When The Market's Down, Up The Commission
Those of you who read this blog regularly know that I'm a big fan of Robert J. Bruss. Bruss, from Burlingame, California, writes a syndicated real estate column that appears weekly in the St. Petersburg Times. Sometimes I agree with his comments and sometimes I don't, but I always find the "Sage Of Burlingame" to give interesting and factual advice.
In this week's column, Bruss takes on the sagging real estate market with some advice that I've been giving out for months and months -- when the market's down, up the commission.
Bruss published a letter from someone whose house had been on the market for a long time with no buyers. The seller asked his agent to increase the commission to 7 percent and offer a 4 percent commission to buyer agents in the area. In that market, I suppose, the "normal" real estate commission is probably 6 percent. The seller reports that after the commission was increased the house went under contract in 10 days. In fact, the letter reports that the seller received two offers within that time period.
Now, that could have just been a coincidence, but I don't think so. By upping the commission by 1 percentage point, the seller was able to separate his house from others for sale in the market and get more attention from buyer agents. That single percentage point in commission resulted in a successful sale by providing an extra added incentive to buyer agents to show the subject house rather than other houses offering a lower commission. Apparently, a high commission goes a long way toward getting agent attention. Attention from agents results in extra showings. Showings are the key to getting sales. Pretty simple, eh?
I know of a number of real estate agents who have recently upped the buyer side commission on properties they own personally as a way to get them sold. Some have met with success, others haven't yet. But if agents are doing this on their own properties, it might be a good idea for all of us to give some serious thought to this strategy.
A big tip of the hat to Bob Bruss for passing along this good idea for more successful selling.
If you'd like more information on real estate in the Tampa Bay area, please visit my website at www.thestpeterealestatesite.com.
In this week's column, Bruss takes on the sagging real estate market with some advice that I've been giving out for months and months -- when the market's down, up the commission.
Bruss published a letter from someone whose house had been on the market for a long time with no buyers. The seller asked his agent to increase the commission to 7 percent and offer a 4 percent commission to buyer agents in the area. In that market, I suppose, the "normal" real estate commission is probably 6 percent. The seller reports that after the commission was increased the house went under contract in 10 days. In fact, the letter reports that the seller received two offers within that time period.
Now, that could have just been a coincidence, but I don't think so. By upping the commission by 1 percentage point, the seller was able to separate his house from others for sale in the market and get more attention from buyer agents. That single percentage point in commission resulted in a successful sale by providing an extra added incentive to buyer agents to show the subject house rather than other houses offering a lower commission. Apparently, a high commission goes a long way toward getting agent attention. Attention from agents results in extra showings. Showings are the key to getting sales. Pretty simple, eh?
I know of a number of real estate agents who have recently upped the buyer side commission on properties they own personally as a way to get them sold. Some have met with success, others haven't yet. But if agents are doing this on their own properties, it might be a good idea for all of us to give some serious thought to this strategy.
A big tip of the hat to Bob Bruss for passing along this good idea for more successful selling.
If you'd like more information on real estate in the Tampa Bay area, please visit my website at www.thestpeterealestatesite.com.
-30-
posted by Terry Ward at 6:00 AM
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