Honestly, I've rarely been impressed by the real estate knowledge of either type of agent. Their general incentive is to make a deal happen - "seller's" agents will often try to talk up a below market offer if it gets them a commission faster. Likewise, I've only met one realtor who I felt was really trying to get me the best deal as a buyer.
Zillow CEO: startups trying to disrupt real estate commissions will fail (2012)
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Re: Zillow CEO: startups trying to disrupt real estate commissions will fail (2012)
#242I see at least three counterpoints: 1. Real estate agents aren't often "experts" at real estate valuation, inspection or execution; They have dependencies on appraisers, inspectors, and lawyers. The work an average agent does is more or less cookie-cutter from my anecdotal experience, though I think there is a proportion of rockstar agents that do much more. 2. Not every buyer wants homebuying to be a client-services…
1% sounds crazy expensive to me.
Re: Zillow CEO: startups trying to disrupt real estate commissions will fail (2012)
#243Compass discovers how lucrative opaque real estate markets are.
Re: Zillow CEO: startups trying to disrupt real estate commissions will fail (2012)
#244Earlier quoted context omitted.
Expecting 3%/$30,000 k for being "someone that smoothes things out" on a sale of, let's say a $1M home in CA, is theft.
What if their knowledge of the market and negotiating helped you get an extra $60k in value on the sale of your home vs. selling it yourself?
Re: Zillow CEO: startups trying to disrupt real estate commissions will fail (2012)
#245Earlier quoted context omitted.
Seems to me that having the commission as a % of the sale price is not the right way to go. You lock in with an agent for 3 months and agree to pay them a set fee when they/you sell it. You should pay as a buyer for an agent to represent you. Currently, if I'm not mistaken, all most all agents get paid by the seller and, if you are a buyer, the agent has no legal responsibility to watch out for your interests. The cu…
There are ethical and practical reasons to avoid a system where buyers have a financial incentive to go without representation. In practice buyers without representation are unlikely to close, and sellers are unlikely to accept unrepresented sellers because the sellers agent would charge more money because. Neither the seller or the buy would save a substantial amount of money compared to the old system.
Re: Zillow CEO: startups trying to disrupt real estate commissions will fail (2012)
#246Earlier quoted context omitted.
>(It's one of the reasons why home inspectors are almost completely useless.) I think this is more accurately "home inspectors recommended by the realtor". Home inspections are extremely useful, so long as they are working in your best interest.
Yes but such a crap shoot. And you'll easily spend $500 paying for one. Best advice I ever got was to just hire a general contractor to do it for roughly the same price. They find way more stuff and generally know the codes better. I've had inspectors miss huge structural problems that destroyed me later.
Re: Zillow CEO: startups trying to disrupt real estate commissions will fail (2012)
#247Re: Zillow CEO: startups trying to disrupt real estate commissions will fail (2012)
#248Real estate agents have three things they offer that until recently you could not get on your own. The first is listing on the MLS. The second is the MLS lockbox so other realtors can easily show the listed house. The third is access to the negotiated forms. All of these you can now get from a startup called Savvy Lane for a flat fee. We listed our house in Portland, paid Savvy Lane $495, and it sold 11 days later. I…
The catch is you don't know whether you under priced your house for that or well more than that unless you paid an appraiser or broker to help you set the price. Most FSBOs sell for under market.
Re: Zillow CEO: startups trying to disrupt real estate commissions will fail (2012)
#249People love to complain about realtors. Companies like Redfin have been trying to disrupt this market for years. People on HN and other places like to complain that realtors are pointless and that the only reason they exist is they are entrenched. I posit a different theory, which may well be controversial here, and that is that realtors continue to exist--and charge large commissions doing so--because they provide a…
Re: Zillow CEO: startups trying to disrupt real estate commissions will fail (2012)
#250Purplebricks have done quite a good job of disrupting the UK property market.