When I was first buyer, I had to look at a lot of houses. It was fun, but I gained experience, and learned to eliminate many houses without having to see them. Of course, the cookie cutter trend helped. But I think, even with virtual tours, and lots of photos, there is no substitute for seeing a house in person. Sellers may not put up pics of things that are ‘dubious’ and that for me may be a deal breaker, or one too many compromises to make. Plus the camera angle may fool you into thinking something is larger that it is. Also, all the pics will not tell you what you can see/hear/smeel from your house/yard. Sure you can get an idea driving by the properties. That eliminated many, too. You learn what to look for/hear/smell. Perhaps I am bit picky. I need to see the rooms in person to see how I am going to make use of them, place my furniture, if I like the kids rooms, etc. I had to see more houses than I really wanted because I lost a few in the bidding war – this was in bubble days.
That being said, I think some realtors feel threatened by services that would allow seeing houses, and especially if those are offering a nice rebate if you close. Those realtors think they should be the only ones holding the keys to the houses so to speak. They get pissed if you can get to see the house some other way. Those services may not be bound or care about ethics and code and rules, unlike (most of) the regular realtors and that infuriates them. I think that’s why I ticked off sdr by worrying about the fairness towards redfin (I was assuming that I will be fair and loyal to my personal agent, but I don’t think sdr understood that).
I think it may be a good idea for realtors to diversify their fees, not just plain 6% commission but hour-based or flat fee, etc. Some should be based on the amount of realtor’s work and time spent. If a client is really good financially, knows what he wants, does his homework, find the properties, drives around etc. , it’s much less work than with some picky, undecided, lookyloos that want to see a zillion houses in all sorts of places they could have eliminated just by driving by.
