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- Isn't Internet the main medium where people find the house they want to buy? When I was buying, my agent did not present me with a list "here, lets see those houses". I called my agent and said "I want to see houses A, B and C".
I have yet to close on a sale off something a buyer saw on the internet.
I spend an hour or so with prospective buyers asking questions. If they are local I prefer to do this in their home. Otherwise I like to see pictures. I want to know how they live, what they love and dislike about their current home and why they want to move.
I rarely show property that I have not previewed. I don't expect a buyer to trust me and will show them anything they want including FSBOs in the area and homes that are poorly marketed.
Terrific internet marketing does not show floor plans, the slope in the yard, the basement with 5' ceilings, the dreaded smoker in residence or barking dogs, next door. Poorly marketed homes usually have no competition and end up being more negotiable.
I enjoy the hunt for the best match between available inventory and the buyer's wish list. Buyers who choose to work with me quickly appreciate that I know them ( as it relates to real estate) better than they know themselves.
I could not imagine limiting my client's choices to A, B and C.
Because the OP doesn't value REALTORS®. Some people have had bad experiences with agents and don't think highly of them. Best to just try and help the OP accomplish their goal of hiring an agent at what they are willing to pay.
Realtors are polling better than Congress, now days.
I have not yet come across an agent who could talk someone out of or into buying a particular property or a buyer who would allow an agent to do so.
This, all day long. Reading the City Data real estate forum gives me the impression that agents are mostly criminal hypnotists lining their pockets by controlling dim-witted sellers and buyers who aren't capable of making decisions for themselves.
This, all day long. Reading the City Data real estate forum gives me the impression that agents are mostly criminal hypnotists lining their pockets by controlling dim-witted sellers and buyers who aren't capable of making decisions for themselves.
The good ones steal children and sell them into slavery. It is a great secondary income stream.
I've never paid more than 5% commission, not in 17 years of selling.
Maybe it's because I have a great realtor and we're investors so he knows if we buy/sell he's our agent? Meaning we're not just a one time deal and have proved it time and time again.
We also have referred him to everyone we know who is buying or selling. He just sold a family member's house and negotiated a purchase for her. The purchase was of a short-sale, and you know how that goes. He was there every step of the way, answers his cell phone all day long, gets involved with the bank/lawyers/home inspector...if things are getting held up, he's phenomenal. Which is probably why he is one of the top producers in the state, and always has been.
He also puts in our contracts that while he's the listing agent, if he brings us the buyer, it's a 4% commission for him.
He now owns his own agency - maybe that helps, but he worked for Weichert when we first met him, and still made things happen and his clients more than happy.
I've never paid more than 5% commission, not in 17 years of selling.
Maybe it's because I have a great realtor and we're investors so he knows if we buy/sell he's our agent? Meaning we're not just a one time deal and have proved it time and time again.
We also have referred him to everyone we know who is buying or selling. He just sold a family member's house and negotiated a purchase for her. The purchase was of a short-sale, and you know how that goes. He was there every step of the way, answers his cell phone all day long, gets involved with the bank/lawyers/home inspector...if things are getting held up, he's phenomenal. Which is probably why he is one of the top producers in the state, and always has been.
He also puts in our contracts that while he's the listing agent, if he brings us the buyer, it's a 4% commission for him.
He now owns his own agency - maybe that helps, but he worked for Weichert when we first met him, and still made things happen and his clients more than happy.
You are definitely the kind of client who has earned a discount in commission. You're loyal, you bring the agent more business, and you are a steady source of income. Most agents would LOVE to have you as a client. We've done the same thing with listings with an unrepresented buyer - to 4%, simply because an unrepresented buyer still usually needs handholding. Also, pragmatically, many agents will offer a slight discount on the listing of a house if you are also using them to buy another house -- again, that loyalty thing . . .
You are definitely the kind of client who has earned a discount in commission. You're loyal, you bring the agent more business, and you are a steady source of income. Most agents would LOVE to have you as a client.
According to the many of the Realtors here, agents who can't even negotiate their own commission can't possibly be expected to negotiate a decent price for their client.
The seller's agent doesn't sell the house. The buyer's agent doesn't sell the house. The HOUSE sells the house. If it is priced right, it will sell in a reasonable amount of time. If it is under-priced, it will sell quicker. And if it is overpriced it will take longer, if it sells at all. No agent can change that.
According to the many of the Realtors here, agents who can't even negotiate their own commission can't possibly be expected to negotiate a decent price for their client.
The seller's agent doesn't sell the house. The buyer's agent doesn't sell the house. The HOUSE sells the house. If it is priced right, it will sell in a reasonable amount of time. If it is under-priced, it will sell quicker. And if it is overpriced it will take longer, if it sells at all. No agent can change that.
You might rework your first sentence.
While it refers to one of the Eternal Monumentally Banal Stupid Scripts that some agents deploy at the drop of a hat, it is unclear how or whether you qualify your implication.
The marketing drives the house exposure, and increases both the chance of any sale and the chance of sale at a good price.
I talked clients into seeing a house this week. I had mentioned it several times, and when we were there, and they were liking it, I asked why they hadn't wanted to see it earlier.
The answer?
The photos were so bad they waited until I insisted. Bad marketing. And, if one client declined to see it for that, then there were surely others. And it is a good house.
Showed a house that was Active for nearly three days with no photos.
I was there twice, two different clients and among three groups both the first and second days.
If that house had had proper photos uploaded when the listing was first Active, there would have been a cop out front directing traffic.
I believe that both those agents could have served their clients better with better marketing. Both houses might "Sell themselves," but with proper marketing, both houses also might sell at a higher price under multiple offers.
Mike, so much of what an agent does is SIMPLE for the buyer or the seller to do. I still employ agents from time to time when it make financial sense for me to do so. But I never pay the "standard" anything. That's for people who don't know a damned thing about their market and are either too stupid or too lazy to learn.
I like your comment about Eternal Monumentally Banal Stupid Scripts (EMBSS) -- because I hear a LOT of them, dealing with seller's agents. (I'm in "buy mode" still, and plan to be for awhile.) These agents run under the assumption that everyone who isn't a Realtor is too dumb to stage a house, operate a camera, enter information into a computer, or run comps. If it doesn't involve signing papers (preferably without reading them), people simply are not qualified.
I am looking forward to the day when the internet marginalizes EMBSS agents. They're nothing but mooches on an otherwise straightforward transaction.
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