Commission, do want to survive?

Karen.... Great Point.. I have always been a firm beliver that something is better than nothing. Now I will not just volunteer to give away my hard earned $$$. I just lost a deal yesterday that I was actually willing to give up a BIG chink of change just to get it closed and then the underwriter canned the closing.

Always remember... if you have to give a little, that is better than loosing it all

Karen, real estate is my hobby as well. I do it for the "fun" of it and the money just come. Service is key and if it takes a little cut to make the transaction close, then by all means I would go ahead with it. This is in no way or shape indicative of a passive stance on protecting our commission.

Nick may have his point in holding firm onto his commission and I can understand his reasoning behind it. However, that is not to say that all sellers and buyers think that way. Real estate is a customer service oriented field and we need to be flexible at times. We must become water....changing and adapting ourselves to whatever shape we are placed in.

Karen, I hardly ever reduce my commission.  I tell my sellers....if I can not even negotiate for myself, how can I negotiate for you?  I know...sometimes the transaction will not go forward unless you do and you have to make the decision that is right for you but don't give your VERY hard earned money away so easily.

I just wrote an offer for a buyer this week and included a home warranty that the seller was to pay.  The listing agent negotiated the offer without reviewing the entire contract and then saw the warranty after he *started* negotiating.  When he noticed it, he said, well, I guess I am going to have to pick that up.   We were still negotiating at this point.  I just thought, why?  Let your seller know it is there and see how they want to respond, right?  I just thought he gave his 400. away too easily.  The negotiation is between the buyer and seller, not us.

I agree with your RE Attorney, some is better than none and this market is not getting easier.... yet....

Your Friend in Charlottesville Virginia!

It's better to make a nickel that to not make a dime...  or something like that. 

I think it all depends.  Every situation is different.  I've cut my commission so a buyer can purchase but I've yet to cut a commission for a seller.

Karen,

 

The reason I answered that way with the qualifications is how you answered Patrick.

I never said you weren't a good realtor, I said you needed to be strong when it comes to YOUR money.

If you continue to give away your commission, you most certainly will be out of business period.

It takes alot of money to be a realtor, advertising, marketing, websites, etc.

Consumers have to be aware of that, and when realtors give away commissions to buy business like

Zip Realty. It is disgusting how these companies get business by advertising 1% commission back.

I also feel it adds to the mortgage crisis. If customers can't afford to buy, and are asking for help from their realtor, how can they afford the payments?

And when it comes to churches in the case with your deal, I think it is a shame that they are sticking their hands in your pocket.

I agree with Debra, sellers and buyers need to negotiate between themselves. We just bring them together, and thats our job. The rest is up to them, we have to keep emotions out of it.

I don't believe we must change, and become like water.

We must protect our profession, otherwise the consumers won't.

I don't know what is so hard to understand about that.

It is not personal, I am not attacking you.

I am attacking the mindset of realtors giving away their hard earned commissions.

Mr. Moneybags

Karen - considering your response to Nick's very reasonable points I am guessing that this is more of a hobby for you than a career. If you think receiving your full commission is - in your words - screwing them ("I'm strong enough in this business to not need to "SCREW" my customers"), then why would you ever charge anyone full commission? If you have ever done a full commission deal, then by your very own words, you screwed your customers. I simply don't understand your point.

Finally, you asked for opinions and when you got one you didn't like, you attacked the contributor. Makes no sense to me. You actually said "How do you manage yourself in this market??? I'm  proud to say ...creative is the way to go, let's make a deal...what do you do?"  and Nick told you what he did and how he did it?

Karen,

Do you have trouble making friends?  Really!  I think Nick is right.  Do we ask our Doctors, Attorneys, etc... for a price cut?  No!  Would they do it?  Probably not!  I am a professional and I earn my money from doing a great job!

I do give them options.  This percent and what that gets you or another percent and what that means to you.  I may start offering a third option that is higher yet because of the internet marketing I do on my own time and money.

John

I have had 11 closings and have 7 under contract now. I live in a remote, far off place in the middle of nowhere and still manage to pull of sales due to my consistency, my knowledge, my skill and my honesty. I think you ware wasting your time negotiating with someone not listed. Just my opinion, BTW, I DID READ YOUR POST BEFORE COMMENTING. I JUST DIDN'T AGREE WITH YOU, and now that I know more, I REALLY DON'T AGREE. SEEMS YOU SHOULD HAVE AN OPEN MIND TO OTHERS OPINIONS, after all you asked the question. Good Luck to you, sounds like you need it.

Karen - I like you a lot. You know that. But this blog post is bizarre. You clearly didn't want opinions even though you asked for them. You simply wanted people who agree with you to post. I don't see the point of this at all.

Karen - We're not in the "any deal is better than no deal" camp on this one.  Generally, we don't cut commissions.  We are professionals, and our unique market knowledge and skills are what our clients are paying for, and we're not shy about telling them that up front. AR is full of stories about the trouble transactions can run into, and the creative solutions of professional agents - that's what we are getting paid for! 

Two exceptions: if we are doing both sides of a transaction, we may give up 1%, especially for repeat clients. If the property is not under contract with a realtor (an atypical transaction), then maybe - just maybe - we would consider a discount to make it happen, depending on the circumstances and the risk of things going wrong with the transaction.  Good post! 

In this day and age, I work with my clients.  Although mortgages are a little different animal than what you guys do.  to survive in my business, you need to bend.