If you are an agent, tell us why you deserve to be paid a full commission.  NOTE:  CataList Homes believes some agents possess great skill and talent who are worth a high commission rate, but 90% of the Realtors in this country do not fit that catagory. 

Hello

I do believe as you do that most agents don't deserve the dollar amount the commissions equate to in the sale of a home. But I have found that in attempting to get the "power" agents to give up any bit of their "entitled" commission gets you placed on the do not call list for homes that are not listed yet (the inside). Thus, you are not able to get your buyers homes before they are on the market thus saving them from multiple offer situations (at least for good property on the westside).  Also, many of these agents have a set up network of agents they like to do business with and if you rock the boat, you're out. 

Selling since 2001, I have realized that many top agents hide behind their corporate banners to give them the power and market share impressions high net worth clients seem to look for. The irony is that a great RE agent can be just that wherever they decide to work.

DBerman

You raise an interesting point here.  I would concur that in a red hot market you stand a better chance of finding that 'off-market' pocket listing using a variety of strong local agents.  This is not a red hot market, even on the Westside (it is a good market).  These power agents are fiercly competitive with each other and none controll much of the overall market as individuals.

Ultimately it is the home seller's decision as to which offer is the best, not the listing agent.  If I were a home seller, I would be furious if my agent decided to market my home to a small cadre of listing agent represented buyers in an attempt to keep the buyer agent commission instead of exposing the home to the entire market.  But we both know this happens and only consumer awareness of these practices will put an end to these commissoin driven sales techniques.