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Ultimately all professions will be replaced by technology, but some professions are so trivial they could have been replaced ages ago. For example bank tellers, car salesmen and real estate agents, Real estate agents, like car salesmen are organized will not let it happen soon.
Nevertheless, there are many things one can do. If you are selling, pay a realtor to put the house in MLS and advertize in zillow, trulia, etc Other agents will try to steer their clients away from your listing but if houses are selling in your area your house will sell to assuming the house is appropriately priced.
If you are buying you do not need a realtor to show you the place--the listing agent can show it for you. Let your lawyer submit the offer and do the negotiations.
Ultimately all professions will be replaced by technology, but some professions are so trivial they could have been replaced ages ago. For example bank tellers, car salesmen and real estate agents, Real estate agents, like car salesmen are organized will not let it happen soon.
Nevertheless, there are many things one can do. If you are selling, pay a realtor to put the house in MLS and advertize in zillow, trulia, etc Other agents will try to steer their clients away from your listing but if houses are selling in your area your house will sell to assuming the house is appropriately priced.
If you are buying you do not need a realtor to show you the place--the listing agent can show it for you. Let your lawyer submit the offer and do the negotiations.
The seller is paying to get the house sold -- commission is often split between the listing and buyer's agent (although, sometimes, just the listing agent if a disclosed dual agency was involved). Both people get paid because they did their job in getting the house sold.
You're point about buyers not having an agent, though, is a complete fallacy. I work extremely hard for my clients and do as much legwork for them as I can -- I let them know they can trust me to find them the best deal. And the pay (99.9% of the time) doesn't even come from them! So, having a lawyer is good for all the legal stuff (even though the buyer must pay them), but having an expert in the location who understands the markets and trends and other specifics about the area who is on your side to get the best deal all at no cost to the buyer is a pretty darn good deal.
Nevertheless, there are many things one can do. If you are selling, pay a realtor to put the house in MLS and advertize in zillow, trulia, etc Other agents will try to steer their clients away from your listing but if houses are selling in your area your house will sell to assuming the house is appropriately priced. If you are buying you do not need a realtor to show you the place--the listing agent can show it for you. Let your lawyer submit the offer and do the negotiations.
A realtor most likely wouldn't place your home on the mls without having your listing; you'd need to utilize a flat-fee listing service for that, for which reviews can be mixed.
Pricing your house appropriately is the most difficult thing to do because most buyers are emotionally invested in their homes, and thus, can not come up with a fair market value; that's why agents exist: to be impartial and take the emotion out of the transaction. As for having the listing agent be on call for you to see a place? Good luck with that; most successful listing agents are going to be too busy with their own clients to be able to accommodate your schedule; that's why lockboxes exist.
And, while NJ does have 3 day attorney review, a lawyer is not going to have day-to-day experience with submitting offers and helping you with pricing and negotiations. That's like going to a mechanic and asking him to fix your air conditioner based on the logic that since the mechanic is handy with tools, they should be able to do it, no problem.
Ultimately all professions will be replaced by technology, but some professions are so trivial they could have been replaced ages ago. For example bank tellers, car salesmen and real estate agents, Real estate agents, like car salesmen are organized will not let it happen soon.
Nevertheless, there are many things one can do. If you are selling, pay a realtor to put the house in MLS and advertize in zillow, trulia, etc Other agents will try to steer their clients away from your listing but if houses are selling in your area your house will sell to assuming the house is appropriately priced.
If you are buying you do not need a realtor to show you the place--the listing agent can show it for you. Let your lawyer submit the offer and do the negotiations.
Real estate agents do not let or not let anything happen in a free market. The free market has kept us around, simply because we are useful and worth every penny we are paid. If we weren't we wouldn't be here. I'm glad the free market likes us. It's a super-fun job and I really enjoy it.
The seller is paying to get the house sold -- commission is often split between the listing and buyer's agent (although, sometimes, just the listing agent if a disclosed dual agency was involved). Both people get paid because they did their job in getting the house sold.
My point is that you don't have to get an agent to sell your house. You can do it yourself.
Quote:
Originally Posted by samanthayakobchuk
You're point about buyers not having an agent, though, is a complete fallacy. I work extremely hard for my clients and do as much legwork for them as I can -- I let them know they can trust me to find them the best deal. And the pay (99.9% of the time) doesn't even come from them! So, having a lawyer is good for all the legal stuff (even though the buyer must pay them), but having an expert in the location who understands the markets and trends and other specifics about the area who is on your side to get the best deal all at no cost to the buyer is a pretty darn good deal.
The pay comes from the buyer, that's what the contract says. He's the one with he money. But this is semantics. Assuming both seller and buyer can meet between what they pay and receive then they split commission in half.
Also I assume the buyer knows how to negotiate. If one needs someone else to hold his hand then OK.
A realtor most likely wouldn't place your home on the mls without having your listing; you'd need to utilize a flat-fee listing service for that, for which reviews can be mixed.
that's what I meant: pay a flat fee to one of those agencies that list the house in mls.
Quote:
Originally Posted by berniekosar19
Pricing your house appropriately is the most difficult thing to do because most buyers are emotionally invested in their homes, and thus, can not come up with a fair market value; that's why agents exist: to be impartial and take the emotion out of the transaction.
Not very difficult--usually owners know the price of the house from the neighborhood comps. Just look at how much comparable houses were sold in the neighborhood recently.
Quote:
Originally Posted by berniekosar19
As for having the listing agent be on call for you to see a place? Good luck with that; most successful listing agents are going to be too busy with their own clients to be able to accommodate your schedule; that's why lockboxes exist.
Of course if you want peace of mind and have someone else do the job then hire an agent. If you want to do the work yourself then don't. That what the OP was asking. I assume that he/she could schedule visits until the house sells .
Quote:
Originally Posted by berniekosar19
And, while NJ does have 3 day attorney review, a lawyer is not going to have day-to-day experience with submitting offers and helping you with pricing and negotiations. That's like going to a mechanic and asking him to fix your air conditioner based on the logic that since the mechanic is handy with tools, they should be able to do it, no problem.
Usually experienced lawyers are very good at that but again usually sellers accept the price or counteroffer not much of a science. If you need someone to hold your hand then hire an agent. If not then they are just nuisance.
Real estate agents do not let or not let anything happen in a free market. The free market has kept us around, simply because we are useful and worth every penny we are paid. If we weren't we wouldn't be here. I'm glad the free market likes us. It's a super-fun job and I really enjoy it.
Glad you enjoy it. But the market is not free that's why redfin cannot operate in NJ nor Tesla sell cars directly in NJ. Most of you survive because the market is not free.
Having said that, I don't think the agent concept is useless. For someone who does not have the time or willing to be involved in the process then they can be convenient. If you want to be driven around or have someone scheduling visits for you then fine. If you can trust them. But for those who are willing to do the legwork and research and this can be very empowering then agents are costly and useless.
that's what I meant: pay a flat fee to one of those agencies that list the house in mls.
Not very difficult--usually owners know the price of the house from the neighborhood comps. Just look at how much comparable houses were sold in the neighborhood recently.
Uhhh.... you clearly DON'T work in real estate and have never actually tried to list the home of someone trying to sell. Most sellers, in fact, have absolutely NO idea how to price their home appropriately and almost always list their home much higher than the prevailing comps
Of course if you want peace of mind and have someone else do the job then hire an agent. If you want to do the work yourself then don't. That what the OP was asking. I assume that he/she could schedule visits until the house sells .
You kind of just disproved your point with this statement; this is showing why exactly agents are necessary as most people want that piece of mind and don't, or can't, want to do all the work themselves. Agents provide a service; if people didn't want that service provided, the industry wouldn't exist.
Usually experienced lawyers are very good at that but again usually sellers accept our price or counteroffer not much of a science. If you need someone to hold your hand then hire an agent. If not then they are just nuisance.
And again, you show your ignorance of what exactly goes into closing a deal to sell a house; it's a LOT more complicated than just accepting a price or making a counteroffer. And, no, even experienced lawyers are not well-versed with negotiating a fair price for a property unless they are actively practicing real estate on a regular basis; however, you'll find most lawyers of that ilk on the commercial side of things, not residential.
"The pay comes from the buyer, that's what the contract says. He's the one with he money. But this is semantics. Assuming both seller and buyer can meet between what they pay and receive then they split commission in half.
Also I assume the buyer knows how to negotiate. If one needs someone else to hold his hand then OK."
The full fee almost always comes from the seller; it's extremely rare that a buyer will pay out of pocket any part of the commission owed. And, yes, that's what virtually ALL contracts spell out explicitly. And your assumption about buyers know how to negotiate... you've never tried to negotiate on the behalf of a buyer before, have you? If you had, you'd know how ridiculous that statement is. Most buyers have no idea how to submit a reasonable offer, especially first-time buyers, and usually err on the low side of things, sometimes to the point of almost insulting the seller. And then when the counters come, you'll have both buyers and sellers get entrenched, instead of coming to a meeting of the minds; this is where an agent really shows why they're necessary.
Please. I bought and sold many houses. I can tell you that the agent never negotiated any fair price for me. If I did not do my own research I would be taken for a song. Agents want the sale and do not care at all if the buyer pays more or a sellers get less. Fairness is not in their dictionary. Sale is.
If there is something that agents are useless and dangerous is price negotiations.
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