@Jon D. first off most agents work for brokerages and have commission splits like 70/30 meaning 30% of the commissIon goes to the broker. They really do not have a legal framework to agree to what you’re asking for because the broker calls the shots and the broker will still want their share of the total commission at closing to cover their expenses. In addition Agents at most brokerages are 1099 contractors, if a broker agrees to pay an agent an hourly wage for services rendered, the broker could then become subject to labor law issues. In MA hourly pay is one of the tiggers for needing to make someone a W2 employee. Labor law fines are not cheap.
So don’t bother negotiating with agents, for what you’re asking you’d have to be negotiating with the broker. If you plan to do less than 10-20 transaction per year I doubt ANY broker, even the less successful ones, would risk their business model and expose themself to legal and liability issues, which could be significant, for 1 client. The successful brokers will get this and they’re not going to set a bad precedent to satisfy 1 client regardless of how many transactions that client intends to do in a year.
If you do find someone willing to do this, if this isn’t their model for everyone they work with, then I would question their motives and you should expect to get what you pay for.
Another example of why this would be an awful idea for anyone that treats real estate as a business is because it will inherently create a conflict of interest for the business owner. Do You think they will bring you off-market or pre-market deals where they could collect the full commission from another buyer? They’ll certainly be motivated to bring it to someone else first, which makes sense from every angle, but you’re paying them a hourly retainer which creates a significant conflict of interest for the brokerage and the agents. One such that if blows up could have very negative results.
If you’re just looking for an agent to submit offers for you then do what the bigger investors and wholesalers do and hire a transaction coordinator or administrator with a real estate license as a W2 employee. You will have to go get your brokerage license or negotiate a deal with a broker so your employee can operate as a licensed agent. Then pay your employee an annual salary and still pay the broker a % of the commission or transaction fee at closing, but it’ll be closer to what you’re asking for.
I know this is a lot, and probably not the answer you’re looking for but I hope it helps.
Best,
Jon
