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re: Real estate agents, are they really needed anymore?
Posted on 7/31/21 at 9:21 am to flip82lsu
Posted on 7/31/21 at 9:21 am to flip82lsu
First house I bought I bought it from the owner and negotiated with he and his wife and got them to come off $10 grand. Since I was a land surveyor I took care of that and did the title transfer.At that time I also secured my own mortgage at my savings and loan( this was before 2008). I don’t need a realtor.
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Posted on 7/31/21 at 9:36 am to flip82lsu
We just bought a new house and sold ours.
We had over 25 offers and 85 viewings in 4 days. We got 26% over asking and asking was 70k over when we bought it 3.5 years ago.
Dealing with a 5 month old while working and temporarily moving into my parents for a week for showings was well worth the brokerage fees to us. Our agent played the bidding war in these "unprecedented" times. Even got a cash option, completely non refundable, if they backed out before due diligence. Our agent vetted every offer to let them know sale price would be higher than appraisal, quick close date, short lease while we remodel our new house, and a bunch of other smaller factors, while making a spreadsheet outlining everything in real time.
You really pay the selling agent for exposure and handling the process and technicalities. How much that's really worth is subjective.
We had over 25 offers and 85 viewings in 4 days. We got 26% over asking and asking was 70k over when we bought it 3.5 years ago.
Dealing with a 5 month old while working and temporarily moving into my parents for a week for showings was well worth the brokerage fees to us. Our agent played the bidding war in these "unprecedented" times. Even got a cash option, completely non refundable, if they backed out before due diligence. Our agent vetted every offer to let them know sale price would be higher than appraisal, quick close date, short lease while we remodel our new house, and a bunch of other smaller factors, while making a spreadsheet outlining everything in real time.
You really pay the selling agent for exposure and handling the process and technicalities. How much that's really worth is subjective.
Posted on 7/31/21 at 9:39 am to flip82lsu
Not a big fan of agents, but the right one can be a blessing. We bought our first home in our 20’s and used an agent. She was ok; snobby, but got the job done. She usually “didn’t sell houses in our price range” but made an “exception “ for us, whatever that meant.
When we sold our house 7 years later to move to a better district for schools, we hired what we knew to be a good agent. We were not pleased, however, when she passed us on to one of her associates who we were not fond of. She was only contracted to sell ours, but was having a hard time finding us what we wanted in the new district.
A couple of weeks later, my wife was contacted by the dad of a guy she used to go to school with. Even though our new area wasn’t one he normally worked, he knew through my wife’s mom that we were having trouble finding a new place. (This was 2004) we jumped at the chance because of his reputation.
The next weekend, he found us the perfect house for us. The seller and their agent had just dropped the price by $15k. We offered $5k above asking. They accepted the offer.
3 weeks later, we happened to be having lunch with the agent going over inspection reports when their agent called him. She informed our agent that we were out because we had not filed everything and they were accepting a new offer. She even tried to deny we had written a earnest money check. Many agents would have backed down and slinked away from this particular “high commission agent”. Our normally mild mannered older agent gentleman opened a verbal can of whoop arse on her, the likes of which I rarely see.
“They’ve done EVERYTHING by the book. All paperwork properly filed and notarized. You try pulling this shite because you suddenly got a better offer and your arse is getting sued into oblivion. I know what the frick is going on in this deal; you don’t!!! Pull your head out of your arse or I’ve got a judge that will do it for you!!!”
Needless to say, 10 days later we closed on our new house. Their agent spent the whole time at closing looking very uncomfortable. She didn’t even know the sellers were upside down on the property. We found out later that she didn’t even take a commission because she fricked her sellers over good.
When we sold our house 7 years later to move to a better district for schools, we hired what we knew to be a good agent. We were not pleased, however, when she passed us on to one of her associates who we were not fond of. She was only contracted to sell ours, but was having a hard time finding us what we wanted in the new district.
A couple of weeks later, my wife was contacted by the dad of a guy she used to go to school with. Even though our new area wasn’t one he normally worked, he knew through my wife’s mom that we were having trouble finding a new place. (This was 2004) we jumped at the chance because of his reputation.
The next weekend, he found us the perfect house for us. The seller and their agent had just dropped the price by $15k. We offered $5k above asking. They accepted the offer.
3 weeks later, we happened to be having lunch with the agent going over inspection reports when their agent called him. She informed our agent that we were out because we had not filed everything and they were accepting a new offer. She even tried to deny we had written a earnest money check. Many agents would have backed down and slinked away from this particular “high commission agent”. Our normally mild mannered older agent gentleman opened a verbal can of whoop arse on her, the likes of which I rarely see.
“They’ve done EVERYTHING by the book. All paperwork properly filed and notarized. You try pulling this shite because you suddenly got a better offer and your arse is getting sued into oblivion. I know what the frick is going on in this deal; you don’t!!! Pull your head out of your arse or I’ve got a judge that will do it for you!!!”
Needless to say, 10 days later we closed on our new house. Their agent spent the whole time at closing looking very uncomfortable. She didn’t even know the sellers were upside down on the property. We found out later that she didn’t even take a commission because she fricked her sellers over good.
Posted on 7/31/21 at 9:46 am to flip82lsu
As a realtor I deal with FSBO sellers fairly often. I’ve had some who weren’t interested in listing their property. Frankly a lot of people who try and sell it themselves end up with a listing agent because of a number of reasons.
Well let’s start with the contract. Are you hiring an attorney to make sure your interests are protected?
If you’re a seller, are you pricing it right? If you’re not, it will sit there. If you’re low you’ll have plenty of activity. Are you going to be at the house all the time to show it? If you can be that’s great, but few sellers can. If they aren’t looking at yours today, a realtor is probably showing them another one.
Then there’s the title work and closing company. You handling that?
BTW, do you think when buyers are looking in Zillow, or Realtor.com, etc they’re contacting the seller? Mostly no, they hit the “I want more information” which triggers the call to guess who…..me. Or another realtor who happens to own that zip code.
In today’s market buyer side you really do want a realtor. Good ones will get you on properties that meets your needs fast, which is critical. They can tell you the average days on market for the area which will let you know how to offer on it. Inspectors to recommend, coordinating with the lenders and title companies. It’s a lot more than just saying sign here and get a check.
If you go the FSBO route by all means do so. Just have the buyers use a realtor so they do the work that will be tedious and generally inconvenient (inspections, communication with lenders, etc) and you as the seller pay half the commission as listing it. Good realtors won’t care. We’re still working for our clients.
Well let’s start with the contract. Are you hiring an attorney to make sure your interests are protected?
If you’re a seller, are you pricing it right? If you’re not, it will sit there. If you’re low you’ll have plenty of activity. Are you going to be at the house all the time to show it? If you can be that’s great, but few sellers can. If they aren’t looking at yours today, a realtor is probably showing them another one.
Then there’s the title work and closing company. You handling that?
BTW, do you think when buyers are looking in Zillow, or Realtor.com, etc they’re contacting the seller? Mostly no, they hit the “I want more information” which triggers the call to guess who…..me. Or another realtor who happens to own that zip code.
In today’s market buyer side you really do want a realtor. Good ones will get you on properties that meets your needs fast, which is critical. They can tell you the average days on market for the area which will let you know how to offer on it. Inspectors to recommend, coordinating with the lenders and title companies. It’s a lot more than just saying sign here and get a check.
If you go the FSBO route by all means do so. Just have the buyers use a realtor so they do the work that will be tedious and generally inconvenient (inspections, communication with lenders, etc) and you as the seller pay half the commission as listing it. Good realtors won’t care. We’re still working for our clients.
This post was edited on 7/31/21 at 9:52 am
Posted on 7/31/21 at 9:55 am to Volsfan82169
quote:Sounds familiar.
Our normally mild mannered older agent gentleman opened a verbal can of whoop arse on her, the likes of which I rarely see.
My kids like watching when I go off on some idiot.
Posted on 7/31/21 at 10:01 am to flip82lsu
They’ll try to tell you that you’re leaving money on the table without them. I see them as useful especially for elderly people, uneducated people or people without time. Certainly not the requirement they try to position themselves as.
Posted on 7/31/21 at 10:04 am to llfshoals
quote:
Well let’s start with the contract. Are you hiring an attorney to make sure your interests are protected?
This is a bunch of crap. You can get the same premade buyer/seller agreements as the real estate agents do. I’m pretty sure most of that language is standard and form for the state.
quote:
If you’re a seller, are you pricing it right?
Pretty easy to find this data. Look at sales at per sqft for last 6 months of similar size and location. Real Estate agents like to act like they’re some data farmers. Go do some research on the internet and figure it out yourself. The market will self correct you.
quote:
Then there’s the title work and closing company. You handling that?
This is literally a phone call. I did this all myself. The agent didn’t do jack. My mortgage broker actually did more upfront work with this than the agent.
People act like they need a real estate agent when all they do is complete some forms for you and then make a bunch of one-sided recommendations to their “buddies” they get kick backs on.
Our house listed for $387,500. I negotiated it and picked the price point which was I offered $375,000. The agent didn’t go crap for us. Fixing the things we requested, I coordinated. All he did was late to pick up his check from the title company.
This is from the buyer side of things, which I guess doesn’t matter since you not paying the fee anyway.
This post was edited on 7/31/21 at 10:12 am
Posted on 7/31/21 at 10:07 am to flip82lsu
Truth of the matter it’s convenience if your buying and most people under sell their house on their own. Plus I don’t care about the fees because I always make the other party pay the full 6%.
Posted on 7/31/21 at 10:10 am to llfshoals
Why don’t your clients pay you directly instead of the seller?
Posted on 7/31/21 at 10:14 am to joebauers
quote:They can. I’ve negotiated contracts that specify it. Doesn’t happen often though
Why don’t your clients pay you directly instead of the seller?
Posted on 7/31/21 at 10:14 am to flip82lsu
We just sold our house and didn't use one. I did all the comparative analysis for comps and what we sold for was right at what the house appraised for. Just search websites for helpfull hints for staging and what the parts of the process are. It was very easy. Only part that was frustrating was dealing with buyers agent, she was horrible. Would tell us one thing one day then the opposite the next day. Her communication skills were terrible. So not dealing with her would have been nice, but not worth $11k to use an agent.
Also, sites now are out there where you can have your house listed on the MLS for a flat fee. We paid $600 and had our house listed on the agents site. Not sure they liked it but our house sold within 2 weeks on the market. First couple offers during the 1st week were conditional so we didn't counter.
Edited to add: Everyone says a seller will undersell if you sale it yourself. It's not hard to do research on what you should price your house at now days with websites that show you what houses sold for and of course current listings. Also, if you undersale for 5k but your commission was 10k, you still came out ahead.
Also, sites now are out there where you can have your house listed on the MLS for a flat fee. We paid $600 and had our house listed on the agents site. Not sure they liked it but our house sold within 2 weeks on the market. First couple offers during the 1st week were conditional so we didn't counter.
Edited to add: Everyone says a seller will undersell if you sale it yourself. It's not hard to do research on what you should price your house at now days with websites that show you what houses sold for and of course current listings. Also, if you undersale for 5k but your commission was 10k, you still came out ahead.
This post was edited on 7/31/21 at 10:20 am
Posted on 7/31/21 at 10:16 am to flip82lsu
quote:
20k commish, for what??
A Real Estate Agent depending on the side of the sale is nothing more than a pimp that gets a cut from the hookers.
He does absolutely nothing unless he has to whip somebody’s arse when the sale doesn’t close. He also pimps out the houses to make sure they sell.
Posted on 7/31/21 at 10:31 am to DiamondDog
quote:which I then tailor to match my clients needs as well as meet the seller conditions.
This is a bunch of crap. You can get the same premade buyer/seller agreements as the real estate agents do.
There are pre-made contracts out there and if you’re knowledgeable enough on how to structure the conditions to best suit you, good for you, how it works out.
quote:it is, and it isn’t. There’s more to it than a cost per square foot (I also have an appraisal background). Good agents are data miners.
Pretty easy to find this data
quote:ok, you had a bad agent it seems. I haven’t had a single client ever have to call the title company. The only communication the title company ever has is around wire transfers (if they do one) or mail away closing (which they have to coordinate a notary for).
The agent didn’t do jack
We don’t get kick backs from buddies. Nor do we tell them “just overlook this do I can make a sale”. This is your misconception that agents “don’t do anything” bleeding over into your belief we must be corrupt as well. The realtors associations weed those out ruthlessly.
Sounds like you think you know better, I’d suggest you go get your license and give it a try since you think it’s easy. Heck I know one agent who will easily top 100 million in sales this year, you can do better than her right?
Posted on 7/31/21 at 10:45 am to flip82lsu
We sold our house ourselves last summer but had a realtor help us with buying our new one. My wife (no pics) works for a title company and has quite a few friends who were realtors give us some advice on pricing and how to set the house up for showings. Our buyer didn’t use a realtor either so it ended up working out very well with zero commissions and we were able to be a little more flexible for the buyer in that regard as well. Having your house show ready at the drop of a dime was a bitch at times, especially with the dog and a 3 year old, but it all worked out.
Posted on 7/31/21 at 10:50 am to flip82lsu
We just sold our house to a neighbor in December. I priced it high end of per sq ft that neighborhood was going for. Was very easy. Printed templates for Louisiana from google, signed and sent to title company. Title company handles everything. Then we all showed up to sign once we had a clear to close from buyers mortgage agent.
Posted on 7/31/21 at 10:54 am to llfshoals
quote:
llfshoals
I used an agent because things move so fast in my area, but you are overcompensating what you do severely. Anything you do can be found online, whether someone want to spend the time doing it is up to them, but you don't have some magic sauce or hard to aquire technical knowledge.
Posted on 7/31/21 at 11:00 am to flip82lsu
Most realtors we engaged literally asked us the filter questions from Zillow and subscribed us to auto generated email matches, most not a match at all in terms of style, neighborhood, etc. One lady wanted us to sign a contract to deal only with her.
LCH market is a bloodbath right now. Trick is finding soon to be listed homes via friends and family and engaging the sellers before market. Slightly overpaying, but signed contract yesterday.
Saw title company mentioned, poster is correct. A solid title company takes the headache out of it.
LCH market is a bloodbath right now. Trick is finding soon to be listed homes via friends and family and engaging the sellers before market. Slightly overpaying, but signed contract yesterday.
Saw title company mentioned, poster is correct. A solid title company takes the headache out of it.
Posted on 7/31/21 at 11:01 am to llfshoals
Dubious point #1
Getting the price right is very important so I do hear you! However, RE Agent only gives up $100's in commissions to seller's $1,000s or $10,000s in a price change. RE Agents are motivated to sell. Price risk is hugely imbalanced. Was able to figure out comparables in market with that internet thing and # of showings per period of time is pretty good indicator if price is in or out of market. Not difficult.
Dubious point #2
If someone told me they would pay me $30,000 (ie, the commission I am not paying to RE Agents) to show my own home to potential buyers, I would certainly prioritize this. I have a job for you. It pays $5,000 per hour, are you in?
Dubious point #3
No, and neither are RE Agents. I have bought/sold 9 homes. RE Agent's role here is primarily a customer of the Title Company service provider.
The contracts and required documentation scares people. FSBO makes that a piece of cake.
quote:
If you’re a seller, are you pricing it right? If you’re not, it will sit there.
Getting the price right is very important so I do hear you! However, RE Agent only gives up $100's in commissions to seller's $1,000s or $10,000s in a price change. RE Agents are motivated to sell. Price risk is hugely imbalanced. Was able to figure out comparables in market with that internet thing and # of showings per period of time is pretty good indicator if price is in or out of market. Not difficult.
Dubious point #2
quote:
Are you going to be at the house all the time to show it?
If someone told me they would pay me $30,000 (ie, the commission I am not paying to RE Agents) to show my own home to potential buyers, I would certainly prioritize this. I have a job for you. It pays $5,000 per hour, are you in?
Dubious point #3
quote:
Then there’s the title work and closing company. You handling that?
No, and neither are RE Agents. I have bought/sold 9 homes. RE Agent's role here is primarily a customer of the Title Company service provider.
The contracts and required documentation scares people. FSBO makes that a piece of cake.
Posted on 7/31/21 at 11:05 am to Mingo Was His NameO
quote:exactly. The time doing it is the biggest crunch in today’s market.
whether someone want to spend the time doing it is up to them,
As you said, I can keep up with the market, because it’s what I do. It’s not easy for people who aren’t immersed in the data to do it well.
Some can, most can’t just because of the time
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