Real estate commissions
... and a tale of 2 buyers. UPDATE: by the time I finish writing, it will be 4 buyers.
I've been very fortunate to work with many wonderful buyers (and sellers) during my career as a Charleston real estate agent. Of course, real estate agents work in order to earn money since the profession has not yet become a charitable organization.
So back to my story. I just worked with a wonderful out of town couple who I've been in contact with for several years and they finally bought. They visited several times and we kept in touch via email as well as by sending listing alerts. The time was right and they selected a property to buy. But here's my point, they wanted to make sure when we visited either preowned homes or a new home community that I was going to earn a commission for the help I was providing them. I appreciate their thoughtfulness.
And now we come to the next buyer. I showed several properties and they selected one they wanted to buy. I negotiated a reasonably good price and answered many questions for them so that they would be comfortable with their purchase. But just before they were to sign the contract, they told me that they heard that some buyer agents rebate half their commissions to the buyer. I said that maybe some did but unfortunately, I couldn't.
Now understandably, they were a little upset and most of you could probably understand that but there's always a little more to the story. First of all, it was not a very high priced property and there wasn't very much commission involved. Secondly, it was more about attitude (theirs, not mine). They felt entitled and they were greedy.
They felt like the well priced property they were interested in should be able to be purchased at a 10% discount. Well, a big discount might be available if the property was not well priced but this property was fairly valued. I'm not suggesting that anyone should pay full price in today's market and as I mentioned, I did negotiate a reasonably good price. They wanted to pay less and they wanted me to pay.
I should also point out as I did to them that it might have been more appropriate to discuss buyer rebates and commissions before going out and seeing homes for sale and I would have suggested they find an agent at that time who would rebate half the commission. Next, they tried to cut me out of the deal by attempting to be self represented buyers but unfortunately, a little thing called procuring cause means that a real estate agent who brings the buyer to the seller generally gets paid whether they are representing the buyer or not.
So I guess you can understand why I wrote this little rant since this wasn't a very pleasant buyer to work with.
But before you think that I don't negotiate commissions, I just successfully listed and sold a client's home and helped them with the purchase of a new home. I did not take a full commission on both the sell and the buy side. In fact, I rebated them a portion of my commission on one of the transactions. The difference was that we agreed before signing the listing agreement and I think that it's a fair thing to do when a client is using you for two real estate transactions. I'm not greedy and I determined it would be a profitable transaction for me to rebate some commission to my client.
And one more little story. I worked with another client several years ago. They did not buy. Unfortunately, they never found the perfect house. While I might have been disappointed to have not found the right house, they were a great couple and I enjoyed the time we spent together. We didn't just look at homes over a long weekend but on three or four house hunting trips over the course of more than a year since they were looking to retire in the Charleston area or other areas along the Southeast coast. At the end of the search, they said to me that they couldn't think of any real estate agent they wished could have gotten a commission for helping them and they were sorry they just didn't find a home they loved in Charleston.
Gratuities are always appreciated. But of course, I really didn't say that. 
So if you're looking to buy or sell a home in the Charleston South Carolina real estate market, you should understand that there is no such thing as a sacrosanct 6% commission as it has been portrayed by the media. Actually, 6% is for both sides of a transaction and in most cases, it is split evenly between the listing agent and the selling agent so in the case of a 6% commission, it really is only 3%.
Don't forget that the real estate agent generally doesn't receive all of that commission. The brokerage gets a portion for little things like rent, electricity, equipment, personnel and marketing, etc., etc., with a little left over for profit. The real estate agent has little expenses too like a car and gas for the car, computers, cell phones, MLS dues and real estate education and license fees, etc., etc. and then has to pay a mortgage, put food on the table, pay taxes, etc., etc. I'm not asking anyone to feel sorry for real estate agents, just point out that selling a few million dollars in real estate does not make a real estate agent wealthy.
Everything is negotiable but I really won't work for a half a penny. You get what you pay for.