There have always been real estate agents who will agree to less of a commission. I know of some.
Yep. Its always been negotiable. You may not get the agent you want, but.....and, as in most economic transactions, you often get what you pay for?
I’ve experienced that where both the selling and buying agent took cuts in their commissions to sell the property, however their parent companies would not accept less.
When I used an agent to buy my current home I already had the loan and insurance lined up, they just handled the negotiation. And buried in that offer contract was an extra $500 to the selling agent (which I had them delete).
Which is why I don’t get this ruling. We have agents and brokers all over the place with regard to fees. Most are at 6-7%. But many are less.
That's what we went for, when selling my wife's mom's home. Agent wanted 6%, we negotiated with him to agree to a lesser amount, 4-1/2%. Agent was smart, agreed to 4-1/2% unless he sold the home for $200K over asking price then he would get 6%. We had set the asking price, based on what similar homes were selling for in the neighborhood.
Agent did his job well, pulled in offers and dealing with the two top bidders to offer higher bids. Home sold for $250K over asking, which was more that enough to cover the entire 6% commission.
Yep, especially with housing costs so high and property selling so quickly in some markets. Does a real estate agent really earn a $30,000 commission on a house that sells the day after it’s listed? I know of at least one agency that has gone to flat fees of about half that.