I was going to refrain from adding yet more to this thread, but I can’t let this pass on Piggington of all places (emphasis added):
[quote=bearishgurl]What I’m saying here is that a serious buyer, at no cost to them, can get expert guidance from a professional RE agent specializing in their area of choice.[/quote]
Does anyone really believe there’s no cost to the buyer? I know the rather short history of “buyers’ agents”, and I’ve heard all the arguments from the RE industry. I’m the opposite of convinced.
It’s obvious that buyers pay most of the real estate industry’s monopoly rents because sellers, as a rule, factor commissions into their selling price. If you want proof, go ask your sellers if they would take less in a FSBO deal that had no commissions.
The worst part is that because commissions are part of the “purchase price”, they get rolled into the mortgage (yay, I get to pay double or more for my “no cost” services) and inflate the valuation for property taxes (hooray, I get to pay for my “no cost” services in perpetuity!).
