I read an article on a national news site suggesting that home owners can avoid “paying a hefty 6% commission” by selling their home without the help of a real estate agent.
There is a much simpler way to avoid paying 6% and that is to negotiate with the agent for a lower commission. There are agents who will not negotiate and they will suggest that if an agent will lower her commission that means she doesn’t know how to negotiate and that she won’t be able to negotiate a decent offer on your home.
I will argue that the negotiating process is give and take and that the agent who refuses to negotiate her own commission probably won’t be easy to work with on other issues and it is hard to gauge a persons ability to negotiate if they won’t negotiate.
According to the Minnesota Attorney General commissions are negotiable. The one negotiating tip I would like to give homeowners is that they should be negotiating the commission before the contract with the listing agent is signed not after they get an offer on the house.
How much do I charge? That depends. I can not think of a situation where I would not accept 6% or more but I have also accepted less. I am paid on a 100% commission basis and do not get paid until after a successful closing of a sale, which means I work for free until it closes. I tend to look at the value of the home, the amount of effort and cost of marketing and the amount of risk.
Sometimes I will discount my commission because home is listed in an area where my for sale sign will be noticed and will help advertise my business. Boardman Realty is my company and I have a great deal of flexibility.
