Say NO to Real Estate Transaction Fees
by arbourrealty.com on November 24, 2008
Almost every residential real estate company in Northern Virginia charges you an administration fee when you buy or sell a home. They range from $250 to over $500 per transaction. What the heck are you getting in return for this extra administration fee? The answer is nothing. I have heard the slick agents come up with canned responses to why they charge administration fees… like it covers the three years that the broker has to store your files. Really, $250 for that. Hmm. Shouldn’t the broker’s cut of the commission cover this?
I remember being at a holiday party several years ago and the host was talking about how upset he was that after buying a $2.5 million house his agent had the nerve to charge him a $300 transaction fee on the purchase. He swore that he would never use the agent or anyone from Coldwell Banker again.
Even worse I remember being told by some agents that they add on an extra $50-$100 to the admin fee to cover their gas. I’m not making this up.
When I was a RE/MAX they used to charge $250 a transaction, but I would cover that expense out of my own pocket. Hey, if I was going to put up with working for a company that charges admin fees, I should be the one to take the hit.
Your Realtor should inform you of his or her admin fee up front when you sign the exclusive buyer agreement. For entertainment value I recommend asking your agent exactly what the fee covers. Then you should politely ask him or her to pay the fee for you. Or, work with a company like Arbour Realty that does not charge its customers or its agents an admin fee. We don’t believe we should follow suit just because others have gotten away with it. In fact, Arbour Realty actually subsidizes the full cost of other services not even offered by the larger brokerages.
Have you ever paid a real estate admin fee? Were you given an explanation as to what it covered?
-Arbour Realty
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First of all congratulation for such a great site. I learned a lot reading article here today. I will make sure i visit this site once a day so i can learn more.
I noticed on my mortgage broker’s good faith estimate that he listed a “Realtor Admin Fee”. My agent did refer me to this broker, but he will be receiving commission from the house I’m buying. Is this a kick-back from the mortgage broker to the real estate agent? Can I say no? It seems to me that the broker should be paying that fee himself.
This is a commercial for a realty co. that does not charge a admin fee in 2008. it states that almost all broker charge a fee, heck the cable co, doctors, phone co. everyone charges a fee and there really isn't anything we can do to get around it. do you blame the agent? do you blame the billing department? no. It's charged by the corporation, someone has to pay and the hardworking agent or secretary cannot be the one or they will be looking for another job like the rest of the country in 2010. and all the companies tell their employees why they are collecting the fee to say the employee is slick and making it up is rude. so I guess if you are buying in N VA and this co still isn't charging an admin fee and can get the job done then save a few bucks. Don't use this commercial to beat me up in PA in 2010. All fees are disclosed up front before the work is completed you cannot say you are not paying once the job is complete also Myself or my company never charge a fee or commission up front before the closing. You do not close we do not get paid at all. thank you for your time
Heck I just work 90 days 3 months on a short sale, before the bank came back raised the price 15,000 10,000 over asking price with a short sale fee of 1% for the buyer to pay and if the buyer was not willing to pay it the bank felt the agents should cover it. The bank just bought a house. It was not disclosed up front and no one wants to pay more at the 11th hour I do not blame the buyer for walking.