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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)

#311

Post by paulie_a »

ams6110 wrote: post #246
freedomben wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

You may hit a roadblock as the sales contract may require that any inspection be performed by a "licensed home inspector" not a general contractor. Its just another siphon in the residential real estate pipeline.

That is just made part of the offer. Take it or leave it.

Re: Zillow CEO: startups trying to disrupt real estate commissions will fail (2012)

#312

Post by Gibbon1 »

AtlasBarfed wrote: post #31

Realtors currently have a virtual monopoly on accessing properties in real life. That is their current cartel/guild barrier. Even a 4k tour video won't let you get a feel for a place or check out the places they didn't put on video to look for damage. Granted this service could be performed by a real estate website and they simply employ a cheaper access work force, but again you run into pro-guild red tape at the st…

If you wanted to disrupt realtors.

Disrupt the corrupt and fraudulent bidding process. It's not the MLS that's the guild/barrier it's that only the brokers know what the actual bids were.

Re: Zillow CEO: startups trying to disrupt real estate commissions will fail (2012)

#313

Post by conanbatt »

lxe wrote: post #306
conanbatt wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You dont need to use a realtor, its a voluntary transaction. If you find the price too high dont use them.

That's the answer that's supposed to end this argument, but real estate business is a cabal: if I'm agent-less or use one of the "disruptor" services, like redfin or openlistings, agents of the other party will simply steer clear of the transactions. Some would even say that to my face.

But thats only valuable because they steer buyers as well, and if you want access to those buyers you need to cater to the agents that won their trust by educating, managing, etc.

Re: Zillow CEO: startups trying to disrupt real estate commissions will fail (2012)

#314

Post by conanbatt »

JamesBarney wrote: post #307
conanbatt wrote: post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes it is. Becuase the hard part is not selling it, its getting the listing. And you bet your ass that a the 10 million dollar home goes to the well dressed, swanky offices top ads agent, not your "aunt's best friend".

You took my word "selling" replaced with "customer acquisition" then argued I was wrong. You're right, that the majority of the work of a 10 million dollar house is customer acquisition. And this isn't true of a 100k condo. But this was my point, 3% of a 100k home is close to the competitive market price. But 3% of a 10 million dollar home is pretty far away from the competitive market price.

I'll try to rephrase it:

100x the comission might have 100x the competition. As a seller of the house, you pay more but you also get better agents.

Re: Zillow CEO: startups trying to disrupt real estate commissions will fail (2012)

#315

Post by JamesBarney »

conanbatt wrote: post #314
JamesBarney wrote: post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You took my word "selling" replaced with "customer acquisition" then argued I was wrong. You're right, that the majority of the work of a 10 million dollar house is customer acquisition. And this isn't true of a 100k condo. But this was my point, 3% of a 100k home is close to the competitive market price. But 3% of a 10 million dollar home is pretty far away from the competitive market price.

I'll try to rephrase it: 100x the comission might have 100x the competition. As a seller of the house, you pay more but you also get better agents.

You're not getting a 100x better agent, and most of the best i.e. most successful agents I've seen weren't necessarily better negotiators, better at contracts, or more responsive. They were specifically better @ marketing and selling themselves.

The most successful agents I know close houses twice as fast as other agents. But they close them twice as fast as other agents because they're listing them under market value.

My wife was a real estate agent for 5 years but she got out of it because all of the most successful agents she met were more successful in ways that hurt the client not helped them.

Examples - convincing their clients to settle for homes quickly, convincing clients to list their house less than market value, weeding out easy clients.

Re: Zillow CEO: startups trying to disrupt real estate commissions will fail (2012)

#316

Post by conanbatt »

JamesBarney wrote: post #315
conanbatt wrote: post #314

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll try to rephrase it: 100x the comission might have 100x the competition. As a seller of the house, you pay more but you also get better agents.

You're not getting a 100x better agent, and most of the best i.e. most successful agents I've seen weren't necessarily better negotiators, better at contracts, or more responsive. They were specifically better @ marketing and selling themselves. The most successful agents I know close houses twice as fast as other agents. But they close them twice as fast as other agents because they're listing them under market valu…

My wife is also in the real estate market: the reality is that people's incentives are not maximized on house value, they also care about other things , like safety, patient, attention, etc.

It is what it is. RE is not a perfect market because goods really cant be commoditized.

I reiterate my point with one more argument: the average income of a realtor is very low: they make very little money. The number of active realtors is almost perfectly correlated with house prices: that means a highly competitive , and thus relatively efficient, system.

Re: Zillow CEO: startups trying to disrupt real estate commissions will fail (2012)

#317

Post by gamechangr »

peterwwillis wrote: post #254

Weird/unrelated anecdote: Nobody in Greece uses realtors. I can't remember the exact historical reasoning, but it starts with the Ottomans. The Ottomans controlled the Greeks since about 1453, and when they were finally overthrown after the Greek War of Independence, there began about 120 years of political turmoil until the end of the Greek Civil War. So, post-civil war time. Tons of people are in exile, the country…

Maybe they should start...:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/28/home-ownership...

Re: Zillow CEO: startups trying to disrupt real estate commissions will fail (2012)

#318

Post by gamechangr »

peterwwillis wrote: post #254

Weird/unrelated anecdote: Nobody in Greece uses realtors. I can't remember the exact historical reasoning, but it starts with the Ottomans. The Ottomans controlled the Greeks since about 1453, and when they were finally overthrown after the Greek War of Independence, there began about 120 years of political turmoil until the end of the Greek Civil War. So, post-civil war time. Tons of people are in exile, the country…

I don't know much about the subject, but one google search and it looks like that's not accurate. They call their real estate agents just "estate agents". There are many... https://www.justlanded.com/english/Greece/Greece-Guide/Prope....

Re: Zillow CEO: startups trying to disrupt real estate commissions will fail (2012)

#319

Post by megaman8 »

hash872 wrote: post #59
megaman8 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not having a realtor as a buyer really helps, because you can add that 3% to the purchase price of the house saving you 3% which can be a huge amount in expensive markets like the bay area.

Not in any way a defender of the current real estate system, but I've never understood this mindset. It presupposes completely irrational behavior on the part of the seller- that they will choose to give you a 3% discount for.... no reason at all? Rational agents want to get as much money as they can for their homes, and begrudgingly pay any fees that they are forced to. If the seller gave you a 3% discount here for…

3% is what the buying agent asks for. Without a buying agent, that's 3% the seller doesn't have to pay.

Re: Zillow CEO: startups trying to disrupt real estate commissions will fail (2012)

#320

Post by megaman8 »

iwantedjusttom wrote: post #108
megaman8 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not having a realtor as a buyer really helps, because you can add that 3% to the purchase price of the house saving you 3% which can be a huge amount in expensive markets like the bay area.

in most cases the seller has already agreed to pay 6% to the agent for the sale of their home - then that selling agent agrees to split it with the agent that brings a buyer. If you come in off the sign you're basically handing the seller's agent another 3% commission - even if you "negotiate" 3% off the top of the house the seller is still paying that 3% to the listing agent. In the eyes of the buyer it might not ma…

No, you're asking the selling agent to give the 3% he would have given to the buyer's agent, and instead give it back to the seller.
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