Hi Lissy
Good question.
I'd try and find out who all the salespeople in the agency are and see if there's one you like the look of. Go and talk to the principal and tell him/her your concerns. Maybe you'd even prefer to deal with a female, if so, ask to see one if available.
Dare I admit this on a public forum?? Some of the best sales people are female. Actually, from my observations and definitely only IMHO, female salespeople are usually really good or really bad.
I think part of it is that a lot of female buyers prefer to deal with them as they can be less intimidating and see things from a woman's perspective. (I'm going to get myself in
REALLLLLL trouble here, but if the saleswoman is good lQQking, a lot of the male species prefer to deal with them too.
)
As far as commissions go, there are actually three parts to it.
The agency usually retains 60% leaving 40% to the salespeople. Most agencies split the 40% in half giving the listing saleperson 20% and the selling salesperson 20%. When a saleman tells you he's splitting the commission 50/50 with another saleman, that's what he'd be referring too.
The company I work for does it a little differently. The listing saleperson gets 25% and the selling saleperson gets 15%. Our management takes the view that the listing salesman usually does most of the work and should be rewarded accordingly and personally, I agree with their views.
So, our
median price in this part of the world is around $160,000 or so (yes, there are still houses selling for this and lower!!
) with the commission being close enough to $7,000. Breaking that down, the company retains $4,200 with the remainding $2,800 being divided between the salepeople, $1,400 each in the case of a 20% / 20% split or $1,750 / $1,050 in our 25% / 15% scenerio. If a saleman sells his own listing he gets the full $2,800.
(I've just realised that the $7,000 includes GST so the commission is actually in four parts.
Take $636 off first and then divide it up.)
I have heard of some companies that designate 50% to the salepeople although I don't believe there are too many. Once again, although I'd like a bigger piece of the pie, I agree with the company retaining 60% as they're responsible for overheads etc. and they're the one taking all the risk so should also be rewarded accordingly. And if the company isn't making a profit, we're all going to be looking for other jobs, so it's in our best interest to make sure they do well too.
Cheers
