Selling with Redfin?

[illinoisphotographer]

Originally Posted by 2bindenver

Real estate is a personal services business. Zillow & realtor.com are advertising vehicles, not real estate brokers.

Brokerages operate on a competitive cooperation model. We all use each others listings to help our clients buy or sell the property of their choosing.

The Seller chooses the level of service they want. So does the Buyer. Is there anything wrong with choice?

Redfin Corp has yet to make money. Most brokerages operate on keeping a quarter from each dollar they earn. In Denver, their 1% listing commission gimmick has not gained them market share.

A Company that cannot turn a profit cannot remain viable in the marketplace.

At the end of the day, we all have to bring enough money home to our families to eat, pay for shelter, heat, etc. Companies also have to earn enough to keep the lights on and innovate in a changing market.

I think this is the biggest issue with the current setup, and it's two fold.

AFAIK, you are required to "hang" your Real Estate licence with a brokerage and cannot operate without a brokerage.

At the same time, it's also way too easy to get your RE licence.

Ideally, there would be much higher requirements to get your RE licence. Not only would this cut down on under-qualified brokers (or not-very-good brokers), but it would also increase the value of those who do have their licence.

I compare RE Agents to CPA's. CPA's have to have 150 hours of college credit and pass a series of rigorous tests to be able to sign off on accounting work. You don't have to be a CPA to work for an Accounting firm - in fact, most accountants after college don't get their CPA for a few years. They just can't have the final signature on documents and cannot operate on their own.

As soon as they have their CPA though, they can start their own company and do whatever they want (that they are qualified for, of course).

I think RE agents should be the same way. With a higher set of requirements, there is less agents, but those who have their licence are able to operate freely and run their own business. There will always be a need for brokerage firms, but why should that prevent a qualified individual from being self-employed?

From my understanding, a traditional 3% fee is usually split 50/50 with the brokerage. Remove the brokerage, and you'd probably see a lot more "individual" brokers willing to lower their fee to say 1.75% or 2% from 3% -- cheaper for the consumer and more profit for them.

[2bindenver]

Originally Posted by illinoisphotographer

At the same time, it's also way too easy to get your RE licence.

Ideally, there would be much higher requirements to get your RE licence. Not only would this cut down on under-qualified brokers (or not-very-good brokers), but it would also increase the value of those who do have their licence.

You must be thinking "in general."

In Colorado, it's 168 hours of pre-license school before you can take & pass the school test, then take & pass the Federal & State test, and pass a CBI/FBI background check with fingerprints and also have a brokerage sponsor the applicant in order to get a Broker's license.

After two years, you can change your license status to Independent and go out on your own. You have to go back to school in order to get your Employing Brokers license.

I don't think the public would be in favor of letting new licensees out practicing real estate without supervision.

[illinoisphotographer]

Originally Posted by 2bindenver

You must be thinking "in general."

In Colorado, it's 168 hours of pre-license school before you can take & pass the school test, then take & pass the Federal & State test, and pass a CBI/FBI background check with fingerprints and also have a brokerage sponsor the applicant in order to get a Broker's license.

After two years, you can change your license status to Independent and go out on your own. You have to go back to school in order to get your Employing Brokers license.

I don't think the public would be in favor of letting new licensees out practicing real estate without supervision.

It looks like CO is almost double that of IL (where my dad got his licence probably 10 years ago, which was around 90 hours, I believe).

That being said, the hour requirements still pale in comparison. Looking online, you can get the full 168 hour course requirements taken care of for under $500 and in less 2 months. One of them is even claiming it can be done in as little as 3 weeks. To me, that just doesn't seem like a lot of training for a profession.

I completely get that it's more than just a licence too -- you have to know the area, know the trends, know the market, etc. That stuff can't be taught in a course, it needs to be learned from experience.