Letters to the Editor
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Fees and Services
Allison: I liked your idea, but I did want to clear one thing up. In the vast majority of real estate transactions, the seller pays the entire commission to his broker, and they split that with the buyer's broker. The buyer's cash is usually long gone after downpayments, loan fees, attorney fees, title insurance, prepaid property taxes, and on and on.
If an agent required a "just looking" retainer, it would at least make the tire kickers pick on someone else. And, as you said, the agent could still credit that fee back to the buyer at closing, if and when they closed.
But if you want to make steady money in real estate, you can always be a licensed assistant. It doesn't pay much, but it pays every two weeks, and you can learn alot more than you would sitting on duty waiting for the phone to ring!