Why don't people like Realtors?

[windowdressing]

Value of a refinancing appraisal is often very different than what a buyer will pay for it.

we'll see ...

 

[Fisher]

If you buy a $300,000 home, your Realtor will earn, after all's said and done, $4,500. If you buy a $275,000 home, the Realtor will earn $4,125. That $375 difference? Doesn't mean anything. Your Realtor is not interested in getting you to do anything than buy a home. Any home. Sometimes we have to have come-to-Jesus conversations with buyers. "Since you don't like any of the kitchens in the 40 homes I've shown you because they haven't been remodeled, you're either going to have to settle, or you're going to have to increase what you're willing to pay." 'Course we don't say it quite like that, but that's the upshot.

In my area, the realtors charge 3% on each side so that is $9K for one party and $18K for both sides on your $300K home, and seller's realtors often convince the buyer to let them dual represent to double their fee. That said, I have talked to several prospective buyers who did away with the Realtor because they wouldn't even show them property in the price range they told them they were looking for when properties in those ranges were clearly available.

Once your contract has been signed, attorney review issues have been settled, home inspection issues have been settled -- the next thing your Realtor's monitoring is to make sure your Buyer has their financing in place before the Financing Contingency comes up. That's all done in the background and may require a half-dozen calls you don't even know about. A good Realtor isn't going to upset you unless she has to, so you often don't know too much about what's going on. After that date's been met, your contract goes on "maintenance." Only thing that should have to be done from them 'til closing is to put out unusual fires -- which you hope you don't have. Good Realtors make sure they touch base once a week during that time. Some, like in any profession, are idiots.

And during all that post contract period most realtors are not the ones who are ironing out those issues--it is the closing agent, the buyers themselves, and the lenders. A half-dozen calls "monitoring"--oh the humanity.

By law, a Realtor can't withhold a listed property from the MLS for more than 24 hours (I think it is). If a real estate office is the premier agency in the area, they may have 100 agents working for them. As they get close to listing a property, they may mention that kind of home it is at a sales meeting...without any identifying information for fear someone will end-run them and get the listing. When the home is finally listed, agents in that office may already have a number of buyers lined up to look at it, just waiting for it to go into the MLS. This is a good deal for the Seller. Don't know why you wouldn't like it.

What's wrong with a realtor convincing a naive seller to list their property for less than what they could otherwise get for it so their boss can come in and snatch it up for his rental property business and the listing agent can move up to getting a base staff pay instead of relying just on commissions? Don't know why you would like it unless you are the boss. But hey, one can always file a complaint with realtor board :roll:

 

[MaggieD]

In my area, the realtors charge 3% on each side so that is $9K for one party and $18K for both sides on your $300K home, and seller's realtors often convince the buyer to let them dual represent to double their fee. That said, I have talked to several prospective buyers who did away with the Realtor because they wouldn't even show them property in the price range they told them they were looking for when properties in those ranges were clearly available.

Then the listing agent is charging 6% and paying out 3% to the buyer's agent. Every state's market is different, and sometimes different within the state. Most metro area rates are very competitive, but I could see 6% in areas where market time was generally longer or home prices were lower on average. *shrug* -- And, of course, just because a Realtor says it's 6% doesn't mean that's a non-negotiable fee. In fact, asking a simple, "Is that the best you can do?" when a Realtor knows you're interviewing other Realtors is likely to get a lower commission. Ask and you shall receive.[/QUOTE]

And during all that post contract period most realtors are not the ones who are ironing out those issues--it is the closing agent, the buyers themselves, and the lenders. A half-dozen calls "monitoring"--oh the humanity.

Home inspection issues are generally not just: "Buyer writes letter to seller asking for the moon. Seller agrees." Home inspection issues are negotiations. Your attorney isn't involved in that -- neither is the closing agent. The two Realtors, representing Buyer and Seller, are negotiated out these issues. It can be quite contentious and, if done poorly, deals can fall.

Your closing agent (in areas that use them) has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not the buyer gets a mortgage. Neither does your attorney. Finding out what stage a buyer's financing is in is the job of the seller's Realtor...keeping his client informed, watching for lies that keep the home off the market while a loan officer is using his client's (buyer) love of your home to clean up his credit so he can get a mortgage in six months, meeting with the appraiser and providing him with the data he needs to make sure the seller's home appraises out. No one but the seller's Realtor monitors these things.

What's wrong with a realtor convincing a naive seller to list their property for less than what they could otherwise get for it so their boss can come in and snatch it up for his rental property business and the listing agency can move up to getting a base staff pay instead of relying just on commissions? Don't know why you would like it unless you are the boss. But hey, one can always file a complaint with realtor board :roll:

What's wrong with it? It's illegal. Lying and cheating Realtors don't stay in business. They lose their licenses. Some go to jail. As to getting on the broker's payroll? That's not going to happen.