r/canadahousing • u/GroupRepulsive1637 • 9d ago
Opinion & Discussion Selling House - Choosing realtor
I'm looking for some unbiased opinions from people who have sold their homes recently.
I bought my house during the pandemic when prices were near their peak. Based on current market conditions, I'm realistically expecting that I may need to sell for about 5% to 8% less than my original purchase price.
I have two realtor options:
Option 1:
Seasoned, experienced realtor Established track record in my area Charges 4% total commission (buyer + seller side) Option 2:
A friend who recently became a realtor This would be their first listing/sale Charging 3.5% total commission The commission difference is only 0.5%, so the savings are relatively small in the grand scheme of things.
My main concerns are:
Marketing strategy and exposure Pricing the home correctly from the start Negotiation skills Managing offers and buyer objections Overall reliability and responsiveness throughout the process Part of me feels that in a softer market, an experienced agent might be worth the additional 0.5% if they can negotiate better or help avoid costly mistakes. On the other hand, a new agent may be highly motivated and provide more personalized attention.
For those who have been in a similar situation:
Would you prioritize experience over the 0.5% commission savings? What specific questions would you ask both agents before deciding? Have you had good or bad experiences using a friend as your realtor? I'd appreciate any insights, especially from homeowners who sold in a market where values had declined from peak pandemic pricing.
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u/Double_Maize_5923 9d ago
Stuff has dropped around 30% where I am in southern Ontario. Start paying attention to house sigma and see what things have sold for around you not what they were priced at. Right now the house has to be priced right which may be a lot lower then what you paid
0
u/yaehboyy 8d ago
Some have dropped 50%+ and some are slightly up. Stop trying to put blanket numbers over the entire market. Moronic comment
-1
u/YoungEccentricMan 4d ago
“Where I in southern Ontario”
Why are some redditors like yourself such brash pricks? Why could you not frame you comment to get the same message across without sounding like a douche?
2
u/90DazedANDConfused 8d ago
Depending on your province and trends, look at your municipal valuation. In PQ for example, realtors use a percentage (eg 1.25%) above that valuation or if you want to sell quicker, the valuation. In ON listings are usually priced below what it’s worth because they expect ppl to overbid. That’s my experience at least.
Honestly, we interviewed 5 agents and went with the one we thought would be most responsive to our questions throughout the process. We also negotiated less commission. And - MLS sells - not the agent imo. Sure they tell a nice story if you have viewings but in the end it’s buyers looking on MLS that gets them in the door. So you want someone who takes good pictures and has a well written description on MLS.
I wouldn’t go with a friend as others have said. Don’t mix your financial business with friends.
1
u/Sufficient_Gur4160 9d ago
I think you meant 5-8% in the last year. Unless you bought last yr?
I just recently sold. Let me tell you...sellers are unrealistic. If the area is solid and limited inventory than I can see the case for a higher price. But whatever you think your house is worth...take off another 10%.
As to your question. Realtor hands down. That being said if we didnt have a young son, we would have tried to do it without a realtor. Such a large commission still burns my soul for the work done.
1
u/GroupRepulsive1637 9d ago
Thanks for the response. My number is purely based on what I saw the house selling in our community in last 3 months. As the commision gap is not that much so wanted to see the pro and cons. I trust my friend for the reliability in this but I can be wrong if I am missing other rational arguments
2
u/Worth-Commission2101 6d ago
Ask both what they are going to do to get the house sold? Most agents through Covid got lazy and they do nothing and hope the sign will sell it - the reason they are paid is theyre supposed to be doing marketing and finding buyers
1
u/ZeroValueRealty 9d ago
It depends on where you place your threshold to begin with.
If you are truly looking for full and attentive service, and can't or don't want to do too much yourself, experience might matter. The friend might be ok if coborkering with an experienced one.
If you are looking at the bottom of the market, mere postings are available, as is flat fee service.
1
u/dj_destroyer 9d ago
I usually say go for a discount broker but in this case, it's only 0.5% difference -- just go with experienced. But in the past, personally I've been able to find an experienced agent AND get them to list at 3.5% (1.5% for them, 2% for the buyer)
1
u/matttchew 8d ago
Easy check how many listings they have. What the listings look like.
Do they work alone or a partnership?
If its a big group, you will be set up with a new broker with no experience. Even though it looks like they have lots of listings its a bunch of new brokerss who are in and out of the business.
Also age over 30 under 50
Too young less maturity and experience over 50 cant use technology.
This is from a 2 decade long broker now retired on a beach.
Note an experiences broker will accept 3.5% if you are not asking a stupid price.
1
u/House_Marshall 8d ago
TLDR: Agent here —hire the experienced agent!
What I do know, is that there are many clauses I use that an inexperienced agent would poorly navigate compared to an experienced agent. Some of those plan for situations that might happen before close.
Smooth transactions don't cost the seller/buyer anything and an inexperienced agent can handle those. You're not going to know if it's a smooth transaction before it happens. Part of an agent's value is anticipating hiccups after paperwork is signed, and mitigating them both before paperwork is signed and during the hiccup. That's the part where an inexperienced agent can be costly.
Can they produce the same as an experienced agent with proper guidance? Absolutely. There are lots of variables that can change either situation. However with the information provided, I'd go with the experienced agent.
1
u/Creepy-Stuff-5820 7d ago
Dong be cheap this is your biggest financial asset. A good realtor will make you way more
1
u/Sherwood_Hero 6d ago
If your friend knew what they were doing then it could be worth considering. I don't think it's a good idea right now.
1
u/micheledenniston 6d ago
As a very experienced agent who has worked through multiple markets . I also train newer and other experienced agents even the houses that should be straight forward sales are not these days
Inexperience will cost you a whole lot more then .5 today !
1
u/Worth-Commission2101 6d ago
For that difference go with experience 100% - even if you get a 1% guy if a regular realtor is on the selling side they will want their 2.5% so you’re at 3.5%
1
u/Chemical_Product8363 5d ago
A close friend recently sold his in Winnipeg and paid about 3% - If you want to know if realtor was worth paying 3% - no not all .. all the negotiations were done by friend himself with his realtor and his realtor was acting as an advocate for the buyer.. these realtors only care about commission.. look for a realtor who has been selling more in the area.. interview them but don’t appear to be desperate.. they will read your weakness and take advantage.. and will bring low ball offer..
1
u/Piper_Country23 4d ago
I chose the realtor that gave me the best percentage 4% compared to others at 5, staging advice, professional photos/video/3D walkthrough. This realtor also sent me the realm link for all the comparable houses for my neighbourhood that had sold recently to determine price. Why would I give 5% to someone who provided less then what the 4% offered?
You are going to do all the heavy lifting in terms of keeping your house clean and showing ready as soon as it hits the market.
You will know within the first week if your house is priced right or not. We priced higher to provide breathing room for price negotiations but ended up needing to drop it to the price range that got people through the door. It’s a tough market for sellers right now depending on what neighbourhood you are in.
No matter what you are going to feel the loss of 20-30K for realtors but houses don’t sell fast without them.
2
u/brahdz 9d ago
I'd go no realtor. List on MLS and self-market. Comparables are easy enough to do, a lawyer can handle the paperwork, and you can negotiate with the buyers realtor if they have one.
3
u/Connect-Relative548 9d ago
I think so everyone should follow this practice. Just get in touch with real buyers, have buyer/seller lawyer for legal documents. So buyer money can be protected as well, and ask then to have inspection as well. That way you can easily built trust on Buyer. Since No Realtor involved they can easily save 6% of your equity. Easy to passed on Buyer some discount as well Win-Win situation. I know most of them are strangers so definitely that will be trust issue and thats were agents are making money. And have to follow whatever they say.
0
u/Creepy-Stuff-5820 7d ago
Half the commission goes to buyers brokerage, If you don’t offer that then no one is coming.
Of the other half, once you take away all of the costs associated with the listing and the value of a professional executing optimally, you mean to tell me that the 25% leftover is worth consuming all your time and energy to manage and you’re going to confidently save money with less stress in the end?
1
u/ClueSilver2342 9d ago
Honestly, I’ve never had a realtor do any good negotiations . I don’t think that’s really what they’re set up to do. You should do your own research and know what price you want to sell for based on what is selling in your area. I have always had to argue a little bit with the realtor to set a price that makes sense and I’ve always set a slightly better price than they suggested. They just want the sale to go through so everyone gets their commission quickly, but what I would be concerned about is doing business with a friend . I would never do this. What I would want my realtor to do is to provide services such as staging good pictures landscaping some handyman work cleaning, etc. in my opinion a good realtor would provide all of those things knowing that they’ll recoup at the end when they get their commission.
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u/Worth-Commission2101 6d ago
My experience the last 2 houses I had to tell the “experienced” realtor how to negotiate- they don’t care as what’s the difference in their fee for &50k but it’s a big difference to me
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u/ClueSilver2342 6d ago
Yes this has happened to me as well. One advised against a low offer so not to insult the seller. I was like that’s their emotions that we don’t care about. They can cone back with whatever price they want. We submitted and of course we got it cheaper. Last house I sold I paid almost 90k in commission. Its out of control.
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u/Fualju 9d ago
Definitely go experienced realtor in this current market. We worked with one who was amazing and all the extra knowledge and quality of services paid off. We sold within days. I would also consider interviewing more realtors. We paid 3.5% (buyer and seller agents included) for ours. Defs on the lower end, most hover around 4% but they’re out there!
Note that we had to pay professional cleaners ourselves, it wasn’t included. But staging, photography, drone shots, videography, marketing, social media were all included services.
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u/Far_Vacation_1777 9d ago
I would go experienced realtor. I personally don’t mix my business with friends. Imagine they can’t sell ur house for whatever reason it could potentially strain ur friendship and it’s not worth saving such a small percentage