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When the Arizona market was hot, builders cut commissions to real estate agents and essentially blew them off.  Now facing mounting inventories of unsold spec homes, the builders are singing a new tune and doing whatever it takes to get back into the good graces of the real estate broker and agent community.

During the height of the region’s real estate boom a year ago, homebuilders were cutting real estate agent commissions, paying flat fees or even none at all to maximize profits.
What a difference a year makes.
Now, builders are spending big money and heaping on the hospitality to get agents to push their developments. Agents are invited to sip wine and munch on hors d’oeuvres in Buckeye, hobnobbing with developers to live music in Chandler and cashing fat commission checks.
Last year’s stingy payouts angered a lot of agents who believed builders were abusing the long-standing relationship between those who sell homes and those who build them.
Now they’re the ones in the driver’s seat as builders go overboard to catch real estate agents’ eye. And it’s not just parties: Builders are offering commissions of 4 to 5 percent for selling houses fast. The typical commission is 3 percent.
“I’ve been in the business over 23 years, and I haven’t seen these kinds of commission incentives,” said Margie O’Campo de Castillo of Arizona Dream Realty in Phoenix. “There’s a lot of crazy stuff out there right now.” via KVOA

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