Let's invent a new commission structure

[qwerty]

It won?t work: buyers will never pay to to tour a house. If that was the case. What if agents show houses that don?t fit the criteria. Does the buyer get a credit or chargeback if they prepaid the tour.

I agree that buyers will push back on paying an agent to view homes.  There's no perfect commission model that works in real estate but there are ones that better align the interest of the client with the agent.

But there needs to be a give and take. If buyers don?t want to pay for using someone?s time then the buyers are no better than the agents who don?t want to move away from the existing commission structure.  Then we end up with the status quo.  By paying a fee perhaps buyers won?t just string along agents and go look at home they aren really considering. Back in 2010-2011we saw a variety of homes with USC and felt bad after we put our search on hold. We then bought new construction and USC got his commission. But we felt bad during that pause that we wasted his time. I don?t think I would have felt as bad if we were paying him for each home we saw.

The buyer could pay $100 per showing and if they end up buying the agent could credit back the 100 per showing. Or you could run a tab and if you dont buy within 3 months, the seller pays up for the visits over the last three months.

 

[daedalus]

Do you need an agent to view a home?  Is this a builder requirement?  The only time I've ever been in a home with my agent was after the offer was written up. 

 

[usctrojancpa]

Do you need an agent to view a home?  Is this a builder requirement?  The only time I've ever been in a home with my agent was after the offer was written up. 

Here's a big difference in seeing new home and resale homes. If you go to a new home the first time without an agent and give the sales office your name then your agent will not be eligible to receive the commission for the new home transaction.  Pre-covid buyers, buyers could go to broker or public open houses themselves to see resale homes but otherwise appt needed to have been made with the seller and/or the listing agent.  Also, only agents can open Supra lockboxes with their Supra eKeys using their cell phones.  I think it's a liability issue by having random buyers go view the home themselves.  What happens when things get damanged or stole if there is no agent controlling the showing?  Who's responsible for that loss?  Also, things like gate codes and/or seller contact information is kept private in the private remarks that don't end up on Redfin, Zillow, etc for a reason.  In the post covid world, all showings are by appt only and Covid PEAD forms need to be submitted to the listing agent prior to showing with all the adults that will be entering the home.