[njtosd]

bearishgurl-

Don’t know what the reason for the quotes around the words “internationally known” in your earlier post. His name is Steven Levitt, and is described in wikipedia as follows: Winner of the 2004 John Bates Clark Medal, he is currently the William B. Ogden Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago, director of the Becker Center on Chicago Price Theory at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and co-editor of the Journal of Political Economy published by the University of Chicago Press. He co-authored the best-selling book Freakonomics (2005) and its sequel Superfreakonomics (2009). Levitt was chosen as one of Time magazine’s “100 People Who Shape Our World” in 2006.[1]

What’s even more surprising is that he is in his early forties. He’s received a lot of attention for his work, even at U of C, where there is a (humorous) sign in the cafeteria indicating a special line for Nobel prize winners.

[njtosd]

bearishgurl-

Don’t know what the reason for the quotes around the words “internationally known” in your earlier post. His name is Steven Levitt, and is described in wikipedia as follows: Winner of the 2004 John Bates Clark Medal, he is currently the William B. Ogden Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago, director of the Becker Center on Chicago Price Theory at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and co-editor of the Journal of Political Economy published by the University of Chicago Press. He co-authored the best-selling book Freakonomics (2005) and its sequel Superfreakonomics (2009). Levitt was chosen as one of Time magazine’s “100 People Who Shape Our World” in 2006.[1]

What’s even more surprising is that he is in his early forties. He’s received a lot of attention for his work, even at U of C, where there is a (humorous) sign in the cafeteria indicating a special line for Nobel prize winners.

[njtosd]

sdrealtor –

I will remember in the future to instruct any real estate agent that I contract with to bring all potential buyers to my attention (and as you know the fiduciary duty of an agent includes a duty of obedience). I would like to be sure that all potential buyers are treated in a welcoming manner. Furthermore, I would appreciate it if you did not include your real estate fantasies in your posts. I’m sure there are lots of other places to let those feelings out. As an alternative, you could choose among hundreds of other less distasteful ways to express your feelings here.

bearishgurl –

Although I’m not in favor of anecdotes, here goes: We are currently selling our home on the east coast and received an offer after our listing agreement had expired and before we relisted (we had gotten kind of discouraged and had decided to put off relisting until the kids were back in school). We were much more willing to come down in price (and did come down more than we had originally planned to) since we didn’t have an agent’s fee to pay. The final steps of the negotiation here take place in the “attorney review” process, so our attorney is taking care of some of the jobs that would be done by an agent/broker in CA. So in this case, the buyer is getting a better deal than he would have otherwise because there is no listing agent involved.

[njtosd]

sdrealtor –

I will remember in the future to instruct any real estate agent that I contract with to bring all potential buyers to my attention (and as you know the fiduciary duty of an agent includes a duty of obedience). I would like to be sure that all potential buyers are treated in a welcoming manner. Furthermore, I would appreciate it if you did not include your real estate fantasies in your posts. I’m sure there are lots of other places to let those feelings out. As an alternative, you could choose among hundreds of other less distasteful ways to express your feelings here.

bearishgurl –

Although I’m not in favor of anecdotes, here goes: We are currently selling our home on the east coast and received an offer after our listing agreement had expired and before we relisted (we had gotten kind of discouraged and had decided to put off relisting until the kids were back in school). We were much more willing to come down in price (and did come down more than we had originally planned to) since we didn’t have an agent’s fee to pay. The final steps of the negotiation here take place in the “attorney review” process, so our attorney is taking care of some of the jobs that would be done by an agent/broker in CA. So in this case, the buyer is getting a better deal than he would have otherwise because there is no listing agent involved.

[njtosd]

sdrealtor –

I will remember in the future to instruct any real estate agent that I contract with to bring all potential buyers to my attention (and as you know the fiduciary duty of an agent includes a duty of obedience). I would like to be sure that all potential buyers are treated in a welcoming manner. Furthermore, I would appreciate it if you did not include your real estate fantasies in your posts. I’m sure there are lots of other places to let those feelings out. As an alternative, you could choose among hundreds of other less distasteful ways to express your feelings here.

bearishgurl –

Although I’m not in favor of anecdotes, here goes: We are currently selling our home on the east coast and received an offer after our listing agreement had expired and before we relisted (we had gotten kind of discouraged and had decided to put off relisting until the kids were back in school). We were much more willing to come down in price (and did come down more than we had originally planned to) since we didn’t have an agent’s fee to pay. The final steps of the negotiation here take place in the “attorney review” process, so our attorney is taking care of some of the jobs that would be done by an agent/broker in CA. So in this case, the buyer is getting a better deal than he would have otherwise because there is no listing agent involved.

[njtosd]

sdrealtor –

I will remember in the future to instruct any real estate agent that I contract with to bring all potential buyers to my attention (and as you know the fiduciary duty of an agent includes a duty of obedience). I would like to be sure that all potential buyers are treated in a welcoming manner. Furthermore, I would appreciate it if you did not include your real estate fantasies in your posts. I’m sure there are lots of other places to let those feelings out. As an alternative, you could choose among hundreds of other less distasteful ways to express your feelings here.

bearishgurl –

Although I’m not in favor of anecdotes, here goes: We are currently selling our home on the east coast and received an offer after our listing agreement had expired and before we relisted (we had gotten kind of discouraged and had decided to put off relisting until the kids were back in school). We were much more willing to come down in price (and did come down more than we had originally planned to) since we didn’t have an agent’s fee to pay. The final steps of the negotiation here take place in the “attorney review” process, so our attorney is taking care of some of the jobs that would be done by an agent/broker in CA. So in this case, the buyer is getting a better deal than he would have otherwise because there is no listing agent involved.

[njtosd]

sdrealtor –

I will remember in the future to instruct any real estate agent that I contract with to bring all potential buyers to my attention (and as you know the fiduciary duty of an agent includes a duty of obedience). I would like to be sure that all potential buyers are treated in a welcoming manner. Furthermore, I would appreciate it if you did not include your real estate fantasies in your posts. I’m sure there are lots of other places to let those feelings out. As an alternative, you could choose among hundreds of other less distasteful ways to express your feelings here.

bearishgurl –

Although I’m not in favor of anecdotes, here goes: We are currently selling our home on the east coast and received an offer after our listing agreement had expired and before we relisted (we had gotten kind of discouraged and had decided to put off relisting until the kids were back in school). We were much more willing to come down in price (and did come down more than we had originally planned to) since we didn’t have an agent’s fee to pay. The final steps of the negotiation here take place in the “attorney review” process, so our attorney is taking care of some of the jobs that would be done by an agent/broker in CA. So in this case, the buyer is getting a better deal than he would have otherwise because there is no listing agent involved.

[njtosd]

drboom-
I completely agree with you. I have to say that the attitude taken by one of the realtors in that other thread was very high handed – for example, his/her (apparently) unilateral decision to refuse to deal with unrepresented buyers. I didn’t see any suggestion that he checked with his clients before turning potential buyers away. . .
Further, I’m not sure if you’ve read the original Freakonomics book (authors are an award winning econ prof from Univ. of Chicago and a reporter for the NYT), but it includes a fascinating large scale statistical study of prices received by sellers that sold through agents versus those who went the FSBO route. Almost no difference in ultimate sale price (but the sellers obviously made the 2-3% or so that would otherwise have gone to the agent). Interestingly, the article also pointed out that agents selling their own homes left those homes on the market longer without changing the price (as compared to sellers represented by agents), waited longer to accept an offer and ultimately sold for approx. 3% more than the statistics suggested that similar houses were selling for. Because they got the full 3%, the authors suggested, it was worth the extra effort. Had they only been receiving a commission on that 3%, the extra effort wouldn’t have been economically justified.
Finally, we sold our home in North County San Diego three years ago (2007). We insisted on setting the price $125,000 higher than the agent (very well known in the area) recommended. We received three offers within two weeks and ultimately sold for $10,000 less than asking price ($115,000 more than the agent had recommended). Yes, maybe it was a fluke, but I think people should have more respect for their own instincts. And, as I mentioned in that other thread, a good real estate attorney should be able to give you even more value than an agent.

[njtosd]

drboom-
I completely agree with you. I have to say that the attitude taken by one of the realtors in that other thread was very high handed – for example, his/her (apparently) unilateral decision to refuse to deal with unrepresented buyers. I didn’t see any suggestion that he checked with his clients before turning potential buyers away. . .
Further, I’m not sure if you’ve read the original Freakonomics book (authors are an award winning econ prof from Univ. of Chicago and a reporter for the NYT), but it includes a fascinating large scale statistical study of prices received by sellers that sold through agents versus those who went the FSBO route. Almost no difference in ultimate sale price (but the sellers obviously made the 2-3% or so that would otherwise have gone to the agent). Interestingly, the article also pointed out that agents selling their own homes left those homes on the market longer without changing the price (as compared to sellers represented by agents), waited longer to accept an offer and ultimately sold for approx. 3% more than the statistics suggested that similar houses were selling for. Because they got the full 3%, the authors suggested, it was worth the extra effort. Had they only been receiving a commission on that 3%, the extra effort wouldn’t have been economically justified.
Finally, we sold our home in North County San Diego three years ago (2007). We insisted on setting the price $125,000 higher than the agent (very well known in the area) recommended. We received three offers within two weeks and ultimately sold for $10,000 less than asking price ($115,000 more than the agent had recommended). Yes, maybe it was a fluke, but I think people should have more respect for their own instincts. And, as I mentioned in that other thread, a good real estate attorney should be able to give you even more value than an agent.

[njtosd]

drboom-
I completely agree with you. I have to say that the attitude taken by one of the realtors in that other thread was very high handed – for example, his/her (apparently) unilateral decision to refuse to deal with unrepresented buyers. I didn’t see any suggestion that he checked with his clients before turning potential buyers away. . .
Further, I’m not sure if you’ve read the original Freakonomics book (authors are an award winning econ prof from Univ. of Chicago and a reporter for the NYT), but it includes a fascinating large scale statistical study of prices received by sellers that sold through agents versus those who went the FSBO route. Almost no difference in ultimate sale price (but the sellers obviously made the 2-3% or so that would otherwise have gone to the agent). Interestingly, the article also pointed out that agents selling their own homes left those homes on the market longer without changing the price (as compared to sellers represented by agents), waited longer to accept an offer and ultimately sold for approx. 3% more than the statistics suggested that similar houses were selling for. Because they got the full 3%, the authors suggested, it was worth the extra effort. Had they only been receiving a commission on that 3%, the extra effort wouldn’t have been economically justified.
Finally, we sold our home in North County San Diego three years ago (2007). We insisted on setting the price $125,000 higher than the agent (very well known in the area) recommended. We received three offers within two weeks and ultimately sold for $10,000 less than asking price ($115,000 more than the agent had recommended). Yes, maybe it was a fluke, but I think people should have more respect for their own instincts. And, as I mentioned in that other thread, a good real estate attorney should be able to give you even more value than an agent.

[njtosd]

drboom-
I completely agree with you. I have to say that the attitude taken by one of the realtors in that other thread was very high handed – for example, his/her (apparently) unilateral decision to refuse to deal with unrepresented buyers. I didn’t see any suggestion that he checked with his clients before turning potential buyers away. . .
Further, I’m not sure if you’ve read the original Freakonomics book (authors are an award winning econ prof from Univ. of Chicago and a reporter for the NYT), but it includes a fascinating large scale statistical study of prices received by sellers that sold through agents versus those who went the FSBO route. Almost no difference in ultimate sale price (but the sellers obviously made the 2-3% or so that would otherwise have gone to the agent). Interestingly, the article also pointed out that agents selling their own homes left those homes on the market longer without changing the price (as compared to sellers represented by agents), waited longer to accept an offer and ultimately sold for approx. 3% more than the statistics suggested that similar houses were selling for. Because they got the full 3%, the authors suggested, it was worth the extra effort. Had they only been receiving a commission on that 3%, the extra effort wouldn’t have been economically justified.
Finally, we sold our home in North County San Diego three years ago (2007). We insisted on setting the price $125,000 higher than the agent (very well known in the area) recommended. We received three offers within two weeks and ultimately sold for $10,000 less than asking price ($115,000 more than the agent had recommended). Yes, maybe it was a fluke, but I think people should have more respect for their own instincts. And, as I mentioned in that other thread, a good real estate attorney should be able to give you even more value than an agent.

[njtosd]

drboom-
I completely agree with you. I have to say that the attitude taken by one of the realtors in that other thread was very high handed – for example, his/her (apparently) unilateral decision to refuse to deal with unrepresented buyers. I didn’t see any suggestion that he checked with his clients before turning potential buyers away. . .
Further, I’m not sure if you’ve read the original Freakonomics book (authors are an award winning econ prof from Univ. of Chicago and a reporter for the NYT), but it includes a fascinating large scale statistical study of prices received by sellers that sold through agents versus those who went the FSBO route. Almost no difference in ultimate sale price (but the sellers obviously made the 2-3% or so that would otherwise have gone to the agent). Interestingly, the article also pointed out that agents selling their own homes left those homes on the market longer without changing the price (as compared to sellers represented by agents), waited longer to accept an offer and ultimately sold for approx. 3% more than the statistics suggested that similar houses were selling for. Because they got the full 3%, the authors suggested, it was worth the extra effort. Had they only been receiving a commission on that 3%, the extra effort wouldn’t have been economically justified.
Finally, we sold our home in North County San Diego three years ago (2007). We insisted on setting the price $125,000 higher than the agent (very well known in the area) recommended. We received three offers within two weeks and ultimately sold for $10,000 less than asking price ($115,000 more than the agent had recommended). Yes, maybe it was a fluke, but I think people should have more respect for their own instincts. And, as I mentioned in that other thread, a good real estate attorney should be able to give you even more value than an agent.

[njtosd]

The one thing people seem to be forgetting is that there are real estate attorneys who can advise unrepresented buyers (in the event someone sees an advantage in not having an agent). Although their advice is not free, in general they’re going to cost less than an agent’s commission. More importantly they get paid whether the sale goes through or not, so they are more likely to be straight with any bad news about a property. My husband and I used one when we bought our first home in Univ. City (we actually had an agent but the relo package included $1000 in Attys fees). He was very useful (gave us general stats on the rate of slab problems with homes backing up to canyons, litigation involving houses on various streets, etc.). Just a thought.

[njtosd]

The one thing people seem to be forgetting is that there are real estate attorneys who can advise unrepresented buyers (in the event someone sees an advantage in not having an agent). Although their advice is not free, in general they’re going to cost less than an agent’s commission. More importantly they get paid whether the sale goes through or not, so they are more likely to be straight with any bad news about a property. My husband and I used one when we bought our first home in Univ. City (we actually had an agent but the relo package included $1000 in Attys fees). He was very useful (gave us general stats on the rate of slab problems with homes backing up to canyons, litigation involving houses on various streets, etc.). Just a thought.

[njtosd]

The one thing people seem to be forgetting is that there are real estate attorneys who can advise unrepresented buyers (in the event someone sees an advantage in not having an agent). Although their advice is not free, in general they’re going to cost less than an agent’s commission. More importantly they get paid whether the sale goes through or not, so they are more likely to be straight with any bad news about a property. My husband and I used one when we bought our first home in Univ. City (we actually had an agent but the relo package included $1000 in Attys fees). He was very useful (gave us general stats on the rate of slab problems with homes backing up to canyons, litigation involving houses on various streets, etc.). Just a thought.

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