“USUAL” Broker’s commission

[Seevee]

Good points about brokers (salespersons) income. Seems like most of them are starving, but I find them lazy and not self starters. The sales game requires a self starter, and aggressive person. Getting good info timely to the buyer, returning calls and getting the buyer to see the property are necessary. The very best ones I know have an assistant (real estate). Of the real estate agents I deal with, I find only about 5% are worth their salt. There's several "average" ones, and about half are worthless.


I had my license for about 10 years when I was doing a lot of buying, selling and renting houses (on my own account). I never earned a dime in commission, but took the ones the broker didn't want and gave him ones that made good listings for him. We had 15 sales people and I out produced all of them in revenue for the company.... because I aggressively worked my arse off. Our sales agents paid a monthly "desk" fee and got 100% of the commissions. However, most could get their backside out of bed in the morning. Loved it, but the license turned into more of a liability than an asset so I dropped it.

 

[Newtrawlerowner]

I just sold my sailboat through a broker that charged 7% if he brings buyer, 9% is he only sells. He listed the boat on Yacht World, and at least 1 other site. He got a lead almost immediately and that buyer bought it 6 months later. The process was relatively painless. The only issue I had was who did he work for, me (the seller) or the buyer? I had that conversation once the offer was made. He stated he really worked for both. On the other hand when I bought that boat, my broker ( a different guy) gave me great advice and continued to do so through the sales process including getting some issues discovered in the survey repaired by the seller.

What another respondent said about 10% is pretty standard. All will want at least a 3 month listing that renews automatically unless you cancel. Some want a 6 month listing.


The best advice I got from the 3 brokers I interviewed (I strongly suggest you interview at least 3) is the better it shows, the easier it will sell. All 3 gave me suggestions on what to do and all suggestions were pretty much the same.

I cleaned everything included floor lockers, repaired/replaced what was needed and buffed and waxed it to a shine, outside and in. I've sold many cars in the past and understood the effort and the outcome. The fewer things the buyer sees on the initial inspection the more excited he'll be. I also staged it for the photos.


My last suggestion is that if the boat is in the water, visit it regularly and clean the bird poop and at least wash it down.

My boat was out of the water. (I live in Florida and had it out during hurricane season). I made sure the bottom was clean, any missing bottom paint was repainted (I ran a-ground 3 times getting it to the boat yard), scraped any remaining barnacles, cleaned the prop and bow thruster.

I also opened the engine and found some of the noise insulation had fallen down. I re-glued it, wiped down the bilge under the engine and wiped the interior down. I also used a de-humidifier while on the hard to keep mold to a minimum.

All this effort paid off as I sold it after 6 years of ownership for more than I paid.

In the end I got many compliments (there were 3 showings in total) and everyone, including the guy doing the survey said that mine was one of the cleanest models they've seen.

 

[Newtrawlerowner]

I wanted to ad 1 more thing to my previous post. On my deal at 7%-9% any co-broker got 5%. Having said that I also mentioned who I was working with to another broker and they didn't have anything nice to say. Very unprofessional in my opinion.

Several people mentioned if your boat was in the brokers yard or marina, the slip or storage fees were lower. The same with the broker I used, but he was in Maryland, my boat was in Florida.

Here's another thing I learned. There are 2 boating seasons. Northeast is April through September, Florida and southern ports November through May. Not sure about California and the northwest. Also once the boat shows start, the market heats up. Ft Lauderdale is at the end of October, Miami is in February.

 

[Nomad Willy]

rsn48 wrote;
“ Remember the broker may have to do foolish things like purchase food for his/her family, pay the mortgage, pay for the car and insurance and all the other expenses related to living and a family. And also realize that in recreational markets economic slumps can hit hard so the broker making lots of money now won't be in the next downturn financially.

Many decades ago I was an orderly at a large Vancouver Hospital earning my way through university. I was dating the daughter of a high placed health care executive during a particularly intense strike which involved me at the low end and him at the high end. He asked me - "Rick, honestly how do you feel about your pay as an orderly?" I said: "For me, it's more than adequate but I don't want to speak for the orderlies who are raising a family and paying a mortgage, for them I don't know."

I think doctors should get paid what doctors are worth. What they need for their “families” or what other expenses they have should have nothing to do w what they get for their services. That’s a personal thing. IMO