Aspiring property owners are calling on the government to correct the glaring disparity in commissions for lawyers and real estate agents in property sales.
It defies logic that real estate agents get a 10 percent commission on the sale price of vacant land and six percent for dweller occupied properties while lawyers earn just 2 ½ percent in legal fees on the sale.
The realtor simply shows prospective buyers listings for sale, but could easily walk away with a six-figure commission.
However, the lawyer has to prepare the sales agreement and determine if the title on the property is good.
Lawyers can be sued if the title to a property is found to be faulty. Yet, they only earn a comparatively paltry 2 ½ percent despite the risks they face.
Meanwhile, the realtor walks away with the lion’s share of the money for doing the least amount of work.
One irate lawyer noted, “realtors get 6% just to point their finger”.