"All this money for 10 minutes of work?!?!?"
Along with the evergreen phrase : "you only showed me the house, why should I pay such an amount?"
These are the great classics that are never lacking in the daily experiences of a real estate agent.
The real estate agency's commission
Is the bill you have to pay. The extra expense, that item you never budget for when you have to deal with real estate.
But let's start with the basics:
Why is it necessary to pay a real estate agency?
The profession of real estate agent was born from the street, from the old brokers who, between buying and selling cattle, combined a marriage and brokering a property.
Humble roots in short. Humble and ancient.
So old that even today custom is one of the legal sources used to settle some disputes.
What is custom?
here is the definition:
"Source of right constituted by the constant repetition of a certain behavior by the generality of subjects, accompanied by the conviction of its legal obligation"
So no written law. But an ingrained belief in society.
In Italy there is no specific legislation for real estate agents. Case law has made our "category" subject to that of commission agents.
Establishing by Article 1733 of the Civil Code (referred to in Law 39/89), the extent of the commission:
"The measure of the commission payable to the commission agent, if not determined by the parties, shall be determined according to the customs of the place where the business is transacted. In the absence of usages the court shall provide according to equity."
How much is fair to pay a real estate agency?
Going by interpretation ( and according to case law ) the real estate agency commission is the result of an agreement between the parties.
Whether you are a buyer/landlord or a seller/landlord, the "value" of the commission you have to pay the real estate agent is a result of negotiation and should not be an imposition by the agency.
Never mind the percentages, 2% 3% 4% etc etc.
If they ask you for 1% for a job not done or worse, done poorly, can you consider yourself satisfied ??
Giving to sell your house to the agency that does not ask you for commission, but will not bring you any results, does it save you money or waste your time (and therefore money) ?
This means that those who ask you for a fee should do so because they actually give you added value or service and not simply because they show you a house. When you approach a real estate agent the first question to ask is not :
"how much is your percentage? "
but
" what will you do for me in return for the commission you will ask for?"
When should the real estate agency be paid?
The legislation states that, the right to commission, accrues at the moment the deal is concluded ( 1755 cc).
Here the question is triggered, " when do we consider a deal done?"
Legal philosophers, will tell you that a thing is sold when there is the exchange of consents between the parties, but practice dictates that the deal is concluded the moment the acceptance of the proposal ( of purchase or lease ) is notified to the proposer, better would be with a nice preliminary equipped with all the trappings.
From there ensues a riot of anecdotes, easily found on the Internet, that have brought our category to where it is now...preliminaries that do not lead to the final deed, clauses that blow up negotiations, conditions that arose after the agreement, fees paid at the preliminary, and then what has been seen has been seen.
Do you want a suggestion?
Determine at the signing of the proposal the amount and method of payment of the commission. Nowhere is it written that you cannot divide the fee payment between preliminary and final deed...
Probably some of my colleagues will disagree with what I write....
What I write is what I think.
And what I think is that a consumer should not just be subjected to a "tariff" but should demand a service/product for what they pay.
I often hear about "right to commission" and never about "duty to the client."
I admit that I do not always succeed in transferring this added value to the people who relate to me... and I do not always meet the expectations placed in me.
The commitment I want to make for 2018 is to try to better communicate what I do and the added value I bring to my work, to as many people as possible, hoping to create a "positive circle" in as many colleagues as possible as well!
Hey. Did you know that you can deduct the commission for the purchase of your first home from your taxes?
In this article you will find all the information
