2% Realty

[s2k_boi]

Has anyone used them before and thoughts?

The commission is 2% flat split between the two sides vs. the tradtion 7/3 or 5/3.

[Xtrema]

Correct me if I'm wrong, isn't 2% commission means it will only limit traffic from MLS browsers and other current clients of 2% Realty?

There is no way any buyer agents will bring their clients to a 2% property showings unless their client insists.

Then again, with average house price reaching 1/2 a mil. Agents can still spit $10K in commission @ 2%.

[Yuubah]

are you sure it's 2% split both ways? That's only 1% each.

I doubt the buying agents will bring clients to see your place if they only make 1%.

[spike98]

Go comfree and simply offer commission to the buyers agent. This way you do the leg work (and ensure its done right) and the you aren't limited to buyers without representation.

[Neil4Speed]

My cousin used them to sell two of his condos. They are a pure volume realty service. It works well for certain situations, but they will encourage you to sell on the lower side of market value as they make their cash on turnover. He seemed generally happy with the service they offered.

[SOAB]

isn't Comfree like $2500?

my realtor charged me $1000 to list and negotiate the sale of my house. $500 up front and $500 at closing of the sale.

[spike98]

Originally posted by SOAB
isn't Comfree like $2500?

my realtor charged me $1000 to list and negotiate the sale of my house. $500 up front and $500 at closing of the sale.

Its $2500 if you want the platinum (or whatever its called) package that comes with a realtor attached. Basic marketing tools (signs, MLS, ect) is only about $500

[Yuubah]

Comfree costs $1000 for the top package (no realtor)... I think it starts at $500 for the basic. Then you have to pay the buying agent a fee... up to you what that fee is.

[Mitsu3000gt]

+1 for Comfree. A friend of mine recently used them. His Realtor was trying to get him to sell low and make a quick commission, so he bought a $1000 package from comfree, sold his condo in 3 days for $40,000 more than the Realtor was suggesting, and is ahead approximately $60,000 compared to what he would be after Realtor fees and the lower asking price. That is crazy.

Same deal with my GF's mom, she has been through 2 Realtors now trying to lowball her house, and when she checks, everything similar around her has been selling for way more than the Realtor was suggesting, and now finally the third one seems to be better. So many are just looking for quick commissions, especially with how hot the market is. The first 2 wouldn't even show her the reports of recently sold properties in the area haha (obviously because they didn't want her to know what they were up to).

Selling Realtors scare me so much that I would be doing most of the work myself anyway to cover my ass, so I would never go that route if at all possible. There are enormous amounts of money to be saved, especially if you have a somewhat desirable property. When buying, I'll happily use a Realtor, even though I still do most of the work myself, since they can add more value and it costs me nothing, so it's a win-win.

[Canucks3322]

House down the street is using 1% realty. ..I Made a thread about this asking if traditional Realtors are worth it and found it absolutely hilarious and quite telling that not a single realtor on here commented on it. They're all scared that more and more people are realizing that they really don't deserve the outrageous 7/3% commissions they make. Sure doesn't help that houses are selling themselves in this market either.

[Env-Consultant]

I sold my last house using 2%. One percent to each realtor. Real estate agent was a total plug, took horrible pictures, and was in need of babysitting throughout. I ended up selling my house for 30 K more than 2 x regular realtors suggested I list my house at. If the market holds up until when i sell my current house, it will sell in a matter of days - I will pay to get it listed on MLS - if a buyer wants their realtor paid, I'll negociate a price, then send a final counter with the price + their realtor's fees. My house is worth over 600k - people are nuts to chuck away 7+% at these values.

[pheoxs]

Originally posted by Canucks3322
House down the street is using 1% realty. ..I Made a thread about this asking if traditional Realtors are worth it and found it absolutely hilarious and quite telling that not a single realtor on here commented on it. They're all scared that more and more people are realizing that they really don't deserve the outrageous 7/3% commissions they make. Sure doesn't help that houses are selling themselves in this market either.

Couldn't agree more. I used one of the realtors on this forum and wasn't impressed at all. One meeting then deferred to an associate. Then the listings we saw weren't all that great so ended up constantly watching myself. Found the house I love myself and basically just used the realtor to do the paperwork. 3 days of actual house hunting time with the realtor for 8k$ Commissions (half of 400k). Never got any house warming gift or anything really afterwards.

Don't see why id ever use a realtor again to be honest. I just don't see the value they bring to the table in this digital era.

[ganesh]

We recently sold our house. We used a realtor. As part of the service she included the Staging and Professional photography. On top when we take posseion of the new house we can use the staging service as well. She took $1500 off the commision. Our house got sold for 2% more than the asking price in 5 days.
I know using comfree or other options you may be able to save money on the commision but IMO if you want your house sold in a hassle free manner better to go through a professional.

[Canucks3322]

^ So what you're saying is use a realtor if you want to pay more and sell your house for less and in more time than the other posters in here? :dunno:

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by pheoxs


Couldn't agree more. I used one of the realtors on this forum and wasn't impressed at all. One meeting then deferred to an associate. Then the listings we saw weren't all that great so ended up constantly watching myself. Found the house I love myself and basically just used the realtor to do the paperwork. 3 days of actual house hunting time with the realtor for 8k$ Commissions (half of 400k). Never got any house warming gift or anything really afterwards.

Don't see why id ever use a realtor again to be honest. I just don't see the value they bring to the table in this digital era.

+1
This has been the case with just about everyone I know who has used a Realtor to sell. They do 90% of the work themselves because the Realtors price low for a quick sale, and also because you'd be an idiot not to do your own due diligence regardless. The automated emails with property suggestions are not required, since you are going to look yourself anyway. In Calgary, many houses sell themselves anyway. You end up handing over $15,000 - $30,000 +++ for a few hours work, and for someone to drive you around and let you in to a few homes. I don't think anyone is saying they can't sometimes be helpful, but their commissions are completely absurd, which is what most people have an issue with. I think they should be paid based on how much work they actually do, and by the hour OR a reasonable flat fee, gently tiered with relation to selling price.


Originally posted by ganesh
We recently sold our house. We used a realtor. As part of the service she included the Staging and Professional photography. On top when we take posseion of the new house we can use the staging service as well. She took $1500 off the commision. Our house got sold for 2% more than the asking price in 5 days.
I know using comfree or other options you may be able to save money on the commision but IMO if you want your house sold in a hassle free manner better to go through a professional.

Everyone I know who has sold their house themselves, including 3 within my family, have been hassle free. You can also hire a staging service and a photographer for a hell of a lot less than most Realtor fees, if you don't wish to do either yourself.

[G]

Not all realtors are created equally!

I sold my house using Jordon on here and got 698k out of our 699k asking price in 2 days. Buyers had issues with the home inspection and wanted to reduce the price for the roof and other things. Don't know what Jordan did but they waived conditions with no strings attached while I was on vacation with the family. I initially wanted to list the house for about 650k but Jordan came in, staged it, took great pictures and said he feels we can push the limit and list it for a little under 700k and it worked and ended up being the highest sold price in our area. If I used comfree would I have done this? Would I have been able to get the buyers to waive all conditions even after they had issues from the inspection? I am building a new house as well so having my house languish on the market was the last thing I need. Now that it is sold and I know how much I have to work with I can go full speed ahead with my new build. I totally feel I got what I paid for using a realtor.

A similar house half a block down the street that is 100 sqft bigger used 1% and it sat on the market for over 90 days. The owners listed at 688k initially, it didn't sell so they replaced the carpets and installed granite in the kitchen and washrooms. Still it sat there so they lowered the price to 649k and it still didn't sell. Now they are using a never heard of realtor from Discover Real Estate and relisted for 619k...yes that is a 70k reduction plus the cost of the renos.

I drive by everyday and feel their desparation. I'm so glad I used one of the best realtors in the business.

[Mitsu3000gt]

^^^ So you paid a hair under $25,000 for a few hours work (assuming normal fees). To me, that is completely absurd.

If your house sold easily and the one down the street didn't, it isn't because of carpets and counter tops. Realtors don't magically make people buy houses, and I'm sure the staging helped your case a lot (which anyone can do).

You don't have to spend $25,000 for some staging, photographs, and a little market research. With minimal effort I suspect you'd have $15-20K in your pocket still. if you had a desirable enough home to sell in 2 days, you likely wouldn't have had to put much effort in to sell it yourself beyond perhaps some staging and good photos.

[G]

The thing is I would've listed for 650k because that is what all the comps are in my area. He got me 50k more so even after paying the realtors I am still ahead 25k and not to mention this was all done while I was on vacation....can't put a price on that.....probably going to chap your ass even more knowing that Jordan is also making a cut off my new home but paid by my builder. Again, I think I am getting value there as well. He was there for all our meetings and he gave great input on how flooring, cabinets, lights, etc all go together. Us being asian are bred to make bad color choices.:banghead:

[ExtraSlow]

I agree, that sometimes the fact that a service is expensive doesn't mean it's a rip-off.
Used jordan on my last transactions, and was happy with the value provided.

[Type_S1]

Yup, I have been saying this for years. Realtor's do not magically sell houses and they absolutely do not make your house sell for more. With technology now adays you can do price comparison’s across multiple communities in a few minutes if you have half a brain. You can "stage" your home quite easily yourself. Anyone with a DSLR Camera can take fancy pictures...I am sure you can borrow one from a buddy. I can guarantee you I am a better negotiator then 99.9% of the realtors around so why do I need them to haggle back and forth with another half brained guy when their main goal is just to get the deal done to rip you off on commission? Also without a realtor I don't have some plug pressuring me into buying/selling a home because they want to close another deal.


Realtor's are a dying profession no question about it. I'd give it about 20 more years and you won't see any realtor's driving a $100k car. That all being said...if I didn't have an education and make great $ already I'd become a realtor in a second. Hard to find any other job where you can make so much $ with little effort or brain power. :whipped:

[The_1]

wow...this seems pretty good
they do all the work for 2%
i'm thinking about listing a condo so i might give this a shot

[project240]

You think every realtor is a baller and drives 100k cars? Commission could be structured differently as you'd make 4x as much selling a 1mm house vs a 250k condo, but realistically about the same amount of work.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by project240
You think every realtor is a baller and drives 100k cars? Commission could be structured differently as you'd make 4x as much selling a 1mm house vs a 250k condo, but realistically about the same amount of work.

Baller or not, they are grossly overpaid for the work they put in, from everything I have ever seen. I know some people who are weekend/evening Realtors on the side, and they make very nice supplements to their day job income for doing next to nothing.

When people think their Realtors are getting them another $50K or whatever, it's only because they didn't do their research properly. I'm sure they could have paid a lot less for the same guidance if they didn't want to figure it out themselves too. I believe Comfree and similar services offer you price consults with people who have nothing to gain by lowballing your property's worth. I would definitely list my place for more than I thought it was worth if I was selling and see if I got any bites, then lower it from there - especially in Calgary, you never know whose looking.

There are plenty of staging and photography services around, for far less money than Realtor commissions.

I just can't wrap my head around how crazy high commissions are. They can certainly add value, but paying them a few grand an hour is absurd, especially when most people do much of the work themselves anyway to protect themselves from Realtors just trying to make a quick buck by under pricing your property.