A client in Austin tried to get me to sign a deal that would have cost me $15,000.

We met at a coffee shop on South Congress last year, and he slid a contract across the table. It looked fine at first, but the small print said I'd be on the hook for all marketing costs, win or lose. He said, 'It's just how we do business here.' I walked away and later found out he'd burned three other agents with the same trick. Has anyone else run into a contract with hidden marketing fees?

2 comments

2 Comments

ben_fisher2h ago

Ever see a clause for "admin fees" that was just a blank check?

keith1642h agoProlific Poster

Yeah, and it's crazy how they hide those in the fine print! I've seen contracts where the admin fee isn't a set number, it's a percentage of the total job cost. So if the project gets bigger or has overruns, their "admin" cut grows for no extra work. It's a sneaky way to build in more profit without being upfront about the real price.