Didn't he say he was in Detroit? 3% of 20k isn't much. Guy is probably losing money without the fee after his gas.

Suburban. Huge difference

Brokers who have been at it a while get a lot of repeat business, but unless you're bringing them investor-type volume there may be only so much incentive to discount depending on the rest. Especially if it's a lower-cost place first-time buyers tend to buy & they can command it normally. After the agent's cut, overhead, tax etc I wonder what's actually left for them on say a $6k commission compared to 20 years ago.

Yea or nay on painting brick exterior?

Nay, I hate the way that looks

Why would you ever paint brick?

Nay.

If I want to offer something like 10-15% below asking price for a house should my realtor be on board with this? My friend that bought a house in the area within the past year said every house was selling within two weeks but I'm not in a huge hurry, so should I start with lowball offers and make the realtor do it even though most houses are selling for the asking price?

Trust your realtor or get a different one.

If you have a valid reason to believe the true value is 15% below list price then sure I guess.

If you don't have any supporting evidence and are trying to go in at 85% the day it comes on the market then no. No sane buyer lists their house at 15% more than they'd be willing to take after 1 day.

Just use some common sense here. The seller's realtor knows more than your friend who bought one house a year ago. If every house sells in 2 weeks, why the hell would they take your offer unless it's been more than a couple of weeks?

If your goal is to start at 15% under but eventually settle higher then you're likely just going to piss off the seller and end up with a worse/no result.

I disagree. If you aren't in a hurry to find a house,aren't in love with the house and it's been on the market for a bit go ahead and lowball. However, if you really like the house you may not want to low ball too bad.

Remember realtors are incentivized to get you to pay the max.

I believe that you shouldn't turn a surface that is virtually maintenance-free into a surface that requires maintenance.

Please don't.

I was asking because this whole system is full of conflicts of interest. My realtor seems like a great guy. But he gets paid more if I spend more.

I am not painting the brick although I thought about it when we first bought the house. I just wondered people's opinion on it.

The brick is a pale, dirty yellow and I wanted to paint it white. I researched and found a lot of sites that say painting brick is not a good idea.

A poster in another area posted about painting his brick exterior. I looked online again and found sites, including Bob Vila, that said it was okay.

This led me to post here.

Lots of bad advice. This is a hot market, and houses sell quickly. Any house that's been on the market for several weeks has something wrong with it, or is in a non-desirable neighborhood.

Just to put this whole commission in perspective. If a realtor is able to get 3% of the sale price as commission, then for every $10,000 in price difference, the realtor company will lose/receive $300. After the agency takes their cut, the buyer's rep will probably end up with $150-$200. That's not a whole lot of money if the house was purchased for $300,000.

If you consistently try to low ball houses, your realtor will just stop working for you. Why should they even try when the opposite is happening in the market? Why would anyone want to come in with an offer that may end up being 30% less than the highest offer?

Nothing wrong with painting brick if it looks like crap to start.

Reread my post.

I said it was okay to lowball if the house was on the market a while. As you suggest, if a house is on the market for a while in a hot market there is something wrong with the house... Like it's overpriced.

You mean if it wad your overpriced house that's been on the market for a while you would be okay getting lowballed?

We all remembered you wanted to price your house well above market because you weren't "in a hurry to sell".

It's still bad advice.

Buy well below market value

Sell well above market value

Easy game

Realtors. Who needs 'em?

Doesn't look like crap. It looks like a sick canary.

Actually, it just doesn't look like a color I am totally in love with.

I think there is more of an incentive for the realtor to complete the deal since that's the only way he gets paid. He may advise against low-balling because he knows it will not help the deal get done, not because he wants to squeeze a few extra commission $ out of the sale.

That being said, people overprice their homes all the time, so what may seem like a lowball offer may in fact be the best one they will get. Don't go by the list price, go by what comparable homes are selling for in the neighborhood.

re: the lowball

Realtor looked at the online listing and said " I wouldn't pay that much for a house in that condition and there is no way they would take [12% below asking].

Does really make sense. I guess he just doesn't think people are over pricing houses.

The house is outdated but appears to have a lot to work with. Been on zillow over 60 days and this area us supposedly hot according to everyone.

Lol at worrying at making your realtor mad. Ooh noes I'll never find a new one!!!