Am i right to be upset? What should i do? Realtor tried to screw me...

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[quote author="High Gravity" date=1245280850][quote author="awgee" date=1245272706]Anytime someone says, "It's the principle", it is the money.</blockquote>


Anytime someone says "It's not for sale", it means your offer isn't high enough.</blockquote>


LOL and true. One of my favorite expressions: It is not so surprising that I have a price. What is so surprising is how cheap my price is.
 
[quote author="irvine123" date=1245279139]I compeletly understand the feeling of feeling screwed by your agent on this. Regardless it is a matter of principal or matter of $500, I really don't think you should let that ruin this moment. At the risk of offending others here, you shouldn't have high or even normal expections from a real estate agent. If they are good, let them surprise you, if they are not good,then that is you are expecting. Use this as a lesson learned for next time: protect yourself by having something in writing always. If it is a verbal agreement, shoot him / her a quick email.



That being said, this is what I will suggest: you should call your agent, and tell her that you are not happy that he backed out of his verbal contract. Tell him that :

you have been happy with his services (if that is the case), until he backed out his verbal contract / promise

you dropped your allowances demand because he stepped up.

you didn't ask him to chip in, and he didn't have to. he volunterred for whatever reason.

You expect him to follow up on his words, as this is about professinalism

You are not about to cancel the escrow on this.

He can decide if he thinks this is the right way to end your otherwise pleasant expereince with him.

Ask him to inform escrow the right amount to wire.



Lastly, you should always get a copy of the closing doc TODAY to review it, so you can get rid of junk fee ahead of time.</blockquote>
Nicely said.
 
[quote author="Anonymous" date=1245280354][quote author="awgee" date=1245272706]Anytime someone says, "It's the principle", it is the money.</blockquote>


That's a very jaded point of view. Wasn't there a pastor running a food bank/councilling service a few years ago that refused a huge donatiion from a lottery winner, saying he couldn't take the money because it contradicted what he taught his members, that wasting their money on lottery tickets was bad? What about the struggling father with several kids a few years back who found a suitcase of money (think it was a few hundred grand) and turned it into the authorities, saying he couldn't keep it and explain to his kids where it came from and teach them that stealing was bad?</blockquote>


I guess I have to qualify. When someone is willing to sacrifice and says it is the principle, it is the principle. When someone is trying to get money from someone else and says it is the principle, it is the money. And yes, it is a very jaded point of view, and being a jaded point of view makes it no less accurate.
 
If I were in your shoes, I'd probably feel the same way. Unfortunately, even if the agent changed their mind and decided to honor their verbal agreement with the $500, my experience would have already been tainted. I wouldn't want to deal with that agent again and I definitely would not recommend them. Bad move for the agent to sour your experience over $500 (that they in fact committed to).
 
[quote author="IrvineRenter" date=1245281601]For anyone doing the math, the total commission on this deal is $51,000. The two agents are getting $25,500 each. If they are giving up $2,500 (10% of their cut), they are still making $23,000 each on the transaction.</blockquote>


Only if the total commissions on the deal are at 6%... It may be that the agents are splitting 5%. We don't know.



Remember, the agent is giving up a big portion of the commission to their broker, quite possibly 50%. If for example this deal were at 2.5% for each side, the agents might net $5K on the deal after broker split and taxes. My assumption is that SE tax gets paid on the commission income, so the total tax burden at the margin is close to 50%...
 
[quote author="ipoplaya" date=1245316881][quote author="IrvineRenter" date=1245281601]For anyone doing the math, the total commission on this deal is $51,000. The two agents are getting $25,500 each. If they are giving up $2,500 (10% of their cut), they are still making $23,000 each on the transaction.</blockquote>


Only if the total commissions on the deal are at 6%... It may be that the agents are splitting 5%. We don't know.



Remember, the agent is giving up a big portion of the commission to their broker, quite possibly 50%. If for example this deal were at 2.5% for each side, the agents might net $5K on the deal after broker split and taxes. My assumption is that SE tax gets paid on the commission income, so the total tax burden at the margin is close to 50%...</blockquote>


Your math is probably not far off. But that doesn't change the fact that the realtor's gain is not propotional to the effort / time put into it. IMO, Brand name brokers means very little in the internet age, espeically to a buyer, therefore carries no premium.
 
[quote author="ipoplaya" date=1245316881][quote author="IrvineRenter" date=1245281601]For anyone doing the math, the total commission on this deal is $51,000. The two agents are getting $25,500 each. If they are giving up $2,500 (10% of their cut), they are still making $23,000 each on the transaction.</blockquote>


Only if the total commissions on the deal are at 6%... It may be that the agents are splitting 5%. We don't know.



Remember, the agent is giving up a big portion of the commission to their broker, quite possibly 50%. If for example this deal were at 2.5% for each side, the agents might net $5K on the deal after broker split and taxes. My assumption is that SE tax gets paid on the commission income, so the total tax burden at the margin is close to 50%...</blockquote>
I think the max commission split for agents is around 70-30 and is normally around 80-20 along with some sort of transaction fee. My commission split is 90-10 with a $400 transaction fee. Sure I can become a broker and take 100% of the commission with no fees, but I don't want to deal with the maintenance of files/transactions and the liability aspect (including E&O insurance).
 
[quote author="usctrojanman29" date=1245322410]

I think the max commission split for agents is around 70-30 and is normally around 80-20 along with some sort of transaction fee. My commission split is 90-10 with a $400 transaction fee. Sure I can become a broker and take 100% of the commission with no fees, but I don't want to deal with the maintenance of files/transactions and the liability aspect (including E&O insurance).</blockquote>


I have heard of 60-40 splits and even someone that indicated they split 50-50...
 
[quote author="ipoplaya" date=1245335643][quote author="usctrojanman29" date=1245322410]

I think the max commission split for agents is around 70-30 and is normally around 80-20 along with some sort of transaction fee. My commission split is 90-10 with a $400 transaction fee. Sure I can become a broker and take 100% of the commission with no fees, but I don't want to deal with the maintenance of files/transactions and the liability aspect (including E&O insurance).</blockquote>


I have heard of 60-40 splits and even someone that indicated they split 50-50...</blockquote>


It depends on the broker and the experience of the agent. New agents often start at 50-50, but as they develop their business and grow a referral network of their own, they will often go to a broker with a better commission split.
 
[quote author="IrvineRenter" date=1245359587]



It depends on the broker and the experience of the agent. New agents often start at 50-50, but as they develop their business and grow a referral network of their own, they will often go to a broker with a better commission split.</blockquote>


IR, how much does the liability insurance usually cost for an independent broker?
 
[quote author="irvine123" date=1245362421][quote author="IrvineRenter" date=1245359587]



It depends on the broker and the experience of the agent. New agents often start at 50-50, but as they develop their business and grow a referral network of their own, they will often go to a broker with a better commission split.</blockquote>


IR, how much does the liability insurance usually cost for an independent broker?</blockquote>


There are a number of variables that determine the rates. I have not priced this out yet.



The trend lately in brokerage is to reduce their cut of the commissions, provide less service, and give greater splits to the agents. Remax is a classic example. It has gotten so competitive in the broker arena that you are often better off building a brokerage as a sub-unit of a larger broker. It is more cost effective to pay someone else to take care of insurance, document storage, office space, and other expenses than to incur all of these yourself.



In essence, brokerages are turning into office support providers at very cost effective rates.
 
This was a learning experience, and quite frankly, a couple hundred bucks in a near million dollar transaction should probably just be forgotten about. Sit back, relax, and enjoy your home. Congrats. The worst thing you should/could is just go to yelp or some other site and tell them exactly what happened, so other people who deal with them know better.



I cannot tell what exactly is going on, but im going to assume "My Realtor" means that this realtor was buyers agent? Or sellers agent? If it was the sellers agent then not surprised.



Real estate sales MUST be in writing. You would think every agent knows that...



But again, these are tough times and people need money now, so don't think they won't jab an elbow when the opportunity arises. She didn't give a damn about the dishwasher, she just wants to sell the house and get the commission, but if telling you there is gonna be a new dishwasher is gonna make you happy, of course youre getting a new dishwasher, except its not in writing so theyll just forget.
 
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