Just sold my home thanks to the help of a really good realestate agent in NSW.
I know they are paid commission but they went above and beyond with their service.
Is it okay to give a small gift (e.g. alcohol) to the real estate agent? I don't think there is any conflict of interest as far as I am aware that would make this illegal.
Thanks all
How about a spiffy testimonial or a referral might be the best gift.
what messed up world do you live in?
He obviously got a great price and is happy with the work done by the agent. Fair enough, it's his money. He doesn't dictate a completely messed up and irrational real estate market. That's the fault of successive governments.
above and beyond
How so?
Dummy bids
I also love Vendor Bids.
What did they do above and beyond what they got paid many many thousands of $ to do?
Also, did they give you a gift as a thank you for the big commission they got?
Yeah, why not, make sure at least a Penfold Grange to match with the sales commission.
We’re in the middle of selling our house, and I like our agent, who is hard working and someone we have known since our kids were in primary school.
But she has mentioned how this year her job has changed, and buyers have been outright rude and disrespectful.
She has been an agent for over 20 years.
I must say when she told me that I did internally react with “so it has been a whole generation since buyers had any power in this relationship” but I bit my tongue because rudeness is still rudeness.
Anyway, I’ll thank her cause she has worked hard, and a nice note, but not likely an extra gift, cause we aren’t getting mates rates on the selling costs, just a good level of professionalism and somebody doing their job.
And the moral of the story is I don’t think now is a good time to sell if you don’t have to. In our case we found a once in a decade right property for us to buy, so it had to happen - but wouldn’t be listing now otherwise.
Her definition of rude is probably mild compared to how retail workers are treated most on minimum wage.
You already did… it’s called “commission”… (fropanity) REAs and the dirty, filthy horses they rode in on.
No, the horses are beautiful - never hurt anybody, just obedient slaves. The agents themselves are the dirty, filthy ones.
Not the horses fault they are dirty and filthy, it’s just that they are covered in all the slime the REAs are oozing from sliding around on their bellies under rocks all day.
Just sold and it's important not to conflate price achievement with effort. Especially in this market. If you think they did well, leave an appropriately detailed Google review. Generating leads will mean more than a box of chocolates and a bottle of whatever.
Are they from the cast of Million Dollar Listing? If so, maybe some Botox.
They get paid for their performance, if they went "above and beyond" and got a higher price then they've already been rewarded for that with a larger commission. If anything it's the REA getting the vendor a gift basket for giving them business.
If anything it's the REA getting the vendor a gift basket for giving them business.
I agree, houses don’t need someone who wears a suit and drives a Merc to sell them.
As they control which bids you hear about it is better to get the best suit you can.
I'm not a real estate agent, and I don't like them, but I've been advised it's a mild fallacy that if they got a higher price, that they get rewarded with the "higher commission". In reality say their commission is 1%, and they sell for 100k above expected, they only make $1k more, and then there's costs of running the business, the component to the franchise, the component to the head office, tax, etc etc (depending on their package).
The biggest advantage is actually ranking amongst the REAs in the area, apparently they put a big emphasis on that.
It also means in a falling market they will rather sell your place at a lower price and move onto the next one rather than spending more time on yours because the "higher commission" is tiny and often not worth it.
The cost of running the business is essentially a sunk cost, they'll have to pay that regardless. Anything above a certain point is basically pure profit for them.
Yes there will be a percentage for franchise fees and what not, but it's only a portion of the commission. No one includes taxes, it's a percentage take of any money made, they would have to be making money and a profit to pay taxes. In other words they're making a profit.
At the end of the day the higher the sale price, the higher their commission number will be. The point here is if they do a better job they get compensated with a higher commission payment, there's no extra gifts or tips needed on top. The thing they'll get out of it is like you said ranking in the area and recommendations.
If you're in a falling market, yes the REA will probably spend more time moving onto another property because a smaller commission on high value items many times will end up being more than a higher commission fewer times. That's the nature of commission based work. What they're then trading off is potentially losing word of mouth recommendation and reviews because the vendor is now perceiving a lack of effort on their property.
Get the knock off alcohol at ALDI.
It’s your decision, nothing wrong with feeling that someone deserves a reward and giving it. It’s not something that others opinions matters in the slightest.
In the two purchases that I have made in the last 3 years the real estate agents (different states) both left a gift of wine and a pot plant in one case.
Just the same as our children give their teachers a gift sometimes at Christmas etc, most RE agents do not earn good salaries.
What if your REA doesn't drink?
How else do they sleep at night?
The etiquette is that the gift should be at least 20% of the commission you are already paying them, otherwise you will look cheap!
No I think they got enough with the Commission of the sale from your sale since the house was probably 40% cheaper about 2 years ago.
Didn't i just hear that gen X likes to be told what a good job they did 3x per week? Giving a small gift, under $50 or so, to a real estate agent is a nice gesture to say thank you for making this process smooth and trouble free. I'm all for acknowledging a good job. Do it!
Didn't i just hear that gen X likes to be told what a good job they did 3x per week?
The AFP Comissioner that made that reference misquoted a study -
From a more accurate reporting of the quote referred to - "Simply put, most younger workers crave frequent recognition, whereas about half of the Boomers and Gen X want recognition at least a few times a month," a summary reads.
I'm pretty sure you were tongue-in-cheek but I put this reply here in case anyone else finds your statement and uses it to back up their faulty argument.
I doubt they'd be a problem, but if you buy them a bottle of bourbon, and they question why it was opened and has 30mls less in it, say, oh 'that was my cut' . ;)
Leave a good review thats what i would do.
Alcohol as a gift is rarely good as some dont drink or if they do it may be spirits, beer, white wine not red then its wasted on them.
You are paying them already thousands of dollars just leave them a good review its actually worth a lot more than any gift and boosts their reputation.
If your REA refers you to an agent when buying your next home, they split commission with the selling agent. That would make a nice gift.
Do you also leave a tip for the waitress that went above and beyond? Your hairdresser? Your uber driver?
Ask them to pay you $1000 bucks and you can leave them a 5 star review. You owe them nothing, they did their job. You’re never going to deal with them again, a lame bottle of wine, chocolates or whatever will be pale in comparison to the commission they got. Hey, but that’s just me.
No, it would not foul any bribery & corruption laws so it's fine. Similarly if they left you a congratulations gift.
"Conflict of interest" is a completely different concept.