Closing on a house

[Am_I_There_Yet]

Let's do some math here. Let's say the house costs $200,000 and the commission is the standard 6%. Let's say that broker spent 50 hours with you (which is a HUGE amount of time.) Her commission is $12,000, or $240 per hour. Do you make $240 per hour?

Let's say she actually just spent 20 hours with you. That's $600 per hour.

Let's say she had to split the commisssion with another broker and spent 20 hours with you. That's $300 per hour.

Do you see why SHE should send YOU a gift, and not vice versa?

Let's say commission is split between the listing agent and the buyer's agent. So that's MAYBE 3%.

Let's say that the broker then gets 30-40% of that split - in some cases 50-60%. Let's say then that we pay $100 per transaction for insurance and numerous other fees on top of that, such as desk fees, office fees, etc.

Unless you've worked as a realtor, you have no idea the actual expenses involved. Not only that, we don't get paid consistently. There may be some agents out there who don't earn their commission, but more often than not, we work out tails off and deserve what we get paid.

Do you split hairs like that with any other profession???? Nevermind, no need to answer that one.

It's comments like this that caused me to put the smilie next to my name. I usually don't even step foot into these threads, because invariably someone will come along and throw about generalizations such as this, that are unfounded and ignorant about the profession.

 

[Robinrs]

Realtors have a fiduciary duty to the seller and believe me, they work hard for the buyer and are GOOD and making sure that buyer does just that, BUYS!

I've worked with many realtors who became as close as children to buyers, just to say NEXT to the next buyer.

You may feel very satisfied and happy with the job she did but that WAS her job. And she's paid very well for it. I think a card, email or letter would suffice and the comment about a referral is the best gift EVER.

Congrats on your new home!! My niece closes on her first home Weds and she became quite attached to her realtor. Just like everyone here, I brought her to reality.

 

[ckret01]

Thanks everyone for all the replies. My agent worked for us and the seller had their own agent. I probably should have gave some backround first on what she has donne for us but I was at work when I posted this and was quick to writing it (opps sorry)

We orginally found a house back in April, we signed the purchase offer then the guy backed out. They guy turned aorund a few weeks later and said he would sell to us so we really wanted it so we paid for the inspection, water and radon test and the week after he backed out again. We lost $700 doing this.

We then found another house and signed a purchase offer and later found out the house was completely crooked (very noticable) and was on wetlands. Our agent didn;t find this out till half was through our insection. (another loss of $700).

She took us to look at many houses ones she found and ones we found. She always made time for us.

We finally found this house (that we are closing on Thursday) and she was just as excited as we were. She felt bad for all the bad luck that we had in the past that she paid for our home inspection and radon test which she didn't have to do. We actually agrued with her about not paying but she was so insistent on paying.

She is so sweet and really went above and beyond for us I feel. I would most definitely recommend her to anyone I know that is buying a house. This process is scary and she helped ease that for us and was so helpful in answering all our questions whenever we needed her to.

For now I will probably buy her flowers when we close on the house and then send a really nice Thank you note and possibly a gift certificate to dinner.

I understand that they are working for us and make good commission on our house but I feel like I owe something to her too for all her work.

 

[ilovejack02]

If you love her and she did a great job, by all means send her a thank you note or whatever you feel like. I actually bought the guy who did my mortgage for us a present. We got our deal closed in 2 weeks exactly and because DH had lost his job a few years back we had a bankruptcy so this guy had to jump through hoops to get us a good rate. He also drove to my house (40 mins from his office)a few times to get papers signed or to pick up something else the loan folks were asking for since I had a sick child and couldnt always get to him as fast as he needed. I went to Rocky Mountain Chocolate factory and bought 6 different candied apples. YUM! He was real surprised.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

This is the last comment I'll make on this thread, now that I've read every comment.

The jokes and the comments about all the money we make - which trust me, is quite the joke - are out there. You know what I mean? Some of you are basically insulting the very people that you post next to.

Not only am I an agent, there are several other posters on here who are agents, who are married to agents, or who are getting their licenses at this moment to be agents. Slo for one, comes to mind.

I'm a real estate agent. There are lawyers, doctors and I'm sure, used car salesmen on this board too. Why is it appropriate to make jokes and generalizations about professions, that chances are, you've never walked the shoes in? That you wouldn't have a clue about?

I don't usually go off on tirades and am generally pretty laid-back on here and don't think I've ever intentionally insulted anyone. About 75% of the comments were ignorant to my profession and the other 25% were rude.

I just wanted y'all to be aware that people in those professions do read this board, and it does cause discomfort. But whatever. Carry on. Whatever makes you feel good and laugh.

OP, thanks for being open-minded enough to want to thank someone for a job well-done. Make sure you show your agent this thread. I'm sure it'll cause a chuckle or two.

 

[zoesmama]

Ok I am a realtor also and agree that referrals are a great compliment and gift. However, if you wanted to give your agent a gift by all means do so.

It will seem like we make a lot of money, but it is shared with our brokers, we do not get paid by the hour, pay our own health insurance if we don't have a spouse with insurance plan at work, pay our own gas, pay for insurances, membership fees for access to the homes you want to see, etc.

Only a small percentage of the realtors in my area are the "top" producers who drive the fancy cars and live in fancy houses. Many of us work very hard trying to establish ourselves and may go months without a sale. Top that off with various market challenges i.e. Hurricane zone and hard to get insurance, and having to be available almost 24/7, working weekends etc.

I'm not complaining because I'd rather be doing this than going to work 9-5 at a "regular" job. I'm just defending realtors. Most of us are quite nice and caring, but those few bad apples give us those terrible reputations.

My best gift from a client was a handwritten note telling me "god bless and thank you for a great job selling our......" I kept a copy taped by my phone so when I had a bad day it cheered me up and made me feel appreciated.

And, by the way, I give my clients gifts at closing that are personal to them. If they are getting ready to renovate, I'll give them a Home Depot gift card, if they are expecting or this if first home, I give them a Target gift card. If they said they wouldn't use the kitchen ... ever, I give them a nice restaurant gift card. And most recently a series of gift cards from Target, Home Depot and a grocery store because they had lost everything in Katrina.

 

[oxfordcircus]

I'm a real estate agent. There are lawyers, doctors and I'm sure, used car salesmen on this board too. Why is it appropriate to make jokes and generalizations about professions, that chances are, you've never walked the shoes in? That you wouldn't have a clue about?

Dang. I'm a lawyer, but I didn't know I had the right to be offended by lawyer jokes. It pretty much comes with the territory. I'm just glad I've got used car salesmen to take some of the heat off.

 

[Michie]

Dang. I'm a lawyer, but I didn't know I had the right to be offended by lawyer jokes. It pretty much comes with the territory. I'm just glad I've got used car salesmen to take some of the heat off.

I own a used truck/boat/car/motorcycle lot and I am RE broker, I am doomed to be the hind end of jokes!

 

[missypie]

Talk about having fees and bills picked apart - walk a mile in my shoes. So a multi-million dollar office building sells. The broker walks away with $60,000, no questions asked. My bill for attorneys' fees is maybe $10,000 and they complain and go through the bill with a fine toothed comb.

 

[deno2]

I purchased my first home in January after 2 years of looking. My realtor was and still is an angel, (and a very patient one) throughout the entire process. I finally moved into my home in June, (after 5 1/2 long months of redecorating) and had my realtor over for dinner. She brought me a house-warming gift and was truly touched that I had her over to see the improvements that I had made. I'm a mortgage originator and you better believe that when someone comes into the bank getting mortgage info and they don't have a realtor, I send them to my agent. Conversely, when my agent has a potential home buyer and they don't have financing lined up - she sends them to me. My realtor earned every cent she made when she signed me on. Not only did I get a great house out of the deal, but a new friend as well.
Long story short, if you feel that your realtor went above and beyond and you want to show your appreciation, by all means do a little something for him or her.
deno

 

[islhaven]

We have bought and sold a few homes now and looking at doing it again in the near future. I always feel like I've given the realtor a huge gift! In all three cases the realtor either bought us a gift or took us out for dinner. A thank you card would be great - nice gesture - but I wouldn't want you to start a trend of giving gifts to realtors!!! I couldn't do it!
Cindy - 121 Days to Disney

 

[Toby'sFriend]

I agree with the others - all the houses I've closed on the Realtors have bought US small token gifts as thank-yous.

If you truly feel she has done a wonderful job, I agree with the suggestions for items that she can use in marketing her business. Realtors compete like crazy for listings and clients. Yes, they make big money on a sale, but there are also thousands and thousands of Realtors out there competing for the sales.

Write up a nice letter and make sure you send a copy to her Broker, if she works for one. That way she'll have something to show to the next couple who walks into her office and says "why should we pick you to be our Realtor?"

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

I'm a real estate agent. There are lawyers, doctors and I'm sure, used car salesmen on this board too. Why is it appropriate to make jokes and generalizations about professions, that chances are, you've never walked the shoes in? That you wouldn't have a clue about?

Welcome to my world. To take such things personally when one works in a profession with negative stereotypes is self-defeating. I don't know any realtor jokes, but I dare you to find one person who doesn't know a lawyer joke...

 

[missypie]

Real estate lawyers and real estate brokers are like oil and water; we are each other's nemesis. The brokers think the lawyers invent technicalities to stand in the way of closing; the lawyers think the brokers will gloss over any issue, just to collect their commission. The brokers make more money, but the lawyers think they're smarter than the brokers.

 

[Todd&Copper]

No, we didn't give our realtor a gift or anything. In fact, a week or so after we moved in, *she* sent *us* a gift basket, thanking us for our business

Ditto me!
We became friendly with her,though, b/c she owns collies too, and we exchange Christmas cards.

 

[lclark0621]

We gave our agent a gift...The 6% she made on the sale of our home.

Everytime we have bought or sold a property in this area, we have used the same agent. So she has made quite a bit off of us. That is enough for us.

Each time we have used her or reffered her, she has sent US a gift of some sort, whether a gift certificate to Home Depot or a local resturant. She is thanking US for the business.

I wouldn't give my agent a gift, I wouldn't give my doctor a gift or my lawyer. I am paying them to do their job & if they do a good job, I will continue to use them.

 

[maddiel]

Sometimes people go above and beyond what is in their job description. I have, for example, given gifts to the staff at my credit union and to my doctor when I felt the need to let them know how much they I value what they do that goes beyond what they have to do. On the other hand, there have been years where I very reluctantly gave a teacher gift only because it was the thing to do and because I felt to not give one would be an obvious insult. I have also written detailed letters of thanks to good teachers.

When people exceed my expectations, I like to let them know and share my gratitude.

(Edited for clarity I think what I'm trying to say is that while there is no requirement to thank someone who has done a service for in return for payment, sometimes it's something that just feels like the right thing for an individual to do in a certain situation. If the OP feels that her real estate agant did an amazing job and wants to especially thank her, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.


M.