Reduced Commissions In A Buyer's Market?
I have recently noticed quite a few listings in MLS that offer a reduced buyer agent commission.
That often happens when a seller insists on paying a reduced commission and the listing agent offers to split that reduced commission 50/50 with the buyer’s agent in the MLS listing.
The seller thinks they saved some money while rationalizing that the commission is still a lot of money (it is!).
Sounds plausible until you stop and think about all of the other competing listings that offer a higher commission.
It’s a free market and commissions are negotiable, but it’s also apparent that agents representing buyers are going to gravitate to listings that offer competitive compensation.
Interestingly, one discount broker is now offering a $1.00 commission to buyer’s agents while asking them to submit their compensation request along with their offer.
What in the world are they thinking?
The idea, in a slower market, is to make listings attractive and easy to sell!
It’s interesting to note that many sellers are now offering bonus commissions to buyer’s agents – a tactic that surely puts the seller of a comparable property offering a reduced commission at a disadvantage.
February 10th, 2008 Posted in Uncategorized
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