What is the going rate for Realtor commissions to sell a house? (Richmond: attorneys)

[PM2017]

What sort of listing commission is common in the Richmond suburbs?

Is 5% the most common fee? 6% or 7%?

Any other fees that a listing agent charges?

[PM2017]

... sound like Zero is the answer

[SaltwaterTherapy]

There is no "going rate", standard, or normal. This would be a violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act which prohibits any sort of price fixing in an industry. Commissions are always negotiable. Some brokerages have strict requirements not to go below a certain listing fee, with exceptions of course. For example, my brokerage will allow a lower listing fee if one of the following criteria area met: 1. Seller has completed another transaction with the brokerage in the last 60 months (as a Buyer or Seller), 2. Seller is upside down in their home, 3. Seller is experiencing a hardship that puts them in a position where they need to sell. Our listing fee is 6%. There are brokerages in my area that offer 5%. There are limited service brokerages all over the place. Key words are underlined and should be strongly considered.

[Charlesaf3]

note that this will be changing thanks to the antitrust suits, sellers as of July will no longer have to pay Buyer's agents. So they could set to 3%.

It's going to take a while to shake out though

[getatag]

5%-6% seems to be the going rate in the area.

Not that I'm from the area, but have relatives looking as we speak.

I've seen a few listings advertised with a 3% buyers fee.

[SaltwaterTherapy]

Originally Posted by Charlesaf3

note that this will be changing thanks to the antitrust suits, sellers as of July will no longer have to pay Buyer's agents. So they could set to 3%.

It's going to take a while to shake out though

This is incorrect. Listing fees have always been negotiable. Seller's have always had a choice. Bad agents will claim they never discuss compensation. Transparency, disclosure, and communication in this business is key. Not offering a Buyer Agency Compensation will, in most cases, only hurt the Seller's ability to market the property. Consider this: If most Buyers in a given market are on the side lines waiting for interest rates to drop and/or home prices to come down (which typically run perpendicular to each other), covering another $X,XXX fee out of pocket would be highly unfavorable to them.

I'm currently working through one of the very first transactions in my area (if not the first), as a result of the lawsuit. The Seller, who was following the lawsuit very closely, did not offer to pay BA compensation up front. The Seller received multiple offers, however, they were ALL under list price and included the Seller paying Buyer transaction costs to cover BA compensation (among other unique things requested in each offer). That was the common denominator will all the offers.

Obviously this will be on a case-by-case basis. But I suspect this will be how things will play out moving forward which doesn't change much. The Seller is still paying the BA compensation or one could even argue that the Buyer pays it, just not in the way the Seller thinks. It all plays out the same on the bottom line of the Settlement Statement.

*I'd like to add some perspective in hopes to offer some understanding of the value good agents provide. There are deals on the Buyers side that I've done that have been as simple as showing, negotiating accepted offers with minimal or no inspections, and filing them until closing. These are not very common. They are typically transactions with a Buyer that has plenty of cash to offer and has funds to cover potential repairs in their entirety. For the majority of my Buyers I cover almost ALL the leg work that they are technically responsible for so they do not feel lost or confused at any time during the buying process. I've crawled under termite infested crawlspaces, spent hours with inspectors, shown handfuls of properties for Buyers that didn't buy, written contracts at midnight (because time is of the essence), scrapped my family time on weekends, holidays, birthdays, etc.

On the Sellers side I've had to market over-priced properties for nearly 6 months (difficult Sellers), spend my own money on repairs totaling thousands to keep Buyers from backing out, keep Sellers from being litigated due to a number of reasons (my money again), make my self available well beyond the hours of 8-6 (because there is no time card to punch in this business), find Buyers beyond just posting in the MLS, hold my own open houses (which I rarely see agents do anymore), and the list goes on (again case-by-case basis). Attorneys will not take on these responsibilities because they work very long hours as it is. This is a full-time job that is not always what it is cut out to be and also a soul sucking business at times. This is why it is nearly impossible to do part-time unless another job is supplemented. The costs to do business adds up quickly and NOTHING is guaranteed until the deed is recorded.

When I worked in the corporate world, there were always people under you that didn't think you did s***. Those that have been in this position know that it was always based on what they did not SEE with their own eyes. It's our job to ensure each transaction is a smooth one. Why would a client use an agent again if there was a hitch around every corner that ended up being a stressful transaction? This is our job and we deal with the scrutiny of making it seem simple, yet it's not (most of the time).