Buyers who hire agents should also be looking around on their own also.

Absolutely, especially with this new fangled internet stuff.

Even though we were working with an agent for the last house we bought, we were the ones who actually found the property. It wasn’t a matter of steering us clear of FSBOs, we were just pretty picky, so looking on our own just helped the cause.

The argument about that I’ve seen is that a lot of the brokers assume that they’ll have to do all the work for both sides of a transaction involving a FSBO or discount broker. I’d say that’s probably a fair assumption in many cases.

Of course, I’ve also heard comments from a few of them about avoiding listings with cut-rate brokers as a form of competition control, too.

A seller who really is savvy about pricing their home probably could do well by paying for a discount broker or an attorney to oversee the technicalities. A seller who is less than savvy would need more help.

If everything in a transaction goes well, the realtor does look somewhat un-necessary. But when thngs start to go south, everyone looks to the agent to fix the problems. It is probably true that the better the agent, the more un-necessary they appear.

FSBO transaction can work smoothly and save the seller some money, but if there is a problem with the loan, or title, or cold feet, or enything else, an agent is sure a welcome addition to the party

I value realtors. The seller pays the fee, so why not use a realtor? I doubt the seller will give the buyer a discount for not having a realtor. From what I’ve been told, transactions involving only one realtor means that agent does double the work. If somebody wants to save the realtor commission, why don’t they just go out and get a realtor license?

There are many reasons why I sold my Help U Sell franchise and started my own brokerage. One of them was due to the fact that I felt that traditional brokerages didn’t bring as much traffic to my listings. Now that I sold I do see much better traffic. Now that could be for many reasons but I also get alot of calls from high end property owners to list then when I owned my Help U Sell. I still actually charge less to list a home from HUS but I am a small brokerage and my pricing policies are not of any consequence to the big guys.

The postings that talk about the simplicity of FSBOs are correct. FSBOs are simple because they are an unregulated and private transaction. You can make the disclosure process as simple or complex as you like. I am sure other Realtors will chime in but the proper disclosure documents depend on the age, location, and type of home. Included in the package would be the standard TDS, this is the one most of you are familiar with, then Sellers Additional Disclosure document, the San Diego County addendum to the Purchase Agreement, the Sellers Questionaire, a defective furnace advisory, mold disclosure statement, lead disclosure… just to name a few. Again, none of this matters if you are doing a FSBO… However if I am a Realtor and representing a buyer I better get these forms and more. So if the seller is a FSBO he needs to get them to me some way. So then it DOES become MY responsibility to get them done and MY responsibility to make sure the Seller fills them out right. Why? Because I can be found liable as a Realtor even though he is not even my client.

Again, when it all works out right, and most transactions do… there is nothing to worry about at all. However when things don’t work out and it all crashes and burns ALOT of money is at stake. My brokerage is not worth risking it.

As far as paying commission goes… well…you can find great agents that give you rebates if you are a buyer, or a very low commission if you are a seller.

FSBOs most always work out fine… I would just advise someone to get a real estate attorney at the least. It is a small premium to pay. Regardless of which side of the transaction you are on.

kagster, there is no reason the Help U Sell would be banned, since they pay the 2.5% or 3% fee to the buyer’s agent. My house sold in 6 weeks with Help U Sell, and I am the last sale in my neighborhood in 9 months. The HUS is a discounter only to you as the seller, because they work on volume and they eliminate a couple services, such as sitting at your Open House, they don’t use an independent photographer for your photos, etc. So if you wanted an Open House, you would do it yourself. My photos were very good even though my agent took them with her camera. I did not see any other indication of any discounting.

My positive bias for realtors is based on several things. First, I am always amazed at the disclosures I must give and receive and am nervous about lawsuits. What if I get a house with a cracked foundation or mold or some other problem, just because I didn’t know to ask about it? A FSBO doesn’t have to tell you, right? My cousin spent $60K retrofitting her foundation because she didn’t know it was settling when she bought the house. My realtor told me of several subdivisions built on settling soil in San Diego, where the foundations are settling and cracking. There, even the realtors were not cautious enough. What if someone sues me for not disclosing something that I should have disclosed?

Second, I want MLS information to know everything about the comps, the true days on market, the pendings, and the previous sales prices. How will you get that information? Only the realtor has access to it via the MLS. If I overpay by $50K just to save $20K on commissions, how smart was I? If the $680K house went into pending, but I am making an offer on the $710K house, how smart am I really? So having MLS access is very important when you make your offer.

A good realtor can also advise you on what to look for or avoid. For example, Jim Klinge has some really good posts on his website telling people not to buy near power lines, avoid a house where the neighbor looks down in your yard, look for xyz, …He/she can advise you that this particular home is a very good deal for that neighborhood, etc.

Next, I never know how to fill in those forms. What is the buyers supposed to pay for, vs. the seller. Escrow and title fees, closing costs, etc. What if I put in my contract I will pay for it, but usually the seller pays for it? What about the # of days for contingency,e tc. I never know what to put in for all those numbers. But perhaps an attorney could advise you on that. Probably if you took a realtor course you would know all that.

Last, I have some friends who are realtors.

I hope the realtor commission system changes. I would prefer to pay my realtor in the same way I pay my accountant: by the hour or by the project. Currently, most of a realtor’s fee goes to pay for his sales and marketing efforts toward the clients he does not get. A realtor probably spends 70% of his time trying to get clients. So about 70% of the fees I pay go for that part of his day. I don’t want to pay for that, frankly. So if some looky-loo client wants to take up 3 months of a realtor’s time looking at houses he never plans to buy, or works with a realtor for 2 months and ends up buying a house from a different agent, I think the realtor should charge that looky-loo and that disloyal client, rather than wrapping it into the commission that I have to pay. Let each person pay for the service they use.

So David Lereah, change the realtor pricing model. Don’t charge the person who gives you the sale for all the time you spend with the person who *doesn’t* give you the sale! What a perverse form of pricing punishment that is.

I’d also like to see better training and entrance requirements. Most of the realtor training is in closing the deal and figuring out the paperwork, not in the economy, construction, or business matters. I think the training could be vastly improved.

So while I value realtors, I vote for a complete overhaul of the payment system, and better training and screening.