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Jury Finds Realtors Conspired, Awards Nearly $1.8B in Damages

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Re: Jury Finds Realtors Conspired, Awards Nearly $1.8B in Damages

#21

Post by judge2020 »

ejb999 wrote: post #10
stuff4ben wrote: post #5

Commission based on home value is a joke. Realtors should earn a flat-rate.

I agree - especially for the last few years, when in order to sell a house all you had to do was put in on the market - and then get 10-15-20 offers at or above listing price - no agent deserves a 6% commission for simply getting something listed on zillow or MLS where in recent years, the houses just sold themselves.

> no agent deserves a 6% commission for simply getting something listed on zillow or MLS

Typically 3% is seller agent commission and 3% is buyer agent commission - although in the paperwork it's most likely 6% to the seller's agent and the seller's agent offers 3% to the buyer's agent.

Although 5% total / 2.5% to each realtor is becoming a bit more popular as of recent, based on the listing I browse.

Re: Jury Finds Realtors Conspired, Awards Nearly $1.8B in Damages

#24

Post by PaulDavisThe1st »

mynameisash wrote: post #17
stuff4ben wrote: post #5

Commission based on home value is a joke. Realtors should earn a flat-rate.

I expect that when it comes time to sell my house, I'll hire a real estate attorney to make sure all the paperwork is in order, and I'll deal with the rest myself. I engaged an attorney when I bought my house, and she was super thorough.

I've sold 4 houses "by owner". I didn't even use an attorney for 3 of them - just a title/escrow service who take care of handling the deposit, filing the deeds after the funds transfer is complete etc.

Re: Jury Finds Realtors Conspired, Awards Nearly $1.8B in Damages

#25

Post by Calvin02 »

underseacables wrote: post #16

I know people will knock on realtors, but I've had nothing but good experiences with them. There's so much stuff I don't know that I don't know, and the ones I've had have been very helpful. Worth every penny, in my opinion.

I think the real problem is the fact that you can’t buy or rent in some markets without an agent.

As a buyer, I should be able to make an offer and work with the lender to schedule all the due diligence required. Some people need more help and they should be willing to pay for it.

However, the way it is structured today, I can’t make an offer without a realtor and have to pay some percentage of the value.

I was lucky in that I had an agent in the family and they charged a nominal fee.

I’ve heard about realtors being blacklisted for offering flat fee services.

Re: Jury Finds Realtors Conspired, Awards Nearly $1.8B in Damages

#26

Post by riku_iki »

poulsbohemian wrote: post #13

Here's the brief response I offered earlier today when asked what this actual does: I don’t really expect significant changes. We are in a more balanced market today than when these lawsuits were first filed. Many sellers will find it advantageous to offer buyer agent compensation. If/when we return to a seller-advantaged market, some buyers may need to pay their agents directly, which could involve rolling those cos…

> Many sellers will find it advantageous to offer buyer agent compensation

so, now conspired realtors charge seller and not buyer. Still looks broken.

Re: Jury Finds Realtors Conspired, Awards Nearly $1.8B in Damages

#27

Post by notaustinpowers »

jfk13 wrote: post #12
notaustinpowers wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This could change the process to this: 1) Seller gives a portion of their home price to their Agent as a commission (let's say 3%). The seller only paid 3% in commissions. 2) The Buyer negotiated a commission with their Agent (let's say $10,000). Which the buyer pays out-of-pocket, or has paid out of their financing for the home. This allows the Seller's Agent to maintain their duty to maximizing the value of their c…

These US fees always seem astonishingly high to me. Here, something more like 1.5% would be typical.

Yeah, it is very high. Although, the real estate industry in the US is vastly different.

- Agents do not receive salary, benefits, etc. Their only payment is when they close a deal. - Real Estate Agents are a dime a dozen since the licensing and training is pretty minimal. So lots of competition fighting over small supply, so it can be difficult to consistently get clients. - Agents can pay around $100/month to their Brokerage for E&O insurance, maybe access to legal forms, and a Broker for questions/insight. So they start spending money from the get-go. - Agents, typically, pay all expenses related to the job (advertising, signage, listing fees, etc).

Re: Jury Finds Realtors Conspired, Awards Nearly $1.8B in Damages

#28

Post by efitz »

sokoloff wrote: post #14
notaustinpowers wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This could change the process to this: 1) Seller gives a portion of their home price to their Agent as a commission (let's say 3%). The seller only paid 3% in commissions. 2) The Buyer negotiated a commission with their Agent (let's say $10,000). Which the buyer pays out-of-pocket, or has paid out of their financing for the home. This allows the Seller's Agent to maintain their duty to maximizing the value of their c…

> maximizing the value of their client's home by reducing the commission the seller pays. Selling a house quickly (convincing the seller to take a qualified and likely-to-close offer) still dominates as a strategy over eeking out a few extra points of contract price. As an agent, taking 1.25% or 1.5% of a $950K sale quickly is way better than holding out for a $1M offer. The difference in commission at 1.5% on a $50K…

I always thought the right strategy would be to have a sellers agent contract that was tiered, eg agent gets 1-2% of selling price up to average comps, and then 20% of excess selling price over that. Maybe a bonus or penalty for timing, to prevent waiting forever for a good offer.

Re: Jury Finds Realtors Conspired, Awards Nearly $1.8B in Damages

#29

Post by asah »

underseacables wrote: post #16

I know people will knock on realtors, but I've had nothing but good experiences with them. There's so much stuff I don't know that I don't know, and the ones I've had have been very helpful. Worth every penny, in my opinion.

not sure why you're getting downvoted. If realtors add more value than their commission, then great.

Consider normies who don't understand why all this "tech stuff" costs so much money.

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