What is the going Real Estate agent fees these days?

Looking into selling my home. Is 6% still pretty standard? Anyone else experience anything different recently?

 

6% seems high. I thought it was more like 2% on either end. I bought my home 8 years ago though, so my experience may no longer be relevant.

 

Flat fee listing is the way to go. You pay like $600 up front to get it on the MLS and agree to pay the realtor that brings the buyer 2%.

 

3% and 3% its what you'll still often hear -- 5 if they get both ends. When we sold last year we negotiated a different rate than that up front. You will get every answer under the sun here but percentages are still dominating the market, though there are more and more other options opening up.

 

If Redfin is in your area, they advertise a commission of just 1%.

 

My mom recently sold her home in Wisconsin and it was 6%

 

The answer to this question is extremely state specific depending upon the laws governing the ability of discount/lower service brokers to market in your area. For example, the flat fee listing option mentioned above may not exist in your state.

It will also depend some upon your locality.

In terms of recent experience, there are more players out there who are willing to take discounts even in higher cost markets. The market has been good enough and the MLS is easy enough that it's a fair question to consider if someone who charges a total of 4.5% (or whatever the discount price is in your area) instead of 6% is worth it, especially if your house is in a decent area and in decent shape.

Anecdotally, the people I know who have sold through the discount brokers have done fine.

 

Rex and Purple Bricks are in the 1% range ( IIRC)

 

In general, I am very ANTI-traditional realtor, but I won't get too into that here. Too often there are agents that aren't "up on the times" (in terms of social media marketing, etc) that will just list a house on the MLS, post a yard sign, do a few open houses, and put their feet back to collect their half of their 6%. Some markets (including where I live the "traditional" percentage is a whopping 7%!!!) I am not trying to offend all realtors (or REALTORS(R) ) as I know some are very hard-working and out-going and well-trained. But the business has truly changed and no longer can you get away with that IMO.

as above poster said, it depends on the market, You can look up average list times, average time to close, etc, if you are in a sellers market(most areas of country are...), you can get away just fine doing a FSBO or Redfin or ultra-discount brokerage. There is one around here that advertises a $3,500 flat fee listing to close, which for a 300k home is around 1%, plus buyers commission if your buyer has agent representation. If you have a tricky property it may be worth shopping around for a traditional agent but I would make sure they are in the top 5% of a market and have strong reviews as there is a reason they are there...

Also as @The Rumor said, certain states continue to be lobbied heavily by the REALTOR association and do not allow reduced rates or flat fee brokerages etc.

 

looks like REX is 2%

 

6% is the most common.

In the end, even the best agent is not as powerful as the MLS system. That is the primary place everyone looks to find what is for sale. Most markets have the option to list it yourself for a few hundred bucks. Some folks will list it that way, and offer to pay the 3% to anyone that brings a buyer.

 

The reviews of some companies like Purple Bricks are hilarious. I know someone who signed up with them, paid the flat fee and was given a cancellation form to fill out whenever they wanted out of the contact at the same time. Purple Bricks got their flat fee and couldn't care less if the home sold or not as there was zero financial incentive once the ink was dry. The house didn't sell and eventually, they hired a strong local realtor who had it sold in a few weeks.

A good agent, like a good mechanic, is worth what they charge. A bad one will cost you much more in the long run.

 

You get what you pay for. Show me a realtor who leads with cutting commission, and I will show you a realtor who doesn't know how to provide value to their client.

My wife is one of the top agents in our market and has been for 10+ years. Inevitably, when she loses a listing opportunity to another realtor because he/she cut commission, the sellers end up coming back to her 6 months later because their house never sold and the realtor didn't know how to do their job.

 

YMWV.

 

6% should be negotiated. Respectfully, generalizing and implying that someone doing it for less is not competent or lacking in abilities is presumptive at best.

 

Those that wind up going with another agent often have a different problem. In most markets, a house that is presentable and priced right will sell. We have sold 4 houses without paying the 6%.

Of course, we always buy a house with the following thought up front ; "Can we sell this house quickly if we need to move again?"

 

Yes, but having relocated far away while the house is on the market presents challenges to the tree-of-liberty soloists.

 

And on THAT note, when doing a home update or upgrade, "Will other people generally value this the way we do in case we need to sell?"

Some people DO pass up homes because of crazy paint or wallpaper schemes...as lots want "move-in ready"

 

"Taste" is often distasteful. And lose the clutter; the bric-a-brac and tchotchkes; the paper and piles and magazines and horde-abilia; and as much of the smoking and pet evidence as possible.

 

I still always hear 3 percent for listing agent and 3 percent for buying agent, which seams dumb because buying an expensive house should not be more work. (i wouldn't think)