Do we need realtors?

[JJGittes]

You still have to go through the process and cost to become a broker, and, as I read it, pay $382 to access the mls. You might as well become a Realtor(put little trademark thingy here). Unless you are going to make a business of it, it seems to make more sense to go with Karchin, or housepad.com, for a posting in the mls.

Sd realtor made good points, and is a straight shooter, as usual.

[JJGittes]

You still have to go through the process and cost to become a broker, and, as I read it, pay $382 to access the mls. You might as well become a Realtor(put little trademark thingy here). Unless you are going to make a business of it, it seems to make more sense to go with Karchin, or housepad.com, for a posting in the mls.

Sd realtor made good points, and is a straight shooter, as usual.

[Duck]

Easy to become a broker. Everyone should do it. Takes about 20 hours and you can save $100k when u sell a decent place.

No brainer.

[Duck]

Easy to become a broker. Everyone should do it. Takes about 20 hours and you can save $100k when u sell a decent place.

No brainer.

[hipmatt]

I don’t think we need RE agents, this is coming from a former agent. Mostly, agents show homes, take listings, and work on their business, the legal and clerical work that you may think they help with is minimal. They basically fill out the purchase contract, the form is pretty straight forward, there are few things that change between the average contract, besides the terms of the deal. Usually they have a transaction coordinator that does most of the work for them anyways. Some agents I worked with could barely fill out the purchase agreement.

Considering the current information age, and the availability of INSTANT access to listings, and inventory, I do think it is possible for the average transaction to exclude the RE agent, or at least RE agents will have a more minor role, and hopefully smaller commission. I would have no problems paying escrow a bit more to help with the clerical and legal side of things.

Remember that the people who protect you when buying/selling a home are: termite inspectors, title companies, home inspectors, escrow, appraisers (supposedly), etc. Chances are that you will use these same services, anyways, with or without a RE agent.

BTW, no offense to the RE agents on this board. We could do with out you, but the real scum is the lender or loan officer. If I could eliminate either one first, I would pick the lowly lenders. We could easily do with out them.

[hipmatt]

I don’t think we need RE agents, this is coming from a former agent. Mostly, agents show homes, take listings, and work on their business, the legal and clerical work that you may think they help with is minimal. They basically fill out the purchase contract, the form is pretty straight forward, there are few things that change between the average contract, besides the terms of the deal. Usually they have a transaction coordinator that does most of the work for them anyways. Some agents I worked with could barely fill out the purchase agreement.

Considering the current information age, and the availability of INSTANT access to listings, and inventory, I do think it is possible for the average transaction to exclude the RE agent, or at least RE agents will have a more minor role, and hopefully smaller commission. I would have no problems paying escrow a bit more to help with the clerical and legal side of things.

Remember that the people who protect you when buying/selling a home are: termite inspectors, title companies, home inspectors, escrow, appraisers (supposedly), etc. Chances are that you will use these same services, anyways, with or without a RE agent.

BTW, no offense to the RE agents on this board. We could do with out you, but the real scum is the lender or loan officer. If I could eliminate either one first, I would pick the lowly lenders. We could easily do with out them.

[SD Realtor]

What is quite comical in this entire thread is that I am the one who argues with sdr the most about the pros and cons of full service brokerages…

sdr I hope you are getting a big chuckle out of this entire thread my friend.

El Jefe – My mistake, you are correct as you said regarding the broker and appraiser, not a sales agent. I stand corrected.

Do you have your brokers license?

Also why would anyone go through the hassle of doing that when they could list their home for 500 bucks on the MLS with Jeff Karchin?

Or if they are going to be a buyer why not go in unrepresented.

Doesn’t that seem to be alot easier?

SD Realtor

[SD Realtor]

What is quite comical in this entire thread is that I am the one who argues with sdr the most about the pros and cons of full service brokerages…

sdr I hope you are getting a big chuckle out of this entire thread my friend.

El Jefe – My mistake, you are correct as you said regarding the broker and appraiser, not a sales agent. I stand corrected.

Do you have your brokers license?

Also why would anyone go through the hassle of doing that when they could list their home for 500 bucks on the MLS with Jeff Karchin?

Or if they are going to be a buyer why not go in unrepresented.

Doesn’t that seem to be alot easier?

SD Realtor

[SD Realtor]

Matt –

Your post is absolutely correct. With all of the access to resources today, you don’t need to hire an agent. People still do, but nobody absolutely needs to. I don’t understand why people seem to state, “in the future” this or that will happen… the future is now. People don’t need to use them today. As a former agent, as you know, escrow doesn’t look out for anyone or protect anyone. Escrow is an independent entity that doesn’t represent or protect anybody. Escrow enforces conditions and requirements of the purchase contract and makes ammendments when necessary. Similarly if anyone here has read over a termite report or a physical inspection they know half of the contents in those reports consists of disclaimers and release of liability. A title company insure that there are no pre-existing claims to title (or clouds) prior to issuing a title insurance policy, furthermore the policy of title insurance issued to the lender is much more extensive then the policy of title insurance issued to the actual homeowner. How many people homeowners here have called their title insurance company to ask them questions about their policy? Also as a buyer you do not have a say in hiring the lender. The lender is hired by your lender.

Transaction coordinators are indeed utilized by both listing agents and selling (aka buyers) agents. However a tc (transaction coordinator) does not advise buyers/sellers in any way shape or form. A tc simply makes sure that all pertinent forms are signed correctly by all parties involved. A tc working for a listing agent will also make sure that the correct disclosure package is generated based on the location and type of housing. Indeed there are independent transaction coordinators that service independent brokerages (in fact I use one) while most large traditional brokerages have in house coordinators. Most of the independent transaction coordinators I have worked with will not work for a buyer or seller directly, (again due to liability issues) and they all carry a seperate E&O policy.

So once again, I am not disputing your point, in fact as I said, I agree. I just once more want to clarify the pre-existing roles of all the entities you brought up.

[SD Realtor]

Matt –

Your post is absolutely correct. With all of the access to resources today, you don’t need to hire an agent. People still do, but nobody absolutely needs to. I don’t understand why people seem to state, “in the future” this or that will happen… the future is now. People don’t need to use them today. As a former agent, as you know, escrow doesn’t look out for anyone or protect anyone. Escrow is an independent entity that doesn’t represent or protect anybody. Escrow enforces conditions and requirements of the purchase contract and makes ammendments when necessary. Similarly if anyone here has read over a termite report or a physical inspection they know half of the contents in those reports consists of disclaimers and release of liability. A title company insure that there are no pre-existing claims to title (or clouds) prior to issuing a title insurance policy, furthermore the policy of title insurance issued to the lender is much more extensive then the policy of title insurance issued to the actual homeowner. How many people homeowners here have called their title insurance company to ask them questions about their policy? Also as a buyer you do not have a say in hiring the lender. The lender is hired by your lender.

Transaction coordinators are indeed utilized by both listing agents and selling (aka buyers) agents. However a tc (transaction coordinator) does not advise buyers/sellers in any way shape or form. A tc simply makes sure that all pertinent forms are signed correctly by all parties involved. A tc working for a listing agent will also make sure that the correct disclosure package is generated based on the location and type of housing. Indeed there are independent transaction coordinators that service independent brokerages (in fact I use one) while most large traditional brokerages have in house coordinators. Most of the independent transaction coordinators I have worked with will not work for a buyer or seller directly, (again due to liability issues) and they all carry a seperate E&O policy.

So once again, I am not disputing your point, in fact as I said, I agree. I just once more want to clarify the pre-existing roles of all the entities you brought up.

[sdrealtor]

I am enjoying this immensely. I hope each and everyone of you comes to buy one of my listings. It would be my pleasure to help you learn the “benefits” of being unrepresented.

[sdrealtor]

I am enjoying this immensely. I hope each and everyone of you comes to buy one of my listings. It would be my pleasure to help you learn the “benefits” of being unrepresented.

[SD Realtor]

Yes I figured you would be loving this sdr. I will let the rest of the board comment and bite my tongue instead of responding anymore. The more I keep posting the more I feel like I am working for NAR. Hopefully your brokerage be able to eeek out an existence as the market changes.

SD Realtor

[SD Realtor]

Yes I figured you would be loving this sdr. I will let the rest of the board comment and bite my tongue instead of responding anymore. The more I keep posting the more I feel like I am working for NAR. Hopefully your brokerage be able to eeek out an existence as the market changes.

SD Realtor

[temeculaguy]

I don’t need a wife and a realtor will cost you less and cause you less headache.

You can always use a realtor and negotiate a smaller commission if you don’t need very much of their time. If I have already shopped and picked the house I’ll use a family friend and negotiate a price for them just to negotiate the contract and finalize the paperwork, it takes them a few hours and they usually end up paying for themselves and then some in savings.

People don’t need a stock broker, some prefer it, others do it themselves. It is all what you feel comfortable with, for piggintonians, this is a hobby of sorts but the rest of the world is probably better off using one.

Now for selling, I always use one, I have a job and showing my house isn’t it.

[Author]

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