Oh My, is this really how the RE market works in St Louis?

[Kevin C.]

Wife and I will be in St Charles next week for a wedding reception and at the same time want to look at a few properties in old St Charles.   We're looking for a possible 2nd home that also has potential as a VRBO and old St Charles is our current area of interest.

An agent we've closed several deals with here in Dallas referred us to an agent in St Louis.

The agent in St Louis insists we must sign a Buyers Agreement which has these two points in particular which we've never had to deal with here.

1) For MLS properties, there is a $295 commission that is to be paid to broker by buyer upon closing.

2) For non-MLS properties, buyer is to pay $295 commission to broker AND even with no agent involvement, seller must agree to pay 7% commission, if seller does not agree to pay the commission, buyer must pay it.

Is this really the norm in the St Louis area?

[Bob Hines]

I always sign that agreement with my broker (usually after I bought and she needs to clean up her file to get paid but we are friends outside of RE too). I see where they have spots that can be filled in with those numbers but ours isn't filled in. Although I will usually get her some gift cards for my lower priced properties and if she has to do a lot of work. 

I would find another agent. If you're looking in Old Town St. Charles, the purchase price will be high enough for them to make a decent commission at 6% or even 5%. You could negotiate these points but if they are trying to pull that crap, I would be worried about what kind of agent they are. 

Now, maybe it is different in that you are an out of state buyer and that the agent has been burned by lots of 'tire-kickers' that they show around and don't end up buying anything. I could see a fee to recoup costs in that case. But to guarantee 7% in a pricier area AND $295, they're doing a money grab and I would move on. If you were buying cheap North County properties, I could see some minimum commissions set as you can buy $10k houses there. This doesn't seem appropriate at all for where you are looking.