A seller contacted me today through my website. He basically asked if I had a buyer for his home. The email included a MLS number, so I went and looked it up.
It was listed by an agent a few hundred miles away and in the comment section it was noted to call the seller directly for all questions, showings and offers.
The compensation was 5% for Buyer Agents (that's a Single Agent), 0% for Transaction Brokers, 0% for Non Rep's. I don't know of anyone in my MLS that is a Single Agent, we're all operating as Transaction Brokers. So, right off the bat, this seller eliminates the vast majority of agents he is obviously trying to get to sell his home.
Florida, by default is a "Transaction State".
I emailed him back informing him of the compensation situation and I also asked why he is contacting agents instead of letting his agent do the work for him. He replied that his agent doesnt' work for him and that he is aware of the compensation situation and authorized it. I'm having tons of question marks going up at that point. Obviously, he paid his "agent" a certain amount to get in the MLS and he's now doing the agent's job.
From the email conversations I've had with this buyer it appears that he believes 5% commission is going to get his house sold. I had to disagree. The buyer will not care what the compensation is, the buyer will not care how much the agent makes, the buyer will not care about anything but getting a good deal. So the question should be: In order to sell my house, what can I do to be competitive with other homes for sale? Am I priced right? For what kind of buyer is my house suitable? Where do buyers like that live? How can I advertise to them? If all these questions have been answered and addressed accordingly, buyers will ask their agents to see this home. Buyers will not ask to see this home because the agent gets 5%.
My question to you is: will you push this listing onto your buyers because of the 5% and are you willing to walk your buyer through a transaction where you are not dealing with another professional on the other end but a seller instead?
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