Do you feel a real estate agent is entitled to 5-6% commission for doing less than 2 hours of work?

First, that is reduced commission, normal commission is 7%. It is also divided between 4 people, not just one. If you try to screw him you will not only not gt the house through escrow you will make the attorney rich, since you will be in court for awhile, with a case you will lose. You should not have agreed to list the home until you were satisfied with the commission.

If the contract you have with him says that's what he gets, that's what he gets.

If your agent isn't working for you, fire him. Our agent sat through at least 50 open houses, marketed in magazines, followed up with EACH person that walked through, kept up on comps so we could adjust the price accordingly, and was there for any phone call we had.

since he got you 2 offers within a week and it took you 8 months to sell your house the first time, i would say he is worth it. besides that is what you agreed on in the first place to pay him so pay up.

Your stance is incorrect. When you list a property for sale, the agent/agency goes through considerable expense in marketing the property Once that agreement is signed, you have NO idea what part of that marketing brought interested buyers. If you think you can do better on your own, then YOU spend the assorted monies required to attract a buyer. That potential buyers came quickly is a good sign that your real estate agent marketed properly. Feel FREE to pay for newspaper ads, MLS exposure, and www,realtor com exposure on your own. You can end up spending THOUSANDS with no guarantee of success.

Number one: he's not forcing you to pay out of pocket. You could have refused the offer if you felt it was too low. Number 2: if you cancel the contract and proceed on your own, read the contract carefully. There is probably a clause that he is entitled to the commission if the house sells to anyone who saw it while he was your agent, and potentially to anyone in the next X months. So you may not be able to sell the house for 6 months on your own without paying him the commission you agreed to. Number 3: You do realize that there is a lot of work between the accepted offer and close, right? Your buyer is probably going to want to renegotiate after the inspection, and may have trouble getting financing, etc. Your agent will be handling all of that as well. And finally, if you were unhappy with the agreement, why did you sign it?

What infuriates me is that you acknowledge he did a stellar job the first time around - loved him practically. And now because your home is selling in a slower market and you already have 2 buyers so soon, you feel like he hasn't earned his commission. But if these buyers didn't show up for 10 months and finally he sold it for a price you guys are agreeable on, then you'd feel like he worked his butt off for you. Hypocrite much? Also, when you signed the listing agreement, you AGREED to the commission for the agent. So you weren't lied to or weren't scammed because you read the agreement and SIGNED it acknowledging you agree to the terms. If you thought 5.5% was robbery, you should have argued it then. You're just upset because two buyers popped up quickly and you feel like the house sold itself and you didn't need him. 1. You don't know if they saw the sign and rang the bell. 2. You don't know if they saw it online through HIS advertising and then drove by and rang the bell (hoping to get a deal without an agent as many buyers and sellers try to swindle agents out of) 3. You don't know that he's lazy (since you didn't think so before) It's so easy to sit there and assume it's the easiest job in the world. Advertising costs money. Negotiating an offer takes experience. PRICING the home takes knowledge and experience. If you think it's that easy, give it a try yourself but I assure you it's not easy. Just because you're not profiting from this deal doesn't mean the agent is doing this pro bono or that he's trying to swindle you. NO ONE knows when a buyer will pop up and so are we supposed to write listing agreements with clauses like "commission subject to change if a buyer pops up within first 7 days"? Give me a break. You sound like one of those clients I hear horror stories about. They're happy with everything until they aren't for ANY god forsaken reason.