While many of you may think that this article refers to the classic Seinfeld episode where George Costanza dips a chip, bites it and dips again, it is not. It is however about something equally ridiculous: real estate agents double charging their clients.
The typical commission in a real estate transaction in Vermont is 6% of the sales price (I think it is well documented in this blog and on our website www.flatfeevt.com that this amount is excessive so I will refrain from commenting on that aspect in this blog). Typically the listing agent will split the commission equally between themselves and the buyer's agent. Thus, in a typical transaction the seller pays a 3% commission to their agent and a 3% commission to the buyer's agent.
The ridiculousness comes when the buyer is unrepresented. Instead of doing the decent thing and reducing the overall commission to 3%, the seller's agent will insist upon keeping both their 3% commission as well as the buyer's 3% commission. Thus, the agent gets paid twice for a total commission of 6%.
How can these agents possibly justify this "double dip"?
Some agents will attempt to justify this "double dip" by suggesting that the transaction will require twice as much time. This is absurd. The transaction may require a couple of extra minutes or possibly an hour, but certainly nowhere near double the amount of time. The amount of work certainly does not justify insisting upon a double payment.
At Flat Fee Real Estate we learned from Seinfeld and do not double dip. We believe other firms should follow. To learn more about how Flat Fee works, click here. Still have questions? Contact us any time of day.
