I have a vacant building lot that I bought a few years back, while the economy was still decent. Well, we all know what has happened since then...
I stuck a "For Sale" sign on the lot, just to see what would happen, and have gotten a few phone calls, but no serious leads.
Now, the local school district has announced that a new school will be built 3 blocks away, and my lot is the nearest lot that is on the market to the new school. There aren't any lots that will be developed in the foreseeable future that are closer to the school.
I was contacted late last week by a realtor who has an interested buyer. I'm willing to take a small loss on the lot, and through verbal conversations, the buyer is at that price. However, the realtor is stuck on his 3% commission, and is unwilling to budge. This will force me to take an even bigger loss. I don't think that he's worth $1300 to ME to sell this lot for me, to HIS buyer. He doesn't represent me at all.
This lot will now generate considerably more interest, with the imminent construction of the new school in the newspaper. In fact, the design of the new building was revealed last night, with construction to begin next Spring. Plus, there is a brand new city park next to the school site, with a full playground and a little league ball diamond.
I suggested that the realtor take a 2% commission to seal the deal, and he basically told me that his fee wasn't negotiable at all. I should have told him that 2% of something is worth a lot more than 3% of nothing, and left it at that for him to think about.
So, in a down economy like this, is it unusual for a realtor to refuse to back down on his commission? He came to me, not the other way around. Plus, there's no house. It's just a bare, vacant lot. It should be less work for him... there's no "house" issues to deal with.
And the other thing is that *I* get to pay his commission, and the buyer (who is actually the one who "hired" him) gets me to pay the realtor's 3% fee for him.
I stuck a "For Sale" sign on the lot, just to see what would happen, and have gotten a few phone calls, but no serious leads.
Now, the local school district has announced that a new school will be built 3 blocks away, and my lot is the nearest lot that is on the market to the new school. There aren't any lots that will be developed in the foreseeable future that are closer to the school.
I was contacted late last week by a realtor who has an interested buyer. I'm willing to take a small loss on the lot, and through verbal conversations, the buyer is at that price. However, the realtor is stuck on his 3% commission, and is unwilling to budge. This will force me to take an even bigger loss. I don't think that he's worth $1300 to ME to sell this lot for me, to HIS buyer. He doesn't represent me at all.
This lot will now generate considerably more interest, with the imminent construction of the new school in the newspaper. In fact, the design of the new building was revealed last night, with construction to begin next Spring. Plus, there is a brand new city park next to the school site, with a full playground and a little league ball diamond.
I suggested that the realtor take a 2% commission to seal the deal, and he basically told me that his fee wasn't negotiable at all. I should have told him that 2% of something is worth a lot more than 3% of nothing, and left it at that for him to think about.
So, in a down economy like this, is it unusual for a realtor to refuse to back down on his commission? He came to me, not the other way around. Plus, there's no house. It's just a bare, vacant lot. It should be less work for him... there's no "house" issues to deal with.
And the other thing is that *I* get to pay his commission, and the buyer (who is actually the one who "hired" him) gets me to pay the realtor's 3% fee for him.
