If you’re working with a real estate agent in the Maryland location, Virginia, location, Baltimore location, or Washington DC location, you may have wondered how your realtor will be paid. For those buying a home, it’s a surprise to learn that your realtor’s commission comes from the seller’s end of the table. Let’s take a look at how commissions break down and how realtors earn their living.
Commissions
If you’re unfamiliar with this term, a person who works on commissions is paid a percentage of the final sale price. For realtors, this means that all those hours they put in to help you buy or sell your home are not covered by an hourly wage. If your house fails to close, they don’t get paid for the work they put in. While commissions are negotiable, the standard rate for realtors is 6%. At this percentage, if a house closes at $250,000, the commission is $15,000.
Buyer’s Agent
The commission for agents comes from the seller’s proceeds at the close of their sale. As a buyer, if you work with an agent, their fee is also part of that commission. Using the previous example, if the commission is $15,000, that amount is split between the listing and buyer agents at whatever percentage they’ve negotiated. Most often the commission is split evenly with each agent earning 3%, but it can be negotiated differently. Agents work with buyers knowing that they might not see a paycheck because they hope that when it’s time for you to sell, you’ll choose to work with them again.
If you’ve worked with a real estate agent, you’ll know the amount of time, energy, and work they put into each and every house. Realtors know that unless your home closes, they won’t get paid. It’s why they do everything they can to help you find the home you love and close the deal.
Zillow’s website is often the first place to be visited by people who want to sell their house fast for cash in Maryland. However, majority of these persons often feel disappointed with the results they get at the end of their search. Although the Zillow online marketplace is highly revered in the American real estate industry for its practical resources, it may not be the best place for you to sell if you’re planning to sell my house fast in Maryland and hassle-free. The majority of the information on the platform is not sufficient for you to make informed decisions.
If you’re planning to sell my house fast in Maryland in exchange for cash, here is a few reasons why you should not list your home on the Zillow website:
Incorrect Home Estimates: In case you don’t know yet, most of the home values you get from Zestimates are not accurate. This is so because a computer cannot actually determine the true value of a home since there are so many factors involved in determining it’s worth. Zillow doesn’t do field inspection to check out the details of each property. The computer algorithm only generates home values based on what has sold in the area, the square footage, and the number of bedrooms. The truth is that no two houses are the same. People often make changes to their homes which Zillow obviously won’t be aware of. These changes affect home values.
Unsolicited Communication: Once you enter your information into the Zillow database, expect your phone to start ringing with unwanted calls. Since your information will be shared with hundreds of agents, you’re going to spend hours attending to lots of annoying calls, texts, and emails from different peoples. In fact, these unwanted calls could last for months.
Inaccurate information: Many homes listed on Zillow may not be available for sale. This inaccurate information often pushes away potential buyers who have experienced false leads in the past.
Most people only visit Zillow to get rough estimates of the values of properties in a particular neighborhood. They do not intend to buy through the platform. If you’re looking to sell my home fast in Maryland, Zillow is not the right platform for you.
If you need instant cash for your home, you can always contact 8 Day Home Sale. We buy houses in Maryland for cash.
Real estate agents get a bad rap – it is easy to see why; they are working in the world of sales. If someone is trying to persuade someone to buy or sell your house fast, it always makes you question their motives. Here are a few tips for spotting shady realtors.
A good realtor should know your area, even your street very well. Unless they are new, there are no excuses for not being an expert in your place of living if they are to represent you and the sale of your property. Protect yourself by asking questions about the area – what is the local school? How does it perform? Are there any parks nearby? What is the neighborhood like? If they stumble over the answers or are vague in their response, this could show a lack of knowledge and they are potentially making up a lot of information.
Listen out for information they should not be giving you. Bad realtors might try and persuade you that the deal is good and sell you on information such as tax breaks or even give legal advice. If you hear any of this be wary. Use a professional for tax or legal advice.
Ask for references. A good realtor should be able to provide these to you easily. Even if you need to sell your house fast, it’s worth following up with a few references.
Do a bit of research, look up the information they have told you about the property. Use tools like Zillow and tax records to ensure what they’ve told you is actually correct. For example, if they say the house was built in 1980, confirm that information.
Make sure you get a home inspection, a bad realtor might advise against this. When buying any property, the best way of protecting yourself against future headaches is by getting a thorough home inspection – it’s the only way of finding out the actual condition of the property.
If you need to sell your house fast, a traditional home sale with a realtor might not be for you. We buy houses directly for cash so you can sell your house fast. Talk to us!
