Commission disclosure

[Gladiator]

I am interested in buying a home with out a real estate agent on my end. If asked, does the Seller's agent have to disclose to me the discount being offered to the seller if the potential buyer does not use an agent??

[audiokat]

Most selling agents keep the entire commission if you do not have an agent. Are you an agent yourself? If so you can negotiate your commission being illiminated to lower the price of the house. If not it will most likely be up to the agent/seller. In most stated the selling agent is promised the commission regardless of who buys it.

What is your motivation to buy without an agent since in most cases you arent paying for one? Just curious really.

Steve

[VegasRealEstate]

Does the listing agent have to disclose to you what the seller is paying him, absolutely not. If you do end up buying the home, you will see what the listing agent made on the final HUD.

If you don't have experience buying a home, I would have professional representation. There are many important issues that need to be in place in a contract to protect you the buyer. It doesn't cost you a thing to have professional representation!

[nss_be]

The best bet is talk with a Independent buyers real estate agent. Since you already decided on the house you both can agree to split the commision like buyer takes 2.5% and agent takes 0.5%. Most of the agent will agree for this because its almost free money for them.

[VegasRealEstate]

Good luck finding an agent agreeing to that. An agent still has to do all the paperwork (make sure the contract is written so the buyer gets the best deal and is properly protected), coordinate with the lender and escrow officer. Set up inspections, review paperwork, and the worst part, they have all the liability for the .5% you offered them.

[bfharris]

Good luck finding an agent agreeing to that. An agent still has to do all the paperwork (make sure the contract is written so the buyer gets the best deal and is properly protected), coordinate with the lender and escrow officer. Set up inspections, review paperwork, and the worst part, they have all the liability for the .5% you offered them.

It is correct that an agent still must do a lot of work and take on liability even if a buyer found the home on their own. A lot of people also don't think about the time and money spent by an agent to market themselves just so a buyer/seller will know who they are and use them; the money earned on a real estate transaction all goes to paying the agent back some of that money, as well as things such as the agent's cell phone bill so that they may keep the phone turned on to handle all of the last minute behind-the-scene calls between the title agency, home inspector, mortgage company, etc.. Think about it like buying a new car. A buyer generally will know if they want a Chevy or Ford or whatever and know where the dealer is located all because of advertising done by the dealer. Once a buyer gets to the dealer and makes a purchase, the money received by the dealer from the sale of the car goes toward paying the salesperson who assisted the buyer, the electric bill, the TV commercial, the water for the toilet that the buyer used while waiting on the paperwork to be completed, even the security guard who walks around the lot at night. If the dealer really gave everyone "invoice" pricing, then the dealer would have to close down. If real estate agents all cut their commission to low numbers then they couldn't afford to eat or wouldn't see their families, because they would spend so much time working so many deals to make up the difference in lost income, to where the customer would suffer by the loss of the personal touch offered now by any good agent.

[Agent 007]

You gotta love the buyers always looking to get more when the service is free for them in the first place... :rolleyes:

[Gladiator]

Sad...the last poster missed an entire concept. If you could read between the lines you might have understood it. I too probably should have gone more in depth, but you know what you are right. I am trying to get the best bang for my money, and if you think because some one is a brocker he should make $34,000 off of $680,000 because he has the title real estate that's your opinion. But if I have the will to represent myself how in the world is that free??????? The Seller's agent would still get a commission, I just wanted to do some negotiating. So how in the world is that free?????? I never asked or brought in a Buyer agent for me and asked them to work for free.

[abrahamchaffin]

What is free is the service to use an agent when you are buying property. The buyer's agent doesn't get paid by the buyer but by the seller. So I think the point that is being made is, why not use this service that you are not actually losing anything from utilizing. While you are gaining the expertise of an experienced real estate agent.

[TJ2007]

If you are not an agent, you really need to have someone representing you. The seller's agent only works for seller's benefit - you should have a professional on your side.

I have bought & sold countless properties and have always found it better to use an agent, you never know what problems can arise.

Of all the people I have recomended using a realtor and they did not take my advice they always got burned - and I mean BIG TIME

Advice from a fellow re investor -
Even if you think you can save a few bucks the risk is not worth the losses if you don't have a professional working for you....

[OregonLO]

get an agent on your side. I'm a mortgage broker and yes I get paid for what I do but I could only imagine what would happen to someone trying to get a mortgage on his own... You aren't paying them, the seller is. I understand that you'd like to cut costs of course. Maybe you can get them to lower the price by not using an agent but I don't think offering an agent .5% would work too well. If I was an agent I wouldn't do that. It is the same when people start asking me to cut my loan origination fee. Sure at times I'll do it and I'll still take care of them but if problems arise on a loan where I'm making twice the commission my attention is going to go into solving the problem on that loan first. So if you do get someone to take .5% I doubt you're going to get full service when they have other deals that might take priority because they are making 2 or 3% in commission.