Wow, I just opened another window just to keep all of this straight in my head while I respond. A few points to clarify and respond:
-Lawyers work on a billable hours basis, or a flat fee. Want a will, pay $500 to get it. Even with a trial, they account for their hours and are paid accordingly, right? I guess some pay contingency fees though.
-My comment about non-college educated realtors was not out of line. I was describing a transaction where I paid $1000/hour for exactly that.
-Looking at the bigger picture, many realtors have degrees, CPAs and even JDs, but the vast majority don’t. If we compare the fees charged by realtors to those charged by professionals who have earned advanced degrees in everything from accounting to law we see a huge discrepency. We can point to the few realtors who have CPAs to make our points, or we can look to the majority who have no education whatsoever, but are supported by a system that allows and encourages them to charge ridicules fees that would have bought me the services of 2 full time lawyers and a personal trainer and cook for a month:)
-Efficient systems do not justify current fees. I can transfer $500,000 (if I had it to transfer!) from one account to another tonight very efficiently and be charged nothing. I can buy $500,000 in stock tomorrow very efficiently and pay reasonable fees. Efficient systems save the RE industry money that should be passed on to consumers.
-sdrealtor: From what I can tell you seem to be the kind of realtor that everybody should want to use. Educated, experienced etc. Do you feel that the current system is really helping you? Seems like it would be the equivelant of me getting a law degree and then having the state bar turn around and allow anyone to practice law. Can you imagine the jokers we would see trying to charge $300/hour for legal advice?
