question to realtors here. is this fair? (Galveston: lawyer, houses)

[Lost_In_Translation]

Originally Posted by keithwand

Thats the old realtors ploy; my commissions have never gone up and I'm worth a raise. Again my wife was a realtor before relocating out of state.

AHA; the obvious is the house has gone up. Maybe not recently but in the past Yes and it will again.

yeah, why can't less experienced realtors compete on price and more experienced offer premium services at well..a premium?

[Heidi60]

I really like the New York Times article mentioned above. There needs to be a better system of compensation for people who unlock a door and fill out a form. In my experience, realtors are highly over paid but until enough people demand a new system, it isn't going to change. Realtors will claim they only make on average $35,000/year but that defies logic as 6% of a average home in my area means they are selling one or less home per year and that is more than some people make all year. The claim is also that they have to split their money with others, but it is still coming out of the homeowner's pocket at 6% regardless of what ever deals they make with their buddies. It really is time to change the system and work with people who are not commission motiviated so we don't end up with more people in houses they can't afford.

[Va-Cat]

I've heard a lot of negative comments here regarding real estate agents. Y'all do realize you are working with a licensed professional right? You are paying for their expertise when dealing with the purchase or sale of real estate. They didn't just send away for that piece of paper on the wall. They went to school to learn what they needed to know about their profession and then had to sit for a state sanctioned test to earn the right to call themselves a real estate professional. Sure, you can go with a cut rate agent that might bargain away their commission. I have to ask though...would you do the same thing for the services of an attorney, doctor, nurse, paramedic, plumber, electrician or EMT? All are licensed professionals. You get what you pay for. Try and save to much money and you will get burned.

...oh and no - I'm not a real estate agent and am not in the real estate business.

[testmo]

your examples (short of some lawyers) don't work off of commissions so your comparison is shaky at best

and you can actually bargain and get a rate reduced when you work with a plumber, electrician, attorney and sometimes even doctors

[Va-Cat]

Originally Posted by testmo

your examples (short of some lawyers) don't work off of commissions so your comparison is shaky at best

and you can actually bargain and get a rate reduced when you work with a plumber, electrician, attorney and sometimes even doctors

Once again personally, I wouldn't deal with any professional service that would bargain on their rates. cut rate doctor????? Wow - not gonna happen in my world. Same for legal and the others. It doesn't matter whether the compensation is commision, hourly or fixed pricing, you are still paying for the knowledge, whether you need it or not. You get what you pay for. Go ahead and bargain away but if a problem comes up with the property or transaction get ready to get burned.

[Lost_In_Translation]

Originally Posted by Va-Cat

I've heard a lot of negative comments here regarding real estate agents. Y'all do realize you are working with a licensed professional right? You are paying for their expertise when dealing with the purchase or sale of real estate. They didn't just send away for that piece of paper on the wall. They went to school to learn what they needed to know about their profession and then had to sit for a state sanctioned test to earn the right to call themselves a real estate professional. Sure, you can go with a cut rate agent that might bargain away their commission. I have to ask though...would you do the same thing for the services of an attorney, doctor, nurse, paramedic, plumber, electrician or EMT? All are licensed professionals. You get what you pay for. Try and save to much money and you will get burned.

...oh and no - I'm not a real estate agent and am not in the real estate business.

Licensed...yes...professional...not all. I love the RE agent I worked with for my house and would pay her the commission in a heartbeat because I know she's good at what she does and would make sure my house sold quickly and easily, but other agents, well they may work OK and get me an OK deal, but they wouldn't be worth the same amount, even though they share the same licensing as her. Then there are some that do absolutely nothing, but luckily the house can sell itself. They don't deserve any more money than the amount of work they actually put in, regardless of the house price. Then there are services that offer fixed prices for putting your house on the market and if you have the time to deal with RE agents, that can be a good compromise. They don't purport to offer full service, they simply handle the paperwork side of the transaction and they work very well if you aren't emotional about negotiating. I just think RE needs more options like that and a more flexible pricing structure for selling houses.

[Va-Cat]

Originally Posted by Lost_In_Translation

Licensed...yes...professional...not all. I love the RE agent I worked with for my house and would pay her the commission in a heartbeat because I know she's good at what she does and would make sure my house sold quickly and easily, but other agents, well they may work OK and get me an OK deal, but they wouldn't be worth the same amount, even though they share the same licensing as her. Then there are some that do absolutely nothing, but luckily the house can sell itself. They don't deserve any more money than the amount of work they actually put in, regardless of the house price. Then there are services that offer fixed prices for putting your house on the market and if you have the time to deal with RE agents, that can be a good compromise. They don't purport to offer full service, they simply handle the paperwork side of the transaction and they work very well if you aren't emotional about negotiating. I just think RE needs more options like that and a more flexible pricing structure for selling houses.

Thats like cut-rate insurance as compared to full coverage. You only see the difference when you need it and its not there. We're in the process of closing on a home right now. Our agent has been a wealth of knowlege, given us a couple of "heads up" on issues during the negotiations that we had over looked and as far as I'm concerned is worth every penny she is getting. Its just not an area where I think that someone should be looking for less service. A good agent does a heck of a lot more than just fill out paperwork. As for the bad agents....every industry has 'em.

[crone]

For every good agent in Texas there are 10 who are not and one who should be imprisoned. Dual agency should be against the law. When a greedy agent decides their pay check is all that matters, and the client's trust the well regarded professional, all kinds of mischief can occur. The Great State of Texas TREC will not do a thing about it.

[VintageGirl]

Sometimes you have to sell a house and then become a buyer again in order to learn some stuff your realtor did wrong or areas in which you could have saved money. When I sold my home I was not experienced, now as a second time buyer I am a bit more aware of what is going on. We have do let go of our realtor on the buying side because she was simply no good.........she never showed us any homes that we did not ask her to show us, she was also no good at negotiating..........takes good communication skills and experience to be good at the real estate thing.

[Lost_In_Translation]

Originally Posted by Va-Cat

Thats like cut-rate insurance as compared to full coverage. You only see the difference when you need it and its not there. We're in the process of closing on a home right now. Our agent has been a wealth of knowlege, given us a couple of "heads up" on issues during the negotiations that we had over looked and as far as I'm concerned is worth every penny she is getting. Its just not an area where I think that someone should be looking for less service. A good agent does a heck of a lot more than just fill out paperwork. As for the bad agents....every industry has 'em.

In response to your response for my quoted section, its like liability only insurance as opposed to full coverage. If you believe you are a good enough driver to avoid at fault accidents, then why pay more. You are putting more trust in your own ability. Similarly, agency's that just handle the paperwork are just there to make sure you can legally take ownership of "whatever" is there or help you put out information on "whatever" you have and handle transferring the "legal" possession of the property. You have to be comfortable with the rest of the process if you want to use them, but you might be a better sales agent for your house than a random agent off the street if only because you know the property. Do-it-yourself isn't easy, but sometimes its worth the money to do it that way than trust a "professional" who may or may not be able to improve upon your own abilities and net you a better deal either way.