My realtor presented me with a very low offer on my home, which is, as she agrees, fairly priced. I suggested to my realtor that we structure a counter offer where I came part way, asked the buyer to come part way, and suggested that in order to make the deal happen that the realtors, together, might reduce their commission by $1,000 - $500 each. My realtor flew off the handle at me snipping that because I chose her 5% selling option rather than her higher percentage programs, it was ridiculous for me to expect her to loose any of the agreed commission. I said, "hey, this is a rough market -- there are no sacred cows here - I don't want to lower my price either, but we all benefit if we can make this happen and I simply can't take enough of a cut to get where this buyer wants me to be, so as you also have an interest in selling the house, I thought a modest concession on your part was worth suggesting to make the deal happen". She flew off the handle again. To this I responded that it is fine if she is not willing to cut her commission, but that I wasn't going to dip any further into my pockets and to make a counter offer on the basis of how far I felt I could go. I stated that while her saying "no" was not a problem to me, her rudeness in how she handled my request was unacceptable. She continued to defend herself.

This strategy was suggested by family who have purchased many homes over the years. Is it really outrageous to suggest this? If I were her, I'd rather sell the house at a little less money than continue working it up to another 4 to 6 months for $500.

Thoughts?

Hmm, I watch a lot of those shows where people try to sell their homes, realtors rarely reduce their commission. She mentionned you chose a 5% option rather than a higher percent option.

I don't know a lot about the housing market but what is the difference, why would anyone willingly pay them a higher percentage? Do they do more advertising if they get a higher commission.

Chances are if you took the lowest percentage plan then they aren't going to make a lot of profit, they do have quite a bit of expenses if they have done some decent marketing and may be confident of a new offer soon.

As someone who is new to real estate I would have most likely said yes to your proposal because I need the sales under my belt and would be willing to take a cut in lieu of the experience. I would imagine someone more seasoned would be against it. The experienced agents seem to make a lot off a single sale but when all their costs add up it is quite significant and the profit margin not as high as you think.

If the offer was too low just counteroffer with what is good for you and go from there. Once you counteroffer, though, the potential buyer is off the hook. They can decline your counteroffer and walk away. You can't enforce their first offer anymore.

Sorry that you have someone that isn't very tactful when explaining her commission structure. I have never heard of anyone asking the real estate agent to reduce their commission, but that certainly doesn't mean that it doesn't happen.