1% commission in Ireland and England

I just returned home from a few weeks in Europe. I had a great time! What interested me was the commission rates for real estate agents in England and Ireland. A relative of mine is a real estate agent in Ireland. He has been an agent for more than 25 years. I was shocked when I asked him what commission percent he received. He said “One percent! And usually less than 1% for homes over $500,000″. Wow! 1 percent! My next question was “well what do you do for the buyer?”. He said he visits the home, takes photos, prices the home, handles all offers, visits and calls, puts up the lawn sign and directional signs… Sounds exactly the same as real estate agents in Canada except the commission is 1% instead of 5%.

What about the re/max office down the street in Ireland? Do they charge 1%? “Of course they do!”. He said when he started the commission rates were 3%, but they came down due to competition and the rise the price of homes.

Our conversation continued as he asked me “why would anyone pay 5%?” After thinking about it, all I could say was “I don’t know. They just pay 5%”. He asked me “why don’t people just go to an agent that offers less %? Isn’t it an open competition system?”. I remembered that the CREA instilled tougher rules to “protect their trademark”

It really makes you think. Unfortunately, this is poor news for consumers in Canada, but good news for ByTheOwner.com. Because real estate agents ask unfair commission rates in Canada, ByTheOwner.com is growing extremely quickly. This year we have increased our SOLD properties by 35% and we are now 1% of all the home sales in Canada.

William Stynes
Sales Manager
ByTheOwner.com

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