An uncle who raised a close friend of mine, back in Maine, approached me about surveying advice regarding a 65 acre parcel of land that he was interested in developing into residential house lots.?ÿ The uncle recently inherited a large sum of money, probably close to seven figures.?ÿ I??ve known him as long as I??ve know his nephew.?ÿ Once we examined the challenges of building a road to local specs, he wisely passed on the land.?ÿ
The uncle is still itching to invest in something and this got me to thinking about the husband of one of my cousins who has a small brewery and tap room that is becoming quite successful. ?ÿI am friends with the brewer, who is a full time pharmacist, and have little doubt that he will continue to succeed.?ÿ He needs additional capital to increase his brewing capacity.
It was brought to my attention that putting investors together with businesses is a common thing that people get paid for.?ÿ I have already learned the lesson of the ills of doing business with friends and will not seek a finder??s fee but I wonder what others think about finder??s fees and brokerage in general.?ÿ It seems like a finder is providing a valuable service.?ÿ If two parties would never have met without the finder, and they both end up making a handsome profit, why would it be wrong for the finder to collect a fee??ÿ My ethical problem with a finder??s fee is when the investor or the business balks at the fee.?ÿ Would it then be ethical for the finder to continue to conceal their identities from one another??ÿ
I probably take too much of a black and white stance on this, but I generally don??t have much respect for people who profit by parasitical means.?ÿ Even though I recognize a value in the service of lenders, brokers, finders, etc., there is something about it that makes me feel that it is not a noble act or at least less noble than most other jobs or professions.?ÿ
Thoughts?
Ummmm -?ÿ
Home Seller < Realtor > Home Buyer?
I don't mind a parasite, I object to a cut-rate one. -Richard Blaine
A favorite song of mine is Dire Straits, Money for Nothing.
If I could make money for doing nothing I would do it in a second. So long as it is not illegal I find nothing wrong with it. It sounds like your problem is that you feel like you have not earned any money because it is derived from your knowledge and not from your labor. I hate laboring for a payday and wish I could earn money the old fashioned way from who I know or come into contact with.
It would be wrong to collect a fee because you have no credentials and no stake in the outcome.?ÿ?ÿ
I find nothing wrong with the concept of brokerage, as long as the broker doesn't degrade the quality of the product or service rendered.?ÿ That's the problem with survey brokers:?ÿ they prevent the professional service provider from determining and addressing the real needs of the broker's client.
If you start feeling bad about collecting a brokerage/finder's fee, keep this in mind:?ÿ people who do that for a living don't just sit back and collect fees.?ÿ For every golden match that falls into their lap there are a hundred or more that they work hard to line up, only to have the deal fall through with no payoff.?ÿ Real estate agents and brokers are no different; when sales are booming they all do pretty well, but the ones who do best are working hard for their money.?ÿ When sales are slow many have to leave the business or starve, while the really good ones who have built a solid reputation and saved during flush times are able to weather the down time.?ÿ (None of this has anything to do with their propensity to undersell the value of surveying services.)
My brother spent most of his career as an international banker, but when he retired -- moving from NYC to Florida -- he decided to become a real estate agent.?ÿ Having no established name, he affiliated with a big brokerage house, and the first couple of years were really lean (fortunately, he didn't really need the money).?ÿ Between starting from ground zero and commission splits he made little money during that time despite doing a lot of work.?ÿ He has since gotten a brokerage license and is trying to build a niche business, but it's still a lot of work and the money isn't exactly rolling in.
We bought a property then sold the property that we moved here from.
That Realtor did most of the work, stacks of paperwork, open houses, showings. I wouldn't want her job. All for a split of half the commission. There are so many Realtors, more in one office of one big company than Surveyors in the whole state (okay I exaggerate a bit but it's close).
My advice if you have a property to sell is don't do anything, other than remove the junk and use a broom. Every nickel you spend increases the sales price about 3 to 4 cents which increases the brokerage commission. Let the buyers do the work, sell as cheap as you can.
We bought a property then sold the property that we moved here from.
That Realtor did most of the work, stacks of paperwork, open houses, showings. I wouldn't want her job. All for a split of half the commission. There are so many Realtors, more in one office of one big company than Surveyors in the whole state (okay I exaggerate a bit but it's close).
My advice if you have a property to sell is don't do anything, other than remove the junk and use a broom. Every nickel you spend increases the sales price about 3 to 4 cents which increases the brokerage commission. Let the buyers do the work, sell as cheap as you can.
That is counter intuitive.?ÿ
We bought a property then sold the property that we moved here from.
That Realtor did most of the work, stacks of paperwork, open houses, showings. I wouldn't want her job. All for a split of half the commission. There are so many Realtors, more in one office of one big company than Surveyors in the whole state (okay I exaggerate a bit but it's close).
My advice if you have a property to sell is don't do anything, other than remove the junk and use a broom. Every nickel you spend increases the sales price about 3 to 4 cents which increases the brokerage commission. Let the buyers do the work, sell as cheap as you can.
That is counter intuitive.?ÿ
It is, we spent too much on the house we sold. Can't even get $1 back for $1 spent plus the brokerage commission goes up. Spend the money for yourself on a house you're going to live in for several years. A new kitchen is like a new car, it's worth less the minute it is finished.
We bought a property then sold the property that we moved here from.
That Realtor did most of the work, stacks of paperwork, open houses, showings. I wouldn't want her job. All for a split of half the commission. There are so many Realtors, more in one office of one big company than Surveyors in the whole state (okay I exaggerate a bit but it's close).
My advice if you have a property to sell is don't do anything, other than remove the junk and use a broom. Every nickel you spend increases the sales price about 3 to 4 cents which increases the brokerage commission. Let the buyers do the work, sell as cheap as?ÿ
It is, we spent too much on the house we sold. Can't even get $1 back for $1 spent plus the brokerage commission goes up. Spend the money for yourself on a house you're going to live in for several years. A new kitchen is like a new car, it's worth less the minute it is finished.
That is all dependent on the type of work you do and your market. When I finished my house a couple of years ago I had $60,000 in equity, and I financed 100% plus closing cost. The appraiser, who is also a broker, offered me $40,000 over my cost, and was just going to turn around and put it on the market.
I hAve no problem wit receiving a gratuity for playing an integral part in bringing people together that have what each other wants and needs.
When I am left out, don't ask for me to do it again. I have other things to keep me busy and need my attention beside being anyone's stramway for free.
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