Good - I hope this Bastard goes to Jail and is fined the maximum amount

[hbliam]

I can't agree.

I'd wait 30 days and do an open house for an extra $1200.

The realtor wants the house to sell for as much as possible because they'll make more.  If it's been f/s for a long long while, and they get that offer of $230k, likely they'd advise to seriously consider it.

How long till that next offer comes in?

Also to further support that they likely would wait the extra month for the higher price, keep in mind that the house that's listed for $250k is probably not their only listing.

They have other things to do in that 30 day time span that will pay them.

Hopefully

This topic is also regional. Houses in my hood are selling for 600K-several million. So that poor realtor makes a paltry 9K if he has as crappy a commission structure as your Dad. The ones I personally know take 70-90% of the commission not 50%. So they are making 12K and up on a "cheap" house. Yes, some are honest but the majority are as angler said, motivated to your detriment. And no, $1,200 is not enough for most of these guys to work another 30 days trying to find a buyer. It wouldn't be for me either.

[angler]

This topic is also regional. Houses in my hood are selling for 600K-several million. So that poor realtor makes a paltry 9K if he has as crappy a commission structure as your Dad. The ones I personally know take 70-90% of the commission not 50%. So they are making 12K and up on a "cheap" house. Yes, some are honest but the majority are as angler said, motivated to your detriment. And no, $1,200 is not enough for most of these guys to work another 30 days trying to find a buyer. It wouldn't be for me either.

I want to be more clear - just because incentives run cross purposes doesn't make them "bad" or "dishonest." The free market is about getting as much as you can for as little as possible - both for the consumer and for the producer or service provider.  This gets a little weird with real estate agents because they are paid to have your best interests at heart.  But they can't.  This is how we all behave in the majority of transactions, the majority of the time.  There is nothing wrong with that.  It is important as consumers to keep our eyes open.  Perhaps this is why Theo got so upset in the electrician thread.  He feels the high price was an insult and feels they are being dishonest with him.  On the contrary, the electricians are simply trying to get the most for their service as possible.  They wouldn't put the price out there if they didn't get it and, because the bids were all clustered around each other, it was probably pretty close to the going rate.

That said, $1200 is in the neighborhood of my daily rate.  Would I want to keep a house on the market for 30 days for one extra day income?  Likely not as I could only afford to spend an additional 8 hours on the sale.  Would a new guy with a much lower daily rate? Perhaps if he felt he would have less in it than he would get out.  My point is everybody is different, but nobody works harder unless they have to (need the money) or the want to (motivated by something other than money).  There is NO such thing as altruism.......There ain't no such thing as a free lunch either.

[zarn02]

There is NO such thing as altruism.......

Alright, Hobbes.

[angler]

Thomas Hobbes or Hobbes of Calvin & Hobbes?

[zarn02]

Thomas Hobbes or Hobbes of Calvin & Hobbes?

The first one.