Monthly Archives: February 2022

$1 Realtor Commission

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We just put a home in escrow today that was only offering $1 in Realtor’s commission.

It got a lot of Realtors upset as you can imagine, but I explained to them they can put a commission amount on their offer, so they can make more than $1.

The winning offer did just that. The normal commission would have been over $60,000.
The buyer’s agent in this case is not getting that amount, but they are getting a very nice commission.

It is not something I can recommend at this time because of some of the feedback I got from other Realtors, but in this case, the home still went into escrow with a very strong offer.

The Buyer’s Agent Commission Now Shows On OahuRE.com

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OahuRE.com is now one of the first sites on Oahu to show the buyer’s agent commission for all listings as we just got permission today to do so. Unfortunately, it is non-negotiable still, but at least buyers can see how much their agent is getting paid.

The buyer’s agent commission is paid for by the seller, but the price of the property is raised so the seller can pay the buyer’s agent. It is a cost to the buyer because they pay a higher price for the property to cover their agent’s commission.

For the property in the image, the buyer’s agent commission is $134,700.

OahuRE.com rebates 20% of our commission back to the buyer to help them cover their closing costs.

Leasehold Properties Only in Hawaii

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Great article on Leasehold. This paragraph stood out.

“The drumbeat for lease-to-fee conversion culminated in a 1984 U.S. Supreme Court decision that held the state could use eminent domain to force landowners to offer fee simple land ownership to leasehold tenants. Over the next 20 years, many single-family homeowners were able to purchase the land beneath their houses.”

I wonder why this ruling was for Single Family only. Now we never almost never see a Single Family Leasehold but still plenty of condos.

Read the article from Hawaii Business Magazine

Questions about commission!

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I read these thought-provoking statements in Inman news, the leading news source for Realtors. It is good to see Realtors themselves asking these hard questions.

“Why are typical commissions in Australia, Denmark and Finland 2 percent, and 1.5 percent in the U.K., yet 5.5 percent in the U.S.?”

“How do you explain, to a consumer, why it costs them three times as much to sell a $900,000 home versus a $300,000 home? How do you justify that $54,000 bill for selling said $900,000 home?”

January Oahu Housing Report

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2022 began with a sharp jump in both single-family home and condo sales – combined, O‘ahu’s housing market saw a 28.6% sales increase compared to January 2021. While the single-family home median sales price held steady for the third consecutive month at $1,050,000, the condo market set a new monthly median sales price record of $510,000, surpassing the previous $500,000 set in August 2021.

Single-family home sales were up 12% year-over-year, while condo sales soared 40.8% compared to this time last year. Properties continued to move at a brisk pace, with single-family homes spending a median of 12 days on the market and 14 days for condos.

“Although sales are ahead of January 2021, we’re facing low inventory and rising interest rates that may temper the unprecedented market we saw throughout last year,” said Chad Takesue, president, Honolulu Board of REALTORS®. “However, as long as low inventory, near-record low interest rates and strong demand for housing remain, we’ll continue to see fierce competition and properties move off the market at a fast pace.”

View the January stats details at https://www.oahure.com/OahuRealEstateStatsIntro.php.

Change does not come easily 😂 at the Honolulu Board of Realtors.

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I have been trying since April of 2021 😡to get them to remove the rule that the buyer’s agent commission is NOT negotiable.

In May 2021 they said they would reach out to the National Association of Realtors to investigate this, but I still have no resolution. 😯

I have not given up and will continue to pursue this even if it takes years. Eventually, I am confident they will do the right thing and make it negotiable. 👏👍🤘

Buyer’s Agent Commission

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I am waiting on the Board of Realtors to allow me to show the buyer’s agent commission percentage on all listings.

However, they continue to ignore the National Association of Realtors guidelines which say the buyer’s agent commission should be negotiable.

Maybe once it is displayed consumers will start pressuring Realtors to negotiate it so they can change that rule.