Relocation/Real Estate Help!

[HLAuburn]

DH was offered a relocation package that includes "sliding scale sale bonus 3%/2%/1% during home sale marketing period". That's all it says.

Does anyone have any idea what that means?? The relocation lady is on vacation until Monday, and no one can clarify it for us.

I don't understand if that's commission to a selling agent or what? I googled and found a little info about a "sliding scale", but I still don't really get it. I can't stand the idea of not knowing until Monday!

Thanks!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

It does sound like commission and the bonus is going to be "sliding scale" based on a marketing time frame. Like maybe the first month bonus is 3%, second month is 2% and third month is 1%. However I am just guessing so can't tell you for sure.

The bonus may be for the buying agent? That is the seller's agent hook to get a quick sale on the property. I am not sure.

There are agents on here that can help you better. I am in process of becoming a seller agent and too much of newbie to answer.

Good Luck with your house sale!!!

 

[binny]

It does sound like commission and the bonus is going to be "sliding scale" based on a marketing time frame. Like maybe the first month bonus is 3%, second month is 2% and third month is 1%. However I am just guessing so can't tell you for sure.

The bonus may be for the buying agent? That is the seller's agent hook to get a quick sale on the property. I am not sure.

There are agents on here that can help you better. I am in process of becoming a seller agent and too much of newbie to answer.

Good Luck with your house sale!!!

Thats how I would understand it too. We just did a relo with our company and they offerred us a 3% bonus if it sold within 60 days.

 

[HLAuburn]

Thats how I would understand it too. We just did a relo with our company and they offerred us a 3% bonus if it sold within 60 days.

Thanks! So YOU got a bonus to sell it quickly? That's what I was unclear about...who is the bonus paid to? Maybe they're "rewarding" us for a quick sale so they can avoid a buy-out? And there's no mention of paying commission, so that's strange too.

I hate that we have to go all weekend not knowing! I was hoping we could make a final decision by Monday, but it's so unclear, we really just don't have all the facts.

Thanks again to you both.

 

[binny]

Thanks! So YOU got a bonus to sell it quickly? That's what I was unclear about...who is the bonus paid to? Maybe they're "rewarding" us for a quick sale so they can avoid a buy-out? And there's no mention of paying commission, so that's strange too.

I hate that we have to go all weekend not knowing! I was hoping we could make a final decision by Monday, but it's so unclear, we really just don't have all the facts.

Thanks again to you both.

Yes and that was pretty much how ours read as well. It also specified a bonus for the realtor if they were to sell it that time frame.

We didnt happen to sell in that amount of time unfortunately, we listed just before the crash. It was bad.

But things are said to be picking up so I hope yours sells quickly.
Do they guarantee you a buy out? Dhs company only does that with division managers and above. How long do you have to wait before they buy you out?

 

[binny]

Other things to look for are the realtor clause, are they paying the commissions?
Ours paid commissons, closing costs, and had a relocation team set through Weichert relocations. Our case manager was really helpful and cried right along with me the whole way! I even have her cell number and she told me to call any time if I needed to. I was really impressed!

Weichert also has a website dedicated to us that has area comparisions, school district ratings, discounts on different things. They really had it all together!

 

[HLAuburn]

There is a buy out, but there are no specifics about it - length of time, amount etc. It does mention a loss capped at $25,000. There is NO mention of realtor commission, which bothers me a little. They pay closing costs for the new home, moving, house huting trips, temporary living...everything seems to be mentioned except real estate commission, just that line about sliding scale sale bonus.

 

[eeyore65]

If there is a buy out. They are buying your house from you. No commissions. Sounds like a really good plan - unless you are underwater more then $25k.

 

[Nik's Mom]

Dh's company relocated us 2 years ago. We were so lost trying to understand the paperwork that first weekend. I know how you feel. We had that same sliding scale that you mention. If our house was sold within a certain time-frame, we were given a bonus. If it didn't sell in 5 months, they bought it from us at the appraised value. Well, the housing market was just starting to crash in California, so we never got that bonus. But we were more than happy with the appraised value.

In our offer, everything was broken down as to what was covered. We never had to pay any fees to the real estate agents. We were also given a pretty large bonus once dh signed the paperwork. That bonus was meant to cover any expenses that we incurred that were not covered on the paperwork.

Read your paperwork over and over again. Every time we read it, we found something new that we didn't notice before.

 

[HLAuburn]

If there is a buy out. They are buying your house from you. No commissions. Sounds like a really good plan - unless you are underwater more then $25k.

That would be great, if that's the case. I still don't understand where the "sliding scale" comes in unless we are supposed to sell it for a period of time before they buy it, and then commission would be involved.

Read your paperwork over and over again. Every time we read it, we found something new that we didn't notice before.

That's the problem, there isn't a whole lot to read. It's just an offer letter, and I imagine there would be a lot more info to follow, but all there is is a paragraph with a bunch of things listed that they cover under "relocation". No explanations or details at all. Really annoying since we are supposed to let them know by Monday and all we have is this vague list!

Oh well, I guess we'll have to wait to see what the real deal is. Thanks everyone for the help!

 

[Nik's Mom]

That would be great, if that's the case. I still don't understand where the "sliding scale" comes in unless we are supposed to sell it for a period of time before they buy it, and then commission would be involved.



That's the problem, there isn't a whole lot to read. It's just an offer letter, and I imagine there would be a lot more info to follow, but all there is is a paragraph with a bunch of things listed that they cover under "relocation". No explanations or details at all. Really annoying since we are supposed to let them know by Monday and all we have is this vague list!

Oh well, I guess we'll have to wait to see what the real deal is. Thanks everyone for the help!

Oh, that must be frustrating for you. We only had an offer letter also, but there was a website where we could print out all of the details in the offer. It was very long and detailed. See if you can get an extension on that deadline. It's not acceptable to make such a big decision without all of the details. Hopefully they understand where you are coming from.

The way our sliding scale worked was we got less of a selling bonus the longer the house was on the market. But even though our house never sold and they had to buy us out, we never had to pay any real estate fees.

Good luck to you. I'm sure it will all work out. But it's the fear of the unknown that makes it so hard, doesn't it. Hang in there!