When are we going to get rid of Real Estate Agents

[gluon]

rj32's opinion is mostly irrelevant, yea ofcourse if you have a real estate business an agent is useful

but for the people that sell a home a few times in their lifetime it is a scam. saving 10,000 for a tiny amount of work is a no brainer

[MisterDiapers]

Our business model doesn’t require us to sell fast so we often wait a little while for the top price

The agents hourly rate is not all that high after a month or more of showings and certainly much less than the value of my time

If you paid them by the hour their incentive would be to leave it on the market and draw a wage

I’m paying for an outcome, not the number of hours

That said a good agent will secure the sale faster than a bad one

Everyone has to get paid and nickel and diming people isn’t a good long run business model

again valid points, but your view of the business (as a developer) is much different than the average suburban family buying/selling their home every 10 years or so.

they know the neighborhood, know everything there is to know about the house and besides the showings and standardized paperwork, there isn't much else that can't be done on their own.

[Joseph1990]

our business model doesn’t require us to sell fast so we often wait a little while for the top price

the agents hourly rate is not all that high after a month or more of showings and certainly much less than the value of my time

if you paid them by the hour their incentive would be to leave it on the market and draw a wage

i’m paying for an outcome, not the number of hours

that said a good agent will secure the sale faster than a bad one

everyone has to get paid and nickel and diming people isn’t a good long run business model

a hurrr durrr i own car dealerships car salesmen are valuable to me so they are valuable to everyone else a hurr derrr lollolololololol

[Lefticle]

Just LOL @ selling your house instead of renting it out

[howimliving]

can confirm
ex wife, who didnt work a day while we where married, is now a real estate “agent”.

30mm?

[r32gojirra]

\

How many homes did your wife sell this month?

Actually we just went into contract on the second of our sales this year.

After capital gains taxes, agents fees, etc we should make a total of around $380k free and clear off both sales

We both have regular jobs but the “side hustle” of property development has already surpassed that significantly

they're going the way of the travel agent soon srs

just LOL @ their fee being a % instead of a flat rate

some site is gonna come out doing it for a flat rate and then RE gaygents are gonna have to match it or go back to slooting

It’s not a flat percentage though

For an apartment in the $300-400k range they usually take 3%

In the $1m+ range it’s around 2% recognising on absolute terms they’ll make more

[Joseph1990]

Actually we just went into contract on the second of our sales this year.

After capital gains taxes, agents fees, etc we should make a total of around $380k free and clear off both sales

We both have regular jobs but the “side hustle” of property development has already surpassed that significantly

You fixed up your parents old house and sold it when they died now you trump level "property developer" "side hustle"



brb I sold bitcoin I bought in 2011 I iz investment banking guru wizard warlock lvl 99 mage #1 DPS in server.

[HYDRAE]

Property developer

I’ve paid $80k to agents in commissions so far this year alone

I’m a repeat customer so I pay around 2%

Lol at thinking I’m going to give up weekends to do showings

surely you are not so dense you can't see the difference between your situation and the average home seller/buyer.

[r32gojirra]

You fixed up your parents old house and sold it when they died now you trump level "property developer" "side hustle"



brb I sold bitcoin I bought in 2011 I iz investment banking guru wizard warlock lvl 99 mage #1 DPS in server.

Nah these are knock-down rebuilds

Renovating old houses is a losing game

Buy a block zoned for multi-unit, knock down the house and put up 3 or more in a desirable location

[_zman]

Zillow is working on a product to basically remove real-estate agents. So I think a change is underway.

However, I worked with a RE Agent on my first house and found it very valuable. If you didn't find value in your agent, then you had a bad agent. I personally saw all the benefits of having a buffer between the buyer and the seller and he did a lot of work finding me the house I wanted. Knowing what I know now and investing in RE, I probably won't need one in the future, but a good one knows a lot of information about a new neighborhood that you will not know. They'll understand the market, and whether the new house is marketable when you end up selling. They can save you time and money and do serve a purpose. My agent would send me information before houses even hit the market.

If your agent is just sending you listings you can find online and performing a walk-thru telling you they like the colors of the room, you have a bad agent.

[r32gojirra]

surely you are not so dense you can't see the difference between your situation and the average home seller/buyer.

If anything it’s more important

Their one-off sale is most likely their biggest financial asset

I am absolutely certain at $1m price range they’re leaving money on the table without an agent

I don’t care so much as I’ll unload 3 maybe 4 in a year

But I always hold out for top dollar on the first sale in a development

[WellHungOver]

I agree that residential realtors are nearly useless. The way they get paid is ridiculous. I’m licensed in three states but not in sales. The process to buy and sell a home is really simple, people just need to do a little research. Zillow has been working to kill the buyers agent for a while now and hopefully they come through. I know the amount of work that goes into residential sales so there’s no way in hell I would pay someone 6% to list my home.

[SouthDakotaBrah]

You signed the papers that said the appliances weren't included and for some reason that's the agent's fault? Just LOL.

It's up to you to negotiate the terms of sale, not your agent. What does he care if you get the washer/dryer? He's not living there, you are. Since you didn't speak up they assumed you didn't care whether they stayed or not. A close mouth doesn't get fed.

you guys I'm just saying, this was literally the one thing the real estate agent could have done to help out with. I didn't have time to read all the papers (srs) it was my first time buying a house and I had less than an hour from the time I saw the house to going through three rounds of bidding to buy it, there's no way I was going to find details in the paper work like the washer/dryer not coming with the house (and I don't have the experience of a non-first time home buyer to know that). That's like the only thing a real estate agent could have helped me with (srs) so I probably had a bad agent, but based on my knowledge of peers who have gone into real estate, I'm confident saying that most of them aren't very useful

[MisterDiapers]

Zillow is working on a product to basically remove real-estate agents. So I think a change is underway.

However, I worked with a RE Agent on my first house and found it very valuable. If you didn't find value in your agent, then you had a bad agent. I personally saw all the benefits of having a buffer between the buyer and the seller and he did a lot of work finding me the house I wanted. Knowing what I know now and investing in RE, I probably won't need one in the future, but a good one knows a lot of information about a new neighborhood that you will not know. They'll understand the market, and whether the new house is marketable when you end up selling. They can save you time and money and do serve a purpose. My agent would send me information before houses even hit the market.

If your agent is just sending you listings you can find online and performing a walk-thru telling you they like the colors of the room, you have a bad agent.

would zillow just be the online intermediary platform for this type of thing? would showings, etc people just be paid minimum wage to walk people through homes? (as they should)

[Ratfish]

It’s not a flat percentage though

For an apartment in the $300-400k range they usually take 3%

In the $1m+ range it’s around 2% recognising on absolute terms they’ll make more

so you sell a 1 million dollar house and the REA makes like 5k/hr

mirin

[AlwaysFocus]

In my area they get insider advantage of things coming onto the market, they have faster and more access to information. These are critical and key in a market like mine, as everything here sells immediately and over asking, quite often hundreds of thousands over asking.

Source: friend is an agent and personal experience



Just lol at paying full price for an agent though, Id never do that. I just pay a fee for his access ability and do most of the leg work.

Actually considering getting a license myself

[MisterDiapers]

In my area they get insider advantage of things coming onto the market, they have faster and more access to information. These are critical and key in a market like mine, as everything here sells immediately and over asking, quite often hundreds of thousands over asking.

Source: friend is an agent and personal experience



Just lol at paying full price for an agent though, Id never do that. I just pay a fee for the access and do most of the leg work.

the "MLS" where things are posted costs like $20/month to access. brb paying an agent to browse a subscription site like ebay...lmao

[multiplemiggs]

Can confirm
Ex wife, who didnt work a day while we where married, is now a real estate “agent”.

Lol
Totally useless woman.

Fukking lol. This cracked me the fuk up.

[skier!]

The value added by real estate agents is the same as any other trade that my time is too valuable to waste on

I’d rather get paid to spend an hour doing what I’m good at and spend a fraction of that money to pay the agent

Sucks to hear your time is worthless OP

i thought I did pretty well, but I don't make 90k an hour.

6% of 1.5 mil is 90k

[MisterDiapers]

Apart from the inconvenience of it all, lots of owners do it for their own safety. Especially if it's an expensive property

I certainly wouldn't go showing my own expensive properties to any random loser, or even publish my name and number with an ad

hint: all of this information is online already and anyone can access it

[CanuckGame]

RE agents are a fukkn joke.

Just sold my house and paid over 30k to the buyers agent and my agent.

The extent of what these fukkn lowlifes did-

My agent:

-met with me, looked at my house, signed agreement to list papers
-hired a professional photographer to take pics of my house, and listed my house online.
-presented the offers to us

Done.


Buyers agent:
-brought buyers to my house, unlocked the door and stood inside while the buyers looked around
-presented offer


How the fukk is this $30-35,000 worth of work?

[MuscleXtreme]

rj32's opinion is mostly irrelevant, yea ofcourse if you have a real estate business an agent is useful

but for the people that sell a home a few times in their lifetime it is a scam. saving 10,000 for a tiny amount of work is a no brainer

Yep, especially when you can get all the pdf forms for free. It’s really a no brainer in filling them out.

[MisterDiapers]

RE agents are a fukkn joke.

Just sold my house and paid over 30k to the buyers agent and my agent.

The extent of what these fukkn lowlifes did-

My agent:

-met with me, looked at my house, signed agreement to list papers
-hired a professional photographer to take pics of my house, and listed my house online.
-presented the offers to us

Done.


Buyers agent:
-brought buyers to my house, unlocked the door and stood inside while the buyers looked around
-presented offer


How the fukk is this $30-35,000 worth of work?

why did you agree to the commission they proposed? shoulda told em here's 5k and fk right off

[soaponarope1]

real estate agent or real estate agent husband detected LOL

They have their place, but there is absolutely no way what they do is worth 3% of a homes value. biggest racket in the world.

I mean he's not really that wrong though. From my minimal experience with buying and selling real estate (and from literally everything else in life) I've learned that dealing with people is a fuking nightmare. If I'm selling a 250,000 house, having some nerd stage it, take pictures, list it, arrange for the inspector/appraiser/whatever else, and then actually field calls from and tour with potential buyers is fairly valuable. Is it $15,000 valuable? Not in my opinion, but there's definitely a case to be made that it adds value.

I'd be more inclined to believe it's worth a flat fee and then a high percentage of whatever you get above market value, ie... if the home is listed at 300,000 and sells for 320,000, the RE gets a flat fee of 2% (6,000) and then 50% of the over market number, which would work out to $16,000.

But either way I'd rather rope than deal with a bunch of moron buyers or sellers. You ever try to sell something on craigslist? Imagine doing that but with a house.

[WoofieNugget]

They should be paid by the hour and then get a bonus on top of that for speed if they sell it fast or find you something fast. That would incentivize hustle and make it so that they don't just sit on it.

Truth is though, most agents make nothing. The top 5% make all the money by being brokers and basically leeching money out of their employees. When new agents sell a place they don't get anywhere close to 5%. Usually 40% goes to the broker off the top for providing "paperwork" and an office, another 20% to taxes (at least) and sometimes it's even split. So a 15k commission goes down to 5k pretty fast. And for the first two years you're working essentially for free to "learn the business" while another agent makes you go to their crappy open houses to "build a book of clients".

I've known agents who sell 10-15 properties a year and barely clear 60 grand. And they work like dogs at all hours of the day, nights and weekends.

It's ridiculous that their compensation is commission based. It takes no more work to sell a 700k house than a 300k condo.

[p7nk]

at the most entry level i agree with opie.. which is why you almost always hear about former pornstars now being realtors

[MuscleXtreme]

Zillow is working on a product to basically remove real-estate agents. So I think a change is underway.

However, I worked with a RE Agent on my first house and found it very valuable. If you didn't find value in your agent, then you had a bad agent. I personally saw all the benefits of having a buffer between the buyer and the seller and he did a lot of work finding me the house I wanted. Knowing what I know now and investing in RE, I probably won't need one in the future, but a good one knows a lot of information about a new neighborhood that you will not know. They'll understand the market, and whether the new house is marketable when you end up selling. They can save you time and money and do serve a purpose. My agent would send me information before houses even hit the market.

If your agent is just sending you listings you can find online and performing a walk-thru telling you they like the colors of the room, you have a bad agent.

You can find more information about a neighborhood on your own than you can through an agent. Agents will not supply demographic information as it can be interpreted as illegal.

If I want to find out by a neighborhood, I can look up crime stats, voting patterns, education stats, demographics, average home value, and if I want more detail, I can post up in City Data or Nextdoor.

I’ve never worked with an agent that provided me with anything of value outside of access to MLS. From which, I found my own house.

[frutistafreeze]

RE agents are a fukkn joke.

Just sold my house and paid over 30k to the buyers agent and my agent.

The extent of what these fukkn lowlifes did-

My agent:

-met with me, looked at my house, signed agreement to list papers
-hired a professional photographer to take pics of my house, and listed my house online.
-presented the offers to us

Done.


Buyers agent:
-brought buyers to my house, unlocked the door and stood inside while the buyers looked around
-presented offer


How the fukk is this $30-35,000 worth of work?

Well if you could've done it yourself why didn't you? Can't complain AFTER you got hosed.

Either way, ill get my real estate license when I sell my place or buy any real estate in the future to avoid the commissions and BS

[TonyTriangles]

i sold my house if florida w/o using a realtor. was on the market for a couple of weeks and for the most part, was a pretty smooth process.

i'm probably going to be in the market later this year, but will definitely use a realtor (my cuz). a lot of the older homes here in hawaii have had illegal modifications and wont disclose ****

[_zman]

would zillow just be the online intermediary platform for this type of thing? would showings, etc people just be paid minimum wage to walk people through homes? (as they should)

I did a quick search and I'm not seeing it as a product yet on their website, but from my understanding yes, they would play an intermediary role. You can view the home online and walk-thru online.

I have a family member that does this for realtors already with a virtual walk thru taking tons of 360 photos or video. I obv. would still hire an inspector for the property if I were to use this method, and I can't imagine buying a house unseen personally, but the virtual walk thru is rather good. It would make it easier to do a side by side comparison of properties as well.

It's also one of the reasons I might be buying Zillow stock. For the most part, I can't figure out why consumers do what they do, but a recent WSJ article points out how terrible people are at buying homes right now and some consumers didn't even walk around the property before buying and end up selling a week later after finding problems.

You can find more information about a neighborhood on your own than you can through an agent. Agents will not supply demographic information as it can be interpreted as illegal.

If I want to find out by a neighborhood, I can look up crime stats, voting patterns, education stats, demographics, average home value, and if I want more detail, I can post up in City Data or Nextdoor.

I’ve never worked with an agent that provided me with anything of value outside of access to MLS. From which, I found my own house.

Couldn't disagree more. Just lol if you believe govt statistics on crime in a neighborhood/city/state.

My agent would walk me thru each and every listing and list the pros and cons of the house. He'd take one look at a pipe, HVAC system, power panel and know what is original, what isn't, what's illegal, what isn't. When I saw a sump pump for a house on a hill, I was initially alarmed and he knew it was standard for the neighborhood. He knew building codes and where I should negotiate and why. He pointed out steps that were an inch too low, which allowed me to negotiate more. He even found mold hidden under a sink in a basement bathroom that I never would have noticed, so we walked. He knew which school districts parents preferred and why. He paid for himself a few times over.

If you think you're going to find all the information you need online, you'll spend countless hours instead of a 5 min chat with an expert in the field.

By all means, if you think you can do better without a RE agent, go for it. Is the avg Joe better off without a bad RE Agent, sure. But not an expert RE Agent.