{"id":144,"date":"2006-07-28T07:08:12","date_gmt":"2006-07-28T14:08:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=144"},"modified":"2006-07-28T07:09:31","modified_gmt":"2006-07-28T14:09:31","slug":"the-buyer-can-and-should-negotiate-the-buyers-agents-compensation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/144\/the-buyer-can-and-should-negotiate-the-buyers-agents-compensation\/","title":{"rendered":"The buyer can — and should — negotiate the buyer’s agent’s compensation . . ."},"content":{"rendered":"

My phone hasn’t rung yet, but my ears are already burning. My column in today’s Arizona Republic<\/i>: Buyer should negotiate compensation for agent<\/a>. (A more-permanent link.<\/a>) This is Ardell’s turf<\/a>, of course, although my take on The Big Picture is somewhat different. In any case, I expect to have my ears — and, heaven help me, not my hide — well warmed today.<\/p>\n

Buyer should negotiate compensation for agent<\/b><\/p>\n

Last week we established that the buyer pays for everything in the purchase of a home. Why, then, does the seller negotiate the sales commissions?<\/p>\n

The short answer is, because that’s the way it’s always been done. The longer answer is not as pretty: Historically, only sellers were represented in a real estate transaction, and, despite efforts at reform, the buyer is still often treated as a second-class citizen.<\/p>\n

Consider the buyer’s agent’s bonus, for example. It will be there as plain as day in the listing: “Seller to pay buyer’s agent a bonus of $5,000 for successful close of escrow by Aug. 31.”<\/p>\n

What does that say? It says in the plainest possible language that both the seller and the listing agent believe that the buyer’s agent really works for the seller, not for the buyer. The objective of the bonus is to induce the buyer’s agent to push the buyer into buying the home that is offering the bonus, rather than another.<\/p>\n

The goal, motive and purpose of a buyer’s agent’s bonus are to give the buyer’s agent an incentive to betray his agency. His fiduciary duty is to the buyer. The seller and the listing agent are using the bonus to “buy” his fidelity.<\/p>\n

So what should a buyer’s agent do, when showing a home for which a bonus is offered? Disclose the bonus to the buyer and commit to either waiving the bonus or passing it through to the buyer. There should be no doubts in the buyer’s mind about the agent’s loyalties.<\/p>\n

But there’s more to this issue: If the seller can negotiate compensation with the listing agent, why can’t the buyer negotiate compensation with the buyer’s agent?<\/p>\n

The short answer is, because it’s never been Read more<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My phone hasn’t rung yet, but my ears are already burning. My column in today’s Arizona Republic: Buyer should negotiate compensation for agent. (A more-permanent link.) This is Ardell’s turf, of course, although my take on The Big Picture is somewhat different. In any case, I expect to have my ears — and, heaven help […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-144","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-marketing","7":"category-real-estate","9":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":336,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/336\/ask-the-broker-what-compensation-does-a-buyers-agent-have-to-disclose\/","url_meta":{"origin":144,"position":0},"title":"Ask the Broker: What compensation does a buyer’s agent have to disclose . . . ?","author":"Greg Swann","date":"September 14, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"This is an excellent question:Do buyer's agents have to disclose ALL compensation he receives from all sources to his client? It would be important to know who's filling his lunch sack. Example: Builder pays a bonus above the commission listed in the MLS to the buyer's agent if his client\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ask the Broker"","block_context":{"text":"Ask the Broker","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/ask-the-broker\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":576,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/576\/learning-to-negotiate-the-buyers-agents-commission\/","url_meta":{"origin":144,"position":1},"title":"Learning to negotiate the buyer’s agent’s commission . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"October 27, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"From my column in today's Arizona Republic, a familiar theme. The permanently linked version uses a somewhat longer version of the text. \u00a0Negotiate agent commission In past weeks, we talked about using the simple question \"How much do you charge?\" to negotiate a more reasonable buyer's agent commission. Buyers traditionally\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marketing"","block_context":{"text":"Marketing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/marketing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18324,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/18324\/buyer-agency-project-buyer-agents-offer-no-value-today\/","url_meta":{"origin":144,"position":2},"title":"Buyer Agency Project: Buyer agents offer no value today.","author":"Brian Brady","date":"July 17, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"\"I just showed three houses this week, out in L******, and all of them had 2% co-brokerage fees.\u00a0 Learn to sell, listing agents\" I read this post (paraphrased), from a former car salesman with a Florida real estate license, in a Facebook group the other day.\u00a0 The irony of it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Disintermediation"","block_context":{"text":"Disintermediation","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/disintermediation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":296,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/296\/securing-the-home-buyers-place-at-the-table-how-two-simple-reforms-can-finally-result-in-a-full-uncompromised-form-of-buyer-representation\/","url_meta":{"origin":144,"position":3},"title":"Securing the home-buyer’s place at the table: How two simple reforms can finally result in a full, uncompromised form of buyer representation . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"September 6, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Executive summary: This is long, and it's written (I hope!) for ordinary people, not real estate professionals. But I want for real estate professionals to be aware of this argument, because I think it solves several of the knottier problems affecting our industry. Here's a quick summary of the essay:Buyers\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Enduring Interest"","block_context":{"text":"Enduring Interest","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/enduring-interest\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1999,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/1999\/ask-the-broker-how-can-the-seller-paying-the-buyers-brokers-commission-be-fair-to-the-seller\/","url_meta":{"origin":144,"position":4},"title":"Ask the Broker: How can the seller paying the buyer’s broker’s commission be fair to the seller?","author":"Greg Swann","date":"October 3, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's a truly fascinating question from an agent working in Nassau County, Long Island, New York. The idea of buyer brokerage is just being introduced there, and our interlocutor is understandably mystified:I am a bit confused, to say the very least. If I write up a listing contract with a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ask the Broker"","block_context":{"text":"Ask the Broker","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/ask-the-broker\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1283,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/1283\/who-pays-the-buyers-agent-once-weve-divorced-the-commissions-we-can-stop-worrying-about-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":144,"position":5},"title":"Who pays the buyer’s agent? Once we’ve divorced the commissions, we can stop worrying about it","author":"Greg Swann","date":"April 9, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Joke Number one: Q: If you came upon the Buddha in the guise of a hot dog vendor, what should you say? A: Make me one with everything. Joke number two: Q: Top Drawer Listing Agent, why do you charge a 7% commission to list a home for sale? A:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}