THERE ARE BROKERS WHO USE THE WORD "DISCOUNT" IN ADVERTISING AND IN THEIR TRADE NAME AS AN ADVERTISING TERM.
"DISCOUNT" IS AN ADVERTISING TERM. Buyers and sellers believe that if a business advertises "discount", that the fee is lower than market. Ergo, companies that advertise their company as "discount broker" will attract consumers who think they are going to save money by using a "discount" broker's services. The consumer may save money. The consumer may not save money. Depending on how the "discount broker" prices the property, the consumer may lose significant value (cash) if the property does not sell within a reasonable amount of time. Or not. The word "discount" in the company name or advertising has no affect on whether or not the seller actually saves money. In order to make or sale any money, the house must sell.
DISCOUNTED FROM WHAT? Since there is no fixed fee from which to discount, if asked, what would the so called "discount broker" say? Would they say they are X% lower than the broker down the street? There are brokers who charge higher than average and brokers who charge lower fees than average. There are brokers who charge less for certain types of listings, i.e. Exclusive Agency listings that permit the seller to sell their home. There are so called "discount" brokers who advertise "discount listing fees", then lower the co-op so that the broker representing becomes a "discount" broker whether or not it is their business model, simply by selling the listings of the "discount" listing broker.
BROKER MODELS AND BROKER POLICY. Many brokerages have minimum fees which their agents can charge for listing services. If the brokerage down the street offers listing services for a lower company fee, that doesn't mean that they are "discounted". All it means is that they are charging less than the company up the street that charges more. There may be another company down the street that charges less than the so called "discount broker" that charged less than another brokerage. There may be agents within a company that has no set fee that charges less or more depending on the level of services requested by the seller. They could easily consider themselves "discount brokers" because the agents working with the buyers or sellers "discount" the services they provide from the services many agents and brokers believe to be "full service".
"DISCOUNT" BUYERS AGENTS. There are some companies that charge "discount fees" and offer rebates to buyers who use their services. They claim to be "discount brokers". They aren't discounting anything because there is no set fee from which to discount. They accept the co-op offered and rebate a percentage or set amount back to the buyer if the buyer can pursuade the listing agent to perform some of the services that many, if not most, buyer's agents would perform, like SHOWING THE PROPERTIES TO THE BUYERS. That's not really a discount broker. That's a broker that signs folks up to find their own home and then sits by and waits to write a contract. They haven't discounted their fees because they don't do much for their fees. Sometimes their "agents" work on salary. They purport to not be fiduciaries for the buyer although they often waddle and quack. They get by with what they do because buyers and seller don't know the difference.
There are brokers who employ the word "DISCOUNT" in their advertising to attract home sellers who believe that they will save money with a "discount broker". They may, they may not.
The skills and value of agents and brokers varies as much as the colors in the rainbow. When a company advertises that they are "discount" brokers, they are appealing to the universal desire of every consumer to buy on sale.
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