In article .com,
wrote:
What is the going rate right now? 5%, 6%, 7% ?

1. I'm trying to sell my house in Broomfield, CO (asking around $215K),
and I have a realtor that a friend recommended. Looks like the realtor
is a pretty experienced, reputable guy. He gave me the Exclusive
Right-to-Sell contract paperwork to sign - in the commission section
he'd printed 7%, then crossed it out with a pen and wrote 6%. Is that a
psychological trick that he's playing to make me feel I should be happy
I'm only paying 6% ?

Either that or they recenyly reduced thier "standard" comission.

(There's also a clause in the contract that the listing agent will get
2.8% of the gross sale price.)

Not sure of the meaning of this. He is the listing agent and will get
the 6% (or whatever you agree on). He pays the selling agent (typically
50-50 split) and then each agent pays thier broker a fraction of what
they got.

I should point out that I'm planning to use the same guy to buy my new
house (also in Denver Metro.) So I'm wondering if I should mention that
when trying to negotiate a lower commission (cuz he's getting more
business from me.)

You can try. He doesn't have to agree.

What is a lowest comission I should be reasonably able to negotiate? 4,
5%?

Whatever you can get him to agree to.

2. Also, the listing period he put down in the contract ends on March
31, 2006 - 5 months out. Is that normal, or a little too long (another
point I should negotiate?)

Too long. Go for 90 days.

3. One last thing: Under Additional Provisions:
"At the time of closing the Seller agrees to pay RE/MAX a one time
transaction fee of $545"
Is that BS - one of those junk fees I should tell the guy to take out?

Probably a junk fee. The broker generally gets a cut from the agent's
fee except ReMax usually gets less than most brokers. May or may not be
negotable. Everything in the RE comissions is negotable, but they can
say no.

--
Rich Greenberg Marietta, GA, USA richgr atsign panix.com + 1 770 321 6507
Eastern time. N6LRT I speak for myself & my dogs only. VM'er since CP-67
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