Am I being an unreasonable cheapskate douche?

[ivol07]

My wife and I are looking for a home. We found one ourselves that we are very interested in through our own searches online and otherwise. So now we want to get a realtor to allow us to walkthrough the house and make an offer. I contacted a realtor that my wife knows. I let her know that I would like her to split her commission with us 20/80 where we get 20%. It's essentially the same deal I would get if I went with a realtor from ziprealty.com. Seems okay to me, seems to me like no one should get offended or hurt by the proposal. It's only business.

But I'm talking to some friends and they are telling me that I'm being a cheapskate by trying to get some of the realtors commission. To me it seems like this is something that they should be dealing with all the time, especially since ziprealty advertises it as a normal feature of their service. They are saying that the realtor won't fight as hard for me to get a good price as if I were to not have mentioned it at all. But to me I see it as something they have to do to win my business, and if they give me bad service I would just drop them. Again, nothing personal, just business.

So am I a cheapskate?

 

[ViviTheMage]

who cares...you are BUYING the seller pays the commission...

cant you just use a lawyer to close? Use a realtor to walk you through

 

[ivol07]

Originally posted by: ViviTheMage
who cares...you are BUYING the seller pays the commission...

An extra $4k in my pocket makes me care.

 

[Alone]

Originally posted by: ViviTheMage
who cares...you are BUYING the seller pays the commission...

cant you just use a lawyer to close? Use a realtor to walk you through

It would cost him less.

 

[CPA]

You are not a cheapskate. In fact, your friends/coworkers are morons if they don't agree.

I would personally ask for a 50-50 split if you did most of the searching and found the house you wanted. The only thing your RE will do is work as the middle man for the price and get all of the paperwork ready.

 

[Torghn]

It's not unreasonable, you are being upfront on what you want and what you are willing to "pay". If they don't like it they can say no. If there's one thing I've learned it's that EVERYTHING is negotiable. Don't ever be embarrassed to make an offer, even if it's a low ball. They can always say no, and if they take offense that's their problem not yours.

 

[dquan97]

I don't think you're being a cheapskate...I'd do it if I were you. I'd probably even ask for 50-50 split.

 

[kranky]

Like you said: "It's just business."

Your friends can't understand that YOU found the house, and if you buy it the realtor will pocket plenty of money for essentially doing nothing but showing up? I am not begrudging the realtor the commission, but under these conditions your offer seems quite fair. Heck, with the state of the real estate market in many places, you'd think the realtor would be thrilled to net 80% of a commission for just doing a walk through.

 

[Capt Caveman]

You're not being a cheapskate. If this realtor has an issue, then do it thru ziprealty.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: kranky
Like you said: "It's just business."

Your friends can't understand that YOU found the house, and if you buy it the realtor will pocket plenty of money for essentially doing nothing but showing up? I am not begrudging the realtor the commission, but under these conditions your offer seems quite fair. Heck, with the state of the real estate market in many places, you'd think the realtor would be thrilled to net 80% of a commission for just doing a walk through.

yeap.

but wouldnt suprise me if he has a hard time with it.

 

[ivol07]

THANK YOU! I knew I was being reasonable. I was feeling like a real douche bag there for a while. Like I was stealing a poor family's milk and bread or something.

 

[Capt Caveman]

fwiw - when I moved to WA from CA. I found the place using ziprealty.com(they have a nice website for searching) and contacted the ziprealty agent. There was a bit of negotiating between the parties so he worked for his money but he didn't have to spend any time/effort in finding me the place. A couple of weeks after closing, I got my rebate check.

 

[tfinch2]

If I were a realtor, I'd want your business. I'd basically do no leg work finding you a house, but still make money.

Your friends are the douchebags.

 

[Dirigible]

You are being reasonable. You are simply putting the free market economy into practice.

 

[Tiamat]

go 50/50 if you did most of the work.

 

[NuAlphaMan]

Shoot, I'd ask for 50 - 50 too. If you in fact did all the work! You shouldn't even use a realtor. The seller or the seller's agent would show you the property! But if you feel more comfortable with an agent, go for it and ask for half!

 

[toolboxolio]

Why not get the seller to go down 4K or more on there asking price?

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Originally posted by: tfinch2
If I were a realtor, I'd want your business. I'd basically do no leg work finding you a house, but still make money.

Your friends are the douchebags.

That's ***** EXACTLY it. If your realtor has an issue with is - find another one, it can't be that hard. If your realtor says something about how she can't compete with these offers or whatever, just move on, it's opportunity cost for them - either they can sit around making nothing or take your offer and make something for doing next to nothing.

Some people will be offended by what you're doing, but you're paying for a service, and not handing someone money because society says you should every time you buy a home.

 

[Kelvrick]

Originally posted by: toolboxolio
Why not get the seller to go down 4K or more on there asking price?

He still wants the realtor to do paperwork.

<= doens't own home or shopped, doesn't know what he's talking about

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: Kelvrick

Originally posted by: toolboxolio
Why not get the seller to go down 4K or more on there asking price?

He still wants the realtor to do paperwork.

<= doens't own home or shopped, doesn't know what he's talking about

you don't need one to buy a house.

last two places i have got i did not use a realator. i was able to come to agreement on how much for the house. then talked to a lawyer and got everything done.

 

[GasX]

I assume you have found out what realtor is the listing agent and are approaching them?

 

[Kelemvor]

Most of what a REALTOR does is find you the home. They run search they get your criteria, they take you to 5, 10, 30 showings, etc. The paperwork at the end is nothing. That's just preprinted forms and filling in some blanks.

If you found it on your own,. I'd also go with at least a 50/50 split since the Realtor really didn't have to do anything and is getting free money.

 

[Nik]

So... you want someone to give you part of their paycheck... when they earned it and you didn't...

 

[apepooooop]

Perfectly reasonable (even a little generous at 20/80). Typically the agent will have to show you around to a bunch of houses and do legwork. I like the idea of going straight to the lawyer. Just whatever you do get it in writing. They could really try to pull something over you with all the fees and shit that go into closings.

 

[compuwiz1]

Not unreasonable, but probably not gonna happen. I suppose it all depends on how hot the market is. The realtor may not be allowed to do this under company policy.