Do we need realtors?

[toddt]

I’m a inactive licensed broker and have my license for my personal investments, primarily to research properties and be able to move quickly on them w/o a buy-side agent.

I am of the opinion that agents on both the buy and sell side will never go away. The analogies of the stock broker, recruiter, and accountants for that matter are very relevant, and I agree with them completely.

That said, in this market, I think the value of a good listing agent is enormous. Marketing, networking, and professionalism is tantamount in this market, and I’ve seen a good agent pay more than their worth in higher prices, quicker sales, and the simple equation of the value of my time.

The thing I am hoping does go away is the MLS. It’s a monopolistic and old-school approach in this day of data democratization. I think we’re starting to see this with the CALMLS initiative and other concepts like Google Base and Roost.com. Time will tell, but MLS consolidation and their future irrelevance is in the cards.

[jficquette]

Yes we need realtors because of how complicated home buying has become in California.

My problem with the vast majority of Realors is that they just sit around and wait for someone to make an offer on your house.

Realtors who are real business people get out and hustle to get houses sold and those are the ones who you want to deal with.

Real Estate is a tough job and people who do a great job with it deserve to make good money.

John

[jficquette]

Yes we need realtors because of how complicated home buying has become in California.

My problem with the vast majority of Realors is that they just sit around and wait for someone to make an offer on your house.

Realtors who are real business people get out and hustle to get houses sold and those are the ones who you want to deal with.

Real Estate is a tough job and people who do a great job with it deserve to make good money.

John

[jficquette]

Yes we need realtors because of how complicated home buying has become in California.

My problem with the vast majority of Realors is that they just sit around and wait for someone to make an offer on your house.

Realtors who are real business people get out and hustle to get houses sold and those are the ones who you want to deal with.

Real Estate is a tough job and people who do a great job with it deserve to make good money.

John

[jficquette]

Yes we need realtors because of how complicated home buying has become in California.

My problem with the vast majority of Realors is that they just sit around and wait for someone to make an offer on your house.

Realtors who are real business people get out and hustle to get houses sold and those are the ones who you want to deal with.

Real Estate is a tough job and people who do a great job with it deserve to make good money.

John

[jficquette]

Yes we need realtors because of how complicated home buying has become in California.

My problem with the vast majority of Realors is that they just sit around and wait for someone to make an offer on your house.

Realtors who are real business people get out and hustle to get houses sold and those are the ones who you want to deal with.

Real Estate is a tough job and people who do a great job with it deserve to make good money.

John

[jficquette]

[quote=Rustico]Thanks SDR,
I could easily see a system that gets commissions down to 2% or so. Something like a consultancy/transaction outlet, where after buyers and sellers have used some of the sources available to have a meeting of the minds on purchase price, the nitty gritty gets done up and the deal gets closed. Call it “House Transfer Mediation Center.” Want to start one?[/quote]

You would have to get rid of lawyers for it to work.

[jficquette]

[quote=Rustico]Thanks SDR,
I could easily see a system that gets commissions down to 2% or so. Something like a consultancy/transaction outlet, where after buyers and sellers have used some of the sources available to have a meeting of the minds on purchase price, the nitty gritty gets done up and the deal gets closed. Call it “House Transfer Mediation Center.” Want to start one?[/quote]

You would have to get rid of lawyers for it to work.

[jficquette]

[quote=Rustico]Thanks SDR,
I could easily see a system that gets commissions down to 2% or so. Something like a consultancy/transaction outlet, where after buyers and sellers have used some of the sources available to have a meeting of the minds on purchase price, the nitty gritty gets done up and the deal gets closed. Call it “House Transfer Mediation Center.” Want to start one?[/quote]

You would have to get rid of lawyers for it to work.

[jficquette]

[quote=Rustico]Thanks SDR,
I could easily see a system that gets commissions down to 2% or so. Something like a consultancy/transaction outlet, where after buyers and sellers have used some of the sources available to have a meeting of the minds on purchase price, the nitty gritty gets done up and the deal gets closed. Call it “House Transfer Mediation Center.” Want to start one?[/quote]

You would have to get rid of lawyers for it to work.

[jficquette]

[quote=Rustico]Thanks SDR,
I could easily see a system that gets commissions down to 2% or so. Something like a consultancy/transaction outlet, where after buyers and sellers have used some of the sources available to have a meeting of the minds on purchase price, the nitty gritty gets done up and the deal gets closed. Call it “House Transfer Mediation Center.” Want to start one?[/quote]

You would have to get rid of lawyers for it to work.

[Raybyrnes]

TheBreeze
“They want you to pay as much as possible so their commission will be higher.”

I don’t think this is the case and I believe the author of Freakonomics does a good job dispelling this myth.

Realators want the transaction to go through. The incremental difference of getting an extra 50K to them is meaningless. They want to get paid. The difference to you is a lot. Think about it. They hold out for a client to pay an extra 50000 they get paid 1500 (3%) and you get an additional 48500.

That is why it would be advantageous as a seller to first baseline what you feel a home would move for. Say 5% below current market is 500K. Realtor finds person does paperwork they get a flat fee of $500. They move it at market rate they get %1000. Now if they are good and start to be salespeople they get paid for what they sell over the market. Sell for 50K over market I’ll pay the 1000 + 5% on the first 50K over market. Get 50 to 100K over market I’d bump it up to 10%. This incentive system would weed out the people who can earn their keep vs those who can’t.
The way I see it if they can get 100K more than I think I could I would be happy to pay 10 and collect 90. It is a different approach and it wuld need fine tuning but it would align their interests with yous. As it stands today there is not reason for a sales agent to want to get you a higher price. Their interest are in getting the home sold for wahtever they can.

[Raybyrnes]

TheBreeze
“They want you to pay as much as possible so their commission will be higher.”

I don’t think this is the case and I believe the author of Freakonomics does a good job dispelling this myth.

Realators want the transaction to go through. The incremental difference of getting an extra 50K to them is meaningless. They want to get paid. The difference to you is a lot. Think about it. They hold out for a client to pay an extra 50000 they get paid 1500 (3%) and you get an additional 48500.

That is why it would be advantageous as a seller to first baseline what you feel a home would move for. Say 5% below current market is 500K. Realtor finds person does paperwork they get a flat fee of $500. They move it at market rate they get %1000. Now if they are good and start to be salespeople they get paid for what they sell over the market. Sell for 50K over market I’ll pay the 1000 + 5% on the first 50K over market. Get 50 to 100K over market I’d bump it up to 10%. This incentive system would weed out the people who can earn their keep vs those who can’t.
The way I see it if they can get 100K more than I think I could I would be happy to pay 10 and collect 90. It is a different approach and it wuld need fine tuning but it would align their interests with yous. As it stands today there is not reason for a sales agent to want to get you a higher price. Their interest are in getting the home sold for wahtever they can.

[Raybyrnes]

TheBreeze
“They want you to pay as much as possible so their commission will be higher.”

I don’t think this is the case and I believe the author of Freakonomics does a good job dispelling this myth.

Realators want the transaction to go through. The incremental difference of getting an extra 50K to them is meaningless. They want to get paid. The difference to you is a lot. Think about it. They hold out for a client to pay an extra 50000 they get paid 1500 (3%) and you get an additional 48500.

That is why it would be advantageous as a seller to first baseline what you feel a home would move for. Say 5% below current market is 500K. Realtor finds person does paperwork they get a flat fee of $500. They move it at market rate they get %1000. Now if they are good and start to be salespeople they get paid for what they sell over the market. Sell for 50K over market I’ll pay the 1000 + 5% on the first 50K over market. Get 50 to 100K over market I’d bump it up to 10%. This incentive system would weed out the people who can earn their keep vs those who can’t.
The way I see it if they can get 100K more than I think I could I would be happy to pay 10 and collect 90. It is a different approach and it wuld need fine tuning but it would align their interests with yous. As it stands today there is not reason for a sales agent to want to get you a higher price. Their interest are in getting the home sold for wahtever they can.

[Raybyrnes]

TheBreeze
“They want you to pay as much as possible so their commission will be higher.”

I don’t think this is the case and I believe the author of Freakonomics does a good job dispelling this myth.

Realators want the transaction to go through. The incremental difference of getting an extra 50K to them is meaningless. They want to get paid. The difference to you is a lot. Think about it. They hold out for a client to pay an extra 50000 they get paid 1500 (3%) and you get an additional 48500.

That is why it would be advantageous as a seller to first baseline what you feel a home would move for. Say 5% below current market is 500K. Realtor finds person does paperwork they get a flat fee of $500. They move it at market rate they get %1000. Now if they are good and start to be salespeople they get paid for what they sell over the market. Sell for 50K over market I’ll pay the 1000 + 5% on the first 50K over market. Get 50 to 100K over market I’d bump it up to 10%. This incentive system would weed out the people who can earn their keep vs those who can’t.
The way I see it if they can get 100K more than I think I could I would be happy to pay 10 and collect 90. It is a different approach and it wuld need fine tuning but it would align their interests with yous. As it stands today there is not reason for a sales agent to want to get you a higher price. Their interest are in getting the home sold for wahtever they can.

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