sam_spider

Howdy

sam_spider

I must admit not every realtor is created equal, some are truly oblivious and some are very good at what they do, but I'd never go along with the commission being justified when we're talking 100's of thousands of dollars. I bet if it were like the car industry where the salesman gets $500-1500 per car regardless of msrp the realtors attitude would change.

I was super impressed with the pics our realtor did for our old house, definitely weren't taken with a cell phone, and I definitely see a value in that. I'd guess the pics are probably $500 or so but they do make a difference.

Nandska

In this day and age, with technology, do we even really need the agents? I mean, it's almost like car dealerships, why not deal directly with the seller. Basically, like Tesla. No middle person. No ADM.

Nandska

Have a site that you can order packages for certain prices.

• You want pictures, ads in sites, ad placed in MLS.
• You want someone to be there for open houses
• You want someone to handle selling your house.
• You want someone to help buy a house
• You need a checklist and easy step-by-step paperwork for seller/buyer

sam_spider

Agreed. Agents are really just needed to open the door to the house to see it. I know they fill out the paperwork and they do some work, but $10-15k (3%) on the average house sale is nuts. Our realtor removed his commission since we had issues with the new house, but I didn't feel quite comfortable with it as it wasn't his fault. Ended up with him getting 1.5% and he wrote it for the buyer side to get 2.5% for a total of 4%. I think 1.5% for each side is reasonable in the grand scheme, or a flat rate of some kind.

WhrDLMI

I think that's where I disagree a little. I think there are a thousand little things that a good agent does that the buyer and seller don't really hear about unless there is a problem. What about unrealistic buyers who want all of the million dumb things the home inspector "finds" in your house fixed before they move in? What about the loan officers at those big banks that have no idea what the local rules are and start asking all kinds of dumb questions and stalling the whole process? I think they deserve to be compensated for that. Maybe take some the opacity out of the system and bill for their expenses?

I definitely agree that, as house prices continue to rise, the actual amount of money these guys pocket gets insane given the number hours they actually spend working each transaction. I also don't think the seller should be funding the whole thing and like the idea of flat fees. Maybe that would help keep home prices down a little and help that first time home buyer a little.

sam_spider

I think that's the issue though, they aren't all good at it, our previous realtor was genuinely clueless about many things. She simply looked at dollar per sq foot and that was it, we had a come to jesus moment with her on the last house we looked at with her, I'd had enough.

Definitely agree they do things we aren't aware of and good ones are involved in the process, I just think the amount of money simply isn't justified. The amount of paperwork and details is the same whether it's a $200k house versus a $2M one. 3% across the board just isn't warranted.

WhrDLMI

Yup. I would also argue that the larger sums of money brings out the people who are only looking to make a quick buck.

WhrDLMI

But what the hell do I know? I'm just some poor schmuck leveraging his future to buy a seven-figure house the paperwork says he can afford but honestly has no business owning.

sam_spider

It'll be fine, the bank said so