House sales commission

[Wandr]

What is a fair commission for a broker for selling a house?

What about the buyer's broker, is the commission split with them?

And can the commission be negotiated down?

Thanks.

[YoungBrit]

What is a fair commission for a broker for selling a house? 3%

What about the buyer's broker, is the commission split with them? No, if the buyer has a broker the buyer pays them. 

And can the commission be negotiated down? You can try but any reputable agent will not go lower than 3% in my opinion. 

[Pond Life]

In my experience Young Brit is right.

[worgeordie]

I have had more success selling and renting properties by doing

it myself,a sign on the gate,electricity posts in the area ,work

great,property in a good area,at the right price,is not difficult

to sell and rent.

Local people in the area many of them act as agents,and try

harder to get the commission than real agents,just my opinion.

as its worked for me.

regards Worgeordie

[dick turpin]

Everyone is a "land agent" in my neck of the woods. Mention you are interested in buying

a house or land and they are all over you like a rash.

Standard rate of commission 3 percent

[NotEinstein]

3% has been the rate for many years. Prices have rocketed up over the past 20 or so years making sales introductions a very lucrative past time, hence every man and his dog tries to get in on the act. Given the market prices, it should be more like 1%.

The traditional method for selling land is to let the old guy in the village that acts as the contact point know, and he liaises with the agents, typically ladies, that are the contacts for buyers and show the properties. Years ago my father-in-law was the village contact and he used to get half the commission.

My wife helped a friend to find a plot of land to build on and had to share the commission with 5 other people because they were in the contact loop - literally just passing a message e.g. sister of owner, person upkeeping the lot, mother's sister, etc..

[WinnieTheKhwai]

It also depends on what you're buying.

 

A. If that's land with or without a house in a village in the countryside then the model is to just make sure that everyone has your number and knows roughly what you're looking for, and then stuff will start happening. I wouldn't even worry about what percentage anyone in the middle makes or doesn't make: you care about the purchase price so you make your offer and if the seller pays someone for the lead then that's up to him.

 

B. If it's a condo or a (new) house in a commercial development then you're dealing with the developer and whatever financial picture they have in store for you.

 

C. If it's a house in the city being sold by the owner then you'll get very far just by using all the classifieds and real estate websites, or aggregator sites where real estate companies and independent agents advertise, in addition to individual sellers.

 

My wife is very good at A, and comes up with interesting land via just about anyone, down to leads from the local noodle lady.   I am much better at C, and I've found three houses now to buy via an online listing that were excellent value for money.   For the old city area though I'm afraid it's back to model A, and having to go via word of mouth.. because any reasonable plot in the old city will cost a crazy amount of money so there's more mileage in someone finding an old lady who wants to sell some tiny plot for still okay-ish money.

 

I don't think I've ever concerned myself with sales commission.. I don't care what anyone makes as long as I get the price I want.  Just assume that anyone you meet in the process who smiles at you makes some sort of commission and that's just fine. ;) 

[Fairynuff]

21 hours ago, YoungBrit said:

And can the commission be negotiated down? You can try but any reputable agent will not go lower than 3% in my opinion. 

My personal experience tells a different story. I’ve never paid 3%. I’ve paid 1%-1.5% sometimes based on a fixed fee. I’ve had agents ask 5% and I’ve had agents ask for their commission before a deal is done!

[alex8912]

18 hours ago, NotEinstein said:

3% has been the rate for many years. Prices have rocketed up over the past 20 or so years making sales introductions a very lucrative past time, hence every man and his dog tries to get in on the act. Given the market prices, it should be more like 1%.

The traditional method for selling land is to let the old guy in the village that acts as the contact point know, and he liaises with the agents, typically ladies, that are the contacts for buyers and show the properties. Years ago my father-in-law was the village contact and he used to get half the commission.

My wife helped a friend to find a plot of land to build on and had to share the commission with 5 other people because they were in the contact loop - literally just passing a message e.g. sister of owner, person upkeeping the lot, mother's sister, etc..

So you think your wife wants to share your 1% that you THINK should be the commission amount with 5 other people?  Can you ask her and come back and let us know 3% is normal and make a whole lot of sense!  Just because prices have gone up ( but they are quite flat now ) over the years doesn’t mean an average commission should go down 200% according to you. 

[Thailand]

3%

[AJBangkok]

In Phuket some agents try asking for 5% for selling and 10% commission when finding a tenant for renting instead of 1 months rental 

[NotEinstein]

38 minutes ago, alex8912 said:

So you think your wife wants to share your 1% that you THINK should be the commission amount with 5 other people?  Can you ask her and come back and let us know 3% is normal and make a whole lot of sense!  Just because prices have gone up ( but they are quite flat now ) over the years doesn’t mean an average commission should go down 200% according to you. 

When a plot was selling for 20K, 3% made sense, but we are now talking 5 million. 150,000 for an introduction is way over the top in my estimation. In the UK, in the past, I have paid between 1 and 1.75%, which were quite considerable amounts due to the values involved. 

 

As for my wife, like most, getting 10K for little time and virtually no effort would be most welcome.

[ToddinChonburi]

US realtors charge 6 or 7 % so this market still very cheap.

[Kurtf]

As previously mentioned 3% is the norm. However, RE agents in Thailand do little to nothing to earn that. The post the house on their website, then sit on their asses in their office waiting for someone to spot the house on the web and ask to see the house. I’d much prefer to pay 7% to someone that actively searches for buyers and promotes the sale of my house.

[Quack]

15 minutes ago, Kurtf said:

As previously mentioned 3% is the norm. However, RE agents in Thailand do little to nothing to earn that. The post the house on their website, then sit on their asses in their office waiting for someone to spot the house on the web and ask to see the house. I’d much prefer to pay 7% to someone that actively searches for buyers and promotes the sale of my house.

Any ideas where to find such an agent that actively searches for buyers?

[DrPhibes]

Ya, would like to find such an active agent here in Chiang Mai.  Have 18 rai of spectacular land looking out over 3 mountain ranges, adjacent to a big health resort, and 3 km down the road from Prem school.  Pretty much all the wife has done is stick a sign at the front entrance.

[4MyEgo]

1 hour ago, NotEinstein said:

150,000 for an introduction is way over the top in my estimation

If the buyer purchases the property and the deal is done through the introducer, then the commission is irrelative in my opinion, 3% sounds ok, alternatively you could pay peanuts and get monkies at 1% and perhaps be waiting for a long time, up to you as they say ????

 

As for back in your home country, well that's a different story then isn't it. 

[Sumarianson]

1 hour ago, ToddinChonburi said:

US realtors charge 6 or 7 % so this market still very cheap.

If anyone paid that in the US or anywhere else for that matter, they are idiots!

1.25 % on anything of high value ( over 5M THB) is loads. 

[lensta]

Nobody is talking about the UK

[lensta]

When I first moved to Hua Hin in 2008, agent fees were usually 3% of the sale price paid by the seller to his agent/broker. No agent/broker fee was paid by the buyer. If there were 2 brokers involved in the sale then the 3% fee was split 50/50 by the brokers.

For the last 4 or 5 years there has been less and less agents willing to accept 3%, most now want 5% commission on the sale price.

 

This is my experience in Thailand, not the UK, not the US, Australia or anywhere else in the world, just Thailand.

[Stevemercer]

3 hours ago, NotEinstein said:

When a plot was selling for 20K, 3% made sense, but we are now talking 5 million. 150,000 for an introduction is way over the top in my estimation. In the UK, in the past, I have paid between 1 and 1.75%, which were quite considerable amounts due to the values involved. 

 

As for my wife, like most, getting 10K for little time and virtually no effort would be most welcome.

 

Agreed. Out here in the country sales will be through word of mouth. I doubt anyone would use real estate agents. The commission might be 3% for anything less than 1 million Baht, but would max out at 50,000 Baht for more expensive properties.

 

I know a farang who was desperate to sell his land. Finally, a Thai lady found a buyer and the deal (4 million Baht) was done within a week.  Her commission - he paid for dinner for the lady at a local restaurant!

[Gee Ku]

I gladly pay the 3% to the broker. Very fair and standard. Want to sell a 40sqm condo unit in the Silom-Surawong area in Bangkok for 2.5 million Baht.

E-mail me at [email protected]

[GalaxyMan]

3 hours ago, ToddinChonburi said:

US realtors charge 6 or 7 % so this market still very cheap.

It's 5% in the US and that gets split between the buyer's and seller's agents. Sometimes it gets to 6%, but that's pretty rare. Nowadays there is a lot more negotiating because of the growing preference for Sell By Owner and the internet. The agent usually has to share the commission they get with the broker that they hang their license with.

[moontang]

If it is a commodity type listing..standard condo, standard house in a mood baan..list it yourself on ddproperty.  Especially if the Thais could be buying..they have to pay commission, and will try to circumvent agents, which could cause you trouble later on.  I would be willing to pay a good agency with good marketing 3%, but too many just list and wait for you to drop the price, after telling you it was worth more to get the listing.  Some condos have bulletin boards, others have JPs that insist on sticking their noses in everything.  Might offer them 1%.  I have sold 9 homes and one piece of land..Sold four myself..pretty easy, and sold the land on Craigslist from 4000 km away, but the escrow system is much better in the US, but can also be $$$.

[KKr]

Three percent seems to be the norm, however long the chain of connections is.
(Surely, I think for a shopping mall there are different rules)

Some charge 3 % of sales price for putting the ad up on the internet, could have office in a far away province and never show their face,  but according to contract (try to) make you pay 3 % even if you transfer to your sister.

Some charge 3 % for full service, reasonable acceptable estimate (not a how much do you want) , photography theirs, and actually visit the house to assess whether they can sell it at all.

Others just call around to sellers and intermediaries, to repost on internet for a commission share and call themselves real estate brokers.

Furthermore, it seems there are no requirement to call oneself a real estate broker at all. I was used to get estimates within 5 % of transaction value, by people who actually followed courses to understand local markets, know whether buildings complied to code, and to assess need for structural repairs, to get the license to call themselves Real Estate Brokers. 
in my about 10 transactions here, I worked with only one agency where leadership and one of the local ladies could be called a real estate agent, who gave the right appraisal price when asked, and sold within three months.

on summary, the same as in some other countries, Caveat Emptor.

[ronaldo0]

In samui 5% is the norm although I have been asked for 10% if they sold my house in a month for price I wanted . Didn’t take them up obviously !!

All of the ones I have met have been nothing but glorified taxis who took customers to the house and left me to show the customer around and answer questions. Now refuse to use any agents !

[chokrai]

8 hours ago, DrPhibes said:

Ya, would like to find such an active agent here in Chiang Mai.  Have 18 rai of spectacular land looking out over 3 mountain ranges, adjacent to a big health resort, and 3 km down the road from Prem school.  Pretty much all the wife has done is stick a sign at the front entrance.

http://www.maerimproperty.com/

 

[Tomahawk21]

22 hours ago, Thailand said:

3%

i know 1 agent in Pattaya charges 5% not negotiable 

[Tomahawk21]

20 hours ago, DrPhibes said:

Ya, would like to find such an active agent here in Chiang Mai.  Have 18 rai of spectacular land looking out over 3 mountain ranges, adjacent to a big health resort, and 3 km down the road from Prem school.  Pretty much all the wife has done is stick a sign at the front entrance.

AND ?

[beau thai]

On 11/21/2019 at 10:00 AM, Quack said:

Any ideas where to find such an agent that actively searches for buyers?

I always use Perfect Homes to find buyers, tenants and as property managers. Very active, and honest. You can check their website. They have a big team now and have grown on personal recommendation. Like this!

Good luck