Wow, I just had time to read this thread and can't believe what I see. This little ole country boy who is relocating to NJ in the next two months for a job transfer will just have to pass the comments to the rest of our transfers (many who own second homes on Hilton Head too.) I guess some of ya'all don't need our poor little 7 transfered modest upper income southern families business. Maybe J&J workers can't afford the $800,000 and will have to limit their poor southern families to a little below average. I know these sales would waste your time.
BTW, we pay 6% to sell a house and 10% to sell our farmland on average. You can always get chaeper service if that is what you are looking for, even in our small little market but that is only because we are so slow down here.
I guess the rumors about living up north are true.

Wed Jun 11 2008, 11:10

I do not know about your state, though I do know that in Washington State there is so "standard" Commission. Commissions are negotiable and sometimes you get what you pay for. There is value in hiring the right REALTOR®. The thing that you do have to remember, is that these are professionals and they have strong marketing experience, negotiating skills and the experience to manage your transaction to closing. We do this every day! The other thing that you have to remember, like anyone else REALTORS® work for money. If you are selling your home, you want to offer a good SOC ( Selling Office Commission) and you need to pay a good LOC ( Listing Office Commission ) as well. The listing agent pays for all the advertising to market and sell your property. The Selling agent brings the Buyer and by paying a good Selling Office Commission (SOC) that will make sure to have your home shown and sold. After all this is our Profession, we work for money, including the clients we work for. Remember almost all REALTORS® and Real Estate Agents are self-employed. When you see the dollar amount of a commission, that is before E&O insurance, B&O insurance, Social Security, Taxes, Office fees and Marketing expenses. After all that is paid, we get whatever is left over. Sometimes that is not much..... There is value is hiring a REALTOR® and in paying a good commissions. This is one of the largest investments that you will make and you want to make sure that it is done right.

Thu May 1 2008, 20:45

Enough already. people like Tman and Fred are going to exist in every aspect of sales. What Tman refuses to address is just like the Twins will never be the Mets or the Yankees, smaller markets are going to always be smaller markets. (except when Tiger drives throught the town car to hang out with Gary Player and Tman) Tman does not understand different markets only what he sees in his backyard.

The standard commission for selling a home is 5.1% - that is the national average. If you are in Enid, Oklahoma, it could be possible that the rates could be higher or lower, in Catskill NY the average is 7%.. that is 4 hours north of NYC and houses do not sell too often... 7%. So, I guess we know that houses in wherever South Carolina where Tman, Tiger Woods (ha ha) and Gary player live.. Your commission will be in the 2.5% - 3% range.. so I advise you to move to a better area if you want to sell homes.

Done. Over.

Tue Apr 29 2008, 17:33

Well, I can't speak for anyone else but Deborah makes a great point. Corpus Christi currently has 3,213 homes listed for sale and the MLS is showing at least an ave. of 25 new listing a day. To be quite honest, if anything the commissions seemed to have increased over the past few years. I remember 2 to 2.5% buyer's agent commissions being across the board only a few years ago. I am still seeing 2.5% commissions but alot more of 3% to 3.5% and some (few) 4% offer to buyers agents. I would say the ave. comm. here is from 5% but mostly 6 and some 7%

Tue Apr 29 2008, 15:24

There is no standard for all Realtors. Each company sets their own commission rate.

Tue Apr 29 2008, 09:06

Our standard rate is 6% of the sales price. 3% to the listing broker and 3% to the buying broker.

Tue Apr 29 2008, 09:02

The question isn't whether or not this rate issue exists and needs to be proven by me ... the issue is for you to prove it "doesn't" exist ...

But thank you, you've just proved it does ... or you wouldn't have spent the last 4 months and all that spent energy from the same 3 agents that always want to wave the flag and pound the drum for the NAR. ...

Basically you're just trying to reaffirm your position with "your" clients -- afraid you'll get caught..?

See, it matters not for me whether Deborah charges 8% or 18% .. it makes little or no difference for me if Chris charges 60% - and it really makes no difference that the realtor down the street will do 4.5%... it's a buyers market, and agents being part of this discounted market .. some agents will gain from it and others won't.

But it is important that consumers know and understand the market is changing .. and will change a lot more in the next 25 months, discounted rates are already here by a lot of full service realtors ... it's the buyers and sellers job to shop - shop some more and find the right one - and not pay too much ...

Do you think the car dealer is going to tell his customer that the buyer in the next office just paid $900 less for the same car.? - I don't think so .l.o.l...

The thinking is simple and basic, they would rather make $8,400 on this $240,000 home sale than zero .. they would rather see a $20,000 flat fee on that $800,000 home sale than watching the stock report on CNN for the 63rd time ...

So, whether you except it now .. 20 months from now, or never - is really non important .. the savvy consumers will interview you and your price .. some will gain, some won't.

You're in the the same scenario that car dealers were in 1998/2004 ... they laughed at the consumers with their internet information, then hiding this cost and that cost ...

Then one by one, their market penetration fell from 97%, then 70%, then a few short years later under 50% ... now they're working for someone else .. or not at all.

Chris: "these poor people" .... please, stop the drama class.

You work in one of the most distressed area's of the country .. you make a commission off of nice hard working folks that can barely make their mortgage payment or their hospital needs -- and you say "this poor people.."...? ..l.o.l...

This is the very reason why consumer advocates like myself take folks like you to task ...


-

Tue Apr 29 2008, 08:58

Hello: There is no "standard" brokers fee. It is negotiable. The reality is that to sell a home in the current market it takes much effort/marketing than in previous years. Brokers fees/commissions are anywhere from 5 to 8%. To increase a home's exposure Realtors are doing much more of the following: print ads, "Just Listed" mailings, conducting open houses, Broker's luncheons, and increased internet exposure from blogs to featured websites. And this is just a sampling of what can be done. These items are paid for by the agent out of his/her marketing dollars in an attempt to get the home sold. As mentioned previously, there is no commission/ brokers fee paid if the home is not sold; therefore the agent is out-of-pocket what could be a large amount of money.

Sat Apr 26 2008, 18:52

Everyone, let's just let this thread die. I am sure that Ray has already listed...and seeing how long this thread has been, may have even closed. I am sure that even he is tired of reading the answers.

Come on, let's move on, and just ignore the "silly" answers...you know what they say about opinions.

Ray, good luck.

John Jelinski
Crossroads Realty
609-713-3454
johnjelinski_7@msn.com

Sat Apr 26 2008, 12:52

Hi Chris,
I understand your concerns. When someone from outside the industry reads inaccurate data, they don't know it is faulty.

Hi Ray,
In our MLS for Monmouth/Ocean NJ, as in most MLSs, the buyer agent commission (BAC) is printed, but not the seller agent commission. Any member Realtor can advise you what a competitive rate for BAC is for this area, and will advise you for your property and personal situation. What I cannot see in the MLS is the total commission. There are over 1000 listings in Toms River right now, and the buyer agent commission alone as reflected in MLS would easily dispel any faulty data represented earlier in this thread. For the buyer agents to receive the commission offerings represented would mean we have a lot of seller agents working for free or even paying you. Since it is preposterous to think that 1000 seller agents are working for free, the data does not support faulty claims made earlier in this thread. Additionally, I have pulled YTD stats for Toms River, and that, again, discredits claims made on this thread.

If I can assist you with accurate data and advice based upon local market conditions, please feel free to contact me. I can support my assertions.

Regards,
Deborah Madey - Real Estate Broker
Peninsula Realty Group - New Jersey
732 530-6350

Sat Apr 26 2008, 08:36

JR,

I know that you are right.

I worry for the people out there who want serious and accurate info out there and think that he might actually be providing it. I see that several people found his info "helpful".

Those poor people.

Sat Apr 26 2008, 08:11

Chris, it's pointless. There are no numbers to back up these statements. As you say, they are straight out of the ether. Some folks think if they repeat a lie often enough it becomes the truth. Like the "fact" that there are "quality agents" who are more than happy to do the job for 3 or 4%. "Quality agents" are turning down listings left and right.

Sat Apr 26 2008, 08:06

Straight from the ether again, TMAN
______________________________
Most realtors haven't see a paycheck in months and quality agents will be more than happy to do a quality job for 3/4%
___________________________________________________

Do you have some numbers to back up this crazy BS statement? You keep using it as though it is true, where is your proof?

Quite frankly, the Realtors that are not selling are likely "not desperate" but "Out of business". If by some miracle of God they are still hanging on and charging massive discount commissions like you suggest, "They will be out of business" next week.

I am sure that if you didn't get a paycheck in 3-4 months AND people expected you to work for table scraps that you couldn't make a living on, then you would find a new job outside of Real Estate.

Back up your crazy claims, or stop claiming them.

Sat Apr 26 2008, 07:50

Ray,

**..I'm seeing commissions in the 6, 7 and 8% area..**


If you see those numbers you better be running the other way ...

Most realtors haven't see a paycheck in months and quality agents will be more than happy to do a quality job for 3/4% ....

7/8% .l.o.l.. I gotta say, Dianne sure has a good sense of humor....


: ^))

Fri Apr 25 2008, 16:41

There is NO standard commission for selling a house. If anyone tells you that there is, then that is price fixing and TOTALLY illegal! However, the common commission to put out to the buyers agency is 2.5%. Then there is the listing side for the listing agency. That fee can range as well. Remember that all commissions are negotiable. If you have any other questions, feel free to contact me, Lynn Dachisen, at 908 256-0508 or email me at Lynn@MyNJDreamHome.com. Hope this helps

Fri Apr 25 2008, 16:12

Ray, there really is no "standard" commission - it's a "negotiable" commission; however, I can tell you that in this market, I'm seeing commissions in the 6, 7 and 8% area. Why? Because it's so much more difficult to market a house these days and an agent has to spend a lot more of his/her marketing dollars to get the home sold (IF it gets sold). As you know, there is NO COMMISSION paid if the home is not sold; therefore the agent is out-of-pocket what could be a large amount of money.

Hope this gives you some understanding .

Fri Apr 25 2008, 14:52

JR - real estate investment, not single family flips, commercial and multifamily, mainly focused internationally. my main point is the industry is going to be put through the ringer as this thing progresses. the successful brokerages will evolve and leave the commission only folks in the dust. here's a little excerpt just out - most supply since 1981:

The median price of a new home decreased by 13.3% to $227,600 in March from the previous year, according to Thursday's report. The average price tumbled by 11.3% to $292,200 from a year earlier. Regionally last month, new-home sales decreased 12.5% in the Midwest and 19.4% in the Northeast. Sales fell 4.6% in the South and 12.9% in the West. The month's supply of homes for sale rose last month to 11 months, the highest since September 1981.

Thu Apr 24 2008, 07:25