LEOPOLD A RODRIGUEZ
A native of San Francisco, I have been licensed as a real estate broker since 1983, and as an attorney since 1968. Although I remain a member of The Bar, I practice as a real estate broker and not as a real estate attorney.
I have very broad experience throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, having personally located homes for buyer clients who purchased in:
Belmont Berkeley Blackhawk Concord Corte Madera Daly City Danville El Sobrante Emeryville Fairfax Greenbrae Hayward Kentfield Lafayette Mill Valley Montclair Napa Newark Novato Oakland Orinda Pacifica Piedmont Pittsburg Pleasant Hill Point Richmond Redwood Shores San Bruno San Carlos San Pablo San Francisco San Rafael San Ramon Santa Clara Saratoga Sausalito South San Francisco Sunnyvale Tiburon Union City Walnut Creek
I now limit my practice to San Francisco Districts 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, and to Mill Valley, Tiburon, Sausalito, and Belvedere.
Curriculum vitae .....
* Hastings College of the Law, Univeristy of California, 1968
* State Bar of California, 1968
* NAR, National Association of Realtors, 1983
* CAR, California Association of Realtors, 1983
* San Francisco Association Realtors, l983
* Marin Association of Realtors - MLS, 1985
COMPENSATION .....
In California the amount of compensation is not set by law and is negotiable. However, the manner of compensation has not changed since Nero burned down Rome and the first Realtors® looked outside and exclaimed, "Would you look at all that upside potential!"
First, sellers agree in writing (listing agreement) to compensate their brokerage. Then the brokerage (most often, but not always) lists the home in a shared database called the Multiple Listing Service [MLS]. Pursuant to MLS Rules and Regulation the listing brokerage agrees to compensate the brokerage that brings a buyer to the table. In the San Francisco Bay Area the commission split is most often 50%-50%.
This has been the case for so long that when the mortgage industry appraises the home to determine its fair market value, it does not subtract out the real estate commission payable to both brokerages. So the commission is effectively financed without being separately itemized as a "closing cost".
The buyer can certainly pay the buyer's brokerage and subtract it from the price. Would the seller object? No, same net. Would the listing brokerage object? No, same net. Would the buyer's brokerage object? No, same net. The problem is that the mortgage industry has not been willing to finance the buyer broker portion of the commission as a "closing cost". So the buyer would have to pay it in cash.
BlackStone enters into buyer broker agreements with its clients who agree to pay it a commission. However, BlackStone will accept the "coop fee" offered by the listing brokerage as payment in full.
Neither BlackStone nor Leopold Rodriguez charge any attorney fees for services rendered in the course of the purchase transaction. In the event that the seller is not represented, then most often its commission will be subtracted from the seller's proceeds at close of escrow.
In California the fact that a buyer's brokerage is compensated in this manner is not dispositive of the agency relationships of the parties to their brokerages. [Civil Code Section 2079.19]
