Attractive advertising headlines that promise quick and easy money to buy your home surround us on all sides. However, you should not believe the tricks of marketers: when faced with the real procedure for obtaining a mortgage loan, many difficulties can arise. Not everyone will be able to get the loan they want the first time, and some are rejected by the bank over and over again. It is no coincidence that assistance in obtaining a mortgage is becoming an increasingly common service. However, should intermediaries be trusted? We will look for an answer to this question.
What do they pay a realtor for?
Commission - what is it? This is a fee for the services of a real estate agency. It is paid to the realtor once after complete assistance in finding housing or a client. Typically, settlement with the agent occurs on the day the rental agreement is signed between the apartment owner and the tenant.
The tenant gives money for the first month of residence to the owner, and pays the realtor his remuneration.
What is included in the cost of intermediary services:
- selection of housing according to the criteria provided by the client;
- consultation on the conclusion of a transaction;
- negotiations with owners, setting viewing dates;
- apartment showings, presentation;
- checking the documents of the parties to the transaction (we described what documents the parties need to provide when renting housing)
- execution of the contract.
Now you know what commission means when renting an apartment.
The services of an agent will help the tenant save time on selecting an apartment and coordinating details with apartment owners. The agent carries out turnkey work: he takes care of all the troubles of finding housing and guarantees the purity of the transaction. In addition, do not forget that experienced realtors are good sellers. In some cases, they will help you negotiate with the owner, reducing the cost of rent.
IMPORTANT: Since the realtor receives his fee only after concluding a rental agreement between the owner and the tenant, this gives the client a guarantee that he will not disappear and will do his job in good faith.
When does the realtor get paid?
Agency services are paid depending on the circumstances of the transaction and the volume of services ordered:
- after completion of the transfer of ownership of the apartment;
- after signing the purchase and sale agreement, before registration in the Unified State Register of Real Estate;
- in parts at each stage (for example, half when signing the contract, half after transfer of ownership to the buyer).
Regardless of who pays for the realtor’s services, the contract must clearly indicate the moment and procedure for payment.
Intermediary services in hiring and renting out housing
As a rule, the services of an intermediary when renting an apartment are paid by the tenant . This is the generally accepted norm. What is renting housing with a commission? This means that the cost of the agent's work falls on the person interested in finding an apartment.
In some cases, the owner pays the commission. Typically, the owner himself pays a fee to the intermediary if he rents out luxury, expensive housing. Finding clients for this type of real estate is quite difficult, so in order to quickly conclude a deal, the owner can pay the agent himself. The employer does not pay in this case.
Now you know who pays the realtor when renting out a home and in what cases.
Pitfalls and risks when buying an apartment without a realtor
From a legal point of view, the pitfalls when completing a purchase and sale transaction without the participation of a realtor are as follows:
- There is a possibility of running into scammers. For example, the sale may be carried out using forged documents or a power of attorney. The fact is that only the owner has the right to conduct transactions and, if he has issued a power of attorney, he can subsequently revoke it.
- Registration of property rights with violations. This usually applies to privatized apartments: the seller promises to remove the registration after completing the transaction, but subsequently refuses to fulfill the promise.
- Buying an apartment with an encumbrance. For example, if it was inherited, other legal successors may subsequently appear, even if they were not indicated in the will. Here, a court decision to include citizens in the circle of heirs is sufficient if they have the right to an obligatory share in the property.
- Sale of an apartment by an incapacitated person. Externally determining legal capacity is problematic, and the interests of such citizens must be represented by guardians. If they sell the home on their own, the transaction may subsequently be contested.
- Inclusion of the house in the resettlement plan. This often occurs when buying an apartment in old buildings, and the seller may not even be aware of the current situation. Competent realtors try to eliminate the risk of purchasing such real estate.
Despite the above factors, buying property on your own is still possible, but to do this you need to follow the algorithm of actions.
How much is the fee?
What commission will go to the agent, what will it depend on, and who will bear the costs of payment - the owner or the tenant?
What does the size depend on?
How much to pay a realtor? The amount of agent remuneration depends on several factors:
- The amount of the rent is the starting point when calculating the fee. As a rule, intermediaries charge a commission of 50 to 100% of the declared rental value.
- Type of real estate . If luxury housing is rented, the realtor will take an amount of 100% of its monthly rent. The fee for searching for economy class housing may be lower - from 50 to 80%.
- Intermediaries. On the number of intermediaries working for the client.
Each agency has its own owner base. However, sometimes it is not always possible to find a living space that suits the client’s needs. Then the realtor can seek cooperation from another agency that has the apartment he is looking for. In this case, two realtors are involved in the transaction - one provides the apartment, the other provides the tenant. The employer will have to pay for the services of two intermediaries. As a rule, this amount does not exceed 100% of the monthly rent (this fee is divided between the two agents).
Typically, the employer pays for the intermediary's services. In some cases, these costs may be borne by the apartment owner :
- if expensive housing is rented;
- if the owner urgently needs to find a tenant.
The owner and the employer can agree and divide the costs of paying for the services of an intermediary between two. This will be beneficial to both: the tenant will save money, and the owner, by offering such conditions, will be able to quickly find a tenant.
If you are interested in rental housing issues, other publications by our experts will also be useful for you, after reading which you will learn:
- How to rent and rent housing without becoming a victim of scammers?
- How to arrange a long-term rental of an apartment?
- What are the features of renting a room and how to draw up an agreement?
- How to organize a business in daily rental apartments?
How much do realtor services cost?
There are two approaches currently practiced in the real estate services market:
- Open access for agency clients to price information. Usually the price list indicates not only the cost of organizing the sale of an apartment as a whole, but also the price of each individual service. For example, work with guardianship authorities or submission of documents for privatization in order to prepare an apartment for sale can be assessed separately.
- The practice of preliminary acquaintance of a specialist with the object and documents to assess the complexity and scope of work. Only based on the results of this work, an estimate is drawn up and the cost of a range of services is discussed with the client.
In both cases, it is important to have accurate information about how much a realtor’s services cost when signing an agreement with an agency. If the contract provides for the total cost of services, then it must indicate which specific services are included in the package.
For example, the clause “collection of documents” may not provide for obtaining certificates, and “legal analysis” may not mean liability for unfair verification of documents. Particular caution is required when working with realtors who work for themselves and not for an agency. The services of such a specialist are usually attractive in price, but carry certain risks. It makes sense to independently check the apartment you are purchasing by ordering extracts from the official EGRN.Reestr at any time of the day. To do this, it is enough to indicate the address and cadastral number of the object.
How to decide the amount?
When contacting a real estate agency to find an apartment, the tenant should immediately find out the amount of the commission. As a rule, most intermediaries take from 50 to 100% of the rental price .
Example . The owner rents out the apartment for 15,000 rubles. The agent takes 100% commission for his services. When concluding a contract, the tenant will have to pay 15 thousand rubles for the first month of residence to the owner and 15 thousand to the agent for the provision of services. If the commission were 50%, then the realtor would have to pay only 7,500 rubles.
What is mortgage assistance?
The trend of involving intermediaries when applying for a mortgage loan came to us from Western countries, where it is very difficult to understand the abundance of offers without outside help, as a result of which such specialists are in great demand. However, in domestic realities, the emergence of credit brokers did not go very smoothly: many cases of fraud caused doubts to arise regarding the reliability of such organizations. However, there are also really serious organizations on the market that can provide assistance in obtaining a mortgage loan.
Preferential mortgage Gazprombank, Persons. No. 354
from 5.99%
per annum
up to 3 million
up to 30 years old
Get a loan
Is it possible to do without the help of real estate specialists?
When looking for an apartment, many do without the services of a realtor, turning directly to the owners.
A transaction without an agent does not involve a commission . However, recently there have been fewer and fewer advertisements from direct owners, as they prefer to use the services of intermediaries.
Is it possible to rent an apartment with the help of an agent, but not pay a commission, and do without it? Theoretically, this is possible, but in relation to the realtor it will not be entirely ethical. The option is as follows: while showing an apartment with an agent, the tenant can secretly agree with the owner to conclude an agreement without an intermediary. If he agrees, they can meet on the appointed day and sign the papers without paying the agent who brought them together a commission.
conclusions
Finding a realtor to sell real estate is easy, but I do not recommend working with agents who:
- They offer to enter into an exclusive agreement with a real estate agency. In case of sale through another agency, you will have to pay a penalty;
- They are in a hurry to make a decision. Today only, urgent sale, hot offer, buyer leaving and other emotional tricks;
- They impose their own working conditions. For example, they ask to reduce the price 2-3 weeks after the start of the sale;
- They promise a quick sale;
- Dressed unkemptly;
- They ask the same thing several times;
- They call every five minutes, instead of asking all the questions at once;
- Most likely, you will not achieve the desired result if you did not like the realtor at the first communication.
