Who wins when sellers offer buyers a credit?

A bath obviously needs work.  The walls need another coat of paint.  The floors need to be refinished.

Such are among the improvements that sellers might be quick to acknowledge.

Their idea, which often is endorsed by their brokers enthusiastically, is to offer a credit to the buyers.  To their thinking, it’s a win-win situation: Buyers are tempted and sellers are rewarded with a contract.

But as Westchester broker Phil Faranda, a friend of mine and inveterate blogger, recently pointed out,

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Should sellers offer buyers’ brokers a bonus?

(flickr photo by 401K)

Every now and then, sellers will offer buyers’ representatives a bonus should they present an acceptable offer.

The idea makes me squirm.

Underlying the strategy of getting brokers to take their customers and clients to see a listing is the supportable idea that

The Big Apple: Nascent signs of recovery emerge

MANHATTAN BUCKS WORSENING STATEWIDE TREND OF RISING MORTGAGE DELINQUENCIES

The mortgage loan delinquency rate in Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens in the final quarter of 2010 was up from year-earlier levels, according to a recent quarterly analysis. The uptick could well lead to a rise in foreclosure activity in coming months.

Manhattan was the only borough to see a decline in delinquencies, with a slight drop of 0.04 percentage points in the period.

APARTMENT MARKET SHOWS POSSIBLE SIGNS OF STRENGTH

Sales in the Manhattan co-op and condo market show signs of bouncing back after dropping sharply last month, reports the Wall Street Journal.

January sales were hurt because