Hi all,
I need some thoughts on the process of buying an apartment in Tokyo.
We are in the process of buying an apartment and we have been working with our fudosan for about a month.
Yesterday while having apartment hunting tour, we (not our futosan) found a nice candidate on one of the real states apps and then suggested to our fudosan to arrange a visit which he did and we visited the apartment and ended to really like it. We put the application on the same day.
Today, looking to the other advertisements of the same apartment, we realized that all most all of them mentioned 0 commission fee!
We don’t want to betray the fudosan, but 3% commission is big money for us not to mention that we found the place and suggested to him!
What is the best way to go forward with this? We don’t like to go against our ethics but we also don’t want to pay that much extra while others getting it free.
by Pedune6687
4 comments
Show him the advertisement and maybe negotiate?
This is a common mistake, focusing on the real estate fees and not the total amount of money you will pay. Criminals make the same mistake when they skimp on the lawyer and then end up longer prison sentences and higher fines.
Your agent is the person you hire to negotiate, and in this situation the agent could have negotiated the price down at least 3%, probably more.
In other words, the fees you pay the real estate agent are built into the original price, to encourage negotiation. If you buy the property on the site that sells it for 0 fees, you are basically paying the same in total for the property, probably more.
But of course some agents are better than others. Don’t let your distrust of real estate agents prevent you from finding a good one.
If your realtor has already shown you the property, other agents will be very hesitant to sell you the property.
Consult with your realtor, they may be able to further negotiate the final price.
*fudōsanyasan