Real Estate Agents and selling homes

I have a love hate relationship with real estate agents, because we are good clients to have.  We listen to what they tell you and make adjustments accordingly.  Our houses are generally pretty easy sells as they show well.  We tend to be flexible and accommodate all viewings within reason.

I am not faithful to a particular agent or company.  We have used a different agent for every house.  The way I chose them is:

1. Dh and I have to like them; though we did have one agent who got on all our nerves, even Maxine our black lab.  I think it was her voice it grated on you, she sold the house though.
2. Choose an agent that sells a lot in your area and is knowledgeable of your area.
3. Is professional and offers good service and has a good marketing plan.  Nowadays internet marketing is the way to go and is so, so important.
4. Offers a good plan of how they work and what they will do for you.
5. You have to like them; if your real estate agent is not friendly and willing to listen to your needs, walk away from them; they're not a good match for you.

Here in Canada and the United States, the real estate agents get a percentage of the selling price as their fee.  The rates vary from agent to agent but if for example you sold your home for $500,000 and the agent charged a 5% fee then the buyers agent and the sellers agent would split the $25,000 fee, oh and for us in Ontario there is a 13% HST tax on top of the $25,000 as well, so all in all you end up handing over $28,250.  So although I am willing to hold up to my end of the deal and keep the house spotless I do expect our real estate agent to do her part as well.  Which means lots of publicity, following up with me (super important) and open houses.

You can negotiate with agents on their fees, but somewhere between 4 to 4 1/2 % fee is the usual.  You can get cheaper but I find you get what you pay for.

Here is Ontario we have a land transfer tax we have to pay when buying a home.  Again using the $500,000 as a price you are paying for a home you would have to pay $6,475.00.

Then of course there are the lawyers fees.  For selling your home, it's around $1,200.00, for buying your home it's probably a little more, say around $1,300.00.

Then of course there is hiring a moving company.  The cost varies and also depends on how much stuff you have to move and how far you are moving.  But for this exercise lets say it's going to cost $3,000.00.

Now lets add all this up:

Real Estate Fee:    $28,250.00
Land Transfer Tax: $6,475.00
Lawyers Fees:        $2,500.00
Movers:                  $3,000.00

TOTAL:          $40,225.00


Moving is an expensive and time consuming business.  There are alternatives, DON'T MOVE😏, or sell the house yourself, or use cheaper agents, but for us this is the way we go.

Not sure if this is the same (price wise) all over the world? Would love to hear your thoughts, experiences.