Hi, I am getting started in REI in massachusetts and have a couple of questions. As an investor am I able to charge a fee when I am able to help someone find financing? for example. I talked to a hard money lender and he said anyone with a FICO score of 520 or better he can get a loan. There is an app fee of $199. Should I be getting a finders’s fee? Also, i have a realtor who is giving 20% disc. of their comm. at close. If i find a property and refer a buyer to them can i charge a finders/consultant fee for this? if i can what is a fair fee? Thank you for any help i’m sure i’ll have more questions later.
George
Howdy George:
Realtors can not pay fees to agents or others unless their license is under that broker. Realtors can pay other Realtors or brokers. They too can discount their fee as it is negotiable. You see plenty of discount agents charging anywhere fron 3.5% to 5%. You also see flat fee Realtors charging a flat fee up front of $500 to $1000 or so get get the property in MLS where you may pay another 2% or more depending on the property etc. They can lose their membership in the Board of Realtors and their brokers or sales license if they pay commissions to others.
You can charge your buyer a consultant fee but if you need to go to court you may have a hard time collecting unless you have it in writing and spell out it is not a RE commission. I have never done this but know that most real estate agreements to buy and sell re must be in writing.
The more work you do the more you should charge. I get leads offered all the time for $25 from national websites etc. I agree to pay $500 to another firm if I buy the property that they give me as a lead. If you get it under contract and try to flip it to a buyer then the sky is the limit. I agreed to pay $7500 to one wholesaler for a $40,000 property but it did not go thru.
As for the mortgage fee I am not as sure. I know of one dude that got 1 % from the HML when he refered me to a them. I do not think there is as much to do about that especially with HMLs. I hope some other members can help here too.
Hope this helps a bit and please ask as many questions as you like and hope some of us can help you get started.
thanks Ted i appreciate the info.