Q: How can you afford such a low commission structure?
A: Firstly, our managing brokers do not share in the agents’ commissions. Other agents working for other firms often give a substantial amount of their commissions to the managing broker and fees to the office. At 3% Realty our managing brokers do not share in our agents’ commissions. Our office fees are extremely low since we have taken full advantage of today’s technology. We do not have huge overhead fees like other firms that are paying for empty office suites. Our corporate meetings are held virtually and we understood from the beginning that real estate agents spend 95% of their time out of the office and we have embraced the virtual work environment. We do have a physical presence but have kept our footprint small and our agents have to travel a good distance sometimes for an office meeting but do you really feel it is fair for you to pay thousands of dollars for empty offices just so the real estate agent has a shorter commute for their weekly office meeting?
Q: Are you a discount brokerage?
A: No, we are not. A discount brokerage may not provide full service without certain fees or stipulations. We provide full service with no upfront fees or costs. If we do not sell your home, we do not make any money.
Q: Will my house be seen on Zillow, Redfin, REALTOR.com and other websites?
A: Yes. When you list with us your home will be listed on MLS System and be sent to all consumer websites to be displayed to the consumer. All except for sale by owner.
Q: How does the agent commission break down work?
A: When a real estate firm charges commission they are splitting it between two different agents/agencies. For example, the national average is 6%. So, when the home sells the listing agent gets 3% and the buyer agent gets 3% which made complete sense before the internet. Be wary of this because most agents will only tell you about their commission fee. For example, you may see commercials saying they will sell your home for as little as 2% commission. This is misleading because what they are not telling you is that their portion is 2% and the buyer agent will get 2.5% so when you see the listing agreement you will see that it shows a 4.5% commission fee. At 3% Realty we charge 3% total!