Real Estate Broker?

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JOhnH

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Is it appropriate to buy your real estate agent/broker a present, or should he buy you one?
He got us a really good price for the house we are selling, so perhaps the $60k commission he is getting is sufficient (even if he does give 2% to the selling agent). PLUS he will get part of the commission on the house we are going to buy, although it is a smaller, less expensive house.
 
JOhnH said:
Is it appropriate to buy your real estate agent/broker a present, or should he buy you one?
He got us a really good price for the house we are selling, so perhaps the $60k commission he is getting is sufficient (even if he does give 2% to the selling agent). PLUS he will get part of the commission on the house we are going to buy, although it is a smaller, less expensive house.
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Offer to give him great reviews should anyone ask. Or even a great review online, though I personally don't do those. He'd appreciate those; I don't think a material gift is expected. Our real estate agent gave us a gift at closing, though I don't recall previous agents ever doing that.
 
Our agent was very pleasant, worked really hard, got a very nice commission, and then bought us a nice gift.
 
JOhnH said:
Is it appropriate to buy your real estate agent/broker a present, or should he buy you one?
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My last real estate agent bought me 2 bottles of wine with a photo of the house and the family name/move in date on the label.
It was a nice touch minus the fact it was, without a doubt, the cheapest, ****tiest bottles of wine money can buy. I seriously would have been happier if they'd delivered a 30 rack of busch light.

I say skip the gift. You just bought them a new range rover with the commission check for probably < 50 hours of work. A house where they're collecting a 60k$ commission check for their half tells me it wasn't exactly a rat-infested, hard to sell, fixxer-upper situation :)
 
ArrowFlyer86 said:
My last real estate agent bought me 2 bottles of wine with a photo of the house and the family name/move in date on the label.
It was a nice touch minus the fact it was, without a doubt, the cheapest, ****tiest bottles of wine money can buy. I seriously would have been happier if they'd delivered a 30 rack of busch light.

I say skip the gift. You just bought them a new range rover with the commission check for probably < 50 hours of work. A house where they're collecting a 60k$ commission check for their half tells me it wasn't exactly a rat-infested, hard to sell, fixxer-upper situation :)
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Thank you ( and everyone else that answered) but to be clear, the $60k is the whole commission. Not just their two-thirds.
 
I've paid about a dozen of these over the years -- my last realtor (buy side) bought us some nice fancy steak knives. Her take was appx 40 grand, so similar to your situation. She has since taken us and other of her clients on some fun social outings and footed the bill. I think there was one other who showed a bit of gratitude, but otherwise I think their commissions are high enough that it's correct for the agent to gift you, not the other way around.

She did hump our legs like a thirsty chihuahua for some online reviews, so that seems to be their preferred currency if you're feeling grateful :) ...or spiteful, too, I suppose.
 
Tipping waitresses is one thing. The restaurant world in the US has been set up that way forever, and it’s just how it works. But the real estate agent isn’t working for petty cash plus tips. Their commissions are pretty hefty.

Tipping has gotten out of hand for other than sit-down restaurants and bars, and food delivery. Too many people want to be nice and won’t say no when the screen suggests a tip.

Ya wanna tip? Go to Bay Meadows, bet on Pork Chops to place in the third. There’s ya tip, kid!
 
ateamer said:
Tipping waitresses is one thing. The restaurant world in the US has been set up that way forever, and it’s just how it works. But the real estate agent isn’t working for petty cash plus tips. Their commissions are pretty hefty.
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So maybe this situation should merit a 'negative tip'? :)
 
Do you want a continued relationship? Relatively small tips on relatively large transactions will keep you at the head of the line, IMHO. Especially if the tip involves the significant other, which is why I usually use gift cards to really nice local restaurants that cover the cost of a (hopefully) pleasant dinner date.
 
Best tip you can give (in my opinion) is personal referrals. A couple new clients saying that you personally referred them specifically to your agent will pay them dividends far above any tip and cost you nothing, yet still be well remembered.
 
As a Real Estate Broker, I have never received a gift nor would I expect one. Gifting a client is a "maybe"... depending on the client. Since 99% of my transactions are Aviation Real Estate, there are lots of cool gifts to give fellow pilots. I've done taxiway lights/desk lamps, aircraft models, propellers, etc. Just depends on the transaction. Out of curiosity, what does this group think would be a nice aviation related closing gift?
 
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I’ve bought and sold ALOT of properties in the past 4 years and I’ve never given a gift to my agent. She has made waaay more than 60k off me and she hasn’t even bought me a gift, :(
 
I thought sex was the appropriate...ummm...ahhh...gift after a successful real estate transaction...
 
JOhnH said:
Thank you ( and everyone else that answered) but to be clear, the $60k is the whole commission. Not just their two-thirds.
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So he's only going to make like $50,000 off the whole deal? That's around the median family income in the in the US. Someone making $100,000 a year has to work full time for 6 months to make that. So I guess the question is, you think the amount of work he did is worth that plus whatever tip you'd give him? I usually tip the folks who I feel like are doing something uncompensated. A waitress who's making three bucks an hour, a doorman, bellhop, cab driver, or maitre d who goes above and beyond their ordinary role. In the professional context, I give gifts people who can provide some benefit to me. Otherwise, I give gifts to my friends and family. If you put your broker in any of those categories, then I'd give him a gift.

ETA: if the agent is not also the broker, he's not receiving that full commission he's paying some of it to his broker.
 
I just listed, and sold in 3 weeks, one of my houses last fall. Particularly in wake of the regulatory changes 8/17/24, realtors’ usefulness may have expired. It’s definitely a different playing field now. The $600k transaction ran me about $1,500 in fees all-in. Beats giving away 6%.
 
For that level of commission he should gift you something nice. Twenty years ago we purchased an oceanfront condo in Ocean City, MD. The real estate agent gifted us a Bose Stereo because (he said) he knew we were into listening to good music.
 
kep5niner said:
I just listed, and sold in 3 weeks, one of my houses last fall. Particularly in wake of the regulatory changes 8/17/24, realtors’ usefulness may have expired. It’s definitely a different playing field now. The $600k transaction ran me about $1,500 in fees all-in. Beats giving away 6%.
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How did you get it into the MLS, or did you?
 
Yes, the listing was on the MLS. That was the 0.25% fee (0.0025 of sale price). I went with a nationwide company called listwithfreedom dot com. Easy process, highly recommended.
 
Yeah, I have never tipped my brokers but I've had them both over for dinner from time to time (they were otherwise friends). They have both bought me gifts. They're also both pilots. One just a high time private pilot and the other an ex-USAir.
 
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