From: "Rick Hess" 
Newsgroups: misc.invest.real-estate
Subject: Re: Commision question
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2005 16:25:10 -0500

 wrote

> Thanks for the information, Rick. It is a place that we found
> ourselves. Would $500 be a good enough offer for him to handle the
> paperwork? I really don't want to do it myself, because I want to make
> sure it's done correctly. Many thanks!

I can't answer that since I don't know the extent of what he's doing.  $500
seems high.

The heart of the Purchase Agreement is usually two pages that can be filled
out in about 20 minutes.  The rest of the paper is CYA stuff that individual
brokers or the state agencies generate.

The Seller needs to fill out a disclosure, so if he hasn't yet, someone
needs to get that form to him.

Is your realtor evaluating other resent solds in the neighborhood in order
to judge whether the FSBO is priced correctly?  Is he going to negotiate a
better deal for you?

You might ask your realtor to outline what he will do for you and what fee
he thinks is fair for his services.

BTW, this fee may need to be apportioned between him and his broker (who has
done nothing in this whole deal, except provide your realtor with MLS access
if he researches a CMA for you).  If you pay your realtor directly, this may
be in violation of the state's real estate commission.
-- 


Rick Hess
New Orleans
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