Sharing broker co-op with buyer typical?

[usctrojancpa]

And for the record on a resale the agent does so much work I would never request for a percentage of their commission.

It's all about the "art of negotiation" when it comes to making deals/choosing a real estate agent etc.

1. Five years ago, the agent I used to buy a resale house gave me a 1 percent of the purchase price.
2. The house we sold, I negotiated a lower commission rate for the agent. (selling agent) Also, if the house was bought was an agent from the team, then the commission rate for the buyer agent will be lower. The result: just happened that the buyer agent was from the same team.
I interviewed like 5 agents to see who was best fit. This one agent wrote me an email, that I wasted his time for the following: coming to visit me, taking time talking to me on the phone, etc..

That last part is kind of funny.  It is exactly why realtors make the commissions that they do.  There is NO realtor that will close 100% of their buyers and/or sellers and if one claims to then their are full of crap.  There will be listings that won't be sold or buyers will not buy because things can change or things come up.  One shoe does not fit all and when I don't get a listing or a perspective buyer chooses another agents it just wasn't meant to be.  It's like in my commercial banking days....I'd get 10 NOs before I got 1 YES and when I got it I was pumped and forgot about the NOs....that's kind of how I am with being selected to represent a buyer or seller. 

 

[usctrojancpa]

And for the record on a resale the agent does so much work I would never request for a percentage of their commission.

It's all about the "art of negotiation" when it comes to making deals/choosing a real estate agent etc.

1. Five years ago, the agent I used to buy a resale house gave me a 1 percent of the purchase price.
2. The house we sold, I negotiated a lower commission rate for the agent. (selling agent) Also, if the house was bought was an agent from the team, then the commission rate for the buyer agent will be lower. The result: just happened that the buyer agent was from the same team.
I interviewed like 5 agents to see who was best fit. This one agent wrote me an email, that I wasted his time for the following: coming to visit me, taking time talking to me on the phone, etc..

See I don't understand that.

Realtors are not supposed to act like they are doing you a BIG favor by showing you properties and answering your emails and your questions. It's a profession in sales based on commissions - that is what you do for a living. And it's certainly not a waste of time if you end up walking away with a big fat commision check at the end of the day. But they also don't look at it like - maybe I won't walk away with that payment now but if I foster a good relationship maybe in the near future I will be rewarded with loyalty from that client for years to come which would accumulate into a much larger sum of $$ over time.

That's what I felt with my realtor like it was such an inconvenience and they spent all this time showing me properties so they deserve all of that co-op and how dare you ask about taking some of it.

Couldn't agree more.  Besides representing my clients as if I was the one buying or selling the home, the goal of me working with me is for me to become their lifetime agent and refer me to anyone in their network who is looking for an agent.  There's no better compliment to me than a referral from a client who I worked with other than that client calling me to assist them again.

 

[usctrojancpa]

And for the record on a resale the agent does so much work I would never request for a percentage of their commission.

It's all about the "art of negotiation" when it comes to making deals/choosing a real estate agent etc.

1. Five years ago, the agent I used to buy a resale house gave me a 1 percent of the purchase price.
2. The house we sold, I negotiated a lower commission rate for the agent. (selling agent) Also, if the house was bought was an agent from the team, then the commission rate for the buyer agent will be lower. The result: just happened that the buyer agent was from the same team.
I interviewed like 5 agents to see who was best fit. This one agent wrote me an email, that I wasted his time for the following: coming to visit me, taking time talking to me on the phone, etc..

See I don't understand that.

Realtors are not supposed to act like they are doing you a BIG favor by showing you properties and answering your emails and your questions. It's a profession in sales based on commissions - that is what you do for a living. And it's certainly not a waste of time if you end up walking away with a big fat commision check at the end of the day. But they also don't look at it like - maybe I won't walk away with that payment now but if I foster a good relationship maybe in the near future I will be rewarded with loyalty from that client for years to come which would accumulate into a much larger sum of $$ over time.

That's what I felt with my realtor like it was such an inconvenience and they spent all this time showing me properties so they deserve all of that co-op and how dare you ask about taking some of it.

The problem for realtors is it is very hard to know which clients will not generate business vs. those that do.

I would like to see some type of fee-for-service model take hold.

It wouldn't matter if you do a transaction or not. You should still have to pay for any type of service your broker offers. If I make a broker show me 100 homes, I should pay him $XX for each home he shows me, whether I make an offer or not. I should pay him $XXX for each offer I ask him to make. I should pay him $XX/hour for consultation. This encourages the buyer to use their broker's time wisely. Serious buyers will save money and not have to indirectly subsidize the broker's time spent on wasted activities.

I've considered some alternative commission structures but it's tough for buyers to pay for the services of a buyer's agent since it is the seller that pays the buyer's agent commission.  Hence why I use a "work/effort" commission rebate model for resale homes and a variable commission structure on listings to more closely align my incentives with my client's interests.  It's worked well for me and as they say if it ain't broke then why try to fix it.