Hi. I was wondering what yall think of this tactic. I was thinking of offering a buyers agent a bonus of maybe $500 or $700 at closing. If you bring the buyer, you get the bonus. Does this sound like a doable thing? What about agents? Would this get you motivated to bring lots of your clients through? We have a great house in a neat neighborhood, priced right, but no one is asking to come through. I realize the buyers agent is the "gate-keeper" so to speak, so I just want them to give my home a fair shake.
A buyer's agent bonus is a common incentive. You will, however, receive a wide variety of reactions from the realtors that frequent this board as to whether it would motivate them to show their clients a house where this bonus is offered.
While the bonus is a very nice jesture, it come down to "if it meets the buyers needs". Those are the properties the Realtor will be showing and hopefully selling.
It is common place in our area for bonuses OR, for the buyers'agent or transactional agent (selling end of the commission) to be a little higher commission--as an example instead of 3 -- it would be 3 1/2.
Regardless, remember it is split with the Realtors Broker.
Well, no, it wouldn't be split. that's the point. Just a check from me to the buyers agent. A gift, if you will. thanks for the link and answers. Anyone else have an opinion?
Peg -- An agent HAS to split bonuses and commissions with his/her broker. Example: A seller offers a 6% commision -- 3% to the listing agent and 3% to the buyer's agent. Of their 3% shares, the agent has to hand over half of it to their managing broker. So, that 6% commission is actually split 4 ways.
Likewise, if you give the buyer's agent a $700 bonus for bringing the buyer, he/she will receive only 1/2 of it. The other half will go to his/her broker.
Also, did you read the responses in the link I provided you above? Lots of opinions from the regulars there.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Jewel,
Hi. I was the poster of the other thread that is referenced here. The 1000 dollar bonus we were offering BROUGHT in the traffic - but we never were successful with the right buyer. We have since changed it to a 3.5% commission to the buyers agent.
In the end, I *think* it may have brought me more than average showings...but in the end it is the buyer who will make the decision - not the agent.
I believe that it doesnt hurt - esp. if you have the money.
One of the sentences in your first post bothered me - and it was that "no one is coming through". I'm not sure if you have to sell, or just want to - but usually, if no one is coming to look, it's that the house isn't priced well. By that, it appears that it is outside what anyone is willing to pay for your specific type of house. You might want your realtor to relook at the comps... Usually, people get potential buyers coming through, but not willing to commit. You need to focus on getting buyers in to begin with - and I would look at price and realtor's split before I would a bonus. Good luck - such an exasperating experience to go through - and our homes are never worth what we think they are (at least, not in this market..... )
Posts: 3634 | Location: Northern Virginia, USA | Registered: May 29, 2003
- the split is ...according to the agents' contract agreement with their broker - newer agents usually start at 50/50 and can graduate to higher splits under xxx dollar performance. More seasoned agents have higher splits.
In my experience, reducing the price has brought more traffic and offers. If the co-op fee offered is in line with what is expected in your area, I would not offer a bonus.
***It's not my job to sell a house to my buyer, it's my job to find the right house for my buyer.***
Posts: 2394 | Location: Colorado Springs, CO | Registered: Jan 18, 2003
We had a 1k bonus to the buyers agent in our listing as well as the buyers agent and my selling agent each got 3% we had constant traffic but no offers (the one thing I really appreciated about my selling agent was a website she had set up for each of her clients in which I'd receive an email saying I got feedback and I could log into the site to read it she gave the web link to the buyers agents and had them fill out a questioner after seeing the home, questions like would you buy this house, what didn't you like about the property, If you didn't make an offer what stopped you etc, the consensus was no one wanted the property because of the conservation land out back, it looked like a huge yard but you couldn't touch the conservation land to put a pool in etc) what finally got us offers was the fact that we had the house appraised and were surprised when the appraisal came in 20k over our asking price once we put that in the listing we had offers.
Hi all. thanks for all the replies. Lots to think about. I did look at that link and it also had lots of info. I knew the agents had to share their percent with their firms, but I didn't realize a bonus had to be shared. We are in the fastest growing county in our area, but I think the main problem is not many know we are here. We are only about 2 dozen homes tucked on a wooded hilltop, surrounded by pasture land. Our home is large and priced well, but unfortunately our agent seems to think "stealth" marketing is the way to go. I'm afraid she is of the old school where you listed and wait. She has only advertized in the local weekend paper twice, both times I had to pratically twist her arm. This is not a neighborhood where you just drive through. Although we are only 1 mile south of town, you have to make a point of coming here. KWIM? Her contract is up in June and I am sooo switching! Now I guess I need advice on picking a good agent. Should I go with the one who seems to advertive every weekend? Would it be tacky to stay with the same company or should I switch? YOu all are so helpful with this. My husband has already moved to the new town because of job, so it's just me and the cat left. Although we can keep this up financially for awhile, I really want to sell this house and get on with it.
Well - I don't think the stealth method has worked in a while ( ), so it sounds like you do need to find a more aggressive agent. The first thing I would do is ask everyone I knew if they had any realtors that had done an excellent job for them in the past (buying or selling). I would also go around and notice the signs that had Sold or Contract Pending on them... You don't mention where you live, but if you give a city - maybe some of the really great realtors on this board could provide suggestions. Also, if you want to put in your MLS link, everyone here can provide suggestions (some will make sense to do, some might not), and if you get even a few ideas, it was worth doing. Good luck - I've been there, I've done that, and I hated it.....
Posts: 3634 | Location: Northern Virginia, USA | Registered: May 29, 2003
If there is a way to find out what homes have sold recently or homes that are sale pending figure out if all those homes have one realtor in common. Then switch to that realtor.
As for your agent. You could try this but it could have consequences, one of my friends was really annoyed w/her realtor when she was selling her house, same situation realtor wasn't promoting the house etc so my friend told her that she was switching to another realtor and until then she would advertise the house herself and if the house sold before the contract was up with the first realtor then she was deducting the cost of advertising from the realtors fee. After telling her realtor this her realtor stepped up to bat and started advertising her house and having more open houses. I would be hesitant on doing this though your realtor might be so offended she may not lift one finger to help you get the house sold.
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