Thursday, March 3, 2016

HERE'S A PERPLEXING MATH PROBLEM





Tom and Bob are brothers who live nearby.  Because much of their family and their wives families have moved to a warmer climate they decide to follow.  They called their longtime friend, Rich, to list their houses.  Tom has a nice home in a good neighborhood and his house will sell for $300,000.  Rich on the other hand had some good fortune and his home and location are more upscale and will sell for $600,000.

Although real estate commissions are “negotiable” Rich, blaming it on his broker, charged each of them 5% which is pretty standard in the area – over 90% of the local listings are at 5%.

Hey, wait a minute!  Tom will pay $15,000 and Bob will pay $30,000.  But why?  Why is Bob paying $15,000 more for exactly the same service from the same brokerage? Their agent Rich doesn’t have an answer except that that’s the way real estate is.

Bob is perplexed and upset and is looking for an answer.  Since Rich doesn’t have one he is asking for help.  Can anyone out there explain the $15,000 difference and have it make sense.   PLEASE!

3 comments:

  1. U have to fix Rich , he sells homes Bob and Tom are brothers.

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  2. Also would like to share this. But it does not let me?

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  3. Yes...When I sold real estate J. Michael Hill and HCH in Harvey Cedars at the age of 24 on LBI we had a sliding scale. The more you sold the house for the commission went down. It worked for both parties....Do the math...

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