How do brokers negotiate the purchase price?

Well then - impression revised.

I don't understand the point

you wait 1 year to save the broker fee. who gives you the guarantee that the house will still sell at the desired price then? as a buyer, I would always want to lower the price since the house has been empty / for sale for a year after all

Which version a)? You can easily leave the house or the undeveloped land empty for another year. For €18,000! That is very practical.

No, it is not. You want to sell NOW, that is why you are looking for a real estate agent. The buyer also wants to move into the new home NOW, not later. You, as the seller, still have the financing running (e.g. €300,000 at 2% + 2% = €12,000 in one year = double burden). The buyer does not even know what the interest rates will look like in one year. Etc. The idea is nonsense. Especially since the broker’s commission still has to be paid. P.S. Who actually pays the broker in your setup? The buyer, seller, or shared? If, for example, the buyer pays, why should I, as the seller, wait? That is not my problem. I want to sell my house quickly. If the seller pays, I don’t care as a buyer. I don’t want to wait a year.

Hello

Yes, real estate agents. A diverse story.
I have now dealt with a real estate agent twice. Both times to absolute satisfaction. The contract was such that he receives a commission if he sells the property. If I sell it, he gets nothing. He agreed, quickly brought a prospective buyer, and handled everything perfectly. That’s why he got the second assignment as well, and it went just as smoothly.
Before that, I had a real estate agent (who worked at the building society where I had financed the property). Big promises. He explained that the apartment would be snapped up, no problem, blah blah.
But an "exclusive contract" had to be signed, it would be just a formality, blah blah.
The ink was dry, the contract was for 2 years. Nothing happened. After every inquiry, he had the right buyer at that moment and just needed to sort out details. Then nothing more. I inquired about the agent and it was rumored that he liked not selling properties at first. When the owner gets nervous or strapped for cash, he explains that the asking price is completely over the top and he currently has a buyer who will only pay the "real purchase price." The buyer often bought in the broker/buyer combo. That happens too. Definitely not the rule. But you should watch out for it.

Steven

this bidding process and stinginess is cool mentality is a disgrace to me.

I agree with you.

everyone thinks they can hold private auctions with their property.

I don’t know how many private individuals are doing that nowadays, but I still know from our property search last year that even municipalities/cities auction properties.

I hope some fall on their faces because of this

Sometimes it develops that way under the "pressure" of the interested parties. With our property, although we really wanted it, I deliberately did not bid higher because I didn’t want other interested parties, possibly with children, to be disadvantaged because we, at our advanced age, have somewhat higher means than the usual young families. In our case, it was (provably) the other interested parties who then started to want to pay more. Well, then of course I also bid higher. But it was (provably) the interested parties who started it, not the seller (without agent). With our property, we definitely exclude the "who bids more" approach. The house/land will go to the family with the most children or sick children.

Before that, I had an agent (he was working at the building society where I had financed the property). Big promises. He explained that the apartment would be snapped up from my hand, no problem, blah blah blah. But an "exclusive contract" had to be in place, it was just a formality, blah blah blah. The ink was dry, the contract was for 2 years. Nothing happened. After every inquiry, at that moment he had the right buyer and just needed to clarify details. Afterwards, nothing more. I inquired about the agent and there were rumors that he liked to not sell properties at first. When the owner then became nervous or also strapped for cash, he explained that the purchase price was completely exaggerated and he currently had a buyer who would only pay the "real purchase price". The buyer often was a combination of agent/buyer. That kind of thing exists too. Certainly not the rule. But one should be careful.

Steven

Thank you for this report. If we sell with an agent (we will first still try it ourselves), we also want to first go to one of the agents at the financing bank. We are reconsidering that now.