Problem is, people expect realtors to advertise and show the house, and 3k really doesn't buy all that much advertising.
Then why can discount brokers do it, and do it effectively. They can,I have seen it done.
My aunt had only been here for less than two years from Simi Valley, California where she held a R.E. license.
You've got that right... Realtors do NOT get paid unless they sell something. Meaning, they could list a home for over a year, paying out money in the meantime, for advertisting, promotion, their gas, etc. only to have the owners decide to stop listing or go with someone else. Usually this happens because the owner insist on their home being priced much HIGHER than it is worth.
So, the agent is then out quite a bit of money, but they cannot not (yes double-neg) advertise, promote, etc.
There is NO base salary in real estate, no guaranteed minimum wage, the only time an agent is paid is when something sells. Then have to pay for their office space too. Many months you can have NOTHING coming in, but the money still goes out.
Most people do not understand this. FYI, hubby is an agent and believe me, it isn't an easy business. If you think that realtors make easy bucks, you go try it. Try it for a year and then come back and tell us how easy it is (not yelling at you publiusF27), but others.
A $30K commission ??? Yeah right, maybe the commission is $30K (on a million dollar home), but million dollar homes are on the market for a long time, and then there are all the costs associated with it, plus the agency takes a large cut too. There are very few agents who will take home $30K on a sale (probably more like $10K MAYBE after everything is deducted (then Uncle Sam takes his cut of that $10K (remember double fica deduction too).
Then, there is timing, there is no time day or night, that a good agent is free from working. Then can get calls @ 6am and at 12 midnight.
Like I said, people can complain, but trying doing it once. We've heard this from many people, "oh the job you do is so easy and must be nice to make so much money on such a sluff job." But sometimes, they become a realtor and it is amazing how fast they change their tune, when the money keeps going out and little comes in, in comparison.
Sorry if it seems I'm on a rant, but believe me, it really gets old hearing this over and over from people who don't know what it takes. It's NOT a hard job as far as paperwork, etc. but it's not a easy one either, because you better be able to put up with being treated like S### by people that think that you make too much money.
Geez, I can't believe on FreeRepublic, I'd hear the class-envy stuff.
Posting listings on the Internet costs virtually nothing other than having someone drive by and take a photo. More and more people are selecting their homes on the Internet. Commissions of 6% to 7% for homes that sell in days is outrageous.
Where I live, the commission is negotiable. 4% seems to be the average.
When I go to sell, I'll probably do it myself. I have waterfront and I don't need to "give" $30K or more to someone else.