For Buyers- The Real Estate Commission is Zero. As a Real Estate Agent, our commission is paid by either the seller (for Resale homes) or the developer if you buy a Pre-Construction Home or condo.
For Sellers- real estate commissions are always negotiable, and the going commission rate varies. It can also be as low as $995 advertised by some agents in the GTA area. In the end, you get what you pay for--the cheapest isn't necessarily best or affordable! Where your house may exceed 1 million in value, ask yourself if it's worth saving around 1% and get the cheapest Salesperson to sell the biggest asset you own? In the end, you get what you pay for, the cheapest isn't the best, and the best is never the cheapest. Where the value of your house can be anywhere over 1 million, you need to ask yourself and your real estate agent the following questions.
- If this realtor cannot negotiate his fee, how can he reconcile the best possible price for your home?
- How long have they been in real estate?
- What type of marketing are they doing to sell your home? This is a big one and asks for proof. In the digital world, everything is tracked. I know how many visitors I had on my website today, my Facebook accounts, youtube and Instagram. So why not ask a Real Estate Agent to show you that data?
- Are they full-time?
Please click here to get a complete list of questionnaires to ask an agent before hiring them.
How we structure Real Estate Commission for our clients:
5% (Negotiable and not fixed at all)
2.5% +HST Buyers Agent Commission- Generally, as a rule of thumb, I always say pay the buyers agent 2.5% in commission because the amount of work they do is enormous. As a buyer's agent, they have to show their clients anywhere between 40-100 Homes, which means they have to go through all of the planning behind the scenes to book an appointment for those listings and map them out and organize them. Not to mention the amount of time they have to spend driving around showing each home. Plus, you want all of the agents to be extremely motivated to sell your home vs another one in your neighbourhood. I have seen some neighbourhoods where the commission is around 2%-2.25%, and that is the going rate for homes, so take a look at what others are paying in your neighbourhood, and you can keep it the same. Don't give buyer's agents a reason to push their clients to buy your neighbour's home vs yours.
A Listing Agents commission can be as high as 2.5%, but we have created flexible plans for our clients; please click on Commission Packages to see our various programs. The reason we have created flexible plans is that we don't offer a one-size strategy to an ever-changing market or a one-size strategy for all of our clients. We are and always will be flexible with our client's needs, for example:
- If your home is fully staged already, then I don't have to stage it. I can pass on those savings on to you.
- If you are selling your home and buying another one with me, then we can take a look at reducing some of our listing fees.
If you would like to see a detailed marketing plan, please click on Marketing Plan, and if you would like to see our various listing packages, please click on Listing Packages.