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What are the questions you would ask, or pointers you can give, to determine if a real estate agent is going to legitimately work hard for you and do a good job? How much leeway do real estate agents have at negotiating a fee rebate? I know there are discount brokers who will give you 20-80% of the fees they are paid out of the 5-6% commission they split with the other broker, but if someone's not already a discount broker, can this be negotiated?
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Oct 15, 2014 17:56
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FISHMANPET posted:On another thought, my mom is trying to sell her house, and she's using a broker where the fee is negotiable (after the sale I guess?) and because of that no other realtors are showing the house because they don't know how much money they're going to get from it. Honestly, this is why you don't want to go with the Realtor that charges the lowest commission. Unless your neighborhood is in such demand that the house will sell no matter what, if you can afford to pay an extra % on the commission, and you know that the agent is good and has a good reputation, you should pay the extra commission. Realtors are greedy and buyers agents will trip over themselves to show a house that they'll earn an extra half a percent on. Now, in my area many agents charge 6%. I charge 7%, both for the reason I mentioned above, as well as the fact that I'm doing marketing that 99% of other Realtors aren't doing. poo poo like listing videos and Facebook ads. That costs me extra money and I charge people for it. But this area is a tough market and houses are NOT easy to sell.
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Oct 15, 2014 17:56
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How do you feel about buy-side Redfin agents?
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Oct 15, 2014 18:09
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baquerd posted:What are the questions you would ask, or pointers you can give, to determine if a real estate agent is going to legitimately work hard for you and do a good job? The answer to this question probably varies by state. Real estate laws regarding licensed salespeople are vastly different from one state to another. (Which is hilarious because my license is useless in like 45 states) I can only speak for Ohio. In Ohio, it is illegal for an agent to collect a commission. So here, if you're negotiating with an agent about commission, either that agent is a broker (who is the only person who CAN collect a commission) or that broker has probably given permission to the agent to negotiate, with the difference coming out of the agent's pocket. What you're talking about, I would never ever do personally. The minute I start devaluing my work and my career to clients, it begins a slippery slope where they pass it on to friends and family that "Hey, go use Mahoning as your agent, he'll cut you a deal." That's the last thing I'd want, and if I run into those people I'll just refer them on to someone else and collect a referral fee. Again, I can only speak for my state and my area, but anyone who is performing a discounted service isn't giving you their all. Specifically, I've never heard of a fee rebate like you're talking about. I've heard of agents giving a cash gift after closing to the buyers or sellers and writing it off on their taxes as marketing. Then again, the discount and minimum fee brokers are few and far between around here. edit: I realized I didn't answer your first VERY IMPORTANT question. Ask what an agent is going to do SPECIFICALLY to help you. If they answer with some typical things, ask how that is different from anyone else. Like I said before, I do a handful of things that other agents around here would never dream of. And I'll have examples ready to show my prospective clients. I have an iPad where I can pull up my Facebook ads as well as my listing videos on YouTube. Also I have examples of mailers I send out to step-down areas (an area where people live before moving into the area the home is marketed in). MOST IMPORTANTLY, you need to find out how open the lines of communication are with the agent. It is the #1 most important thing. One of the biggest complaints from buyers and sellers is that the Realtor is impossible to get a hold of. That's a huge red flag. It is not always easy for me to answer phone calls but I almost always answer an email or text within the hour. I've talked to sellers that had an agent plop a sign in their yard and they literally never talked to them again until the contract expired. Mahoning fucked around with this message at 18:18 on Oct 15, 2014 |
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Oct 15, 2014 18:09
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baquerd posted:How do you feel about buy-side Redfin agents? This doesn't exist in Ohio yet and so I can't really speak much on it. It sounds intriguing and like an interesting business model, but I'd like to know more before commenting.
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Oct 15, 2014 18:21
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Mahoning posted:Honestly, this is why you don't want to go with the Realtor that charges the lowest commission. Unless your neighborhood is in such demand that the house will sell no matter what, if you can afford to pay an extra % on the commission, and you know that the agent is good and has a good reputation, you should pay the extra commission. Realtors are greedy and buyers agents will trip over themselves to show a house that they'll earn an extra half a percent on. This makes me angry. Though I just sold my house in Columbus with a discount agent that took 1% but still gave 3% to the buying agent and I didn't have any issues.
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Oct 15, 2014 18:48
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Hashtag Banterzone posted:This makes me angry. Yeah, Columbus is a whole different animal. I should move there and sell houses because people trip over themselves to buy houses there. But I hear you on being angry. The fact of the matter is that money talks and most people are greedy...ESPECIALLY Realtors. It's why a majority of them got into the business, because they thought they could make easy money. It's just the way it is. And when NAR says that 92% of home buyers use the internet in their search, and 90% of home buyers who use the internet to search for a home ended up using a real estate agent.....you can see why appealing to Realtors is a good idea. Mahoning fucked around with this message at 19:02 on Oct 15, 2014 |
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Oct 15, 2014 18:58
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Mahoning posted:Honestly, this is why you don't want to go with the Realtor that charges the lowest commission. Unless your neighborhood is in such demand that the house will sell no matter what, if you can afford to pay an extra % on the commission, and you know that the agent is good and has a good reputation, you should pay the extra commission. Realtors are greedy and buyers agents will trip over themselves to show a house that they'll earn an extra half a percent on. The funniest part is that she wants the house by the spring so she can buy a new house and move out of her crappy apartment before she has to renew the lease (long story). I suggested she find a broker that will charge the standard rate so that other agents will show the house, and she looked at me like I had two heads. I guess going back, my family's never had good experience with realtors, so it seems to be in our blood to negotiate the commission as low as possible.
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Oct 15, 2014 19:22
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So if I want the most showings I should pay a flat listing fee and offer the whole 6% commission to the buyers agent?
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Oct 15, 2014 20:35
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Elephanthead posted:So if I want the most showings I should pay a flat listing fee and offer the whole 6% commission to the buyers agent? You'd probably have agents busting down your door to show it. The problem with that is finding a listing agent willing to do that. To expand on what I said before, in Ohio it is illegal for anyone except a licensed real estate broker to either collect OR PAY a real estate commission. So if you were selling in Ohio the seller can't offer poo poo to anyone except the listing broker and the broker then turns around and offers a portion of that to the buyer's broker. And if that commission is being split unevenly it must be disclosed to the seller in the Consumer Guide to Agency Relationships which every brokerage is required to have their client sign. edit: To do this, your best route would be to go For Sale By Owner, then email and send fliers to every real estate brokerage in the area saying you'll pay a buyer's agent 6% of the sale price. Which brings up another great point: FSBO people are dumb if they don't market to agents Mahoning fucked around with this message at 20:56 on Oct 15, 2014 |
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Oct 15, 2014 20:44
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Mahoning posted:
What you just described is 100% exactly the same as listing it with realtor as far as I can tell. Sure, instead of splitting the commission, you're giving it to one person. So the entire reason of listing FSBO (save the commission) is gone, you might as well just list it with the realtor.
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Oct 15, 2014 21:40
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Spermy Smurf posted:What you just described is 100% exactly the same as listing it with realtor as far as I can tell. Sure, instead of splitting the commission, you're giving it to one person. So the entire reason of listing FSBO (save the commission) is gone, you might as well just list it with the realtor. Hey, I didn't say it was going to save you money, just that you might generate more showings that way. Believe it or not, some people go the FSBO route for control (like I said before, many of them are arrogant and think they can do it better than a professional) , not to save money.
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Oct 15, 2014 21:47
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What percentage of Realtors(R) do you think actually know how to use a camera? Or just have a basic idea of what a good picture should look like? How much say in the listing pictures do the sellers usually have? Is this why I see all sorts of listings with four or five pictures of the dining room from slightly different angles but no pictures of any of the bedrooms, HVAC/basement, and/or bath rooms?
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Oct 15, 2014 23:14
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MH Knights posted:What percentage of Realtors(R) do you think actually know how to use a camera? Or just have a basic idea of what a good picture should look like? How much say in the listing pictures do the sellers usually have? Is this why I see all sorts of listings with four or five pictures of the dining room from slightly different angles but no pictures of any of the bedrooms, HVAC/basement, and/or bath rooms? 1) I'd say about 30 to 40% 2) Maybe less than that 3) The client has 100% control over pictures and other information about their listing. Realtors have a duty of obedience to their clients. What that means is that as long as its legal, the agent has to do what the client asks, within reason. Now most agents will act like they know better and in many cases they do. But I look at other agents' listings every drat day and I see awful awful pictures over and over and wonder how in the hell they are justifying what they are charging the client. Now, there's a theory in real estate that you want to give as little information as possible because you want create phone calls about the listings. So SOMETIMES when you see maybe only 4 or 5 pictures and wonder why they haven't posted more, that's why. BUT, its MORE likely that they're just lazy and don't give a gently caress.
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Oct 16, 2014 01:24
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Mahoning posted:Yeah, Columbus is a whole different animal. I should move there and sell houses because people trip over themselves to buy houses there. People who find the home online and then get a buyer's agent aren't doing it because they want an agent. They're doing it because they can't loving see the house without one. RE agents won't let you look at a house by yourself. What do you suggest they do? And if you skip the buyer's agent, do you save 3% on the house price? gently caress no. The seller's agent will get the full 6%. Buyer's agents are worse than useless in the Internet age. Seller's agents sort of have a purpose, but many states prevent private individuals from adding to the MLS so they've lobbied to prevent obsolescence.
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Oct 16, 2014 01:56
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I've never had any problem looking at houses in any price range without a buyer's agent, is that a regional custom or something?
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Oct 16, 2014 02:25
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Mahoning posted:Now, in my area many agents charge 6%. I charge 7%, both for the reason I mentioned above, as well as the fact that I'm doing marketing that 99% of other Realtors aren't doing. poo poo like listing videos and Facebook ads. That costs me extra money and I charge people for it. But this area is a tough market and houses are NOT easy to sell. For a $500,000 house, you're looking at $35,000 commission, of which you may have to split with a buyers agent, so let's say you only get to keep $17,500. I'd estimate that if you're really working your balls off for these people, you put in 120 hours of serious work. That's $145/hr. So how much are you getting hosed by your broker, or do you believe taking *really* good pictures of a house and doing some video and knowing things like posting on YouTube and Facebook is worth $145/hr? Are you a licensed attorney and throw that in too? Is it a matter of not being able to do consistent work and so homeowners are subsidizing you between clients? Or what? Pryor on Fire posted:I've never had any problem looking at houses in any price range without a buyer's agent, is that a regional custom or something? How are you looking at the houses?
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Oct 16, 2014 02:27
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Bloody Queef posted:People who find the home online and then get a buyer's agent aren't doing it because they want an agent. They're doing it because they can't loving see the house without one. RE agents won't let you look at a house by yourself. What do you suggest they do? And if you skip the buyer's agent, do you save 3% on the house price? gently caress no. The seller's agent will get the full 6%. Buyer's agents are worse than useless in the Internet age. Seller's agents sort of have a purpose, but many states prevent private individuals from adding to the MLS so they've lobbied to prevent obsolescence. This is a silly rant and shows a huge lack of understanding of how the entire business works. First of all, when you're represented by a buyer's agent you basically get the services of an experienced professional for free. If you're paying a transaction fee or administrative fee or whatever the brokerage calls it, go find someone who doesn't charge it (I don't) or tell them you won't pay it. Everything is negotiable. Second of all, it very rarely happens that people know which house they want to see and buy and just start calling buyers agents because they can't see the house without it. In fact, that has NEVER happened to me. I wish it did, it would make my job a lot easier. On the contrary, probably 80% of the time the buyers want me to find them homes that fit their criteria. I'm doing a hell of a lot more work as a buyer's agent than as a listing agent. With a listing, there's a bunch of work up front and then basically you sit back and wait for someone else to sell the house. With buyers, you're driving all over the place at all hours. Half the time you have to drop what you're doing because they just drove by a house they want to see and they can't wait til tomorrow because of course Jim is going out of town tomorrow morning and he won't be back until next Sunday. Then you have to be there during the home inspection, and talk them down off the ledge a million times. Representing buyers sucks rear end and most highly successful Realtors won't even do it. So excuse me if I completely disagree with your "buyers agents are useless in the internet age" because it is a much harder, much more time consuming job than being a listing agent. The only reason I am even willing to do it is because I get a higher broker split on the buyer side than on the listing side. Also, on what planet would a home owner want "prospective buyers" coming into their house unsupervised? Realtors can be awful people or be awful at their jobs, but at the very least we are very respectful of the homes we show. If you knew how many people went in to open houses to search for prescription drugs there is ZERO way you would be saying that any Joe and Jane Schmo should be able to view a house by themselves. Half of the older home sellers I talk to don't even want to let OTHER AGENTS show the house without me there. And why the hell would any buyer save money by not using a listing agent? The agreement to pay a commission is between the listing agent and the homeowner. It has ZERO to do with the buyer at all. What you're basically saying is that a buyer should be able to save 3% on the purchase of their home simply because they didn't use an agent. But it is not as if the buyer would be paying that otherwise. The seller already agreed in writing to pay 6%, the buyer doesn't get to decide poo poo. Anyways, it sounds like either you had a really bad experience with a Realtor, or you just have a complete lack of understanding of what Realtors actually do, because what you said is so far off base that I didn't even know where to start with it.
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Oct 16, 2014 02:28
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Mahoning posted:First of all, when you're represented by a buyer's agent you basically get the services of an experienced professional for free. If you're paying a transaction fee or administrative fee or whatever the brokerage calls it, go find someone who doesn't charge it (I don't) or tell them you won't pay it. Everything is negotiable. This is only because of the real estate cartel. You are paying the entire broker's commission because you are paying more for the house itself. If the seller's agent wasn't corrupt and would pass on a fair offer of $price - buyer's commission, this would look identical to the seller's pocketbook while saving the buyer thousands to tens of thousands of dollars. quote:Second of all, it very rarely happens that people know which house they want to see and buy and just start calling buyers agents because they can't see the house without it. In fact, that has NEVER happened to me. I wish it did, it would make my job a lot easier. On the contrary, probably 80% of the time the buyers want me to find them homes that fit their criteria. quote:I'm doing a hell of a lot more work as a buyer's agent than as a listing agent. With a listing, there's a bunch of work up front and then basically you sit back and wait for someone else to sell the house. With buyers, you're driving all over the place at all hours. Half the time you have to drop what you're doing because they just drove by a house they want to see and they can't wait til tomorrow because of course Jim is going out of town tomorrow morning and he won't be back until next Sunday. Then you have to be there during the home inspection, and talk them down off the ledge a million times. Representing buyers sucks rear end and most highly successful Realtors won't even do it. quote:Also, on what planet would a home owner want "prospective buyers" coming into their house unsupervised? Realtors can be awful people or be awful at their jobs, but at the very least we are very respectful of the homes we show.
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Oct 16, 2014 02:41
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baquerd posted:For a $500,000 house, you're looking at $35,000 commission, of which you may have to split with a buyers agent, so let's say you only get to keep $17,500. I'd estimate that if you're really working your balls off for these people, you put in 120 hours of serious work. That's $145/hr. My broker takes 50% of my listing commission. So in your example I would only actually take home $8,750. Conversely, if I sell a $50,000 home, that's $875 for MORE work than the $500,000 house. Everything evens out. And your services are worth what people are willing to pay for it. Nobody is twisting anyone's arms to pay this poo poo. People willingly do it. They are willing to pay for somebody who knows all the dumb little poo poo so they don't have to do it or think about it. And it may seem like its impossible to buy or sell a house without an agent but the fact is, everyone wants to do it without an agent yet isn't willing to do the (sometimes very easy) poo poo that Realtors do to get homes bought or sold. If you want to buy a house without an agent, call the owner and tell them you would like to sit down with them and their agent and negotiate. Don't let the listing agent represent you. The listing agent would probably love to sell to you, collect the whole commission, and not have a single obligation to you at all.
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Oct 16, 2014 02:42
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I guess the real question then is how do I become a real estate broker and collect half of all of my agents' commissions, hire staff to do the rest of the work, and then sit back and profit off of the agents' labor?Mahoning posted:Conversely, if I sell a $50,000 home, that's $875 for MORE work than the $500,000 house. Everything evens out. Why would you do any real work for just $875 unless it was a favor though? Edit: I just want to say that I know I'm coming out like an attack dog here, but I want you to know that I respect you're making money and working hard for your clients. I just feel the entire industry is corrupt and screws over the rich and (relatively) poor alike. baquerd fucked around with this message at 02:51 on Oct 16, 2014 |
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Oct 16, 2014 02:48
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I thought my buyer's agent was pretty awesome and I would not have wanted to go through the process without him. He definitely earned his commission.Mahoning posted:One of the biggest complaints from buyers and sellers is that the Realtor is impossible to get a hold of. That's a huge red flag. I sent him an e-mail recently (some 9 months after closing) and he called me 5 minutes later 
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Oct 16, 2014 02:51
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baquerd posted:This is only because of the real estate cartel. You are paying the entire broker's commission because you are paying more for the house itself. If the seller's agent wasn't corrupt and would pass on a fair offer of $price - buyer's commission, this would look identical to the seller's pocketbook while saving the buyer thousands to tens of thousands of dollars. I see how you received your custom title. No matter what I say, you'll come back with this vitriolic bullshit. You're putting way too much faith in the average buyer. Because you're savvy and feel like you could go view homes by yourself doesn't say poo poo about the average person. So congratulations on all the poo poo you know or think you know. The average person doesn't and needs someone that will help them through it and are willing to pay for it. I'm not going to sit here and defend an entire industry to you. I offered some loving help and advice to people that might want it, not for an inquisition.
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Oct 16, 2014 02:52
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^^^ he really isn't the first one to think this, a lot of our generation is pretty internet savvy and could call or text a number on a website to follow a homeowner around a tour of their house. Sorry you are taking your ball and going home. Mahoning posted:What you're basically saying is that a buyer should be able to save 3% on the purchase of their home simply because they didn't use an agent. But it is not as if the buyer would be paying that otherwise. The seller already agreed in writing to pay 6%, the buyer doesn't get to decide poo poo. Yes, the seller agreed to that. Not me (the buyer). If they had listed it online and shown me around the house I would be able to offer them a starting negotiation price 6% less than I normally would. If I want to buy a $200,000 house, that takes into account the realtors 6%. So the real price I should be considering is $188,000 before I make an offer. So my offer of $175,000 looks ridiculous to the $200,000 number but isn't too far off from the $188,000 number and we could begin negotiating at that price. Instead they won't even respond to my offer of $175,000 and I will need to offer more like $188,000 to get noticed all because someone else decided the price should be raised 6% for doing nothing the seller and I couldn't have done with a google search and a phone call. Spermy Smurf fucked around with this message at 02:58 on Oct 16, 2014 |
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Oct 16, 2014 02:54
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Mahoning posted:No matter what I say, you'll come back with this vitriolic bullshit. You're putting way too much faith in the average buyer. Because you're savvy and feel like you could go view homes by yourself doesn't say poo poo about the average person. So congratulations on all the poo poo you know or think you know. The average person doesn't and needs someone that will help them through it and are willing to pay for it. As much as I despise your industry, I'm very interested to hear your opinions. I'm willing to accept that the average buyer needs their hand held, is financially incompetent, and doesn't want to put in hard work to do what you're doing. I just hate that I don't have any good options despite being able to do a lot of the work. Either I need to do significantly more work to coordinate showings and trying to race to houses before they drop off the market, or I submit to the cartel. This makes me go off the handle because I hate wasting $15,000 because it was the only way to get a competitive bid in early enough for the market.
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Oct 16, 2014 02:56
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baquerd posted:I guess the real question then is how do I become a real estate broker and collect half of all of my agents' commissions, hire staff to do the rest of the work, and then sit back and profit off of the agents' labor? There's another term for this, it's called being the owner of a business.
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Oct 16, 2014 02:56
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Mahoning posted:There's another term for this, it's called being the owner of a business. Yeah, I actually looked at all the hoops you need to jump through. In my area, you have to serve as a non-broker member of the cartel for several years before you can even apply to be a broker (boss).
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Oct 16, 2014 02:59
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Mahoning posted:First of all, when you're represented by a buyer's agent you basically get the services of an experienced professional for free. Mahoning posted:Nobody is twisting anyone's arms to pay this poo poo. Dik Hz fucked around with this message at 03:07 on Oct 16, 2014 |
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Oct 16, 2014 03:01
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Spermy Smurf posted:^^^ he really isn't the first one to think this, a lot of our generation is pretty internet savvy and could call or text a number on a website to follow a homeowner around a tour of their house. Sorry you are taking your ball and going home. I'm not going anywhere, just saying I don't appreciate the attacks when I came in here with the best of intentions Spermy Smurf posted:Yes, the seller agreed to that. Not me (the buyer). If they had listed it online and shown me around the house I would be able to offer them a starting negotiation price 6% less than I normally would. If I want to buy a $200,000 house, that takes into account the realtors 6%. So the real price I should be considering is $188,000 before I make an offer. So my offer of $175,000 looks ridiculous to the $200,000 number but isn't too far off from the $188,000 number and we could begin negotiating at that price. Instead they won't even respond to my offer of $175,000 and I will need to offer more like $188,000 to get noticed all because someone else decided the price should be raised 6% for doing nothing the seller and I couldn't have done with a google search and a phone call. Don't forget that most people have ABSOLUTELY no idea how a real estate transaction works and many online articles are either outdated or completely irrelevant to the local market. They also have no idea how to negotiate because there are very few things you can buy anymore that don't have a set price. I'm not disagreeing with you in principle. Your math and logic are correct, but it is so unrealistic and that has less to do with the power of the Realtor lobby and more to do with the general lack of knowledge from 99% of home buyers and sellers.
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Oct 16, 2014 03:08
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I mentioned Redfin earlier, and I think they have a really good guide to the general buying process with a lot of good deals. They do plug their agents, but at least they're discounted. https://www.redfin.com/home-buying-guide/welcome/
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Oct 16, 2014 03:11
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Mahoning posted:You're putting way too much faith in the average buyer. Because you're savvy and feel like you could go view homes by yourself doesn't say poo poo about the average person. So congratulations on all the poo poo you know or think you know. The average person doesn't and needs someone that will help them through it and are willing to pay for it. This is some bullshit. Why should I be bound to the limitations of this "average buyer"? Baq is exactly right that the current conventions favor the industry to a degree that the principal parties to the transaction might reasonably not care for. The realtor who handled my house purchase was a great example. She did exactly jack and poo poo other than hand me some contract boilerplate I could have downloaded off the internet, and show up to let me into some houses. She didn't find any listings, vet any listings, or any other of the "hell of a lot more work" that you mentioned. For showing up at a couple of places at the right time, she got a substantial percentage of the purchase price that compensated her and her broker well above their invested time and effort. And you can't say that a buyer's agent is "free" - that's like saying that being able to use a credit card somewhere is "free". No it isn't, it jacks up the baseline price for everybody.
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Oct 16, 2014 03:12
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Dik Hz posted:It's not free, dude. You're paying 3% of the biggest purchase of your life to the buyer's agent, albeit indirectly. But if magically Realtors ceased to exist tomorrow, home prices would still be based on fair market value. So in a world where Realtors exist, if my home is worth $250,000, it's not suddenly worth less now because the owner (or as you said the buyer, indirectly) is no longer paying a commission. Look at it this way, a smart and informed FSBO seller would price their home the same whether they had an agent or not. They would just keep the extra money that they saved on the commission. So either way, the buyer is paying fair market value for the home.
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Oct 16, 2014 03:18
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Mahoning posted:But if magically Realtors ceased to exist tomorrow, home prices would still be based on fair market value. The market value absolutely prices in the 6% transaction fee. It's part of how markets work, unless you're saying a seller's minimum price is based off of the listing instead price of how much money they will actually acquire from the transaction? A FSBO seller is able price their home the same, because the vast majority of the market does include the transaction fee. To carry on the CC analogy, it's like how paying cash (most of the time) isn't any cheaper than paying CC. Rurutia fucked around with this message at 03:22 on Oct 16, 2014 |
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Oct 16, 2014 03:18
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This thread is moving fast, but I'm a property investor (albeit small time) and every purchase I've made was me calling an agent to see X house or maybe 2-3 houses, making an offer and letting my RE attorney do all the heavy lifting. Buyer's agents are, to me, literally worse than useless and add zero value beyond unlocking a door. Now, I've found a great agent in that she will show me a property Sat or Sunday if I call her on Friday and then gets out of my way. But she is only great because she gets a zero effort paycheck. The state Realtor cabal prevents me from getting my license and acting as my own broker without working full or part time for a broker for several years. I've said this in numerous posts in this thread, but in the age of Zillow, Realtors would die out quickly if it weren't for their anticompetitive practices. So they're all scum to me.
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Oct 16, 2014 03:22
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Mahoning posted:But if magically Realtors ceased to exist tomorrow, home prices would still be based on fair market value. It only works out like this because of the pervasiveness of agents. If I'm selling at $100,000 but paying a commission of $10,000 and thereby making $90,000, it would be very tempting if I didn't have to pay the commission to just pocket the extra money, go me! This works if there's no one else selling without an agent, but the more people selling houses without agents, the more incentive there is for me to lower my price to the true market price of $90,000.
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Oct 16, 2014 03:22
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I am not in a place to resolve every grievance that you guys have. I can tell you that the majority of the people I talk to generally want the assistance of an agent because they have absolutely no idea what they're doing. There are some lovely things about the real estate world (just like literally every other industry), and I actually agree with a lot of these things you say. The problem is that SO MANY people are willing to pay exactly what a Realtor charges. What do you suggest I and my colleagues do? I can start NOT charging anywhere near what I'm charging now, or maybe Realtors disappear tomorrow. But there is still going to be need for real estate assistance regardless of whether or not this perceived or real collusion exists. And at that point, if the entire model collapses then we start a business model where you pay up front for the service or get billed for hours of service whether or not a home is bought or sold. I'm just curious what you guys think is a better real estate business model. And before you answer that just remind yourself that you are not the average home buyer or seller and that most people will want some form of assistance.
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Oct 16, 2014 03:33
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Mahoning posted:I am not in a place to resolve every grievance that you guys have. I can tell you that the majority of the people I talk to generally want the assistance of an agent because they have absolutely no idea what they're doing. The issue is that "sophisticated" buyers and sellers are pretty much forced to pay an absurd price for a product they don't want or need.
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Oct 16, 2014 03:40
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Also, let me say that the National Association of Realtors is the largest trade organization in the United States and one of the most powerful lobbies in Washington. You're barking up the wrong tree if you think poo poo is gonna change any time soon. I agree with you guys, I really do. (Although, the fact that salaries are based on cost of living, which is in turn based on property values, I think its a bit naive to think that if Realtors ceased to exist that all property values would suddenly drop 6% and there would be no negative ramifications) But like I said before, I came in here to help and you guys all seem to know a lot about the real estate transaction process and I am offering free advice to further your knowledge so the next time you buy or sell a home you can properly gently caress over any agent that tries to pretend you don't know what you're talking about.
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Oct 16, 2014 03:42
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Mahoning posted:Also, let me say that the National Association of Realtors is the largest trade organization in the United States and one of the most powerful lobbies in Washington. You're barking up the wrong tree if you think poo poo is gonna change any time soon. I don't think anyone is here to attack you personally, like many people have said, we appreciate you answering questions giving us your perspective. But your arguments for the anti-competitive practices is going to be met with resistance and honestly does come off like you'd drunk the kool-aid. You should probably accept that we're coming from two competing perspectives so that will happen. For example just in this quote you said "Although, the fact that salaries are based on cost of living, which is in turn based on property values, I think its a bit naive to think that if Realtors ceased to exist that all property values would suddenly drop 6% and there would be no negative ramifications" is something that no one has said. Sure, it's probably something in between 0-6%, but I find it pretty incredulous to remotely suggest that the 6% transaction cost has significant effect size on salary, which then makes the point moot. I'm enjoying hearing your perspective on how to negotiate. We had a really hard time negotiating on our house, partially because I think our realtor wasn't really invested in getting us the best price. Rurutia fucked around with this message at 03:50 on Oct 16, 2014 |
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Oct 16, 2014 03:47
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Mahoning posted:Also, let me say that the National Association of Realtors is the largest trade organization in the United States and one of the most powerful lobbies in Washington. You're barking up the wrong tree if you think poo poo is gonna change any time soon. Suddenly? No. Maybe it would never fall the whole 6%, but eventually it would even out. Generally speaking, transaction costs disappear from FMVs over time when they're removed or get added when they increase. No one here thinks you can do anything other than continue to fleece homeowners and potential homeowners out of a ridiculous amount of money. My RE attorney gets $400 to cover closings and everything associated with that. He logs way more time than any agent I've ever used and gets paid far less.
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Oct 16, 2014 03:50
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