I have a realtor I use when I need one. He has done well for me and I will continue to use him loyally on my investment properties. I am about to buy a new personal residence out of state, and I do not need the help of a realtor to do so. My preference would be to do the work myself and have 3% of the purchase price flexible to deal with. I realize when a seller’s realtor sees someone looking at a property w/ no realtor, their eyes light up seeing a 6% commission. I am not willing to let a seller’s realtor collect 15-18,000 out of my pocket for doing the same work they would be doing if I were using a realtor. Does anyone w/ experience in this know how to go about negotiating this commission. If I state this too early in the process, the realtor and seller may not deal with me honestly and negate the purpose I am trying to accomplish (to lower the selling price). If the realtor will not deal with me, I will still cut their commission by bringing in my normal out of state realtor and give him the 3% as a gift - which is not as good for me, but better than it going to an uncooperative seller’s realtor. One way or another, the commission works out the same for the listing realtor. How can I use this to save myself 7500-9000 (3% of 250 - 300K)?
Thanks for any advice.