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Lisa, I have talked about this before. There was an article in the Chicago Tribune of all the incentives listing agents were doing to entice agents to their clients to buy a house. The bottom line is what sells the house if THE RIGHT PRCE (along with meeting the buyer needs). The author of this article (Stephen Gande) must think that we have the power to hypnotize the buyer into buying a house that is out of their price range or does not fit their needs. If a house that is perfect for my client is paying a 1% co-op, I’ll show it. Keep showing houses to your client that fit your finical needs and not their housing needs and you will soon be with one less client! Gande is also missing a major paradigm shift that has occurred and that is still taking place for buyers of real estate. The Internet. Over 80% homes searching start on the internet. Many times our clients call us to say they want to see a house. We are not steering them to anything. I do believe that before the internet that this steering tactics may have happened by a few broker/agents. I am tired of the way people perceive realtors. I am also tired of people writing articles about us that do not have the facts correct or just aren’t true. There was an article in the Chicago Tribune awhile back stating why closing cost were so high. The author said one of the main reasons is that the title company is paying the realtors to do business with the title company. It is true that there is a fee being paid (that is passed on to the seller and buyer), but it’s to the attorney! Many attorneys here actually own a piece of the title company. All he had to do is look at in closing statement and see the seller’s attorney (and sometimes the buyer’s attorney) is receiving the fee. This in addition to the fee they pay for representing them. The article went on to say that you should ask your realtor for a rebate. I emailed him to set the facts straight and over a year later I am still waiting for a reply. I was in the business world for over 30 years before I decided to change careers. I am amazed at how bad, unscrupulous and dishonest we our perceived by the general public and these so called watch dog groups. When is that view going to change or maybe the question should be will it ever change? I think that we should all email Stephen Grande a rebuttal. He is wrong and he should know it. Any thoughts? Dan Chiappetta Broker/Owner, ABR, e-PRO MailTo:Dan.Chiappetta@ChiappettaRealtyGroup.com Cell: 847-542-2076 Office/Fax: 630-530-2491 www.ChiappettaRealtyGroup.com Specializing In Satisfying YOUR Needs!

I did a little research after reading the article.  Mr. Gandel talked about  Mohamad Khurram in Woodbrige, VA  offering 8% to the buyer agent, which is true.  He neglected to mention the house was taken off the market January 1, 2007 and that the owner Muhammad Khurram ( he spelled the first name wrong) was also the listing agent and Mr.Khurram bought the house January 9, 2006 for $605,645.00.  So Mr. Khurram could offer 8% and still see a tidy profit of over $111,000.00 if the huge commission drew a buyer.  The fact is the property was overpriced and the right price is the reason a property sells, not the amount of commission offered to the buyer agent.  It seems Mr. Gandel knew what he wanted to say and did not write about anything that would not support his opinion. 

Margery Stern
Custom Service Realty-Serving Northern Virginia

 

 

This article is pretty good.    It asked as couple of question we should all be paying attention to.

1.  Why does NAR not require Realtors to tell buyers how much they are being paid?
2.  Do bonuses cause Realtors to show one home over another and is that in the best interest of the buyer?

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Subject: Money Magazine article "Is your realtor (sic) on you
Author: Lisa Friedmann (lisafriedmann@comcast.net)
Date: February 5th, 2007, 1:55 PM PST
This got my hackles up. 
 
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/moneymag_archive/2007/02/01/8398744/index.htm?cnn=yes
 
Sincerely,
 
Lisa Friedmann, Associate Broker, CRS, GRI, e-Pro
RE/MAX Realty Group
6 Montgomery Village Ave.  #200
Gaithersburg, MD.   20879
 
lisa@yourmarylandhome.com
 
Office:  301-258-7757
Direct:  301-921-4528
Fax:     240-220-0708
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Thomas A. Early, Master CEBA
425 W. Schrock Rd.
Westerville Ohio 43081
Serving the Greater Columbus Ohio area
mailto:TomEarly@BuyersBrokerage.com
http://BuyersBrokerage.com
100% Buyer Representation 100% of the Time
Past President of the National Association of
Exclusive Buyer Agents (NAEBA) http://NAEBA.org
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Buyers Brokerage 1-614-890-2722

I guess the day I start doing business in this manner, I will also start charging a flat fee per house we look at, and maybe even a charge per listing I send to the buyer. Of course each time I have to redo the contract, change an addendum or heaven forbid talk to the client I will have to charge for that as well. Unfortunately as we all know so well the public perception of realtors is not great, and of course we are all drowning in all that money we are making. A couple of things I have found to be helpful- I explain that the commission that is paid on the sale of a house, actually pays 4 people (in my area at least- not that many teams). I also point out that as independent contractors we lack many of the "normal benefits" ie 401ks, health insurance as well as paying on average 45 cents out of every dollar for taxes. Perhaps this author would like to elaborate as to how much he is paid per word, and we can decide if his knowledge and experience is worth that. MAybe a poll taken after each article is published can establish his "value".

Unfortunately what is often missed is that the first thing to dissappear when negotiating offers is any extra incentive etc... I can't keep track of the times I had to give up this incentives to make a deal go through!