This is performing agency service for you, and they'll earn realty commissions, so this is their initial incentive and compensation.

It's based on too many assumptions that may or may not be true, and can lead to both overpaying on a property (to the point of not being able to generate a profit) or under-bidding on a property (to the point of not being competitive and not getting any deals).I much prefer to use analysis techniques that take into account the actual cost of capital for the individual investor (are you using your own cash, borrowing hard money or something in-between), the actual cost of commissions and closing in a given demographic (sometimes the seller will pay buyer closing costs, sometimes not), the actual time you expect a rehab to take (a six month project has vastly different holding costs than a two month project), and the risk on the project (is 15% return enough or do you want 20-25% returns on more risky/costly projects), etc.70% rule is lazy (IMO) and while it's fine for a first-pass analysis, if you use it to make buying decisions, you may find it impeding your success.

Pull out the HUD1 closing statements, and check if you can see the commission lines.

., gets a commission or bonus structure based on success of project);3.

The commission would be minimal.

In my county, they have an accepted practice of the attorney stating the "upset bid" as being the amount the lender expects to see in order to let somebody else get the property; and the attorney's actual bid will be given as "costs", an amount far below the "upset bid" (this practice is used so that the lender does not have to pay additional amounts sort of like commission to the sheriff based on highest bid received).

For instance in Georgia the GREC (Georgia real estate commission) cares NOTHING about ethics.What they do care about is license laws.If you are a REALTOR for example you subscribe to the CODE OF ETHICS.In my state it is not required to be a REALTOR to have an agents license or a brokers license.Just because someone is not a REALTOR and has a license does not mean that person is not ethical.I see nothing wrong with a buyer or seller who has spent considerable time learning knowledge to gain a competitive advantage in a transaction.

First, agents aren't entitled to commissions -- their broker is.

On top of that, she charges a $500 flat rate above the commission.

I agree that she is not being aggressive to market the house, but I think that when a commission is so small, there’s not much motivation.