I’m with EconProf on whether to use a realtor or not. I found it very useful. We used a newbie, and while he made some mistakes, he worked very hard for us.
As for agents not working for their money, that’s true in some cases, but for the most part, the successful ones work their asses off, 60 hours/week+. It’s the pay structure that’s messed up. I can understand some disparity between realtor salaries in different areas of the country, but it’s currently really, really bad. Too dependent on price and not enough on workload.
And that’s coming from a soon-to-be licensee (warm up the flames, Rt.66! At least I’m doing it the right way, via college, not a 48-hour course). Because I plan to be up front with my opinion of the state of the market, I’ll be working in Temecula rather than the coast, so the honesty won’t adversely affect my sales.
