How much does a realtor’s services cost?

There are several options for paying for the services of a realtor when selling an apartment. By concluding an exclusive contract with a realtor, you can agree with him about a specific amount that you want to receive for your apartment. For example, $ 100 thousand. In this case, you do not pay the realtor anything and you should not be interested in how much he will sell the apartment for. The agency covers all its costs from the delta that it manages to get in excess of the agreed amount.

The second option – the realtor receives a percentage of the transaction. If you are afraid of cheap prices and want to know the real sale price, then negotiate with the realtor about the percentage that he will take from the sale of the apartment. There are no firm quotations or price lists here. The commission is, as a rule, from 2 to 8% of the transaction amount, but recently some firms in the fight for a client have gone to reduce the cost of their services. Now more about what you pay a realtor for.

If we are talking about the sale of an apartment with the subsequent or simultaneous purchase of a new one, then for the money that the realtor will take for himself, you will receive the following set of services:

1. The realtor uses his database to find a client. There is a data transfer agreement between the major agencies to ensure that the latest customer information is available. When selling an apartment (especially today in a constantly changing market environment), your task is to set the correct price.
2. Organization of an advertising campaign. Depending on the edition, this can cost up to $ 100. Some firms include the cost of advertising in their expenses, others in the expenses of the client (by agreement), but in the case of selling an apartment, this amount is returned to you.
3. Collecting documents. Some agencies pass the cost (penny) for paperwork to the client. Safe money transfer with bank safe rental – $ 30 – $ 150 (paid by the buyer or realtor). Notarization – 1.5% of the contract amount. Registration of the contract with the Department of Municipal Housing.
4. Checking the legal cleanliness of the apartment. This is perhaps the most important point, because of which it is worth contacting a realtor – to insure against fraud. The realtor must protect you from a situation when it is possible to alienate the purchased apartment after the transaction. Large firms spend from 30 to 70% commission on checking the “cleanliness” of an apartment. After all, an apartment should ideally be checked from the moment the house is built. True, it is really possible to trace the movements of users and owners for a maximum of 20 years. This is due to the fact that information about an earlier period is provided by the Department of Municipal Housing only at the request of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Agencies are very, very different. If in one place you can relax and think about what you will do after the completion of the transaction, then in others, with a sweet smile for your money, they will naturally set you up and be happy with themselves. The trouble is if at this moment there is no person you trust nearby. Who will understand what is happening and will be able to take you away in time. Unfortunately, the state and realtors themselves have not yet developed tough mechanisms to protect themselves from dirty technologies.