if i do hire a realtor then do they jsut get a 6-8% commission at the end of the sale and that is it?

Question

or do they have additional fees? also what if my house doesnt sell is there usually a time limit and then a cost i still am entitled to give them?? im just not sure of which way to go where i can keep most of what i make off the house so i can use it as a down payment on another home?

Answer 1

If you house is worth $100,000, then six percent is $6000. That's a nice commission for selling a house if they can do it quickly. In my opinion, realtors earn a high commission. But they only get paid if they sell it. The contract should specify that its for 3 months or 6 months or whatever. Make sure that they plan to list it on the computer listings, and advertise it, etc.

Answer 2

The Realtor doesn't charge you any fees other than the 6% (or whatever percentage you negotiate with them before hand). There are other fees associated with closing a real estate transaction. Like the Federal Taxes for one. The Realtor you chose should be able to give you a clear estimate of all total fees that will be associated with the transaction. But as far as the Realtor goes the fee you agree to in the beginning doesn't change. That is what they get paid.

Also, usually you sign an agreement saying how long your home will be on the market. Once that agreement expires you need to either re-list it or it just cancels. From my experience a 90 day listing is typical. But you can cancel this listing at anytime for any reason, or no reason. There is no cost to you for doing so unless your Realtor provides a compitent buyer and you refuse to sell.

These are actually good questions for a Realtor. You can interview different Realtors with no obligation and they would be happy to answer these questions for you while trying to win over your business.

Answer 3

The commission for selling a house is usually around 6%. There is certainly margin to negotiate this. Some discount brokers charge a flat fee for selling a property. Or there are even sites that will simply list the property on the MLS for a fee.

The commission actually pays a number of people. There is the buyers agent and the sellers agent. They usually start by spliting the commission between themselves.

Then depending on each agents situation they may have to split their portion of the commission with their broker.

So a commission can technically be split between four different people. The buyers agent, the buyers broker, the sellers agent and sellers broker.

The only fees the agents get are the commissions. If the house does not sell, then you pay them nothing. There is usually a contract for a specified period of time, that they have to sell the property. Try to make this time as short as possible, probably 3 months. This allows you to get out of the contract with the agent if they are not getting you any results.

Interview the potential agent and determine what they are going to do to market your property. When I had a recent listing expire, I had dozens of agents contact me because they wanted me to relist my property with them. They didn't seem to understand or didn't think I understood that they could have brought me a buyer when the house was listed with the previous agent and gotten basically the same commission.

Answer 4

I'm a realtor in Houston so I can tell you about how it works in Texas but it may not be the same where you are.

When I list a home I charge a straight 6% on the sale of a home. I don't have any experience with a home just not selling- maybe I'm lucky- but if that were to happen, the contract would just expire and the clients would not owe a penny. Also, I don't know about your market but here in Houston, homes that are sold through a Realtor, on the average, sell for16% more than homes that are sold by non-Realtors or owners who do it themselves. So, you would end up with more money to use as a down payment on your new home.

Answer 5

You would have to pay a transfer tax at closing. It is may be one per cent of the sales price. Realtors have different contracts. Give the Realtor 90 days to sell if you sign the contract. Look for a protection clause in the contract, that guarantees a payment to the Realtor if you sell at any time up to 30 days after the contract is terminated.

Try to sell your house yourself. You save the sales commission and have some flexibility to lower your asking price by some amount less than the sales commission.

Answer 6

The commission is the largest part of it. Sometimes there may be a processing fee anywhere from $200 to $500 as the company has to keep your records for at least seven years and so some companies charge this fee. Not all do though. You have to keep in mind in mind however, that there are other fees that the seller has to pay at the end of the transaction that are termed "closing costs", such as title company fees and government taxes

Answer 7

The only fees they should get is their commission. Do not let them "wrangle" you into fees for "writing a contract" or "bringing a client through" I've heard of a few companies going to that.

If your house doesn't sell, then the agreement with them just "dies." You don't owe them anything. Unless you feel confident with working with the title company and taking care of all the steps your realtor would, I suggest getting a realtor.

Answer 8

the seller ends up paying the fees to your realtor, not the buyer. Six to eight percent is honestly high, so I would find a different realtor.