Realtor etiquette ?

[lavender444]

There is a neighborhood near us that something came up for sale in that is our dream forever home location. We started working with a realtor to price our current home, and work with us on this other place. The house on the other place is crap and would need scraped and rebuilt, but the land is good.  The owners of that property are about 100K over priced, and are not looking like they will come down to what we are comfortable paying for a house that needs torn down. We're not interested in selling for anything less than a forever home. So I think our real estate story pauses here for a while. The realtor has put in a lot of work for us, though. Both with this house and one that turned out to need 50K of foundation repairs. Since obviously there will be no commissions involved, what would be appropriate for a Thank you gift for his time?? Cash? A gift card to a fancy restaurant?

[kaylie]

I don't think you're obligated to give them anything, but a gc to a restaurant might be nice if you feel strongly about it. I think realtors know that sometimes things just don't work out. I would assure them that I'll use them when the time comes and refer others to them as appropriate.

[sjh722]

No gift is necessary. Especially not cash. All compensation has to go through my broker (per state law); if I accepted cash gifts from clients I could lose my license.

Really, this happens a lot. Several times a year. Don't feel bad.

[niknik]

Referrals are a re's best friend. Just thank them, tell them you appreciate their efforts and that you will refer them to anybody that is looking.

[aweilba]

A nice bottle of wine?  I understand that you feel like you should do something for them with the amount of work they've done for you, but it's not required to get them anything.  I think a nice bottle of wine or a gc to a restaurant would be a nice gesture, though, if you really want to do something for him.

[lavender444]

Thanks for the advice. It feels so odd having them put in all this work with no payout. I'll send a nice thank you note and maybe a small gift like a starbucks gift card. And, Hopefully I can thank him with a commission when that perfect house comes up.

[lb2006]

I also agree - a small tangible gift/gift card, but referrals are the best.

[mrs.jacinthe]

It's not quite the same situation, but we've done gas gift cards for realtors in the past. Most REs put a LOT of mileage in, and we felt it was the least we could do.