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Got rid of the Realtor, sold the house on my own, and ...

vacheroyale
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Njnjcfp88 Njnjcfp88
With Zillow and other sites like greatschools.org ; one can more readily buy or sell a home today. Back when the Realtor controlled listings via the multiple listings - they had a monopoly and could get away w 6% commissions. The technology today is destroying that model and we are starting to slowly see commission rates go down. Do I see the hometown value of a broker who knows the area ground up and can offer valuable services to aid in that transaction ? Absolutely. But at a reduced % ...
Zillow is a great site!
 
Evitzee
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Like all real estate it's location, location, location. Houses in a desirable, or hot, area can be sold relatively easy. We've all seen properties that sell the same day listed. But I've also seen properties sit for over a year in less desirable areas. Each property is different and requires a particular approach, a realtor can add value in many instances. I do think the old, standard 6% commission is pretty obsolete, especially as the house price increases. Sites like Zillow are worthwhile but I've seen estimates that are wildly out of whack with recent actual sales.....it's just another tool in the kit, not a firm solution to anything.
 
VetPsychWars
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I always suspect a profession that insists that its name be capitalized OR ELSE!

Tom
 
W
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I learned a lot as a realtor in my one year career....

#1. Realtors are basically used car salesmen with better suits.
#2. They are basically useless in most situations and often hinder sales due to personality conflicts with other realtors.
#3. I didn't use one for my last purchase and never will again.
#4. I don't want to be a realtor!
Edited:
 
W
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Also Zillow is wildly inaccurate where I live.....most people use redfin.
 
cvalue13
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It’s easy to confuse “the value of a realtor” with “the value of a bad realtor,” but they’re not the same thing. Like many professions, a good one is often worth their weight in gold, while a bad one is dead weight or worse - but that’s not a dynamic at all special to the field of realty (e.g., doctors, lawyers, financial advisors, mechanics, police officers, construction general contractors, etc., etc., etc.). Not a dynamic unique to anything, really...
 
lando
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Well, we had experience with realtors when searching and buying our home, only. We were searching for seven years(!) and bought the house within hours (actually my wife said "We'll buy it" after 15 minutes). Main reason was the location and the views:

2017.02.04.07.39.24_(DSC_0768).JPG 2017.02.26.16.19.10_(DSC_0795).JPG

Realtor was from the selling side. He did not mention the view in the add and there were pictures of the interior, only. Good for us, kept interest down.

As this is just some kilometres from Zurich, something like this was and still is quite difficult to find on the open market.

I am pretty sure: If we would like to sell, we could get a better price than we paid by just posting the pictures above in the add.
 
nonuffinkbloke
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My experience of them (as both a vendor and purchaser in London, UK) is that they will do what is best for them and their fee, whether or not that helps the client. But then some are professional liars, skilled at the art of deception, so no suprise there.😁

Yes they seem to have a reasonable knowledge of the local market, but (as a construction professional) I was always amused at how little many of them actually knew about the construction and quality of the buildings they were attempting to sell.

I remember one young chap showing me around a damp Victorian house, with poorly concealed structural issues, stating:

"yes... it's a lovely charming property in A1 condition... no need to pay extra for a survey".

I laughed and said "Don't worry son... I'm doing one right now! Do you want me to tell you what's wrong with the 'fakkin' thing?... Get your pen and note book ready!" 😁
 
timecube
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CanberraOmega CanberraOmega
Yep, that’s because it is the highly regarded “t Swiss made t” foundations
If there were ever a good case for a "relume" ......
 
mzinski
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Can’t say I’m thrilled with real estate agents or what they supposedly offer to the purchase/sale of a property. But my personal thoughts aside, it seems like a decades old joke to pay the BUYERS agent a percentage of the sale price. Conflict of interest much? One would assume the buyers agent is there to help the buyer get the lowest/best price possible. But if they actively worked to do that, they make less money. So what’s the incentive for a buyers agent to act in the buyers interest?
The real estate market needs a shake up. I’m not even sure I understand why we need a middle man to transact.
 
Wryfox
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It is important to manage the realtor like any other negotiation. Services performed for value received.

1) 15yrs ago I negotiated a 3% fee from 6% due to the specific actions the realtor was to perform. He also had to have evidence of the ability to do it. It was desirable area and his job was to sell quickly. He had an offer within 5% of list in one week. Job accomplished.

2) I moved my MIL quickly and the house would sit unoccupied. We chose a long term realtor in the area, and at full 6%. It was an older house and had problems but we couldn't manage from afar.

So we negotiated the following:
- protect the house (daily checks)
- maintain the house(yard, pool)
- arrange estate sale
- oversee estate sale and results
- remove any unsold contents
- fully clean house after estate sale
- recondition walls and floors
- address any potential buyer issues re condition and resolve(hire repairs/trade work)
- meet or exceed agreed pricing
- 3 month contract

Was sold in 1 month for 10k over listing. Realtor continued to maintain home until closing 6 weeks later.

100% worth it.

Bottom line. Negotiate what you want the realtor to do, and at what price.
 
DLT222
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I did this in the UK! Made £7k more than they were asking and a super smooth transaction too!
 
Njnjcfp88
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gatorcpa gatorcpa
OK, but remember my post above. If you take away the ability for a good professional to earn a living by reducing revenue, then they have to make up for it in two ways:

1. More volume - which will result in less service, as there are only so many hours a day to show your house.

2. Less supply - as in you will drive the true professionals out of the profession.

Even my father (still working at 86) will tell you that there are a lot of incompetent Realtors. He doesn’t like to work with them more than any of you do.
gatorcpa
I’d say then let the “herd thin out” some. My industry , financial services has seen brokerage commission fees drop dramatically in the last , say 20 years; fee compression has been a constant companion to my practice of over 10 years ( financial advisor since 1986; independent since 2009) ....my answer has been to provide to my clients a greater degree of value added services ; tax planning and comprehensive financial planning as an example. And it’s worked. Revenues are up , organically growing , satisfied clients. Some of this I suspect is the nature of my business ... we aren’t as much transactional based as the RE sector is ...oh you can tell me “your family has had the same clients selling real estate to the same clients for thirty years , et al “- but I suspect for most home sellers this isn’t true. I’ve bought and sold about seven personal properties in the last thirty years - always with a broker ; but I’m starting to look at the real estate industry w a jaundiced eye; and feel the last two transactions were not impacted greatly by the real estate broker. I might have saved a lot $ by self. Or only paying a buyers broker. My two cents at least.
 
queriver
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6% commission? That sounds like highway robbery and might explain who’s buying the SS Rolexes. As a vendor in Australia I pay real estate agents sub-2% commission but admittedly properties in our big cities are expensive. Here only the vendor pays commission so the agent doesn’t also get a cut from the purchaser. Advertising costs are normally separately charged.
 
BlackTalon
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queriver queriver
As a vendor in Australia I pay real estate agents sub-2% commission but admittedly properties in our big cities are expensive.
This is the key. I live in an area where real estate is expensive, and the 6% means $60k-$90k USD. And for what? They throw it in the system, and rarely even hold open houses any more ("Open Houses do not work"). In my profession, a $60k USD fee would mean we have a couple of engineers working on your project full-time for 1-1/2 months. You are not getting that kind of time out of the real estate agents...

And I say this as someone who grew up with a parent who was in real estate. When I was a kid that 6% helped cover the office costs (largely gone these days), agents performing 'floor duty' (totally gone), the seller's agent holding multiple open houses, and the buyer's agent spending multiple weekends driving the buyers all around looking at houses. Almost none of that happens anymore, and the real estate prices have risen fasten than average salaries. all an agent needs to do around here is sell one house every month and they make a very good living, since they typically get 1 - 1-1/2 percent.
 
pnwyankee
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When relocating to an area that requires an overnight stay for your house hunting trips, it sure is nice to have a Realtor who is willing to preview homes for you to help you not waste your time while looking.
Or you can rely completely on websites like Zillow or Redfin with their 20-30 photos that make every single house look like the Taj Majal until you get inside.
 
gatorcpa
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BlackTalon BlackTalon
When I was a kid that 6% helped cover the office costs (largely gone these days), agents performing 'floor duty' (totally gone), the seller's agent holding multiple open houses, and the buyer's agent spending multiple weekends driving the buyers all around looking at houses. Almost none of that happens anymore, and the real estate prices have risen fasten than average salaries. all an agent needs to do around here is sell one house every month and they make a very good living, since they typically get 1 - 1-1/2 percent.
I think all of what you are saying is true if you live in a high-demand urban area (think NYC, San Francisco, South Beach, etc.). Real estate prices in these areas are only headed in one direction. Even I agree that once a property is listed, those that are interested find out instantaneously via the free online services well before the MLS's hamster has gone once around the exercise wheel. They are slower than slow sometimes.

I also agree with negotiating with multiple brokers what you are getting for your commission. I'm not so sure about the demise of open houses and the legwork of actually seeing what you are buying. Again, if one is a sophisticated consumer, less hand-holding on either side of the transaction might be needed, and the commission paid should reflect that.
gatorcpa
 
Archer
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There is so much variation on how houses are bought and sold in each jurisdiction, it's impossible to paint the industry with such a broad brush.

My first transaction (buying first house with no conditions on our offer) the only agent involved was the seller's agent, and let's just say they took full advantage of the situation and were clearly not looking after our interests (nor did I expect them to).

Second transaction the laws had changed, so both the buyer and seller had agents, and our agents worked like dogs to get us the house we now own for the lowest price possible, and to sell our house for the best price possible. Their work was well worth the commissions they received.
 
Lazy_Lightning
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I live in Boston, where it’s entirely a seller’s market—because of this, many realtors don’t put in much (if any) effort.

This week, I visited a place that had been on the market for < 24 hours.. My realtor posed some questions to the selling agent. The selling agent’s response was, “I already have multiple offers over asking, i guess your client can put in an offer too.” It’s hard to see any value with attitudes like that.
 
jsducote
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Over the past couple of years, I've seen a huge uptick in the number of spam calls offering to buy my house. A lot more of them are offering to buy my ex-wife's house and, if I could figure out how to get away with it, I'd gladly take them up on it.
 
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