My wife and I are looking to buy an apartment on our own. We are very interested in one listing. But what confuses us is the commission fee (3%) is to be paid by the buyer.
Is this common in Switzerland? Is it possible to negotiate to a lower percentage?
Thanks in advance
However, I have seen a small but increasing number of properties where the seller requires the buyer to pay the commission. Will this trend grow? Who knows.
In a market where there is far more demand than supply, where one pays multiple millions for a run down trash heap, anything goes.
There is at least one agency where 'buyer pays' is their business model, as this helps them attract sellers. It's also a tad more tax friendly to the seller, as their profit, and potential capital gains, is reduced because they can sell at a slightly lower price if the agency fee is not accounted for in the listing price. BTW, with the agency I know of with a buyer pays model their fee is (or was last time I checked) less than 3%. There may be more agencies moving to this model, again, who knows.
The insidious thing about the buyer pays model is that the seller remains the agency's client. The buyer is the source of income for the agency, nonetheless the agent is working directly against the buyer's interests. Cue big 'ol alarm bells a-ringing and a whole heap of caveat emptor.
It should be noted that this model is in contrast to a buyer's agent, where a buyer pays a fee/commission and the agent works in the buyer's interest. There are a few of these around, but the fee you pay is a separate agreement between buyer and agent, not related to the commission the seller pays to his agent.
Can you negotiate in the case where the agent works for the seller but you still pay? You can try, and you should try. But be prepared to be told to take a hike.
It's a jungle out there, I tells ya.
ETA:
Ja, Ja I know - in reality the buyer always pays regardless of the model. In a seller pays model, a savvy seller simply ads the agent's fee to the purchase price. However, where the seller remains the client in whose interest the agent works while the buyer forks over that extra 50-100K, it's the principle of the thing that sticks in my craw. I expect the person I am directly paying to work in my interest alone. But it is what it is...