How We are Paid

Buying a home is a big financial decision. It may be the biggest of your lifetime. There is very important material on this page that you should take some time to read. This will truly help you understand the process and make it work to your advantage.

The real estate system is filled with conflicts of interest. You have traditional real estate agents working for the seller. You’ve got selling and/or sub agents working for the seller. It’s possible to have an agent who is a neutral party and not working for anyone. It seems as if all the cards are stacked for the seller and against the buyer during the home buying process.

Simply put, if you don’t have a signed contract with the agent that you are speaking to, that agent represents the seller. If they work for the seller, they aren’t working for you!

Some traditional agents at the larger offices will sign a contract with you as a buyer agent, yet also sell homes and work for a company whose primary goal is to sell homes for the highest price possible.  Maybe you believe that agent will work for you and against the primary goal of his or her company, but that’s highly unlikely.  You can be sure that we work for you. The following will help you understand how our services are paid for at no cost to you.

A – This is the PURCHASE PRICE, not the listed price. Traditional/Conventional agents make more money if you spend more money. How is that looking out for your best interests?

B – This is the total commission* paid by the seller to both agents involved in the transaction. The usual and customary fee paid by the seller is 6% of the selling price, which in this example is $12,000.  Agents split this fee 60% (column C); 40% (column D).  BE AWARE that neither of these agents works for you.  Most homebuyers think the selling agent; sometimes called the sub-agent, is working for them. NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH. That selling (sub) agent is working WITH you……not FOR you. There is a HUGE difference!

C – This is the Listing agent (C), the agent with the sign in front yard, who works for the seller and keeps 60%.

D – This is the Selling agent (D), and many homebuyers think this agent works for them as the buyer. As mentioned above, this agent is working WITH you, not FOR you.  Unless you have an Exclusive Buyer’s Agent representing you, the selling agent in this column is also working for the seller and the seller’s best interests.

This becomes very apparent when you ask that selling agent how much you should offer for the property. Their standard answer is going to be” full price.”  That HAS TO BE their answer because that is what the seller wants! And that’s who they are working for, after all! How is that an agent, who is working for the seller, looking out for your best interests?

As an Exclusive Buyer’s Agent representing you, we eliminate the selling agent (column D) and keep that money as our fee for the services we provide to you. You get all the representation and protections as a homebuyer and the seller has already agreed to pay for our services as part of their contract when they listed the property for sale. Why would anyone want to buy a new home any other way?

Using the traditional real estate system to buy a home is like paying someone NOT to work for you.  Why do that?  Now you have a choice…Greg/Dee Szablewski, “Representing the Buyer.”  Your Exclusive Buyer’s Agents.