Myths about "discount" companies

Out in the street you can hear a lot of myths about “discount” real estate offices, like “you get what you pay for”, because there are always sceptic people or people afraid of change. I want to pass on to you the results of a survey conducted by Consumer Report, a Yonker, NY based magazine. Down below I posted some parts out of the September 2008 issue.

“Forty-six percent of sellers CR surveyed attempted to negotiate (with a traditional broker) a lower commission rate. Roughly 71 percent [of them] succeeded. The survey also found that sellers who paid commission rates 3 percent or lower were just as satisfied with their brokers’ performance as those who paid 6 percent or more, suggesting that haggling can’t hurt.”“Respondents who paid extra, in fact, were more likely to say they had regrets about the selling process. Nearly one-third said they should have been more assertive in negotiating their agent’s fee.”
“Paying less won’t hurt the quality of service. While some of the survey respondents who paid lower commissions got fewer services from their agents, the gap wasn’t significant. For example, 81 percent who paid 3 percent or less said the agent provided a competitive market analysis of their home, compared with 87 percent of people who paid 6 percent or more.”

My conclusion: Interview a couple of realtors and all other things being equal, why don’t you sell your home for a much lower fee and keep more of your equity in your own pocket?