Three Ways to Successfully Negotiate Realtor Commission

By Realty Times Published Oct 12, 2021 12:25 pm

Selling a home is an exciting venture. You’re finally ready to see some cash on the investment you’ve been building for years.

But then you realize that 5%-6% of the sale price is going to go away before your money ever gets to you.

Real estate agents are vital to the sale process. Depending on the circumstances, they can get an average 30% higher sale price than trying to sell your home yourself. Obviously, this makes their help worth it, but if you could pay less for the same service that would be ideal. After all, 6% on a $300,000 home is $18,000 — no small chunk of change!

The good news is that it’s possible to successfully negotiate realtor commission and save. Check out three ways here.

Know the Market

Like most things in real estate transactions, realtor commission is negotiable. In fact, by law agents can’t say that commission is a set X-amount in their market. However, about 6% is the average industry standard and what most people end up paying.

However, if you know the market well and understand that it is a seller’s market, you may have some bargaining power.

A seller’s market means that there are proportionately more buyers than inventory, making it very easy to sell homes. In fact, in strong seller’s markets, it’s possible to get an offer within days or even hours of putting the home on the market. You may even enjoy the seller’s dream of having several buyers competing for the home.

In that case, it’s easy to sell the home and the agent won’t have to put as much effort into the sale. You can use this to your advantage when negotiating the commission. The agent knows it will be an easy sale and may have no problem accepting a reduced commission.

Just remember, you’re pitting yourself against a master negotiator. Be sure to read up on how to negotiate before you begin that conversation.

Discuss Your Needs

What if your market isn’t a strong seller’s market at the moment? Will you be stuck paying full price?

Well, how good are your negotiating skills?

This is a great tactic if you have a bit of real estate experience yourself. You may not require all of the agent’s skills. For example, you may be willing to handle buyer walkthroughs yourself or you can write the marketing materials. Perhaps you already have a buyer, which is a huge part of the agent’s job, and you just need help navigating the rest of the transaction.

If you ask them for it, many agents will provide you with a list of services they offer. If you don’t need everything they offer, they may be willing to amend their service package and drop their price to accommodate.

Established Real Estate Referral Network

Hands down the easiest and most efficient way of saving on realtor commission is by using an established real estate referral network. These networks have already done all the hard work for you.

A big part of an agent’s job is finding new clients. Unless they are investors, most people don’t make frequent real estate purchases. Agents are lucky to get a handful of repeat clients.

By streamlining and handling marketing services for thousands of agents, a referral network makes it possible for the agents to spend more time selling homes. Without all the extra marketing work on their plate, the agent can provide the same full real estate services to their clients for a reduced price.

Find your agent through one of these companies and you could save thousands on your home sale. As a bonus, you also don’t have to worry about investigating the agent beforehand. The referral network has taken care of that for you too. They don’t work with agents who don’t perform well — and that includes offering top-notch customer service.

Just be sure to pick a reputable network. Some companies offer this type of service at rock bottom prices because the agents provide subpar work.

Why Pay More Than You Have To?

Selling a home is expensive enough, why pay more in realtor fees than you have to? Check out one of these ways to successfully negotiate realtor commission before you put your home on the market. You have nothing to lose and thousands of dollars to gain.