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What is 6% of $250,000?

  • Article

 I read this
blog entry from Chris Sells recently, describing his thoughts about real estate
agent fees.  Having just sold one house and purchased another, I am completely
sympathetic.  6% just seems like too high a vig to pay, just to sell your house. 
You can FSBO, of course, but ‘they say’ that it takes much longer to sell
when you do all the work yourself.  Anyone have actual experience with that?

Comments

  • Anonymous
    August 22, 2003
    When you're paying an agent to help sell your house the majority of the value you're getting for your money is the ability to list on MLS. That's the first place buyers go when they're looking. Additionally, if you're listed in MLS, then you get "free" advertising on all sites that mirror MLS (like JohnLScott.com). So when it came time for us to sell 3 years ago, we located a flat-fee MLS agent. It cost us $400 to get listed, and for that money we received:1) an MLS listing (it took about two days to get in the DB)2) a door lock for agents to enter the house when you're not there3) a personal representative that was available anytime for consult4) all the seller's paperwork (which wasn't much) that was to be completed upon closing.5) yard signsOnce listed, we sold our place in 6 days. It was an incredibly smooth process and I'd recommend it as an alternative to anyone who is considering using a seller's agent.There's one catch to keep in mind, however. If you have a buyer's agent bring you a buyer, someone is going to have to pay their fees. Since a buyer's agent typically will get half of the total commission from a single sale, you'll have to negotiate with the buyer and the buyer's agent to come to an agreement on payment. But consider, 3% of $300k is $9000+ less than listing with a traditional real estate agent and paying the standard 6%+.To find one of these services in your area just google: "MLS Flat Fee" (sorry, I don't remember the name of the company we used)Hope this helps next time you're selling a house!-Shawn
  • Anonymous
    August 25, 2003
    Thanks! That is useful - I expect I'll be moving again in another five years or so, and $9000 is certainly not pocket change for me.
  • Anonymous
    April 30, 2004
    The comment has been removed