As usual, I was reading my blog feeds to get a feel for what’s new in real estate. I have been very busy lately, so my opportunities to blog have been limited. I’ve been catching up.

Jeff Brown, a real estate agent in CA, proposed A different model for other agents to consider. I am all for innovation and changing the commission based model of real estate. I firmly believe that customers want to use real estate agents, just not in the same capacity as years before.

His model was to have sellers pay a monthly fee of $500-$1,000 per month rather than pay a commission upon the sale of the home. It is no big secret in real estate that pricing is key. Many agents take overpriced listings and hope the seller comes to some sense of reality before the listing expires.

This method would insure that agents have “good sellers” meaning sellers that WANT to sell their homes. If you are not motivated, you wouldn’t be willing to shell out that kind of money. Now Jeff specializes in investors and plans to try this model with that niche.

A buyer agent would still get a commission, but this would impact the listing side.

For all of you home sellers out there, what would you think about a model like that? Would you be willing to pay an agent a monthly fee for services rather than a listing commission?

Related posts:

  1. Picking a good real estate agent
  2. Do you really get what you pay for?
  3. Are you hiring an agent that is focused on service or sales?
  4. Real Estate “Scientist” Series Part II
  5. Is your agent sabotaging the sale of your home?