ENVOY MORTGAGE Blog

Want to pay less commission to the agent who sells your house? Apparently, all you have to do is ask.

According to a new survey from Consumer Reports (September 2008), many real estate brokers are willing to negotiate their commission rates with sellers who try to haggle. 

Consumer Reports found that 46 percent of sellers surveyed had attempted to negotiate a lower commission rate with the agent they hired to sell their home.  Roughly 71 percent of those who tried succeeded.

Those who didn't haggle were more likely to develop a bad case of seller's remorse, and nearly a third said they should have been more aggressive when negotiating their agent's fee.

Full-Service agents who ask for 5 to 7 percent commission to sell a home will say they provide more service for the money.  But the Consumer Reports survey of more than 14,000 buyers and sellers found that paying less won't hurt the quality of the service.

According to the survey, 81 percent of those sellers who paid 3 percent or less in commission said that the agent provided a comparative marketing analysis, versus 87 percent of respondents who paid at least 6 percent of the sales price in commission to the agent.

What's your opinion?