Real Estate Weekly 08-07-19

AUGUST 7, 2019 • Volume 14 • Issue 32

RE WEEKLY RESIDENTIAL • ACREAGE • FARM • COMMERCIAL • AREA DEVELOPMENT 515-233-3299 • 317 5th Street, Ames • All REALTOR® ads within are REALTORS® licensed in the State of Iowa

CALLING ALL OUTDOOR ENTHUSIASTS! 2337 170th Street, Ames

Heavily timbered area great for deer/turkey hunting 7 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms

$599,900

Features include beautiful hardwood floors, gas fireplace, stunning kitchen w/ large island, granite countertops & lots of natural light

MARC OLSON N 291-7900 marc@moreteam.org centraliowahome.com

Each office independently owned and operated. Licensed in the State of Iowa.

Online at www.AmesTrib.com/realestateweekly

Page RE2 • REAL ESTATE WEEKLY • Wednesday, August 7, 2019

REAL ESTATE WEEKLY • Wednesday, August 7, 2019 • Page RE3

Page RE4 • REAL ESTATE WEEKLY • Wednesday, August 7, 2019

TIPS OF THE WEEK TIP OF THE WEEK

HYDRANGEAS

KITCHENS

LOWER ENERGY COSTS

GET THE BEST BLOOMS

REVIVE CABINETS

When the weather is hot, keeping the house cool leads to added energy costs.

By late July home gardeners should be enjoying big, blooming hydrangeas. So what’s happening if yours have dead stems or live stems with no flowers?

Here’s a simple fix from Michael Oristaglio, director of Yale University’s Energy Studies Multidisciplinary Academic Program: Adjust the set point on the thermostat by just a few degrees. For example, bumping up the temperature to 74 from 72 degrees can make a large difference in home energy bills without other changes in the house such as better installation, Oristaglio said.

For the best blooms, hydrangeas need a halfday of sun, ideally in the morning, according to the National Garden Bureau.

Flowering hydrangeas are possible even if they only get afternoon sun, as long as a gardener keeps an eye on the plant’s moisture level.

Moisture should be high enough so that the plant can rehydrate as needed.

Give your kitchen cabinets a new lease on life with these tips from HomeAdvisor.com.

• A new coat of paint is an easy and affordable upgrade.

• Installing new hardware changes the look of cabinets, and all you need is a screwdriver.

• Change the focus by adding under-cabinet lighting.

— More Content Now

REAL ESTATE WEEKLY • Wednesday, August 7, 2019 • Page RE5

Don’t see your home in the

RE WEEKLY

Then contact a Realtor® today, because you are missing out on over 39,000+ potential buyers seeing your property for sale.

DIRECT MAIL + ONLINE

AmesTrib.com/realestateweekly

Page RE6 • REAL ESTATE WEEKLY • Wednesday, August 7, 2019

DEAR MONTY

Are referral fees in real estate ethical?

RICHARD MONTGOMERY

R

eader question: We sold our home and moved to a different state. Our old agent helped us find an agent in our new city. We have gotten to know this agent and become friends. He told us our former agent made the connection for a fee. He called it a referral fee. Our old agent never mentioned collecting a fee for making a phone call. She made a bundle on the sale of our old house. Is this practice ethical?

Monty’s answer: Referral fees are a fixture in the real estate industry. It is legal for your old agent’s broker to share commissions with any real estate broker in your state, or for that matter, brokers in other states. Those brokers share the revenue or expense with the agents involved in the transactions. Real estate agents cannot pay referral fees to individuals that do not hold a real estate license. I am unaware of any organization that collects data on referral fees. An educated guess is that somewhere between 30% and 35% of all real estate transactions involve referral fees. In my practice, I disclosed that I earned a referral fee, but not all agents disclose it.

Generating referrals Many real estate organizations are in the business of generating leads for real estate agents. Online real estate listing aggregators, such as Zillow.com, Realtor. com and Homes.com, gather consumer information that real estate agents pay to

access.

Individual real estate companies, online mortgage lenders and a large variety of “Find an agent” companies also garner a share of the referral business. All of them have their philosophies, methods and tactics for connecting consumers to a real estate agent. There is also agentto-agent websites, referral exchanges and direct agent to agent referrals. In many cases, the connected consumer is not aware that a real estate agent is somehow paying or collecting a fee.

Fee calculations When dealing with referral fees among real estate brokers and agents, the first rule to understand is that nothing is normal. There are a variety of methods that brokers utilize because they operate under different business models.

The typical referral fee is determined by dividing the gross commission into a listing side, and a sales side commonly called sides of sale. Then a percentage is established, typically 25%, but could be anywhere from 10% to 40%.

Richard Montgomery is the author of “House Money - An Insider’s Secrets to Saving Thousands When You Buy or Sell a Home.” He is a real estate industry veteran who advocates industry reform and offers readers unbiased real estate advice. Find him at DearMonty.com.

REAL ESTATE WEEKLY • Wednesday, August 7, 2019 • Page RE7

Page RE8 • REAL ESTATE WEEKLY • Wednesday, August 7, 2019

Realtors, do you want to reach a wider group of potential buyers?

Advertise in the RE Weekly.

In print and online.

Call Ali Eernisse 515-663-6956

RE WEEKLY