China News Network, March 3 (Zhongxin Financial Reporter Zuo Yukun) The weather is getting warmer and warmer, the second-hand housing market is in the process of steady recovery, and the game between buyers and sellers has also entered a new stage.

Recently, some buyers have found that the landlord has raised the price or even "is not in a hurry to sell", and some sellers have complained that the house has been hanging for a long time and cannot be sold. Even the real estate agents who were between the two parties have made new moves - the agency fee has started a "price war", some agents voluntarily "cut their salaries", and the commissions for selling houses have been "discounted".

Vehicles pass in front of the first floor. Photo by Zhang Yun, reporter of China News Agency

The market picked up, and the intermediary "self-reduced price" promoted the transaction

"Taking Beijing as an example, for large-scale chain intermediary companies, the second-hand housing agency fee is generally about 2.7% of the transaction price, and the maximum can be 3%; For smaller companies, the intermediary fee is more than 1.5%-2%; For independent brokers, mom-and-pop shops or community stores, the intermediary fee is often 1%-5%. Chen Chen (pseudonym), a real estate agent in Beijing, told Zhongxin Financial Reporter.

Chen Chen's intermediary agency has maintained its second-hand housing transaction intermediary fee at 2.7% for many years. However, recently, he has been informing customers: conditions allow to give a discount of 2.2%-2.4%, and if you apply for it in special circumstances, the second-hand housing agency fee can even be as low as about 2%.

"Generally, it is an old customer who has traded many times or brought in new customers, and new customers who have fewer transactions or the house itself is easy to sell can enjoy more discounts; The agency fee for houses that are not sold in their own conditions will also be higher, after all, it takes more effort to 'package'. But as long as you talk to the intermediary, most of them can get a relatively large discount. Chen Chen said that some intermediaries will use "can't reduce prices" and "the system can't get by" as reasons, but they are all excuses, and there is no price that cannot be negotiated, especially in this period.

The "this period" mentioned by Chen Chen is that recently, the second-hand housing market has warmed up significantly. According to the house price data of 2 cities released by the National Bureau of Statistics in February, the second-hand housing price index turned to rise for the first time on the basis of continuous decline for 70 months, and the second-hand housing prices in nearly 18% of cities across the country rose. This also stems from the accumulation of stable growth in transaction volume since the Spring Festival, and buyers from many places have actively entered the market.

As an intermediary "self-employed" in a second-tier city, Fu Long (pseudonym) is also deeply impressed by the intermediary fees that are "rolled up" during this period. He has been a new and second-hand housing agency for seven or eight years, and now he has opened his own second-hand housing agency store for two years. Knowing that he was still in his infancy, he insisted on charging only one point for his service.

In the city where Fulong is located, according to different brands and listings, the market intermediary fee is probably in the range of 1.5%-2%. But recently, many intermediary fees can be 7-9 discounts, 1.2%-1.8% intermediary fees are common, and there are even a lot of 0.5% intermediary fees or even "no intermediary fees" news.

It stands to reason that when the property market is hot and the number of buyers increases significantly, real estate agents often increase agency fees. Why have real estate agents started "promotions" recently?

"Although the current transaction has recovered, it is mainly the release of part of the previous backlog of demand, the inventory of second-hand houses on the market is still at a high level, and the sales are still mainly based on destocking, in the stage of 'volume for price'." Chen Chen explained that the current transaction is mainly the so-called "leakage" listings with prices lower than the market, and the market has not seen a general rise.

Chen Chen said that when it is not known how long the heat can last, intermediaries also tend to take advantage of the recovery of market liquidity to promote as many transactions as possible, and start a "price war".

A number of real estate agencies downstairs in a certain community. Photo by Su Ting

How much room for discount on agency fees?

"The threshold for real estate agents is high and low. Agency fees are completely negotiable, but each company has a different reserve price standard. In addition, in a certain store, different intermediaries may have different points in the end. Fu Long said.

Zhongxin Finance found that at present, there is no unified standard for real estate brokerage fees, and the local competent unit usually gives an approximate fee range, and requires publicity in the store, but the specific fee standard is still set by the enterprise itself.

This also makes the current methods and proportions of second-hand housing transactions charging intermediary fees different. Some are borne by the buyer in whole or most, while others are borne by the buyer and seller in the same proportion, but in general, most of them are charged as a percentage of the transaction price. It has long been questioned whether it is reasonable for a house with a high transaction price to charge more intermediary fees when the transaction process is the same.

Fu Long introduced the content of the intermediary fee: the hard cost is first of all the loan process and the cost that needs to be paid, as well as the cost required to apply for online signing, which generally adds up to several thousand yuan. The remaining flexible costs include information fees, evaluation fees, dot fees, brand fees, publicity fees, etc., which generally range from 5000,10000 to <>,<> yuan.

"However, the total price of the house is relatively high, the general transaction cycle is relatively long, the number of views is relatively large, and the processing of some credits is relatively complicated, so the manpower and maintenance costs are relatively high, and everyone will charge more intermediary fees by default." Fu Long believes that there is still room for optimization in the industry in terms of the proportion of payment and unified distribution rules.

Chen Chen also mentioned that after the transaction of a house, not only your intermediary can get the money, but one or more staff members in the entire development process can get a certain percentage of performance, and may even be intermediaries from different stores, so as to ensure services such as drawing, maintenance, and help.

"There was also a routine for intermediary fees before. For example, the landlord quotes 100 million yuan and charges 2% of the 2,5 yuan intermediary fee, and the intermediary says that I will sell you 105,105 yuan more, sell it to 108.110 million, and give me an additional <>,<> yuan intermediary fee. The surrounding owners may increase the listing price to <>.<> million or even <>.<> million when they see <>.<> million sold. Chen Chen said, but the current behavior of raising house prices has been banned by the company, and illegal intermediaries will be fired.

It can be seen that there are still many disputes about the ownership of the pricing power of intermediary fees. Have you ever had problems with a second-hand home transaction? (End)