Do "do-it-yourself" home buyers need a buyer agent?
Friday, June 19, 2009 at 4:36PM 
Thanks to Google alerts for picking up eestee's comment on today's Boston.com's real estate blog, Does Jason really need a Realtor? He wants to be convinced.
The Real Estate Cafe understands that our fee-for-service business model, which offers fees from $75 to $150 per hour, doesn't appeal to everyone; so we invite do-it-yourself home buyers to review our full Menu of Fees & Rebates to select the (1) hourly fee, (2) flat fee, or (3) performance-based compensation plan that best meets their needs. If you don't like any of plans, you can also propose your own -- about one-third of our recent clients have!
If eestee and other Boston.com readers review our menu of options, they may conclude that one of our 100% commission rebate options was better than the one negotiated with eestee's attorney.
Five years after our 100% rebate option was featured in a Wall Street Journal article on "Cutting the Commission", we're still looking for innovative ways to help DIY real estate consumers save money!
Let's start by asking President Obama's new Consumer Financial Protection Agency to (1) outlaw dual agency; (2) divorce the traditional (now obsolete), two-sided real estate commission; and (3) regulate blind bidding wars. Your ideas and proposed regulatory reforms are invited!
Reader Comments (17)
RealEstateCafe offers a very innovative menu of choices with respect to fees and rebates on real estate commissions, that all buyers and sellers in today's RE market can benefit from. It even allows buyers and sellers to come up with their own compensation plan that is a win-win for them and RECafe.
I am a very satisfied RECafe customer and will recommend it to anyone interested in saving money on real estate commissions!
It's high time we start thinking out-of-the-box, and STOP paying the traditional 5%-6% (!!) commission to real estate agents and save some of that money for ourselves. When you're ready for that, RECafe will be there for you.
Thanks for the post.
Nice one and very valuable...
Idaho Real Estate
your approach is nice.....we can save some money ...
Boise real estate
I agree with outlawing dual agency but don't expect to get rid of the traditional fee structure any time soon. The NAR lobby is just about as strong as any in Washington.
It's an innovative approach that Real Estate Cafe offers. Certainly one that appeals to a lot of consumers in this market.
They only need a buyers agent, if they don't know what they want. It's more common than you think.
California Home Loans
I know a few sellers that did did not want to pay the 6 percent commission only to run into problems later. With lawyers chopming at the bit to make money, it would seem to me that getting a agent would seve everyone's interest.
Very interesting information. I remember reading that article in the Wall Street Journal. I would consider a fee based commission structure in our office for clients. However, a good majority of the executed sales over the last 12 months have been short sales and as a result this may no be the most ideal time to execute this strategy in the Baltimore real estate market.
Great post - very valuable.
Commendable job!!out of the box thinking.
A fresh approach to teh whole compensation idea
Hi,
Really this is a good article. The home buyers can save the time and money also by using this methodology of reviewing the menu.
Hi,
Really this is a good article. The home buyers can save the time and money also by using this methodology of reviewing the menu.
Web Design Services UK
thank you for speaking up about the ridiculous monopoly that Real-TORS have on the market. They have a powerful lobby group that has somehow thwarted every effort to make this a competitive market place. Don't people know that's unamerican? it's called a monopoly or a union, and we all know unions don't make for efficient capitalism, just ask GM
I find this article informative…Thanks for sharing...
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Hope to See more Oregon Coast Homebuyers