Q - You claim cityservice buyers never pay a commission. What do you mean by that?
A - Buyers are typically asked to sign a "Buyer Agency" agreement with the Realtor who is helping them find a home. Usually this contract obligates the buyer to pay the Realtor 2.5% to 3% of the sale price of the home. In some cases, the buyer's Realtor accepts the commission the listing agent is sharing with his office (Cooperating Commission) as payment in full. However, that is not always the case. For example, if a buyer signs a Buyer Agency contract obligating him/her to pay 3% to the Realtor helping them find their home, but the Listing agent of the home they buy only offered a 2.5% cooperating commission, the buyer actually owes his Realtor .05% of the sale price of the home - $2,000 in the case of a $400,000 home! cityservice always accepts the cooperating commission as full payment no matter what the cooperating commission percentage is. Therefore, a cityservice buyer would never owe cityservice money.

Q - What about the 20% Rebate?
A - Not only will a cityservice buyer never have to pay a commission as explained above, cityservice will pay back to the buyer 20% of the total cooperating commission paid by the listing office to cityservice! Looking at the example above where the buyer would owe his buyer agent $2,000, if he used cityservice he would actually get $2,000 cash back!!! That's a $4000 difference - money you can use for furniture, appliances, or even closing costs (remember the 2% Pennsylvania Transfer Tax)!

Q - Why does cityservice offer this rebate?
A - Many of today's sophisticated buyers have already done a lot of homework (usually on the internet) regarding the potential purchase of a home. Therefore, most buyers already have a good sense of what is available, what the price parameters are, even what they can afford. Some buyers even already know exactly what homes they want to look at! This is a dramatic difference from when Realtors controlled all information in the 50's, 60's, and 70's. Subsequently, cityservice does not believe these buyers should be subjected to the same 40 year old commission structures.

Q - Does cityservice require buyers to execute a Buyer Agency contract?
A - No. We do encourage it, however, as the contract clearly defines the terms of our agreement - including the 20% rebate. Unlike most real estate offices however, if you do execute a Buyers Agency contract with cityservice, that contract is cancelable by the buyer at any time - just like our listing contract.

Q - Can I still use cityservice if I already spoke to another agent about a particular house?
A - If you entered into an exclusive buyer broker agreement with another agent, you can not use cityservice until after that agreement expires. If you did not sign a buyer agency contract but were introduced to a particular property by another agent, cityservice can not represent you on that particular home. However, you can use cityservice on all other properties.

Q - Will I receive my rebate if I use cityservice to find a home but close on my purchase with another Realtor?
A - No. To earn your cityservice 20% rebate cityservice must represent you at closing.

Q - Because cityservice pays me a 20% rebate, is there something I am not getting by having cityservice represent me in the purchase of a home?
A - No. But be aware that the only way many traditional offices can compete with cityservice is to try to scare off clients by incorrectly labeling cityservice a "discount office with limited client service". On the contrary, at cityservice we believe we actually offer more than traditional offices. For example, our advanced technological services allows today's savvy and sophisticated buyers to be better "plugged in" to the buying process than most realtor sites. You can easily see this for yourself by simply comparing our services with those of other traditional companies. Then ask yourself "Why would I pay thousands of dollars more for virtually the same - or even less - service?"

Q - Why don't traditional offices restructure their fees?
A - Most traditional firms are simply so used to receiving the same high commissions they have been receiving for the last 40 years that they have found inefficient ways to spend it. Most traditional firms can't or won't change a high commission business model they have been able to maintain since the 1950's and 1960's. The "fair fee/full service" companies that are breaking into the real estate industry (Zip Realty, CataList, Foxton's, cityservice) are firms that are founded strictly on a consumer based philosophy where the company values the client more than the agent.

Q- What assurances do I have that cityservice will deliver what it promises?
A - Our "Performance Based" Buyers Agreement. As stated above, if you are not totally satisfied with our efforts and results, you can cancel your buyers agreement at any time - no questions asked.