Hi,

An Italian friend of mine told me recently that when he was looking to buy a house, he had an arrangement with his agent, that agent will pay him back 1% of the total purchase price. In short, out the 2.5% commission the buyer's agent will receive, the buyer will get 1%.

I wish to know how common this is in Toronto.

Thanks.

It is your money, that they are giving you back. You are getting flogged. Cut the price of the house DOWN by $10,000 and then see if he will give you the 1% cash back.

Watch out for these tricksters.


FH.

I think the time is ripe for the independant MLS service or other alternative to take on these Realtors. I as a seller or buyer should have a choice to hire or not hire any Realtor and transact on my own accordingly. I personally don't have any faith in Realtors anymore. They are more like a necessary evils.

Thanks folks.


Full House said: "It is your money, that they are giving you back. You are getting flogged. Cut the price of the house DOWN by $10,000 and then see if he will give you the 1% cash back."

I don't follow you. What do you mean by cut the price down by $10K? I am going to have to negotiate with the seller on the price, right?

1. Can the buyer's agent influence the transaction price that much?
2. Also, doesn't the buyer's agent have that incentive even without the cash back?

Thanks folks.


Full House said: "It is your money, that they are giving you back. You are getting flogged. Cut the price of the house DOWN by $10,000 and then see if he will give you the 1% cash back."

I don't follow you. What do you mean by cut the price down by $10K? I am going to have to negotiate with the seller on the price, right?

1. Can the buyer's agent influence the transaction price that much?
2. Also, doesn't the agent have that incentive even without the cash back (the higher the transaction price the higher his commission)?

Thanks folks.


Full House said: "It is your money, that they are giving you back. You are getting flogged. Cut the price of the house DOWN by $10,000 and then see if he will give you the 1% cash back."

I don't follow you. What do you mean by cut the price down by $10K? I am going to have to negotiate with the seller on the price, right?

1. Can the buyer's agent influence the transaction price that much?
2. Also, doesnt the agent have that incentive even without the cash back (the higher the transaction price the higher his commission)?

Cash back is very common "Unethical Business Practice" in real estate transactions. They even advertise by calling it a "Rebate".

Zoocasa has Rebate Program http://www.zoocasa.com/en/rebate-program

They provide rebate in various forms like Reimbursement of lawyer's fees , inspection fees. Sometime they bear the differential amount (i.e. difference between buyer's max price and seller's min price.)

Recently I have heard (from different source) about transactions with different form of rebates:

#1 Buyer's agent paid for the windows in deal amounting to 650K approx
#2 Buyer's agent paid lawyer's fees and inspection in deal amounting to 400K approx
#3 Buyer's agent paid cash rebate of $1200 in deal amounting to 350K approx
#4 Both the agent shared the difference amount in deal amounting to 725 K approx

take with a grain of salt...