I'm marketing a 700K home and owner is willing to lower price to 661K. The home will appraise over 700k. What do you think would draw more buyers: lowering price by 39K, offering one nice car or two economy cars as buyer premiums, offering 39K more to buyer's agent? (the buyer premiums would be disclosed to any lender) I'm thinking the best thing would be to lower the price. (Although I can imagine getting lots of free press and word-of-mouth if the home came with a car or two, and hopefully that would also draw a buyer.)

i know a guy selling a 725k home and giving away a toyota supra with the house.

Up the commission to the buyers agent or offer the car to the agent as a Bonus. Or a car to the BA as a bonus and a car to their client.

I don't deal with clients in that price range, I do more investors and First time buyers, but when I see a bonus It gets me going!

If I were a buyer and found out that my agent was getting a $39,000 bonus if I purchased a certain house, I can assure you I would not purchase that house. I would consider the agent unduly encouraged to recommend the house to me. Human nature. Sorry. I personally think selling bonuses have ethical responsibilities of disclosure to buyers.

it is not anybody's business waht the agent gets paid but the agent!


do hourly workers in a corporate environment discuss bonuses and wages? in most corporate settings it is written in the rules that all pay matters are to be kept confidential!

a bonus is just a different method of payment(usually not split wiht the broker). would it be better if the co-op is raised? to equal 39k?

i see teh point that you are making, i am just arguing the point that when i list a house i offer agent bonuses because it is my job to entice buyers to see teh house and to entice agents to bring their buyers by the house. a bonus is in a sense the opposite of offering a 1% co-op. it is an enticement as opposed to a slap in the face. i know fsbo's who have offered me a 1% co-op to find them a buyer, and i explain that i dont have a buyer in that area and for 1% i cant afford the marketing to find a buyer for the home, then i offer one of my plans to them to get their business. one of the things that i offer is the agent bonus and i explain how it works and how it comes out of my end of the deal.

cherir- So your are saying as a buyer that when you see the HUD-1 and seeing my commission that would kill the deal???? I don't think it would.

As a buyer what would your beef be if I get a bonuus or not? What If I just gave 3K in commission on my last closing to keep the deal alive?

What if you worked for a Corp and your yearly bonus was 8K, would you turn it down due to an ethical situation to the stockholders? I don't think so.

estatereal- Realtors are not hourly employees in the Corp. world. We are business owneres and Independant Contractors. Hell yes we want to know what we get paid and the Federal Law says it has to be disclosed (HUD-1). If we hid it then it would be illegal.

I always look for the best deals available for my buyers regardless of what additional incentives the listing agent is offering.

I don't think an agent bonus would deter a buyer from buying if the home is worth the selling price, which this one is. But my own thinking is that lowering pricing will best attract buyers; a home that will easily appraise over 700K should draw a buyer at 661K. Still, I am a little attracted to the idea of the sellers offering a fantastic buyer premium just for the publicity that would be generated for the home and for me as the listing agent. And there are a lot of starving agents in our area. Maybe an agent bonus would galvanize them to hit all of their contacts. Any one else have thoughts on which scenario might be best to lure in a buyer?

I don't care what the price range is, everyone is looking for a deal! While I doubt many agents would compromise the best interest of their buyers over a bonus it is just as well not to have that even an option. Lower the price and get on with business!

my message was not clear. let me clarify.

i was positng in reference to cherir. it is my job/duty/moral and ethical/legal obligation to represent my buyers best interest, if i am the buyers agent i do represent the buyers best interest.

if by some chance the house i am selling has a bonus attached or offers a car and discloses everything on a hud 1 then i see nothing wrong with getting paid to do my job. the buyer should not worry about what my pay is. that is prenegotiated by the seller and listing agent.

if hte house meets the criteria of my buyer i would not be representing htier best interest if i decided to steer away from a property because the listing agent is offering a bonus.

i just dont see how a bonus is unethical.

=------by that rational you could say that anyone that offers a slightly higher commission to attract more showings then the agents who show the house are unethical--------

i did not realize what my typing sounded like when i typed it. i was off to see the new die hard movie(very good one by the way).

i realize how wrong my post sounded......i understand about disclosing any payment on a hud 1, my point was that a bonus is not unethical and should have no bearing on whether a buyer buys or not. the house and the price should be what the decision is based on. i mean you could argue that any commission is making hte house more expensive, but there is a price to everything that we do in life(i just spent $50 bucks in the movies)<<<<wow!

i think the price should be dropped to benefit your client, the seller. in one case it benefits the seller (lower commission paid on lower price) and the buyer (lower price) and in the other case it benefits the agent . . . (bonus) and does not benefit the seller (higher commission paid).

I recommend lowering the price & offering a BTSA. Something like this. It's $1,000 more but the #'s appeal more.

List Price:$665,000
BTSA: $5,000

Or you could do use a trip for two & a price drop. This could draw attention. Whatever you decide be creative, take a look at the competition for that price range and see what you can do to stand out. Good luck!

Price drop price drop price drop.

I pay no attention to the small print about bonuses to seller's agent.

I don't recommend cutting corners and offering less than a full commission in this market but I have NEVER made a decision to show a house to a buyer based on the compensation offered.

And my agents don't either. I only hire the best.

May I suggest price drop?