What are transaction fees, and do you get any extra value with them?
There’s a new trend in our market that we want to discuss: transaction fees. If you’ve bought or sold a home recently, you may have been confused by them, so today we want to break down what they are and see if there’s any value to them.
Sometimes called brokerage fees, transaction fees can range anywhere from $300 to $1,500 in our experience. If your agent is charging you this fee, what value are you getting out of it?
As far as we can tell, transaction fees don’t bring any extra value to the table. It’s no secret our market is hot, and many agents have lowered their commissions to try and receive more business. To compensate, we think some of them are charging extra fees. It also could be the case that brokerages are making their agents charge these fees, and if this is true, it could be a classic case of brokerages trying to squeeze more money out of their clients.
“ERA believes that if you aren’t providing an additional service, extra fees aren’t necessary.”
Of course, there could be a good reason why these fees are being charged. If a big brokerage has large overhead costs so that they can bring you the best service possible, then an extra charge could be worth it. We’d just like an explanation so that buyers and sellers know what they’re paying for.
ERA believes that if you aren’t providing an additional service, extra fees aren’t necessary. If you are looking to buy or sell a home or if you have any questions, please call or email us. We’d love to help!
