This guy suggests that the listing agent should skip the highest-and-best round, and instead, select the offer written by the buyer-agent that they think is most likely to close the deal - after trying to bump them another $5,000 or $10,000. I like to do the...
Realtors Talking Shop
Buyer-Agent Commissions, Nov
As of August 17th, home sellers are not required to pay the buyer-agent's commission. Listing agents are forbidden from mentioning any compensation being offered to the buyer-agents in the active listings, but the CRMLS requires that the amount that was paid is posted...
Becoming A Realtor Today
A reader asked about my thoughts on becoming a realtor today - my response: I'll start with the basics to see what you think. Being a real estate licensee is one thing. Being a successful salesperson is something different, and what I'll address here. Sales has its...
Buyer-Agent Commissions Paid, Second Month
For two months we've been settling in with the new arrangements for paying the buyer-agents. I haven't heard of any buyers yet who got stuck having to pay their buyer-agent because the seller refused to pay. Undoubtably, there are buyer-agents who were paid a partial...
Newer Agents
It's going to be tough on the newer agents going forward. The commission lawsuit stuff isn't the big concern. Sales are likely to keep dropping, and at the same time the better agents are picking up market share. There aren't enough sales to go around for every...
Owning Manhattan
The other real estate reality shows are so full of drama that they are barely watchable. While they do pack some drama into Ryan's new show, Owning Manhattan on Netflix, they mix in a few examples of him doing a masterful job of negotiating between agents and...
Buyer-Agent Commission Solution
Hat tip to Carl Streicher, mortgage broker, for sending over this handy chart on allowable concessions, also known as seller contributions. This is how the buyer-agent commission can be included as a part buyer's mortgage package, even if the seller didn't sign the...
Read the Contract!
This business used to be civil. It was probably obvious that the contracts were drawn up by the realtor attorneys to protect realtors, but there were adequate protections for buyers and sellers too. This commission lawsuit has changed everything, and now they only...
Realtors Fleeing The Business
There will be fewer agents, which is a good thing. There are 20,000+ realtors in San Diego County, and last month there were 2,113 sales of attached and detached homes. Hat tip to Greg for sending in this article! When real estate broker April Strickland looks at her...
DOJ Speaks Up
The elimination of buyer-agents continues: The U.S. Department of Justice broke its silence in court on Tuesday on the impending changes coming for the real estate industry in the wake of settlement agreements by major brokerages and the National Association of...