re: I hate realtors

Good ones are worth some money, but not 6%....2% max.

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My main issue is that I don't understand why I need the realtor to negotiate. It just muddies the waters. I should be able to talk directly to the buyer to negotiate X, we come to agreement, and then use realtor to draft up contract , worry about inspections, etc. I just feel like shite gets covered up or missed when negotiating through 2 third parties.

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While you may have experience and understand the process, you have to realize there are A LOT of people that don't know a damn thing about it. And maybe they aren't truly ready if they are in this particular position, but it takes knowledge, time, and an understanding of how the process works to do almost everything on your own. This person may not truly understand the value of their home in different markets, too.

I agree the process could probably be a little better, but you need agents to represent their client's best interest, hence two third parties and not one.

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My main issue is that I don't understand why I need the realtor to negotiate. It just muddies the waters. I should be able to talk directly to the buyer to negotiate X, we come to agreement, and then use realtor to draft up contract

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Agree with this, once an offer is in the works, the realtor adds no value to the negotiation process, only roadblocks. Otherwise, I found the services of finding places for us to look at and getting our old place sold very valuable. It was a lot of work for our realtor.

A realtor for sellers makes sense if you don’t want to be ready for showings at the drop of a hat and giving up your weekends for open houses.

For buyers, doesn’t make a lot of sense if you’re shopping within a certain radius of where you already live.

A new peeve of mine in the process: mortgage brokers. I strayed from my realtor’s “recommended” broker and went straight to the bank, which led to huge savings. At that point, it became VERY clear that my realtor was getting kickbacks from this broker.

Some of the most unprofessional, incompetent people I've ever met were realtors.

If they dont save you more than their commission its not worth it

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does work so you don't have to

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This. The realtor hate on this board is fascinating and weird. It's a concierge service that people think should be free. There is no law requiring this service to buy or sell property. You are 100% allowed to do this all by yourself.

While I do agree the pricing structure could use revamping (and ed requirements increased), the transfer of property can be overwhelming to many people and it's a colossal pain at times. It's no different than hiring someone else to do your taxes. Do I want to do that? Hard pass.

And whoever said they hold the MLS hostage...it's literally theirs. They pay for it and upload the information to it. How do you think listing information gets there?

My realtor is awesome. Will use him everytime I need him just to take care of the details. Wife and I barely have enough time to keep track of chores around the house.

I like the hot slutty looking ones with the desperate hustle thing going on.

There are some situations where having a realtor is useful.

Had to move to a new city for a job and we worked with a realtor to help us find an apartment while out of state. We didn't have to pay him a penny. He helped us understand the area, came up with a list of apartments that fit our needs and budget, and helped us get everything set up. We ended up in an apartment we loved and he got paid a commission from the apartment. We both left happy.

We also recently bought a new construction home from a builder. We weren't going to use a realtor, but we ended up working with one because they had a lease buy out program. They got a commission from the builder and used part of that to completely buy out our remaining lease from the previously mentioned apartment. Again, we didn't have to pay them a penny and we both left happy. They also helped us deal with the apartment management when they weren't being responsive.

There are situations when working with a realtor can benefit you greatly. I can also understand that there are some situations where that may not be the case, especially if you end up with a bad one.