1. What is the deal exactly, with One Percent?
We are a fully licensed real estate company that offers full service but at a discount commission. In terms of services and exposure, we are identical to whoever you would like to compare us with. We are on MLS®, all the top internet sites, we place a sign on your property ( if it's allowed ), we show the property, hold open houses, advertise it, handle all the negotiations, plus the conveyancing. There is nothing that you are not getting, except for a high commission!
2. What do you charge?
We charge $6,900 for properties under $600,000. For properties over $600,000 we charge 1% plus $900. It is as simple as that.
3. Are your listings on MLS® and realtor.ca?
Yes, and yes.
4. What if a buyer has his own agent? Do I have to pay them?
The $6,900 commission includes $3,000 of commission to whomever represents the Buyer. In a typical sale under $600,000 with 1% representing the Seller and the Buyer being represented by a Cooperating Brokerage: the 1% listing agent earns $3000, the cooperating Brokerage earns $3000, and the remaining $900 pays for the 1% agent's expenses in selling your home. As a matter of passing interest, roughly 70% of our listing sales are sold by Cooperating outside agents through the Multiple Listing Service which appears to be roughly industry standard. If an agent tell you that our listings are not sold by other agents, they are simply lying. We have years of MLS® statistics to prove it.
5. Other agents have told me that if I list with One Percent Realty, agents from other companies will not show my house because they don't get the same amount of money. Logic would dictate, that they are going to sell the house down the street where they get paid more money if their clients buy it. Do agents boycott your listings?
Our listings are shown by cooperating REALTORS® everyday just like other listings on MLS®. We cannot measure showings that we don't get. What we do know is that 70% of our listings are sold by cooperating agents. Would they rather have more money? Of course-no argument. But the fact is, our listings are displayed everywhere that all the other listings are. All our listings are on MLS®, all the top internet sites, have a sign on the lawn, are in the real estate paper, and we do open houses. So if someone is looking for a home in your neighbourhood, in your price range, they are going to know it is for sale. That buyer is going to look at whatever is on the market before they make their decision. Buyers don't pay the real estate commission, so why would they care which house they buy? If their agent is unhappy with what we pay, the buyer will call us. But the fact is that the agents show & sell our listings, every single day. All of our sold signs over the years prove it!
6. Are there any hidden fees?
When you sign the standard MLS® listing contract with us, it lays out exactly the commission cost to you. If you are selling a Strata property, there are some strata documents that will be required to provide in a sale. A strata document package can typically run between $50-$100 and you will be responsible to refund your 1% agent for those costs. If you are selling a fee simple lot, periodically there are charges on the title search that your 1% agent will need to pull from Land Titles such as easements and building schemes. Land titles charges about $15 per charge.
7. What if I want to do 'even more' advertising than my 1% agent's marketing plan?
You are in control of the advertising of your home. If you want additional advertising beyond the marketing plan of your 1% agent then great, but you will be responsible for the additional cost of such. Your 1% agent will require your approval before spending such additional expenses.
8. I have been told that other agents sometimes ask for more commission than is being offered on MLS® with an offer. Can you respond to this.
Buyer's agent, with the consent of the Buyer, can ask for additional commission with an offer. As the Seller you will decide what you wish to do with such a request - it is 100% your choice. Your 1% agent will explain to you that the vast majority of our Seller's decline to pay such requests and almost of all those offers still proceed normally. That being said, some of our Seller's decide it is in their best interest (i.e. they are happy with the offer as is) to pay some/all of the requested commission increase. Even in those situations, our Seller's still save a good deal of money on the listing side of the commission versus the more typical listing commission rates.
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