Think Twice Before Asking Realtor Friends For A Discount
Posted by eightyeightinc on January 24, 2008
I will have to say that this is a hard subject when it comes to asking friends or family member to discount their cost to help you out. We all want to get the best deal and pay the least amount of money that we have to, but at what cost do we do this?
To fully understand the situation of your Realtor friend or family member, you have to look at the cost they put out. Every Realtor has to share money with his or her broker, unless your friend or family member happens to be a broker. The agent also puts out money for advertising, which they pay long before the house gets sold.
Sometimes Agents put out money on advertising and never sell the home. Then there are the normal everyday expenses and activities your Agent has to do. MLS Fees, gas, phone, fax, Internet fees. All the fees that they need to pay to be in business. Also, the time the Agent has to put in can add up to lots of hours or some deal can be done quickly. With homes sitting on the market longer it results in more cost and time out the door for Agents.
Did you know that the average national amount an agent makes per year, after fees to their broker, is $35k a year? That is before all their business expenses and taxes. Plus, most of those agents are at the beckon call of their sellers and buyers. That means nights and weekends most times. You see Agents on average don’t make that much money. Yes, there are some that make more and there are some that make less. Do you really know how much your friend or family member agent makes?
So next time you go to ask your family member or friend for a discount, maybe you should think that you could be asking to take money away from their families survival. So if your family member or friend gave you a deal then you should feel lucky that that agent was willing to sacrifice for the benefit of helping you out.
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