Are Real Estate Agents Ripping-off Their Own Clients?
real estate fees
With over three decades of real estate experience, I have a perhaps old fashioned perspective on the real estate business. Personally, I’ve never used a transaction coordinator. I’m a hands-on broker who feels that if you want to ensure something gets done right, you should do it yourself. With that said, I can see the benefit of using a TC especially for very busy agents, as well as new agents who may not be fully aware of the required timelines and forms required to ensure a timely close.
To me, it’s always been the broker’s duty and responsibility to not only negotiate the sale, but to ensure the escrow runs in a timely manner. If you delegate part of your responsibilities to a pseudo-employee, it only seems reasonable that you should pay for this service. After all, you cannot delegate away the responsibility for insuring the quality of the work by the TC.
Oddly, the majority of brokerages think the TC cost is something that should be paid for by the client. If this is properly disclosed in the listing agreement or in the buyer’s representation agreement, technically there is nothing wrong with it. Recently I noticed these fees have been escalating to $500-$600 and more per transaction side and I feel a little uneasy.
I’m not foolish enough to think that I can buck what is now an industry standard, but I use my refusal to charge my clients for a TC, to my advantage.  The majority of my brokerage business is listing properties. In my listing presentation I point out that I prefer to oversee the details of the transaction myself. I won’t charge them for a TC and I won’t off load my responsibilities to someone else.