The House-Hunting Blues
The house hunt officially began on Saturday. We met with our "friendly local Realtor" which turned out to be somewhat of a letdown. I will not say what company he was with (let's just say it rhymes with Tree-Max :-)) but when he met with us, he threw us for a loop by letting us know that he expects us to pay him 1/2 percent commission (this is in additon to the commission split he gets from the seller).
Um, excuse me? We have bought homes before, I have worked in real estate for the past five years, and I have NEVER heard of a buyer paying a significant fee for the pleasure of having some fool drive them around to look at a handful of homes - unless the Realtor negotiates a FSBO and can't get the commission paid by the seller.
He first tried to explain this by saying that it's standard practice in NY, we are not in NJ anymore. Bullshit. My brother bought a home less than a year ago and didn't pay his Realtor a cent. Then he tries to tell us that we are paying for his superior negotiation skills. If your negotiation skills are so good, you negotiate the money with the seller, not us. Finally, he lets us know that it will probably "only" around $2,000 or so. Great. Oh, and not bothering to tell us this until we met with him? Real classy.
We are not some lookie-loos who may or may not buy a house in the next year or so. We are motivated buyers, looking in the mid- to upper-end of the market, and we need a home. And we are Internet-savvy buyers - we look online, we know what we want, we identify the homes we want to see, and will not be wasting his time. We are already paying out a commission to our seller's agent and I am not in the mood to pay for something that I can get at no cost from another agent who would be more than happy to work for his or her commission split alone.
Since he wouldn't budge on this 1/2 percent, he will not be getting anything, as we are finding another Realtor.
Anyone looking for an agent in the Albany, NY area? Give me a call - I have a person that I would never recommend...
Um, excuse me? We have bought homes before, I have worked in real estate for the past five years, and I have NEVER heard of a buyer paying a significant fee for the pleasure of having some fool drive them around to look at a handful of homes - unless the Realtor negotiates a FSBO and can't get the commission paid by the seller.
He first tried to explain this by saying that it's standard practice in NY, we are not in NJ anymore. Bullshit. My brother bought a home less than a year ago and didn't pay his Realtor a cent. Then he tries to tell us that we are paying for his superior negotiation skills. If your negotiation skills are so good, you negotiate the money with the seller, not us. Finally, he lets us know that it will probably "only" around $2,000 or so. Great. Oh, and not bothering to tell us this until we met with him? Real classy.
We are not some lookie-loos who may or may not buy a house in the next year or so. We are motivated buyers, looking in the mid- to upper-end of the market, and we need a home. And we are Internet-savvy buyers - we look online, we know what we want, we identify the homes we want to see, and will not be wasting his time. We are already paying out a commission to our seller's agent and I am not in the mood to pay for something that I can get at no cost from another agent who would be more than happy to work for his or her commission split alone.
Since he wouldn't budge on this 1/2 percent, he will not be getting anything, as we are finding another Realtor.
Anyone looking for an agent in the Albany, NY area? Give me a call - I have a person that I would never recommend...
posted by Daisy | 1:26 PM
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