If you think agents will stop helping buyers find homes because there is a possibility of a downward market shift in the future, then you are wrong. They cannot predict the future earnings or actions of their clients and they shouldn’t be held responsible. There are numerous factors that come into play when looking at the housing market. If everything goes electronic and agents are no longer needed, then so be it. But until that time, let’s hold off on the “blame-game.”

Good idea though! The government should bail everyone out for every poor financial decision that is made…stocks..housing…ect. Newsflash: We live in a free enterprise society and the future is uncertain.

The scumbag speel: “You can get in this home for only $*** per month for the next 2 or 3 years. After that time you will be in a better position at your job, making more money and will be able to refinance for a fixed rate loan. Besides that, the adjustable has a ceiling and can’t jump more than **% per year. In that 2 or 3 years this home will have jumped another $100,000 in value, so it’s a win-win situation.”
Doing this they have managed to become the only profession that makes 10 times what they used to make doing the very same job in a short amount of time. So much for HONEST agents. What a crock.
I think they should be made liable for paying their huge commissions back to the government that is once again manipulating the economy so as to bail the ignorant buyers out.

What about all the people that have been forced to sell because of adjustables over the past 10 years?
What about all the people that have lost money in the stock market in the .com era? Who the hell is giving them a hand? Oh yea, they just went bankrupt and learned the hard way.
What about the people with money in savings that are taking the hit on their interest rate earnings?

All we are doing is giving the scumbags another opportunity to rake in some more big bucks at the expense of other Americans. Homebuyers that in some cases never put one cent down, will get away with owning a home they should never have even been shown.

Tell me one group that has benefitted more than the agents involved in this outrageous market.
The home buyer is getting stuck buying a home that is terribly overpriced.
The home seller just becomes a home buyer that has to turn around and pay an outrageous price for what he is buying. It is all relative, after all.

Ah but the agents, making that trip to the bank with a huge smile on their faces never giving a second thought to what is going to happen to the dumb buyer once that 2 years is over. The buyer is most likely in the same position at work and can no more refinance then for a fixed rate then he could qualify for it now. Do you suppose they lose sleep over it at night? Do you suppose they even consider that the home they just showed the buyer will most likely be lost in foreclosure when the rate adjusts?

It’s time we allow the prices of homes in America to adjust the same way they did in the 80’s. Let them fall to where they should be taking allowing for inflation. I for one will get a great deal of pleasure in watching the agents commissions go back to what they should have been all the time. I also will love to see young families go back to the possibility of becoming homeowners.

People want to get into a place before it becomes too expensive. How did this happen? Well, it’s easy… If you price homes so high in order to get the highest commission then people will see this as being priced out of the market and consequently see the “need” to get in before it becomes too expensive.

Is Zillow.com correct with their prices? Not entirely, but that’s why you compare and see what has sold and what hasn’t and what their price-points were, the landscaping, etc.

I actually found my house without my agent’s assistance. My agent probably worked less than 20 hours on my house purchase…were they worth something like $800 an hour…I don’t think so!!!

Unlike other service providers that have specialized tools/knowledge like Dentists, Real-Estate Agents don’t really have anything…contacts? Yeah, there are sites for that…Qualified buyers? There are sites for that. The internet will completely change the Real-Estate industry.

Really you need only a few things: A selling price, qualified buyer, comprehensive contract, inspection, purchase, move out date, close transaction. All these can be facilitated by digital communication.

One thing I respectfully disagree with, however, is keeping our opinions to ourselves. If I told sellers what they Want to hear as opposed to what they Need to hear, their houses wouldn’t get sold. If I have to tell a Seller that he needs to nutralize the purple and orange wallpaper if he really wants to get his house sold, then I will do just that. In fact, I would be doing him a extreme disservice if I didn’t, right! That’s one of the reasons people would hire me. If I was a doctor and needed to tell someone that they had a rare disease and may not survive, should I keep that information to myself just so I don’t hurt my patient’s feelings? Just something to think about…

Also, buyers will Never be all cash. If that was the case, there would be No mortgage industry.. The mortgage “crunch” is balancing out. The sub-prime lenders are cleaning up, interest rates are still not bad, and things are looking good!

I think the important thing is fixing up the things that absolutely need to be fixed prior to listing the house. Buyers expect for homes to have working furnaces, roofs that don’t leak, ect. It is something that can either be fixed at the beginning, or the Seller will be fixing after the inspection or providing an allowance (off the sale price) to accommodate their replacement.

I would suggest to every seller out there that the first question they ask of their respective real estate agent is - how do you feel about the overall appearance of my home - inside and out. Unless you find a realtor that can get past “decor” and sell your “home” - do yourself a favor - and find another agent.

And, above all, with the RE market in its current shape, do not cave in to lowering the price of your home unless you absolutely have to, and to not offer buyer incentives such as paying “their” closing costs, or offering up $2,000-$5,000 realtor incentives. If a possible buyer can’t afford to buy your home then they can’t afford to buy your home - PERIOD. And in this RE market when the only buyers are “all cash” buyers because of the mortgage crunch, every realtor out there is going to find themselves looking for a “real” job. Ask yourself this - when was the last time your employer paid you a $5,000 incentive just for doing “your job”!!!

And as a footnote - do not feel obligated to use the same realtor you used to buy your home when it comes time to sell. You’ll find that realtors treat a buyer one way and a seller entirely different. Do yourself a favor - and ask all the right questions of your realtor. Find out how many clients they currently represent, how many homes have they sold in the past 12 months irregardless of the current market situation, and above all - are they currently selling their own home! Because if they are - you know where they will be directing potential buyers FIRST!

Bottom line - don’t be BULLIED by real estate agents for any reason - especially in the current market place. Why spend $15-30K on upgrades when you’ll still be taking a $50K cut in price??

Common Sense Here!

Last time I checked, it’s not the agent’s job to cut the weeds and take out the garbage in houses…unless it’s stated in the contract.-which I’m assuming it wasn’t. Sorry for your bad experience but we’re not either a gardner or cleaning person.

What’s up with you and trolls? You live under a bridge don’t you?

I placed several of my rental properties up for sale on Zillow and never received a single call from any of those listings. I advertised them in the paper, and received one or two calls a month on some of them. I advertised in those “For Sale by Owner” magazines and had the same results.

After 4 or 5 months, I got a buyer for one of them. Saved myself 6% in commission on a $100,000 house ($6000). But, the house was empty for that 4 or 5 months at about $800 per month. Then, when the house closed, I wound up paying prepaids and closing that costed me another $8000 because the buyers had poor credit and the lawyers had stiff fees.

Of course their lender or lawyer didn’t let me know that in advance. The closing should have been about 4000, but because of my own ignorance, and the lawyer, buyer and lender taking advantage of me, I lost all that money. Then to add insult to injury, the buyer moved out 2 months later. Guess who got refunded prepaids I paid? Not me…the buyer. Walked away with about $2000 of my money.

Well, a couple of months later, another one sold after being on the market 6 months. Of course my insurance got cancelled for it being empty so long, and I had to go with insurance that costed me 4 times as much, costing me major bucks.

Finally, I gave in and listed with an agent. Most all the properties sold within 60 days and my agent caught several mistakes the lenders and lawyers made that would have costed me bucks. Additionally, I was getting 2 to 3 calls per week on most of my homes, and I didn’t have take time out of my busy day to show my homes. Some of the homes even had multiple offers, something I never experienced with a “for sale by owner”.

From what I understand, agents have to adhere to certain laws and standards in order to remain licensed. Those rules are apparently fairly strict in my state. However, lawyers can remain licensed unless they do something grossly illegal.

I’ve researched and found mortgage lenders do not have to be licensed nor do they have to stick with any standards, particularly internet lenders. I had a friend who paid $7000 in mortgage fees for a $250,000 home, and had a huge 2 year prepayment penalty tacked on.

If there’s anything in the market that needs to be fixed it is with mortgage lenders and lawyers. The fees they charge for what they do are ridiculous. For example, they have one fee called an “express mail off fee” they charge $75 for. Another fee I’ve seen is a “fax” fee, which is $25. I’ve even seen some lenders charge a 1.5% mortgage brokerage commission on top of the 1% origination fee. At least we know what real estate brokers are gonna charge up front.

As for me, I’m sold on my agent. Until the internet proves effective at bringing buyers for my properties and is able to effectively handle abstract situations, I’ll continue to use my agent.

Anonymous comments have Zero Credibility.

Coward troll.

When both agents, representing the bank and the buyer (me) left a blood stained mattress in the livingroom and tons of garbage in the house and garage, and let the weeds run wild and ugly…they are like I just said.

To succeed in a consumer smart world now, agents have to shell out money to help buyers sell old house and move into new house.

Curb appeal, paint, and carpet are what agents should focus on, and use the web to collaborate faster and more effectively with buyers and sellers.

Jeff Jarvis is an asshole.

2) Realtors generally bust their asses, work long, ridiculously irregular hours, and rarely know where their next paycheck is comom=ng from. Competition is fierce as hell, and buyers and sellers are often a fickle lot-as is their right to be, but none the less.

3) Most realtors fail, outright. dead broke, losing thousands, and it is a hard road.

4) 3% before splits with brokers is a lot on high priced homes in very hot markets (when an agent has put in the considerable time to have a lot of customers), but 3% is chicken-feed in a slow market, with a glut of agents, when there may only be a few sales a year. Even top agents can suffer 50% 0r more income losses in bad years. That would drive a lot of people to complete despair. It’s all high and mighty to judge realtors from afar, but walking in their shoes is NOT easy. About the best thing a realtor has, is relative freedom…to starve, if they don’t strictly manage themselves. Most employees have not a clue what that’s like.

5) Within ONE YEAR of licensure, about 80% of new agents are gone…not even a chance of making a living. Within a few years, over 90% are out of business. Sorry, mr/mrs high and mighty, those odds alone justify a high standard of living for those strong and skilled enough to survive.

6) There are a few honest brokers out there. My Parents were wonderful people, and their clients loved them. They were honest as the day is long, and they worked all the time. I have struggled to make it in a business that has grown unbelievably crowded, costly, complicated, legalistic and stressed, since my folks retired. It is almost impossible to make it in this business with anywhere near normal expectations of what work is. Mr/mrs high and mighty pooh-pooh realtors based on their personal peeves, but they fail to understand or acknowledge what the other end of the business is like.

7) After the 6% becomes 3% for the individual agent, and after either hefty desk fees ( sometimes exceeding $12,000 a year!) or splits of 10%, 20%, 30% or MORE to employing brokers, realtors often spemd in excess of $1,000 a month for marketing costs alone. Adding it up, Sherlock? But wait, there’s more! Gas, O&E insurance, Realtor Association dues, Lockbox/Technology dues (all mandatory to function). Hefty auto costs beyond gas.
And the ultimate kicker? T-A-X-E-S. How about taxes in excess of 30%!
So, for the cream of the crop realtor, who grosses over $100,000 a year, there might be a net of around $50,000. That, for an indeterminate schedule, the need to respond anywhere, anytime, and the sure bet that n othing is sure?
You bitchers have no doubt paid a lot to sell a house . I agree it sucks, on the face of it. But those realtors you worked with-scumbags or not- most likely busted their butts-and bounced out of the business anyway.

No wonder realtors bristle at sites like Zillow. But the fact is, as a homeowner, seller buyer, investor-and broker, I KNOW from broad experience that a good broker trumps any cut-rate service. Real estate these days is terribly complex…at least it is riddled with landmines that blow up indiscriminantly, often years after a sale. An ethical, compotent realtor can diffuse many of these, and shoulders a lot of responsibility that virtually ALL home buyers/sellers have neither the skill, patience, fortitude, or desire to take on. Afterall, they have jobs already. You get what you pay for.