Internet replacing realtors? (listing, sellers, broker, selling a home)

[grifter]

It all depends on which side of the fence you are on. If you are a realtor, then no. If you are in the FSBO business, then yes.

Do-it-yourself home sellers beat the pros - Jun. 13, 2007

This article is a great illustration of how you can never take any statistic at face value. Instead, you need to know where the numbers come from, who is interpretting them, and what those interpretters stand to gain.

I have no problem buying without a realtor, but I would be nervous to sell without one.

[NYC2RDU]

Originally Posted by grifter

It all depends on which side of the fence you are on. If you are a realtor, then no. If you are in the FSBO business, then yes.

Do-it-yourself home sellers beat the pros - Jun. 13, 2007

This article is a great illustration of how you can never take any statistic at face value. Instead, you need to know where the numbers come from, who is interpretting them, and what those interpretters stand to gain.

I have no problem buying without a realtor, but I would be nervous to sell without one.

My brother-in-law used to do his own tax returns each year. He always bragged about how it was simply a matter of filling in the blanks, patiently reading the instructions and having all the documents in order. This went on for years. A few years back his mother died and because of estate tax laws and complications from the inheritance he was forced to use a CPA. That's when he found out about how wrong he was. He'd been leaving all sorts of deductions on the table, not calculating the correct totals for certain write-offs and ultimately came to find out that he'd been overpaying his taxes by thousands of dollars each year.

And so my point is that while some of the more obvious details of buying and selling real estate can be managed by reasonably intelligent people, the fact remains that a smart, competent Realtor will either save you money, protect you from making mistakes or both. There are so many details to manage, so many issues to address and myriad idiosyncrasies that an amateur is likely to mishandle that I'd be loathe to risk it alone.

As I've said in many of my previous posts, having a good Realtor makes the difference. And if you don't have a good Realtor, find one.

[jkmeca11]

I agree with NYC2RDU, as an engineer and web developer I do as much on the Internet as I can but I would never even think about buying or selling a home without a Realtor!!

[grifter]

Going it alone can work well for some, and not for others. I do believe the internet will have a significant impact on how homes are bought and sold in the future. Perhaps not in our lifetime, but right now we have a whole generation of youths behind us who are very web savvy and much more entrepreneurial. It would be interesting to have this same discussion in about thirty years.

[VickiR]

I'm not worried! 'Nuff said?

Vicki

[gastric]

If I had to sell again I'd likely do FSBO or probably a low fixed-fee broker to gain my listing in the MLS. That's assuming I wasn't in some time-crunch where I had to sell fast, or was otherwise overburdened with other things in life. But the education and effort could seriously pay off big time to the tune of thousands in dollars.

[citydweller]

Has anyone actually sold a home by internet and not by a realtor? How easy or difficult was it for you?

[autumngal]

Originally Posted by citydweller

Has anyone actually sold a home by internet and not by a realtor? How easy or difficult was it for you?

Great question.....but no I have not.

[grifter]

Originally Posted by citydweller

Has anyone actually sold a home by internet and not by a realtor? How easy or difficult was it for you?

I went with a realtor. The market was just about to turn when I put my place on the market, and with a full time job, there was no way I could try to sell on my own. I had a terrific realtor who earned every penny of his commission.

I did buy without a realtor though. I tried to use one, I really did! But when it reached the point where I was sending the listings to the realtors, I ended up dropping the realtor altogether and got myself a fantastic lawyer instead. I did really well with my purchase, with a lot less stress and heartache.

There are so many factors that need to be considered when deciding whether or not to go it alone. What is the market like? What can the realtor do that you can't? Do you have a realtor who is willing to actually work? Do you have time to do your own showings?

Personally, in this market I would be scared to sell without a realtor. There are so many realtors out there that if a seller does their homework they should be able to find a great realtor who knows how to market a home and who is well worth the commission.

[momix5]

Maybe in other states realtors are different, but in NY they do not do much all you need is a good Lawyer and home inspector up here, mostly all they do for a seller is put on the internet and hope it sells.