A flat bonus looks better because its not dependent on the price of the house, and seeing $1,000 in the agent remarks helps it get noticed. Increasing the comm % goes into a different category on the listing, which quite frankly, doesn't get looked at very often. Also, keep in mind that the closing cost assistance is very common these days. Even if you don't offer it, most will ask for some sort of assistance. Putting it in up front signals that you are willing to "play ball" to make a deal happen. Like I said, its robbing Peter to pay Paul. Ultimately, you have to keep in mind that the list price has to be at or below the appraised value by the buyer's mortgage company. So you still need to make sure your list price will appraise in the end. Check your email. Send you a few pieces of information that might be helpful.
It's possible, but most realtors try to lasso you into a contract. It takes a lot of shopping around to find a realtor that won't require you to sign. And it's acutally okay to sign as long as you have an option to fire the realtor/company if you want to. Otherwise, if you're unhappy with the realtor's performance, you're stuck with them for six months. I've been there - it sucks.
Legally, the agent and seller have to have a signed agreement to list the property. Thats not negotiable. What is negotiable is the length of the agreement. Most realtors won't allow an open ended agreement where they can be terminated at any time. That protects the agent from being screwed out of a deal that they negotiated on the seller's behalf, and it does happen quite often (i.e. the buyer realtor goes directly to the owner and says "hey, well give you full price if you let me work both sides ...")
Sounds about right... however.... I believe that termination clauses have stipulations that state that the owner can't sell to anyone that had already spoken to the realtor. It would be unfair for a seller to fire a realtor and then sell directly to a buyer that the realtor found. That's not fair to the realtor. But it's also unfair for the buyer to be stuck in a contract with a bad realtor. That's where the termination clause is handy.
True, but if the seller agent is not aware of someone the seller might have talked to off the record, they he/she will have no way of knowing. I agree. Usually, my wife does a "30 day written notice", that is, she can be fired at any time, but that she retains rights to be the selling agent for 30 days after the termination. That way, she is protected if someone tries to cut her out of the deal at the last moment (because the buyer is normally not going to wait 30 days to sign a contract).
This is a great thread for me. We are going to pick an agent in the next week to help sell our house. Does the location of the agent compared to house make a difference? I saw FSBO and Assist to Sell discussed, but I got a little confused. If a disount agent (1.5% Seller 3% Buyer) says they will do the info tubes, MLS, and vitual tour, is that a good option?
The 30-day thing sounds fine. We didn't have that in our contract. We would have gladly waited the 30 days to fire our realtor, rather than wait for months. I don't think the location of the realor is important. It can be convenient to have their office nearby, but realtors spend most of their time on the go anyway. What's more important is how much business the realtor has done in your area. You should go with a realtor who has sold properties in your area, is familiar with its prices and market, and has a good record of sold houses in your neighborhood.
