A new class-action lawsuit takes aim at real estate agents and their 6% fee

Post by ralph84 » Wed, Mar 20, 2019, 4:27 AM UTC

DesiLurker wrote: post #296

ralph84 wrote: post #284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Math isn't correct because most of that 30 years of work is interest on the mortgage, which the realtor doesn't get a cut of.

that is in addition to mortgage interest. one could argue that is justified because ultimately its the bank taking a risk on giving you a loan for the property. so they deserve a premium for that risk, how much premium is another question but the fact remains that they are one of the parties in the transaction. My issue here is with these middleman who have nothing to do with property once the sale is made & exist to…

Post by ethbro » Wed, Mar 20, 2019, 5:33 AM UTC

jacquesm wrote: post #205

chrisco255 wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Former real estate agent, now software engineer. Doing a FSBO (for sale by owner) is as old as time. There's nothing wrong with this approach, but you are limiting your market (and you might therefore be selling at a lower price anyways) and it's highly dependent on your: patience, financial situation, free time, marketing skills, general sales skills, local housing market, tricky property situations, ability to assi…

> Buyer's agents deserve their 3% perhaps even more than listing agents and it's unfortunate you screwed this agent out of that. 3% of the value of a house is hardly 'a tip', a common fee in Europe for selling a house is around 1.5 to 2%, a typical buyer will not use a realtor at all. Oh, and it is illegal here for a realtor to charge both the buyer and the seller because there is a clear conflict of interest there,…

Post by speedplane » Wed, Mar 20, 2019, 5:37 AM UTC

ethbro wrote: post #303

jacquesm wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Buyer's agents deserve their 3% perhaps even more than listing agents and it's unfortunate you screwed this agent out of that. 3% of the value of a house is hardly 'a tip', a common fee in Europe for selling a house is around 1.5 to 2%, a typical buyer will not use a realtor at all. Oh, and it is illegal here for a realtor to charge both the buyer and the seller because there is a clear conflict of interest there,…

> Oh, and it is illegal here for a realtor to charge both the buyer and the seller because there is a clear conflict of interest there, you can only work for one party. Technically, in the US, the buyer's agent is only working for the buyer. They're just paid by the seller (traditionally and stupidly).

Post by antisthenes » Wed, Mar 20, 2019, 8:18 AM UTC

one_creed wrote: post #247

pseudometa wrote: post #25

It blows my mind that the fees are percentage based. The amount of work required for an agent on a 100K house is very similar to that of a 2 Mill house. Presumably the seller agent wishes to get compensation for increasing the value of the house, but for both the seller and buyer agents, the number of deals done far outweighs slight incremental selling prices. In which case, both would prefer to settle on a lower pri…

I agree. But what most consumers don't know is that there are other models[1] to consider when buying or selling. Some brokerages now charge a flat fee, some do trade ins and so on. Plug: a friend and I created listingrates, a way for consumers to learn about these new models and compare fees. [1] https://www.listingrates.com/blog/selling-your-home-in-the-2... https://www.listingrates.com/search?q=Flat%20fee

Post by dragonwriter » Wed, Mar 20, 2019, 1:07 PM UTC

diggernet wrote: post #297

kbutler wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Realtors have a fiduciary responsibility to act in the interest of their principal, even when it is against the interest of the agent. "This duty obligates a real estate broker to act at all times solely in the best interests of his principal to the exclusion of all other interests, including the broker’s own self-interest." https://www.nar.realtor/sites/default/files/handouts-and-bro...

Please note: That is for a "real estate broker ". Most buyers and sellers are dealing with a "real estate agent ". Agent is a lower level license, for which that duty does not apply.