agents screamed when gas prices went up to $4/gallon. "We" couldn't afford to work with buyers, couldn't afford to preview houses, couldn't afford to waste our time driving across town to service our listings.
Ummmm... Do the Math - If you drive 300 miles a week selling real estate and gas prices are $1 higher than they used to be, that's around $15 extra a week you're spending. If you're doing enough business for gas prices to be a significant factor in your profitability, you're doing enough business to absorb it!
Of course, the reverse is also true and I've gotten myself into a pickle more than once by not Doing the Math and ending up paying far more than I should have!
Have a great week, my friends!
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