Silicon Valley Buyers Do Not Pay Their Own Agent's Commission

Today I met with a lovely family who wanted to sell a home in Santa Clara they no longer live in. I met them at the home and went over a number of things about the value of the home, what I would do to help them sell, including my staging, painting, and landscaping, and current market conditions. When we got to talking about commissions they were flabbergasted. I told them what commission I wanted and how it would be split between the buyer's agent and myself. That's when things got interesting. They were flabbergasted that the seller paid the buyer's agent commission and asked why. I was flabbergasted they asked. In 17 years in real estate I had never been asked that question. I just took it for granted that everyone knew that the seller pays. Period. When they asked me why all I could think of was because that is the way we do it. I did talk a little about how in the old days the seller's agent was the agent for the house, and represented the buyer and seller unless he or she agreed to something called sup agency, but that this was not done anymore in California. If the seller's agent represents both sides everyone has to agree to it and it is not automatic. After I left I realized that I had never really thought about why the seller pays commission to the buyer's agent, except by habit. But I think the main reason is that the seller will have cash at the end of the transaction (unless of course it is a Silicon Valley short sale where the bank pays the commission and closing costs) and the buyer often uses all of their available cash just to buy the house. If the buyer had to pay the commission it would mean many buyers just would not have enough money to buy a house. So the answer was really simple and i feel silly for taking it for granted. After all everything in real estate is negotiable, but some things that are so common we don't even stop to think about why they are so commonly done. I am glad I had the chance to do that today. If you have any questions about buying or selling a home in Santa Clara County please feel free to contact me. Marcy Moyer Keller Williams Realty www.marcymoyer.com marcy@marcymoyer.com 650-619-9285