real estate agents that charge a flat rate?

[rtsen]

Has anyone heard of real estate agents that charge a flat rate instead of the standard fee (7% on the first $100k and 3% thereafter).

I remembered I seen a new segment in Edmonton where real estate agents started doing this but I can’t find the real estate firm. I think they charge $3k as the flat rate. Is this happening in Calgary as well?

[HRD2PLZ]

You can find some Realtors who will charge a flat rate on their side of the listing, but will still charge a 3.5% on the first $100,000 & 1.5% on balance of sale price for another Realtor to bring in their buyer.

[barmanjay]

Im sure there are many associates and brokerages that will entertain your request, but dont expect much for service.

all they'll do it list it on mls and take your money then call it a day.

by flat fee you are giving no incentive for them to help you sell,.. ie: open houses, suggestions on how to present, other marketing and etc,...

good luck,.. just keep calling brokerages,.. i would suggest ones that are not big franchise names.

yellow pages is your friend

they may be more desperate for work.

The only time I've heard low flat fees, is from new home sales paid to their in-house sales staff.

i can see more of a 5k flat fee + the buyers %

[turbotrip]

when i had a few houses for sale privately on sites like welist, etc I got atleast 2 calls a week from agents who wanted to sell the houses for flat rate fees. I think theres a magazine called "calgary homes" or something similar and almost all of them had ads in that magazine

[JordanLotoski]

whats your house worth.....i can give you a flat rate if youd like.

[old&slow]

God forbid a real estate agent only makes 8 or 10 grand on a property sale that requires no physical labor and a few keystrokes....

[Redlyne_mr2]

I wouldn't want to cheap out on a realtor, there are a lot of jerkoffs out there who have no idea what they're doing.

[Weapon_R]

Originally posted by barmanjay
Im sure there are many associates and brokerages that will entertain your request, but dont expect much for service.

all they'll do it list it on mls and take your money then call it a day.

by flat fee you are giving no incentive for them to help you sell,.. ie: open houses, suggestions on how to present, other marketing and etc,...

good luck,.. just keep calling brokerages,.. i would suggest ones that are not big franchise names.

yellow pages is your friend

they may be more desperate for work.

The only time I've heard low flat fees, is from new home sales paid to their in-house sales staff.

i can see more of a 5k flat fee + the buyers %

What exactly are realtors doing today that they didn't do 5 or 10 years ago to justify their 8-10k commissions? Enlighten us to help justify your attitude, since you're in for a big surprise once you get your license.

[JordanLotoski]

Originally posted by old&slow
God forbid a real estate agent only makes 8 or 10 grand on a property sale that requires no physical labor and a few keystrokes....

I bet if you spent a week with me you would change your outlook....I sold 52 homes last. Thats one a week. I had no assistants helping me..i ran my ass off all year. My job isnt easy..hence why 10% of realtors make 90% of the money.

what is it that you do for a living?

[max_boost]

I think these guys were formerly known as 1% Central Realty? Remember hearing their ads all over the radio stations awhile back.

http://www.teamstewart.ca/

$5650 to have your home listed on the MLS? Not sure what other services are provided though.

Sometimes instead of trying to save a few grand with an unknown realtor, you rather just go with one who's experienced, has a solid reputation, no BS and can get you the results.

[JordanLotoski]

^^^ max, you really get what you pay for though.

[Mazstyle]

Originally posted by MIWYFSHOT
^^^ max, you really get what you pay for though.

I've dealt with 4 realtors, and I'd say it's pretty hit and miss. The only one I was happy with was a friend who gave me a deal other then that, they were all garbage which is why I'm hesitant to use an agent for selling my current house.

[Melinda]

We love our agent, he's awesome. And he works his ass off for us, especially in a market that's calmed down quite a bit. Very honest with us, good advice and he does all the grunt work such as setting up viewings, meetings for offers, handling the rejections/counters for offers, now he's dealing with the lawyer end of things for us because we've just sold our place.

Just the selling end of things there's a lot to be done, I certainly don't have the time or knowledge to be able to handle it. Takes about 95% of the work out of selling our house. IMO, it's well worth the money spent and it comes with the piece of mind of knowing that it's all been done correctly.

Now we're embarking on the buying side of things and once again, he's kicking ass for us. The right realtor, even if it isn't a flat fee type deal, is definately worth it IMHO.

[barmanjay]

Originally posted by Weapon_R


What exactly are realtors doing today that they didn't do 5 or 10 years ago to justify their 8-10k commissions? Enlighten us to help justify your attitude, since you're in for a big surprise once you get your license.

I didn't think I had attitude

Not that i don't care what other realtors are or aren't doing. I know what I'm going to try and do to maximize service for clients.

Are you in real estate? Got any inside info to help me become a better realtor?

This is stuff we are learning

The do's and don'ts, what the laws of agency, feduciary duties are. Laws and rules of the real estate act.

RECA is making big changes apparently from what it as years ago.

The full time course takes 3 months of condensed information (8 text books), 5 provincial exams now plus manditory courses each year, instead of 3 weeks and 1 book, 1 exam it was a few years ago.

I'm sure I'll be more edumacated than MIWYFSHOT next month j/k

Alot of realtors (from what I'm told) may only sell 1 house every couple months.

I'd be weary about the 8-10k take home for realtors like you stated

Some brokerages take 30% of their cut,.. buyer and seller realtors split commission 50%,.. so figure a 400k house with lets say a 7/3 borkerage commission

that's a total of 16k split

8k for each realtor.

2.4k for the brokerage and 5.6 for the realtor,.. then his expenses (conveyancing, advertising, desk fees, annual RECA fees, even transportation costs) and taxes.

Not much for even 1 house a month,.. he might have a take home of 4k? or less?


Thats not even 50K a year.

So in order to make a decent living, a realtor would have to make 2 sales a month.

[HRD2PLZ]

Realtor's are definitely not all alike, like MYWYSHOT said, 10% of us do 90% of the work. I work extremely hard for all of my clients too, regardless of what I charge. The job is definitely not as easy as hitting a few key stokes and answering a few phone calls, but you do get what you pay for. Many of the discount Realtor's are the ones who are creating a majority of the problems in our field, they are the ones throwing mud onto those of us who do work our butts off for our clients.

[Kloubek]

Ok.... I think I can find a happy medium here.

Our market used to be SUPER hot. At that time, you guys have to admit that selling online through welist and places like that was a sweet deal. I sold my own home for market value without having to pay a realtor. You just put up a good ad, and it happens. (Took 2 months though)

With this in mind, you're pretty much giving your money away as a seller. I took the money I saved, and got my place for cheaper.

When a market slows down, it's not quite so easy to sell your place. A realtor allows your place to get much better exposure than welist ever could. I am not entirely sure what the market is like right now, but perhaps things aren't selling as quickly. I know people recently who HAD realtors, and their places still didn't get sold. At times like this - especially if you are desperate to sell your place, they can be a good investment.

I have to say though, and I would like these hard working (that is not sarcastic - I know many of you do indeed work your asses off) realtors to give me an honest answer here.

When BUYING a home, is it not beneficial to forgo the realtor and just contact the agents directly through MLS? Is there some Realtor rule which dictates that the selling realtor now gets ALL the commission the buyer would have otherwise spent on his own?

[HRD2PLZ]

Originally posted by Kloubek


I have to say though, and I would like these hard working (that is not sarcastic - I know many of you do indeed work your asses off) realtors to give me an honest answer here.

When BUYING a home, is it not beneficial to forgo the realtor and just contact the agents directly through MLS? Is there some Realtor rule which dictates that the selling realtor now gets ALL the commission the buyer would have otherwise spent on his own?

Absolutely not. I feel its always much better to have your own unbiased representation. I never sell my own listings. I will always refer that buyer to a trusted colleague of mine. That way, everyone is truly equally represented. As a Realtor, I much prefer building a relationship with my buyers so that I can truly help them with the purchase instead of just showing someone who calls off a sign my listing then going separate ways. If I was to leave the industry and was looking to purchase a property, I would absolutely always have my own representation.

Think of it this way, if you were married and in the middle of a divorce, would you and your ex use the same lawyer? (lawyer's can't handle both sides, but you get my drift).

[barmanjay]

RECA is trying to change the industry this year,.. so a dual agency is not desired.

Almost to the point where clients would require an individual agent to represent them aside from the opposite agent, with heavy rules and big fines to keep client confidentiality and to work only in the interest of your client to get the best for them, even if both agents are from the same brokerage.

This way there is no "inside info" being passed to help "speed" the sale.

[JordanLotoski]

^^^ it will be Dual agency with limitations...RECA wont be stopping us anytime soon from double ending deals.....I treat one as a customer and the other as a client.

[barmanjay]

Originally posted by Kloubek
........ I am not entirely sure what the market is like right now, but perhaps things aren't selling as quickly..........

All the teachers have been hinting that the real estate boom for the couple years was unbelieveable and most likely will never happen in calgary again in our lifetime.

I've been reading their hints like this:

The market has definitely slowed and probably wont go up much more, if at all by the end of the year.

Probably plateau,.. maybe dip and drop a little bit,.. then maybe come back up to our current level,.. and cycle back again.

They showed a little bit of emphasis on a ' roller coaster cycle' in the last course, and we are at the peak ready for a down turn.

Don't all get scared,.. this is just what I have interpreted from the teachers (some are brokers/agents,.. some are lawyers - i could never get a straight answer from them),.. they don't study the economics that determine the real esate industry,.. they just teach the program desinged by AREA - Aberta Real Estate Assosciation