The longer I work as a real estate broker, the more I am convinced that my profession should do a better job of educating the public about real estate agents and brokers. Few home buyers and sellers seem to really understand how real estate agents work, or how to follow protocol, who pays us and why we do the things that we do. Ask what the public does know, and you’ll hear all kinds of myths.

Because real estate agents can make or break your deal, you owe it yourself and to your financial future to understand how agents work. Do you know the difference between REALTORS® and real estate agents? Do you need an agent or would you be better off doing it all yourself? Which type of real estate agency might be best for you, dual or single? Should you sign with a buyer’s broker? Can you go to open houses and call other agents if an agent is e-mailing you listings? How are real estate agents paid and who pays them?

What are the different types of listing agreements? Find out the answers before you start looking for an agent to represent you.

About Finding and Hiring Real Estate Agents

I hate to admit this but I was once hired to sell a half-million dollar house simply because I was standing in the street, wearing my name badge and yakking on my cell. The seller spied me from her front porch and said, “Hey, you look like a real estate agent. I wanna sell my house!”

Speaks volumes about agents, doesn’t it? She was lucky. I knew how to price her home. But I could have been Joe Blow from Kokomo (no offense to those from Indiana). Or, some newbie agent. Agents are like any other profession, you’ve got good and bad and in-between.

What few agents will acknowledge is the fact that more than half of the deals they get are because the agents are in the right place at the right time. Not because (cough, cough) they are competent. Just watch enough HGTV and BRAVO TV shows and that point will become crystal clear to you. Want a pro? Here’s how to find a competent agent and make sure you get the services you truly deserve:

• Why You Should Hire a Real Estate Agent
• How to Find a Real Estate Agent
• How to Interview Your Agent
• The Differences Between Real Estate Agents and REALTORS®
• Do You Need Two Agents to Buy & Sell?

About Working With Real Estate Agents

Can you call your agent at 9:00 at night? How about 6 AM? Can you work with more than one agent at a time? How much trouble can you get into if you sign multiple purchase agreements through multiple agents? If a listing agent shows you a home, can you call your brother-in-law to write the offer and represent you? What if you’re unhappy or your agent doesn’t live up to your expectations? Can you get rid of the agent? How do you cancel a listing contract? If you’ve ever thought about these questions, these articles are for you.

• What an Agent Can and Cannot Do For You
• What is Procuring Cause?
• Understanding Agent Protocol
• Why Agents Take Overpriced Listings
• How to Fire Your Agent

About Real Estate Commissions

How agents get paid and whether it’s insulting to try to negotiate a commission are the two most often asked questions from buyers and sellers. It’s not that complicated but it sure seems that way on the surface, doesn’t it? After all, what makes agents worth all that money? What do they do to deserve six-figure incomes anyway? Does the amount of the commission depend on whether it’s a hot or cold market? Is it possible to get maximum exposure for your home with a minimum-service agent? The answers might surprise you.

• Full-Service Real Estate Agents
• Who Pays the Commission?
• How to Negotiate Real Estate Commissions

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With so much information readily available online, clients sometimes ask, “Why should we hire a real estate agent?” They wonder (and rightfully so) if they couldn’t buy or sell a home through the Internet or regular marketing and advertising channels without representation, without a real estate agent. Some do fine on their own, but many don’t. Here are 10 reasons why you might want to consider hiring a professional real estate agent.

01  Education and Experience

You don’t need to know everything about buying and selling real estate if you hire a real estate professional who does. Henry Ford once said that when you hire people who are smarter than you are, it proves you are smarter than they are. The trick is to find the right person. For the most part, they all cost roughly the same, so why not hire a person with more education and experience than you? We’re all looking for more precious time in our lives, and hiring pros gives us that time.

02 Buffering Help

Agents take the spam out of your property showings and visits. If you’re a buyer of new homes, your agent will whip out her sword and keep the builder’s agents at bay, preventing them from biting or nipping at your heels. If you’re a seller, your agent will filter all those phone calls that lead to nowhere from lookie-loos and try to induce serious buyers to write an offer immediately.

03 Neighborhood Knowledge

Agents either possess intimate knowledge or they know where to find the industry buzz about your neighborhood. They can identify comparable sales and hand these facts to you, in addition to pointing you in the direction where you can find more data on schools, crime or demographics. For example, you may know that a home down the street was on the market for $350,000, but an agent will know it had upgrades and sold at $285,000 after 65 days on the market and after twice falling out of escrow.

04 Price Guidance

Contrary to what some people believe, agents do not select prices for sellers or buyers. However, an agent will help to guide clients to make the right choices for themselves. If a listing is at 7%, for example, an agent has a 7% vested interest in the sale, but the client has a 93% interest. Selling agents will ask buyers to weigh all the data supplied to them and to choose a price. Then based on market supply, demand and the conditions, the agent will devise a negotiation strategy.

05 Market Conditions Information

Real estate agents can disclose market conditions, which will govern your selling or buying process. Many factors determine how you will proceed. Data such as the average per square foot cost of similar homes, median and average sales prices, average days on market and ratios of list-to-sold prices, among other criteria, will have a huge bearing on what you ultimately decide to do.

06 Professional Networking

Real estate agents network with other professionals, many of whom provide services that you will need to buy or sell. Due to legal liability, many agents will hesitate to recommend a certain individual or company over another, but they do know which vendors have a reputation for efficiency, competency, and competitive pricing. Agents can, however, give you a list of references with whom they have worked and provide background information to help you make a wise selection.

07 Negotiation Skills and Confidentiality

Top producing agents negotiate well because, unlike most buyers and sellers, they can remove themselves from the emotional aspects of the transaction and because they are skilled. It’s part of their job description. Good agents are not messengers, delivering buyer’s offers to sellers and vice versa. They are professionals who are trained to present their client’s case in the best light and agree to hold client information confidential from competing interests.

08 Handling Volumes of Paperwork

One-page deposit receipts were prevalent in the early 1970s. Today’s purchase agreements run ten pages or more. That does not include the federal- and state-mandated disclosures nor disclosures dictated by local custom. Most real estate files average thicknesses from one to three inches of paper. One tiny mistake or omission could land you in court or cost you thousands. In some states, lawyers handle the disclosures—thank goodness!

09 Answer Questions After Closing

Even the smoothest transactions that close without complications can come back to haunt. For example, taxing authorities that collect property tax assessments, doc stamps or transfer tax can fall months behind and mix up invoices, but one call to your agent can straighten out the confusion. Many questions can pop up that were overlooked in the excitement of closing. Good agents stand by ready to assist. Worthy and honest agents don’t leave you in the dust to fend for yourself.

10 Develop Relationships for Future Business

The basis for an agent’s success and continued career in real estate is referrals. Few agents would survive if their livelihood was dependent on consistently drumming up a new business. This emphasis gives agents strong incentives to make certain clients are happy and satisfied. It also means that an agent who stays in the business will be there for you when you need to hire an agent again. Many will periodically mail market updates to you to keep you informed and to stay in touch.

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Many real estate buyers and sellers don’t understand exactly who pays the real estate agent involved in the transaction. To understand who pays real estate commissions—whether it’s sellers or buyers or both—first take a look at how real estate agents are paid and how they share cooperating commissions. Don’t worry if you don’t know how commissions work because I’ve had clients who didn’t know, and it involves a bit of complexity, commission splits and other details that might not be disclosed during the transaction.

How Real Estate Commissions Work

• Real estate agents work for a real estate broker.
• All fees paid to a real estate agent must first pass through the broker.
• Only a real estate broker can pay a real estate commission and sign a listing agreement with a seller.

How Are Real Estate Agents Compensated by the Broker?

Commission divisions vary. New agents can receive as little as 30 percent to 40 percent of the total commission received by the brokerage. From that amount, other fees may be deducted such as advertising, sign rentals or office expenses. Top-producing agents might receive 100 percent and pay the broker a desk fee. Everybody else falls somewhere in between.

Listing Agent Fees

The most common type of listing agreement between a seller and her agent gives that agent’s broker the right to exclusively market the home. In return for bringing a buyer to the table, the seller agrees to pay a commission to the broker. Typically, this fee is represented as a percentage of the sales price and is shared between the listing broker and the broker who brings the buyer.

Co-Brokerage Splits

Divisions of fees among brokers are not always fair or equal, just like life. For example, a seller could sign a listing agreement for seven apples that stipulates the listing broker will receive four apples and will co-broker three apples to the selling broker. It’s not always a 50/50 split. In a buyer’s market, sellers might want to consider asking the broker to give a larger percentage to the buyer’s broker. In a seller’s market, the buyer’s broker might receive less, and no set formula exists.

Most divisions of the commission are locally based. In some parts of the country, it is very common for a listing agent to make more than the buyer’s agent. Be sure to ask about your local custom. The problem with co-brokerage fees is not necessarily whether to pay more to the buyer’s agent than it is to make sure buyer’s agents are not paid less than the local custom.

Seller Pays the Buyer’s Commission

Under a Buyer’s Broker arrangement, the named brokerage and agent represent the buyer. The fee paid to the broker is most commonly paid by the seller. Some buyer broker agreements contain clauses that will compensate the brokerage for the fee it is due less the amount paid by the seller. For example, a cooperating listing might offer to pay a broker a smaller portion of the sales price, whereas the brokerage operates at fees that are a higher percentage. The difference of, say, half an apple, could be paid by the buyer if the broker chooses not to waive that amount.

Buyer Pays the Commission Directly

The seller is not obligated, under most listing agreements, to compensate the listing broker for more than the listing side’s portion of the commission. Often sales prices are reduced to reflect the amount the buyer is paying. Sellers can also credit the buyer the commission and the buyer, in turn, credits the brokerage.

Who Pays the Real Estate Commission?

It can be argued and, quite rightfully so, that the buyer always pays the commission. Why? Because it’s typically part of the sales price. If the seller did not sign an agreement to pay a commission, the sales price might have been lowered. And therein lies the appeal of buying homes through unrepresented sellers because, given the same logic, those prices should reflect a net sales price without a commission. Except they don’t. Which causes potential disappointment for buyers who think that way.

All real estate commissions are negotiable, but not every agent will negotiate.

If you are a buyer, you can combine closing costs like commissions into your mortgage.

It is considered insulting to call an agent to list your home and ask if the agent will discount her commission in the first breath.

Agents cannot be solely judged on commissions. They are not all the same, like a commodity. Top agents often charge more than newer agents.

If you are a buyer, you do not directly pay the commission so a discount would not affect a buyer. There are a few agencies who offer to pay buyers to lure their business, but that type of business practice is considered an odd concept among many agents. To help alleviate much of this confusion, don’t be astonished if over the next 20 years sellers and buyers each retain their representation and pay separately for said representation.

In some cases, agents are seeing a reduction in the amount of commission paid to buyer’s agents. The commission is often not split 50/50 between listing and selling agents. Many listing agents make more than the buyer’s agents. And lately, that amount has been reduced even further, possibly because some listing agents will discount so low that they cannot afford to pay what other agents offer.

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Some people, for their own reasons, don’t trust real estate agents and don’t really understand what an agent brings to the table that they can’t do for themselves. It’s an understandable reaction, as it’s a polarizing subject. Agents are either despised or loved. They earn an A or an F on their closing report card – there is rarely a C on performance in this business.

Some buyers and sellers could manage very well on their own. An A-rated agent can bring added value to the transaction, but for some consumers, an agent is not always completely necessary. It depends on how much money you want to make. Generally, you make more selling with an agent. Here is how you can tell.

Do You Need a Listing Agent to Sell Your Home?

As a seller, you can find your own buyer. But an agent may be able to help you get more on your bottom line – according to NAR, almost 22% more. Much depends on the real estate market.

In super hot seller markets, almost anybody can stick a sign in the yard and attract offers. That’s because buyers are falling all over themselves to buy and waving earnest money deposits in the air. Have you extensive experience handling multiple offers yourself? Will you get sued? Do you know how to extract more money from buyers? Will you get through the home inspection? Will you close?

In buyer’s markets, there are fewer buyers, which makes an agent’s services worth even more.

More than 80% of buyers purchase a home through a real estate agent. If you don’t hire an agent, you could be losing exposure to 80% of the buying population.

Listing Agents Can Bring Added-Value to a Transaction

Unless you routinely attend every open house in your neighborhood, you may not possess intimate information about the interiors of your neighbor’s homes nor know why some sold for higher prices than others. Experienced agents have this knowledge and use it to position your home to sell at the highest possible price.

Top listing agents sell homes day in and day out. Here is a list of services most listing agents offer to sellers:

• Marketing materials and proven selling systems.
• Professional virtual tours and photography.
• Wide internet exposure.
• Promotion at company meetings and MLS meetings.
• Networking with fellow real estate agents.
• Price guidance according to market data and recent sales.
• Home stagers, inspector and repair contractor referrals.
• Buyer feedback and private showings.
• Confirmation of potential buyer qualifications.
• Counteroffer and negotiation expertise, especially with multiple offers.
• Guidance to get past the home inspection without making repairs.
• Suggestions for dealing with low appraisals.

Buyer’s Agents Work for the Buyer and Not the Seller

Done correctly, a buyer’s agent’s job is to put the buyer’s interests ahead of the agent’s, to disclose all material facts, keep the buyer’s information confidential, provide the buyer with sufficient information to purchase a home and expertly negotiate on the buyer’s behalf.

Here are some of the services you can expect to get from a buyer’s agent that you might not be able to obtain on your own. Apart from hearing about listings before homes are available to the public, agents can:

• Provide comparable sales from the tax rolls.
• Provide sales data from MLS based on map searches.
• Pull property profiles reflecting sales history, property data, demographics and neighborhood services.
• Obtain a copy of the home’s historical documents.
• Run reports on listing agent’s list-price to sales-price ratios.
• Calculate annual facts and trends about an area.
• Suggest a pricing strategy.
• Prepare a strong offer that presents the buyer in the best light based on market demands and agent interaction/networking.
• Review of documents for loopholes and obtain disclosures.
• Provide a buffer between you and the seller’s agent.

If you feel competent that you can handle a sale or purchase on your own, maybe you can. But you might always wonder whether you paid too much or accepted too low of a price.

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