I am the founder of Forsalebyweb.com. Change in the industry has been met with resistance. Yet, cumulatively, the current mortgage market, slow sales, hybrid commission models and rise in web-based companies will create dynamic changes as the industry
re-invents itself.
The next few years will bring new ideas and innovation to an industry where all that is needed is consumer acceptance.
Brokers should be able to charge as high/as low as they wish. I COMPLETELY AGREE. The disservice I see in the industry today is when agents ask sellers to drop their price, yet refuse to drop their commission to make up for lost time and lost buyers. "I WILL NOT DROP MY PRICE UNLESS YOU DROP YOUR COMMISSION" is what we will hear in the coming days. It's true that commission contingency is a risk that agents take and ought to be rewarded accordingly, yet asking sellers to drop thier price at a later date is a risk that sellers obsorb in this market. They may have passed up many buyers due to the incorrect pricing. Just something to consider when assuming that agents are the ones taking the risk, alone. Sol P. Sek CEO/Founder, Forsalebyweb.com Where You Name Your House Values!
When the market was easy anybody could claim "With my experience and value I deserve a full service commission". Consumers didn't care because their houses were selling and people were depositing closing checks faster than they could realize the commission paid. Apparently the market has proven that this is not the case when ít's slow. It's an embarrassment to the industry that the only solution the public can expect from agents is a price discount. Let's admit the fact, consumers have no idea what their house is worth in today's market- And agents can't come up with reliable comps. To jump to conclusion and guess asking prices and force people to drop 10% of their price is admission of LIES. When consumers are encouraged to drop their price by 10%, I hope the agents have the decency to drop their commission as well since sellers can pass up many ( if not most ) of their buyers due to incorrect pricing. Sol P. Sek CEO/Founder, Forsalebyweb.com Where You Name Your House Values!
Many sellers will be responding to the commission ordeal, "if you won't cut your commission, I won't cut my price." Only time will tell, yet in this market, it's an uphill battle. A company that has become an icon in the industry, one in which many regard as an elitist organization, now promote price discounting. Folks, get ready because the public won't pay 7% if they can't afford to pay it. Sol P. Sek CEO/Founder, Forsalebyweb.com Where You Name Your House Values!
