Does your buyer's agent seem to be pushing you towards one house vs. another one for no appearant reason? Like the saying goes, follow the money.
There was a featured post this morning that disturbed me. It suggested that sellers should increase the buyer's agent commission on their homes in order to take advantage of the fact that buyer's agents are really getting financially desperate. Over 80% didn't have a closing last month. So if you wave a bigger commission in front of them, they are more likely to promote your home vs. another similar home that has a smaller commission.
Many agents will say that a buyer has no right to affect what the seller pays in commission. That's true, but since the commission paid to the buyer's agent seems to affect the transaction, it seems that it is only right to have that amount be known by all parties involved.
As a buyer, I would want to know if my agent is pushing me towards a house because more commission is being offered. It's called transparency.
As a buyer, you might want to address this in your Buyer's Agency Agreement that you sign. As a buyer, I would write a special stipulation stating that my agent gets whatever the listing agent is offering up to a maximum of 3%. Anything over this or any extra agent incentives are to be credited to the buyer.
If you don't already know, most buyer agency agreements have a place to write in a specific commission amount in the case where there is no seller commission being offered. It states that if seller doesn't offer a commission, the buyer is responsible for coming up wth the stated commission. Make sure you know what you are signing.
Here's what the Georgia contract states:
Broker shall seek to be paid a commission from the listing broker under a cooperative brokerage arrangement or from a prospective seller if there is no listing broker. In the event the prospective seller or listing broker does not pay Broker a commission, then Buyer shall pay Broker at time of closing the following commission:
Agents are human and humans, by nature, usually look out for what's best for them. So, be aware that some agents will avoid showing listings that offer less than some amount such as 3%. Be upfront with your agent about this possibility.
It's best to know what is motivating all the players in the game. Confront these things early on in order to avoid hard feelings later.
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