1% for Full Service listing has additional buyer agent fee?

[jessek]

Hello, I recently spoke with a broker through the program advertised as 1% commission full-service. The broker however informed me that it was impossible to pay less than 2.5%, as if we find a buyer who does not have an agent themselves, then the selling agent would up their fee to 2.5%. Is this standard for all houseit brokers? This is different from what the website suggests.

Thanks, Jesse

[HauseitAdmin]

Hi Jesse! The 1% mentioned in our discounted full service listing option refers to the listing fee (i.e. seller broker's commission). This is mentioned on our product page (see link below):

Note: The 1% listing fee does not include the commission you choose to offer to buyers’ agents. We recommend offering a market rate buyer’s agent fee for full exposure.

While our partner brokers have agreed to discreetly take a haircut on what they, the seller's broker, will make, we definitely recommend offering a market rate buyer's agent fee to get the attention of the 50,000 licensed real estate agents in NYC.

Remember that 90% of all deals in NYC are typically done between a listing (or seller's) agent and a buyer's agent, so you definitely want to make sure you're offering a market rate buyer agent commission in the REBNY RLS (the equivalent of MLS broker database here in NYC).

We hope this answers your question, and please don't hesitate to leverage this forum and post your own questions! Thank you!

[jessek]

Hello - This doesn't quite answer the question. The broker I spoke with for the 15 minute consultation told me that the 1% fee applies in the case of a co-broke with a buyer that has representation. However, he said that in the event that the buyer we find does NOT have representation, that we would be responsible for paying the listing agent 2.5% instead of 1%.

My question was whether this is how it is supposed to be. I haven't seen any reference to this sort of an arrangement, and if this is the arrangement, it means that it is impossible to pay less than 2.5% (and the website certainly makes many claims that it could be sold for 1% if the buyer doesn't have an agent).

Thanks again,
Jesse

[HauseitAdmin]

Hi Jesse, yes absolutely, in the case of dual agency where the buyer does not have an outside buyer's agent, the listing broker would act as both the seller's agent as well as the buyer's agent. The listing agent would be doing work for both clients, which can be rather substantial in the case of co-ops and condos with board packages, and needs to be compensated for such.

Furthermore, remember that our partner brokers are traditional brokerage firms that work with both sellers and buyers. The direct buyer could be an existing client of the partner brokerage, and this client is worth 2.5% or 3% on any other listing. Therefore, why should they be punished for presenting a client to their own listing?

Lastly, our partner brokers nor any other reputable brokerage firm would be open to a situation where an argument could arise as to who actually brought a buyer (i.e. the partner broker or the seller). This can become substantially difficult to arbitrate as buyers typically never sign any sort of exclusivity agreement in New York.