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+1. I find Redfin so much better than Austinhomesearch. The UI is better and more intuitive and actually seems too have or at least deliver the information that I need in easy to navigate way. I don't know the folks behind AHS but perhaps Redfin just has better product designers or something. And listings are updated super fast on Redfin so AHS being the consumer facing interface for the MLS doesn't really add much value than Redfin. Zillow is the pits though.. almost completely rubbish in my opinion
I'm really curious why you always say this ( no disrespect just curiosity). What exactly do you think happens when people"sign up with Redfin? It comes across like you are warning people to be aware of this big boogeyman called Redfin. Nothing happens. Infact they don't even verify who you are. You just need an email address (which as we all know anyone can set up) and there's no contract bilateral or otherwise. Yes I understand that realtors see Redfin and similar as competition but in my opinion, they are actually good for consumers
When I say that I'm speaking as a Texan, not as a Realtor. We still, believe it or not, value our privacy in this state, even though people are moving here in droves from states where that is not the case who think they are owed any information they might want about others' financial matters. You are not owed the knowledge of how much we paid for our property.
Let me guess - you don't read Terms of Service when signing up to get info, do you?
When I say that I'm speaking as a Texan, not as a Realtor. We still, believe it or not, value our privacy in this state, even though people are moving here in droves from states where that is not the case who think they are owed any information they might want about others' financial matters. You are not owed the knowledge of how much we paid for our property.
Let me guess - you don't read Terms of Service when signing up to get info, do you?
I can legitimately find out how much someone paid for their house by engaging a realtor to help me protest my taxes, or someone else's taxes.
If you really want 'privacy', then the MLS record of home prices should not be kept at all and should not be available for realtors to use.
Oh, and I am native, as well, and find this 'middle ground' silly where we pretend it is private when really it is completely in the hands of a trade group that is profiting off it.
I can legitimately find out how much someone paid for their house by engaging a realtor to help me protest my taxes, or someone else's taxes.
If you really want 'privacy', then the MLS record of home prices should not be kept at all and should not be available for realtors to use.
Oh, and I am native, as well, and find this 'middle ground' silly where we pretend it is private when really it is completely in the hands of a trade group that is profiting off it.
Also she keeps presenting the straw man that if the govt gets the information then everyone will know what everyone else will pay.
We all send our income to the IRS, that information is not published. Govts can easily not release sales information, but use it to compute appraised values.
Also she keeps presenting the straw man that if the govt gets the information then everyone will know what everyone else will pay.
We all send our income to the IRS, that information is not published. Govts can easily not release sales information, but use it to compute appraised values.
Yea, I saw that argument a while back, as well; however, they DO publish the appraised value and, most likely, it would match sales value for at least one year around the sales event.
When I say that I'm speaking as a Texan, not as a Realtor. We still, believe it or not, value our privacy in this state, even though people are moving here in droves from states where that is not the case who think they are owed any information they might want about others' financial matters. You are not owed the knowledge of how much we paid for our property.
Let me guess - you don't read Terms of Service when signing up to get info, do you?
You want privacy? In 2019 A.D.? And that too from the Government? For something as obscure (for the govt.) as how much you paid for your house? Well ... good luck with that ...
Please don't ever speak for all Texans (native or otherwise). We are perfectly capable of voicing our own opinions.
When I say that I'm speaking as a Texan, not as a Realtor. We still, believe it or not, value our privacy in this state, even though people are moving here in droves from states where that is not the case who think they are owed any information they might want about others' financial matters. You are not owed the knowledge of how much we paid for our property.
Let me guess - you don't read Terms of Service when signing up to get info, do you?
Oh, but you are?
Just because you took a multiple choice test that many thousands of people have passed?
This is a classic case of how "Software is eating the world". Software automation will eliminate many occupations whether we like it or not. It is best to just accept and adapt rather than fight it.
While 6% was a good price to pay 20 years ago when a realtor had to do a ton of work (marketing, legalities, showings etc.) it absolutely makes no sense now to pay that much. A lot of these tasks have become automated.
AI and Automation indeed will change many occupations. Take a listen to some of Andrew Yang's podcasts or interviews.
I do think some things were better when they were worse. The Yellow Pages was pretty easy to crack open and find who/what you wanted. Try Googling a Plumber nowadays and you spend a lot of time sifting through what's real and what's not. Many results are not even local plumbers but simply "ad brokers" trying to capture you as a "lead" to sell to a plumbing company. It's all murky now. The Yellow Pages wasn't murky, it was clear.
Real Estate has its problems, for sure. But the direction it's heading now will make things harder and worse for the average buyer. The MLS, like the Yellow Pages, served as a single source repository of listings. That repository is starting to fragment as disrupters try to gain traction. And, how do I say this nicely, my industry was less than enlightened when it began giving away listing data for free to Zillow. Zillow is extremely murky.
This means, as a buyer, you don't know what you don't know, and you don't know if there might be a listing you missed because it's not in the MLS. And you won't know exactly where you should look or ask going forward.
So, instead of having a single-source search, you may have an unknown number of fragmented repositories to learn about and seek out. Some of which are extremely difficult to transact with if that's the only place that listing resides. You'll deal with a tech bro in California who is essentially a call center employee who knows nothing about the house, but wants to funnel you through their automated system.
"Off-MLS", pre-MLS, FSBO, Pocket Listings, etc have always existed. The MLS was never 100%. But it was substantially "all" of the listings that sellers wanted to make widely publicly available to the widest audience.That will diminish going forward and will cause frustration for buyers who will fear whether or not they've really "seen everything".
With regard to Realtor compensation, it increases with higher prices, but oddly, the job hasn't become easier. I'm almost 30 years in now, and did not encourage either of my daughters to become Realtors. I've enjoyed serving in the Fiduciary role. But it has slowly eroded into more of a transaction coordinator occupation. The professionalism and knowledge of the agents we deal with has, in general, decreased over time.
Now the business is a grind. I actually work harder. I'm showing 12 houses to a buyer today. As I went through the ordeal yesterday of trying to schedule them all, I was reminded why I generally don't show homes anymore. It's a complete and total hassle figuring out how to line things up and gain access except for those listings that still use the older, traditional "call and go", or "vacant/go". Now, many vacant listings still force us through a Showing Service that you have to click through and wait for confirmation. The old way was WAY more streamlined and efficient.
Many agents are too cheap to place an electronic MLS box so we deal with more non-standard access anomalies, trying to chase down lockbox codes.
Finally, the "Non Disclosure" status of Texas doesn't mean that sales prices are meant to be "secret". It simply means the government cannot force you to tell it what you paid or what you sold for. The nexus of that has always been a fear that once the sold prices are universally reported, then a transaction tax will follow. That's it in a nutshell, nothing deeper than that.
Just because you took a multiple choice test that many thousands of people have passed?
Nope. Because I am licensed, have had a background check (more than once, in fact) and been fingerprinted, and the client has given permission, in writing, for me to have access to such information because it is necessary as part of providing services to them. Sort of like giving access to your medical records to medical providers, though, of course, not life or death, but private nonetheless.
I get that there are people who want to have any information they want about anybody they want. Doesn't mean I have to agree with them or think that they have any right to that just because they wanna.
Nope. Because I am licensed, have had a background check (more than once, in fact) and been fingerprinted, and the client has given permission, in writing, for me to have access to such information because it is necessary as part of providing services to them. Sort of like giving access to your medical records to medical providers, though, of course, not life or death, but private nonetheless.
I get that there are people who want to have any information they want about anybody they want. Doesn't mean I have to agree with them or think that they have any right to that just because they wanna.
Minor 'correction':
Quote:
client has given permission, in writing, for me to have access to such information because it is [the only place they can get it and I have them over a barrel]
The question is, why do YOU have the right to that information? Sure, everyone signs a document that says you do, but do they have a choice? You want to sell or buy a house, it goes in the MLS database.
And medical records had nothing to do with buying or selling a house, that is totally irrelevant and I can only hope you understand that.
AI and Automation indeed will change many occupations. Take a listen to some of Andrew Yang's podcasts or interviews.
I do think some things were better when they were worse. The Yellow Pages was pretty easy to crack open and find who/what you wanted. Try Googling a Plumber nowadays and you spend a lot of time sifting through what's real and what's not. Many results are not even local plumbers but simply "ad brokers" trying to capture you as a "lead" to sell to a plumbing company. It's all murky now. The Yellow Pages wasn't murky, it was clear.
Real Estate has its problems, for sure. But the direction it's heading now will make things harder and worse for the average buyer. The MLS, like the Yellow Pages, served as a single source repository of listings. That repository is starting to fragment as disrupters try to gain traction. And, how do I say this nicely, my industry was less than enlightened when it began giving away listing data for free to Zillow. Zillow is extremely murky.
This means, as a buyer, you don't know what you don't know, and you don't know if there might be a listing you missed because it's not in the MLS. And you won't know exactly where you should look or ask going forward.
So, instead of having a single-source search, you may have an unknown number of fragmented repositories to learn about and seek out. Some of which are extremely difficult to transact with if that's the only place that listing resides. You'll deal with a tech bro in California who is essentially a call center employee who knows nothing about the house, but wants to funnel you through their automated system.
"Off-MLS", pre-MLS, FSBO, Pocket Listings, etc have always existed. The MLS was never 100%. But it was substantially "all" of the listings that sellers wanted to make widely publicly available to the widest audience.That will diminish going forward and will cause frustration for buyers who will fear whether or not they've really "seen everything".
With regard to Realtor compensation, it increases with higher prices, but oddly, the job hasn't become easier. I'm almost 30 years in now, and did not encourage either of my daughters to become Realtors. I've enjoyed serving in the Fiduciary role. But it has slowly eroded into more of a transaction coordinator occupation. The professionalism and knowledge of the agents we deal with has, in general, decreased over time.
Now the business is a grind. I actually work harder. I'm showing 12 houses to a buyer today. As I went through the ordeal yesterday of trying to schedule them all, I was reminded why I generally don't show homes anymore. It's a complete and total hassle figuring out how to line things up and gain access except for those listings that still use the older, traditional "call and go", or "vacant/go". Now, many vacant listings still force us through a Showing Service that you have to click through and wait for confirmation. The old way was WAY more streamlined and efficient.
Many agents are too cheap to place an electronic MLS box so we deal with more non-standard access anomalies, trying to chase down lockbox codes.
Finally, the "Non Disclosure" status of Texas doesn't mean that sales prices are meant to be "secret". It simply means the government cannot force you to tell it what you paid or what you sold for. The nexus of that has always been a fear that once the sold prices are universally reported, then a transaction tax will follow. That's it in a nutshell, nothing deeper than that.
I generally agree (from my limited experience) with all of this. A couple of comments:
- I suspect that the dissemination of data to Zillow and others is an attempt to avoid being labeled a 'monopoly'. In that sense, it may not be a bad move, because I can see how that could happen.
- I think the housing market is in the midst of a transition. Better or worse will depend on the individual and how much the voting population decides to get involved (or not).
- The whole model is a bit overwhelming for new buyers but overly cumbersome for experienced buyers (you could alter that to clueless vs. savvy, I suppose). I really think that the realtors would actually benefit if their association would have short (half day?) seminars on the process. Maybe no one would go, but I do remember going through the process to buy my first house and trying to figure out what all these documents were and what all these charges related to and what the options were. I think the average realtor would benefit from some basic understanding on the client's end. Honestly, I think the 'standard' contract in Texas is a God-send compared to some state's processes, and it lends itself to creating a curriculum.
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