Real Estate Agent Question

Well, this has been fun reading as always.

Wandered off to the beach for the few days and though I would catch back up on things on the TGRz...

So yes, my wife and I are selling our condo just outside of Boston and looking to move a bit further west from the city. We will be selling one unit of a two family home and will be looking to purchase a single family home.
I was more curious about the roles of the two agents as I work in software sales and the behaviors and motivations of those who work on commissions is something I am very familiar with.

So we hit a few open houses, had a very informal conversation with an agent in the are we are looking who was holding an open house(also came recommended by a friend) about our situation, and are slowly moving forward.

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Originally Posted by PNWbrit

Tall, bearded, Land-cruiser driving, 3 ripping free skier kids, taste in fine wines and cured meats, thrift store chique, smoking filter-less American Spirits split in half.

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Sounds dreamy.

Where's the current place and what towns are you thinking about Sag?

Oft I've been told I should ask you whether you're now providing bowls of M&Ms at your open houses.... color coded to match the marble counters.. obviously.

Good to hear about your latest satisfied customer's new acquisition on Saturday evening... what was the referral fee again? :fm:

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Originally Posted by iceman

Where's the current place and what towns are you thinking about Sag?

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Selling the place in Arlington and moving west, looking at the towns south of rt2, north of the pike and inside of 495.

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Originally Posted by oftpiste

I don't see your bubble bursting too soon, but it sure is one helluva a bubble!

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http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/britis...nals-1.3694167

so the BC gov are hitting my people with a 15% tax ^^

the Gov also recently announced changes to the RE industry where by the industry no longer gets to police it self , higher, fines for breaking rules ect

Figured I would bump this one back up as all transactions have cleared and we are now happily ensconced in our new home.

We ended up using the same agent for both transactions, I was able to negotiate a lower rate for the sale of our condo by doing this. After watching many the sales of homes in our neighborhood over the last six months I knew we likely would have a pretty easy time getting our place sold the only question was how much. Lots of comps in the market... We listed on Weds, had an open house Saturday and Sunday as well as a lot of private showings from that Thursday through Monday Night. Close to 75 different groups came through and we had 10 offers in by Tuesday (Monday was a holiday). So that worked out well. We had already had found our new place, had no real issues during the inspection, our lender was great to work with and our rate was amazing. We closed on the new house on a Thursday and Sold the old one the following Tuesday so I never had to carry two notes. Our timing was amazing and we feel really lucky about the opportunity to live where we do now. Going from 800 Sq/Ft to 3000Sq/Ft and two acres is pretty fucking sweet to be honest. The family couldn't be happier. Its been a great month for the Sagamoron Clan..

Here's my question, and I don't want to come off as entitled or ungrateful and I really hope I don't. But one thing has me a bit chapped...
Obviously the market in which we sold is insanely competitive, and as such I interviewed over a dozen agents to make sure we had one we were comfortable with both personally and professionally. When it came time to sell, we did the staging, painting, prep work landscaping etc they had suggested. We moved out of the house for 5 days so it could be shown at moments notice. (All of this was no small feat with a toddler and a 14 year old dog in poor health). We knew we had to be flexible to get this done. As a result of the volume during the open houses, two of my neighbors came to me asking about my agent and how the sale was going. Within a week her signs were planted on their front Yards (they also sold over a weekend)

So, two transactions from me, and two direct referrals that could have gone to any other agent in town are now closed. The total value of all four is Well North of 7-Figures. (Boston Real Estate is fucking insane). We got an email yesterday from the agent asking us to do a review the sale and purchase on Zillow and we would be compensated with a $25 Dunkin Donuts Gift card for each review.. Yeah, I'm complete masshole and love me some Dunks, but seriously? I'm not expecting a fucking Lexus with Bow in the Driveway but not a bottle of wine? Maybe Something Christmasy? $50... to fucking Dunks? Am I right to be kinda perturbed by the this? Overall, it was great buying and selling experience

TLDR: Sold our place in a weekend, and moved into our dream home. Used the same agent for both transactions. Handed my agent off to two neighbors who then used her and have their places under agreement already. Well over 7 Figures of transactions and we could get $50 of Dunkin Donuts cards for a doing an online review. Not trying to come off as entitled or ungrateful but has me kinda chapped..

Thoughts?

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Originally Posted by Sagamoron

Handed my agent off to two neighbors who then used her and have their places under agreement already.

Thoughts?

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did you personally refer or introduce the agent to the neighbors? If not, you are not owed anything. It sounds like the agent did their job and did what you hired them to do. If they impress neighbors, that's their upside (and their job if they have any common sense).

Now, as far as gratitude and wanting happy clients to refer you more business, I generally fork over ~$100 bottle of wine and if I really like the clients, we go out to a great dinner. My life is a write off so its really no cost to me (until I hit AMT, but that's for another thread).

IMO, you being chapped for a 100% win on your end sounds unreasonable. If you think the agent did not do you a solid, don't refer them when your buddy asks you for an agent referral (for reference, anybody that refers me a client gets comped something...again, usually a great bottle). Not sure how they do business in your area but when commissions are a min. $25k a $100 for a bottle is nothing.

Maybe it's auto generated email from Zillow offering the perk and not the agent? It's a whore's business. Treat accordingly.

That's tacky as fuck. You should've at least gotten a reacharound.

Put me on the list of people who would refer others to oftpiste--I'll still handle my own, though. :tongue:

Understand it is against the rulz for a referral fee to be paid for a specific transaction. So rather than a referral fee paid for the Smith and Jones referrals any gift to you just needs to be in general. Like a closing gift for your home.
And ya, if you liked the agent, thought they did a great job for you, why expect anything from the agent when the referral was meant to help out your friend???

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Originally Posted by RootSkier

That's tacky as fuck.

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Yes, Tacky. That's the word I was looking for.

And yes, they were referrals. The agent thanked me several times for referring my neighbors, how important that is in their line of business, mentioning how this would give them an edge in a very competitive market for future transactions. Again, very happy with the job done and the entire process but I think I was just taken back by such a tacky gesture.

For example, the house down the road has horses and my two year old couldn't stop talking about them when we toured the house. The selling agent took notice and the day we moved in, there was stuffed horse sitting in his new room....

Live and Learn..

Wait, so the agent got you a closing gift with personal value (the stuffed horse)? That seems way cooler than an expensive bottle of wine, IMO. But what do I know, I don't do closing gifts.

My wife just had ACL surgery. Since then, she sent 2 people to the surgeon. We would never expect anything in return from the surgeon, but hopefully he did an amazing job and she'll never blow her ACL again. That's how I'd look at it.

As for the gift card, that just seemed like a quid pro quo for you to do a Zillow review. Not tacky at all, IMO.

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Originally Posted by 4matic

Maybe it's auto generated email from Zillow offering the perk and not the agent?

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This was my thought. Or maybe the thank you is still on the way. Though, real estate agents are overwhelmingly incompetent so yours could very well be the source.

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Originally Posted by Sagamoron

I was able to negotiate a lower rate for the sale of our condo by doing this.

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There's your closing gift. :smile:

quoted for posterity, and thank you.

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Originally Posted by RootSkier

That's tacky as fuck. You should've at least gotten a reacharound.

Put me on the list of people who would refer others to oftpiste--I'll still handle my own, though. :tongue:

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In Colorado you cannot be paid a referral unless you are licensed. Each agent is different. Several of my clients in your range received Weber Genesis series grills as a gift for using me. I know some agents that bring food baskets at closing, knives, etc. Some agents do nothing.

I refer contractors, etc to my clients because I want my people taken care of. I don't expect anything in return, but that's just me.

I made a referral while riding the chair and got a case of a beer

As an agent, I take good care of my clients. As mentioned, there is a real legal limit to what we can give for referrals. The stuffed horse shows she's paying attention and that does say something. Just do the reviews and eat the doughnuts!

I discount commission, I provide home warranties, I pay for professional photographers, I've scrubbed baseboards and refrigerators for open houses. You do what you have to do. Some deals are easy and some totally suck. She did her job and you are happy. Win-win.

People complain about Realtors and yes there are some really unethical people in the biz but hey, it's a job and anyone can choose it as a career.

Glad you got it all taken care of so easily, I could share way too many nightmare scenarios.

It's very easy to criticize real estate agents in well oiled markets. Houses move quickly with little/no effort. How hard can it be? But living in a community with market that has been locked since 2008, you can see where the agents earn their fees. Listings of years are not uncommon. The house across the street was listed the first week in September and has had an open house every weekend since. So yes, being a real estate agent seems like easy money, until it isn't.

Thank your lucky stars your were able to sell so quickly, get into the new house so easily and call it a day.

and.... (prolly said this before) it's no small feat to successfully navigate and manage to the best possible outcome for the client a multiple offer scenario. Just because you get offers quickly doesn't mean no skill is required to see it through to closing.

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Originally Posted by Sagamoron

For example, the house down the road has horses and my two year old couldn't stop talking about them when we toured the house. The selling agent took notice and the day we moved in, there was stuffed horse sitting in his new room....

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I think people read this wrong, thinking that his agent gave the horse gift. But it was the sellers agent of the house they bought, and he was using it as an example of a thoughtful agent, as compared to his agent.

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Originally Posted by Stu Gotz

It's very easy to criticize real estate agents in well oiled markets. Houses move quickly with little/no effort. How hard can it be? But living in a community with market that has been locked since 2008, you can see where the agents earn their fees. Listings of years are not uncommon. The house across the street was listed the first week in September and has had an open house every weekend since. So yes, being a real estate agent seems like easy money, until it isn't.

Thank your lucky stars your were able to sell so quickly, get into the new house so easily and call it a day.

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http://s2.quickmeme.com/img/bc/bc42d...7265c16c79.jpg

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Originally Posted by Danno

I think people read this wrong, thinking that his agent gave the horse gift. But it was the sellers agent of the house they bought, and he was using it as an example of a thoughtful agent, as compared to his agent.

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#stuffedhorsesmatter

I say, garnish that lousy agent's commission.

Danno for the reading comprehension win. I think the Dunk's gift card is a bit tacky in absence of a bottle of wine or whatever. But something you'll get over. In the end u r happy with your sale and purchase.