BTSAs … money spent wisely or foolishly?

Welcome Home party for Olympic speed skater, Chad Hedrick

March 4, 2010

Art for the everyman on display in Spring Texas

March 15, 2010

Separately the letters B, T, S, and A, don’t mean much but put them together and they become BTSA which means EXTRA money to a buyer’s agent. A BTSA is a Bonus To the Selling Agent. It is money the sellers have agreed to pay, in addition to a commission, to the buyer’s agent.

Its no secret that Spring Texas Realtors love BTSAs. After all can you really blame us? We all love more money. Right?

But the real question is not whether realtors love more money because we already know the answer to that question. The question for Spring Texas home sellers needs to be “Is money spent on a BTSA, money spent wisely or foolishly?”

BTSAs …… money spent wisely:

If you can’t remember when the last time your home was shown consider offering a BTSA. Even though your home may not be an exact match for an agent’s buyers, the extra incentive may get the agent to show your home.

But before you spend the money on the BTSA do a thorough review of your home’s listing. Is your home in top condition? Are the photographs of your home of a professional quality? Is your home priced below or at least comparable to the competition? Is your home extensively marketed on the Internet? The answer to any of these questions may be the reason you are not receiving any showings and your money would be spent more wisely on fixing these problems instead of paying more money to the buyer’s agent.

BTSAS …… money spent foolishly:

In every other possible scenario the money you spend as a Spring Texas home seller on a BTSA is money spent foolishly. I hope not all home sellers are reading this because I do love it when you pay me extra money. But the point is you don’t have to. If your house meets my clients needs I am going to show it to them irregardless of whether you offer a BTSA.

If your house is over-priced, in bad condition, has an undesirable floor plan, or is in a bad location, and the reason you are offering a BTSA is to entice agents to ignore the bad and only point out the good about your house, it won’t happen. A buyer’s agent is required to hold her clients interest above her own and pointing out only the good and ignoring the bad is not watching for her clients best interests.

Bottom line … you can get more bang for your buck by fixing the reason your house is not selling instead of trying to bribe the buyer’s agent with a BTSA.