SD R,
Good thread though I doubt it matters much to others on the board or sinks in. The public does not care that we dont get compensated for 80% of our time. They don’t want to pay for that, they only want to pay for what they actually use without realizing that they have likely been users of that 80% of uncompensated time for other agents.
The system is what it is because it works better than other alternatives. It is a very expensive system to maintain and has created a relatively efficient marketplace. Were it not for this efficient marketplace, homes would be less expensive and far more illiquid. Many on this board would applaud that….until it came time to sell their home. Then they would want top dollar just like every other “greedy seller” they criticize and they should be glad the system exists as it does.
Is there room for improvement? You wont get any arguement here. But it’s not as simple as throwing a bunch of information on the Internet.
I believe whenever the margins get too fat there will be clever entrepeneurs come in and cut up the pie. http://www.iggyshousebeta.com/ and buyside realty look like they are making a run at it. Lots of these type of deals will go by the wayside but eventually one or two will succeed and be a destructive force for the realty industry, IMO. At iggy’s you can list your home on the MLS for free.
I’m sure those that have sales talent will always be able to make a nice living as they do in most industries but it will change with technology.
Wiley,
That is nothing new. There have been companies doing that for years. They offer nothing that Ipayone didnt and actually have an even weaker business model. You should be smarter than to believe there is such a thing as a free lunch. Didnt the dot com era teach us all this lesson?
For some it may work but for most it will not result in a better outcome. It surely is not enough an adequate solution to replace the system.
Our current system is what we have and it’ll take years to change it. Not that we want to throw it out and replace it immediately. We need to let it evolve.
However, there are alternatives to the 6% regime. The savvy consumers can find other ways to buy and sell.
Having information available on the Internet will slowly make the public more comfortable with finding and selling properties themselves, or with the help of discount brokers. Having real estate information readily available on mainstream sites such as Yahoo, Google and MSN can only help with the transition.
The realtors used to have a virtual monopoly with exclusive access to the MLS. Due to this unfair practice it was difficult to operate without at least one realtor involved.
Now things are changing. With public access to all listings, a full commission realtor should not be necessary for the majority of transactions. Like it or not, in the long run the realtor industry will be completely scaled back and focused mostly on niche or high end transactions.
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