Pace, I'm sorry I didn't get back to reply quickly, but it looks like you go the right answer and a lot more!

I haven't had a buyer say no to a BAC yet; they seem to have no problem understanding that this is how I get paid, and 3% is fair.

Part of the reason I do it with relative ease is that I really believe that the Seller paying the Buyer's Agent is an outdated and unfair way of doing things. If I'm not getting paid by my buyer, how can I be seen as being loyal to their best interests? They clearly get it when I explain it that way.

The problem with that is that then you can't do anything about agencies that offer 1% - FSBO's for that matter. For "normal" listings that would work. But when you are a buyers agent you have an obligation to show the client everything available. If you don't put a percentage in, you have no protection.

Why would I not get paid with the paragraph as stated below?
"the amount offered in the MLS, or by FSBO or Builder, but No Less Than, ie. 3%",

Sorry - it had been a loooong day.

Yea, I had my senior moments earlier.

I'm not going to elaborate any further on who that particular agent may or may not be, so as to comply with the Code of Ethics. I'm not going to speak poorly about a named agent. However, similar "stories" have been told about the agent referenced above, and few if any have been positive.

Needless to say. I don't discount my services. Personally, I feel that there are still plenty of ways to stand out above the crowd without making commissions an issue.

I just had a customer that I thought was loyal to me. It turned out he was loyal in my area. He bought a house about 40 miles away. If I had an EBA with him, how would I know that he had bought? I mean if they just said at some point "we're taking a break from house hunting".

Well... I dunno about that. I have (1) listing, and it is a lead-generating MACHINE. It's a home that is going to take just the right buyer for a couple reasons, and my sellers want to hold out for a top price. So be it. In the meantime, I have picked up 6 or 7 HOT buyers, for whom this was not the right home but they liked ME a lot, one of whom goes into escrow on Monday.

A listing is a wonderful thing, even one that is a tough sell, AS LONG AS your sellers are the ones driving the process- IE, they know it's not selling because they are trying for top dollar and are willing to be patient. That's a big "as long as", I do realize that.

-jeff

-jeff

It sounds as if your seller is very reasonable and realistic in spite of wanting top dollar. Those seem to be few and far between though! There are only 2 neighborhoods in my area where such a tactic might indeed prove worthwhile - as long as I break even. But it would take a very special seller who would not demand 20 open houses and massive advertising.

I usually put geographic parameters in mine. Unfortunately, if the client decides to buy something 40 miles away I'm SOL. But really, do any of us (particularly in congested areas) want ot have an EBA with someone who is looking 40+ miles away? Depending on the time of day and location it can take me two hours to drive to and from locations that far north of me. That's a lot of time - not to mention cost. It would have to be a client that was very high end and VERY certain to buy SOMETHNG for me to do that.

One of the things that drives me crazy is that I lose a lot of clients to the Stamford Ct area. So I can show and show and show - only to find that the siren song of lower taxes lured my clients to another agent in another State. This is a big enough problem for me that I am considering getting licensed in CT. NYS has to get its property taxes under control! Its the school taxes that are killing us - and they could kill the NY market.

two things:
what about 8%
do you feel that there is an industry norm or top level?


commission % is just for info purposes only