Hey guys, I’d like to hear your feedback on this on what you think the best buyer agent commission rebate service out there is. I’ve searched the internet and found only a few options in NYC.
Most of them however are small time shops with the exception of one firm called “Owners” who I thought was just a regular For Sale By Owner website. Turns out they end up asking a random broker (on their payroll apparently) to reach out to you as well if you happen to click on a property. Quite devious.
The commission rebates I’ve seen have ranged from a paltry offer of $10,000 above a certain sale price, to 0.5% and 1% cash back at closing. However, the players really vary materially. There are a few that are essentially one man operations. And there are aggregator sites like Hauseit who pair buyers up with a full service broker in their area. This model does seem to make sense as I’d want to work with a broker who has a good reputation and won’t be discriminated against by regular listing brokers. After all, what we care about most is actually closing the deal!
So which to pick? The ones I definitely wouldn’t do are the “Owners” company … they didn’t exactly try very hard either, only an email or two. Other shops mostly didn’t try as hard either, especially the one or two man shops. Didn’t really hear much back after my initial inquiry. The best I’ve found was to work with a buyers’ agent via Hauseit. These guys are pre-screened full service professionals who’ve already negotiated a certain level of commission rebate to customers.
You see, that’s part of the reason why buyer agent commission rebates aren’t more common in NYC I think. It’s because no one wants to insult their agent friend by asking them for cash from their pocket. And because everyone in New York City has at least 5 real estate agent friends, it’s hard to take food from their table. Quite ironic though that these same agents are literally taking food out of the mouths of their home seller friends though! That however, will be the subject of a future post.
In the end, I still preferred to go with a known brand that paired me with a local agent. Due to the confidentially rules and for the protection of their agents’ reputations, I’m actually not allowed to name them here. However, the service was excellent and I got a nice little cash back credit at closing!
Learn more about how to get the most bang for your buck when buying a home in NYC on the rest of my blog!
NYC Buyer Agent Rebate Review 