The St Aug Blog

by Sean Hess (www.SeanHess.com), Broker and Manager for St. Augustine Team Realty (www.StAugustineTeamRealty.com).   Join us on Facebook.

If I don’t use a real estate agent can I save the buyer commission?

In the strictest sense, no.  In fact, if a home is listed in MLS you will have to use an agent.  If you don’t choose your own agent, by default it will be the listing agent.  

First, what commission is:

Commission is negotiated between the seller and the agent who lists the property.  In Florida commission is considered employment. 

Typically the listing agent advertises half the agreed upon commission to any agent who brings a buyer.  In other words, the listing agent is offering employment to any agent that brings the buyer.  By Florida law, only those licensed to sell real estate or who are a party to the transaction (i.e. buyer or seller) are allowed to receive any commission at the close.

As commission is an offer of an employment, any agent can decide for him or herself what an acceptable commission is.  If the agent feels that a commission is is too low on a property (in that the potential work is not worth the potential pay), the agent is under no legal, honorable or ethical obligation to show that property.  It would be the same if you were responding to “help wanted” ads and decided to decline a job offer because the pay was too low for your tastes.

So getting back to the original question, when you decide to buy a property the commission was decided before you ever entered the picture.  And it has already been figured into the bottom line.

This is especially true with new construction and foreclosures.  With a foreclosure the listing agent will keep the entire amount, and in new home construction the builder will keep the entire amount.

There are some real estate agents that will offer to rebate a few hundred dollars at closing in order to attract new business, but the sale still has to be profitable for them to do it (because if it is not profitable they will go out of business). 

In any case you want a real estate agent.  On a similar question posted in a different forum, Realtor Cindy Jones of Woodbridge, Virginia, stated, “You are far better off to have an agent who is protecting your interest in the transaction than worrying about real estate commissions.”

There are literally hundreds of issues that could come up during a real estate sale.  You want an agent that is going to look out for your interests and get you safely to closing.  In the cases of foreclosure buying or new construction buying you especially want an agent who knows the procedure and can refer you to the right attorney to vet the real estate contract.