That can be a tricky situation.

If company A charges 6.5% to list and sell a piece of real estate that cost a $100K, it equals $6500 in costs to sell.

If company B charges 7.5% for listing & selling on the same piece of property, thats a cost of $7500, giving you 20% back as a gift still gives you a cost of $6000. Not far off.....

Check the rates of commission is where I am getting at with this.....if their rates for selling are the same, its not a bad deal, but read the fine print. If its a private owned realtor, that might make the difference as well. Real estate has ways to be worked to get what you want and need out of it.

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But this is a buyers agent.

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"When two people agree on everything, one of them is not necessary" - Arliss

Must be a starving agent trying to survive......LOL!!

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2004 X-5 4.4
2007 Shelby Mustang
2008 Chevrolet Avalanche

blue is expert in this area I believe.

I am involved with the commercial market not single family residential.

I think the post regarding buyers agent is for purchasing a new home. In the NYC metro area most people don't use a buyers agent. I would think that the concept is that your agent would co/broke with the selling/listing broker. The buyers agent then kicks back some of his fee (which might not be legal).

The concept of a buyers might be a good idea if he is truly independent and well informed. He would gather listing and sales data for the type of home you are looking to purchase and help you negotiate offers/purchases.

The only question in my mind is where do you stand with your existing home; you might be better off going to contact with that house before you sign contract on a new one.

Here in California, it is legal to give back part of your commission to the Buyer or Seller, as it falls within the guidelines of RESPA, where by giving part of their commission, the agent is helping reduce the Buyer's or Seller's out of pocket expenses.

While this may not be true with all agents that give part of their commission back, but something to think about is if an agent is willing to give up part of their commission, how strong do you think they will be in negotiating the best price for you? I have a client that was willing to pay $700K for a property and I was able to get them that property for $690K. They're saving $10K as opposed to getting $3500 based on a 2.5% commission before any split with my company. They would probably get less after the split. Do you think an agent giving up 20% of their commission would have negotiated as best as they could to get them the best price possible? It's bad to say, but the higher the price, the more we make, especially if we're giving up 20%. And if a listing agent gives back any part of their commission, it's only for the listing side and not the whole commission charged.

I bought my home in 2003, right before the market surge. I also put about 70% down in cash and secured a 30 year, 5.75 interest rate on the rest.
- My point is, my monthly nut on my current property is considerably less (about 1/2) of what I could reasonably rent my home for. - Since I have a great interest rate for 30 years and can use my current home as an income property, I see no reason to sell at this time. I'd rather wait for the market to rebound. Worst case scenario, I rent the house at cost and sit on it.

In response to X5guyinLA,
Please don't take offense but I would no sooner let a real estate agent negotiate on my behalf than I would allow my dentist to pick my stock market portfolio. - Real Estate agents have NO serious qualifications or educations that would prepare them to negotiate million dollar deals on my behalf. A real estate agent might be an ADVISOR but more than anything, they are a messenger. They do not have Power of Attorney on my behalf and I do not authorize them to negotiate for me. Real Estate agents are never interested in getting their customer in a home at the BEST price, their primary concern is just getting them in a home so they can move on to their next sale. And any way you slice it, the more the home costs, the more money the agent makes.
- Agents can pull comps, be familiar with schools in the area, suggest trends, but they are certainly not going to offer any more or less than the exact dollar amount I tell them.

Again, I'm just talking hypothetical anyway. Unless I can pick up a home at that is as good a bargain as stocks are now, FORGET IT, I'd rather keep my money invested. If stocks have dropped 50% and home values have dropped 20%, I'm better off staying in the market. But I still have my eyes open for a phenomenal opportunity, should one arise.

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"When two people agree on everything, one of them is not necessary" - Arliss

no offense taken, but that just sounds like either you haven't worked with agents that know what they're doing or just had a really bad time with one. You're right, all we need is a real estate license and we're an agent. That can be said for stock brokers and financial planners. They do the same thing we do except with stocks, mutual funds, etc. We are advisors because ultimately it is the client's decision. If you think that all we do is tell the other agent what you want, then you're mistaken. My job when working with a buyer is to bring the Seller's agent over on to our side and convince the seller to take our offer. Just telling them what you want isn't going to get the deal done. At the same time, I'm not only negotiating with the other agent, but also with my client. I have to convince the client that if a price they're offering is too low, why it's too low and if they really want the property, what it should be at. If the client is reasonable, that's not something I really have to do, but in this market, everyone wants a property at half price and that won't happen on the Westside. I can't speak for other agents or any of the ones you have worked with, but to say agents never are interested in getting the Buyer the best price is ridiculous. The amount I lose in my commission from getting a lower purchase price for my client is more than made up for in the referrals I'll get because my client knows I'm working in their best interest. It may not have seemed like we were trying to get the Buyer the best price when the market was crazy, but that is because we were competing with multiple offers and to secure a property required going over what the other offers were. Do you mean to tell me that if an agent thinks that you can get a price lower than what you're willing to pay, you won't try? There is no harm in seeing if we can save you a few thousand.