"My fees are negotiable." (OSH Notes in RED)

This is a paragraph excerpt from an article noted below.


Brokers like to make it sound as if their fees are engraved in stone, but that's rarely the case - especially in a brisk market, when brokers fiercely compete for properties they can unload fast. This past summer one broker in the Midwest says he lowered his fee by a full percentage point because there was so much demand for good properties that he needed leverage. Indeed, says the broker, who asked not to be named, sellers should shop around for broker's fees. He suggests these negotiating tactics: "If somebody's willing to commit to me for selling one place and buying another, I give a discount. If you're in a particularly desirable neighborhood with a house that will bring a lot of traffic" - say, at an open house - "that can be used, because the broker will use the flow of people to get potential customers. And with some [smaller] brokers, all you need to do is ask and they'll lower the commission."

I agree and disagree with the above!  It all depends on the brokers in your market area as well as the agents.  There's many agents that will play with their commission structure in order to secure listings.  There are many brokers, mostly larger brand name companies who are NOT as willing to negotiate their commission structure as to not compromise their value or diminish their reputation.  New construction and other special scenarios are always open for negotiation to include single licensee disclosed dual agency plus an extra sale ("hat trick").  Usually franchise brokers or smaller boutique brokers are willing to give in to cutting their commission lower in order to compete with larger corporate brand name brokers as they are a much smaller share of their markets generally speaking.  There's obviously lots of good reason for that logically speaking.

SOURCE: [http://finance.yahoo.com/education/real_estate/article/101456/10_Things_Your_Real_Estate_Broker_Wont_Tell_You via: smartmoney.com]