Save Money When Selling Your Home

Here's a simple yet very effective money saving tip:

When you sell your home, ask your real estate agent to take a reduced commission.

SmartMoney magazine says that with the current slowing in housing sales, real estate agents are much more willing to reduce their fees a bit. The details:

As more brokers compete for sales in a slowing real estate market, savvy homeowners can save thousands by negotiating their commissions. "Commissions are becoming more negotiable than used to be the case," White says. He chalks it up to several factors, including more competition from discount and a-la-carte brokers, which offer less comprehensive services than full-service brokers, but charge discounted sales commissions or offer buyers rebates upon closing. And then there's more consumer awareness of the market. Thanks to web sites like Zillow.com, anyone with an Internet connection can find out what homes are for sale or recently sold in a given area — information once only available to real estate agents.

This can add up to some big bucks. If you're selling a $200,000 home and would normally pay a 6% commission but can get it to 4.5% (the example used in the SmartMoney article), you'll save $3,000. Not bad, huh?

Comments

[Lord]

This is what to do in a seller's market. In a buyer's market it is stupid. Whatever savings you imagine you are making, you will spend much more on the time to sell and on the market willing to consider your place.

[FMF]

Not necessarily.

I think we'd all classify it as a buyer's market in most of the US today, but this is because in many areas total sales are down. This means agent sales are down (of course) and they are as hungry as ever to make sales -- even if they have to take a bit of a cut to do so.

[Lord]

Getting a listing is nothing. Getting a sale is everything. A cut that means fewer will look at your place and that will mean it will take longer to sell, during which prices will continue to fall, is no cut at all. It is a costly mistake.

[FMF]

We'll see. I'm working on something I'll announce soon.