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are you saying that the law is not allowing a seller to sell their home as an unrepresented seller; that they must sell through an agent?
I am saying that you are required to have a realtor to post a listing on the MLS. And, then the minimum level of service that a realtor is required to give his client is exceptionally high (in Texas atleast). As a seller, I just want my listing placed on the MLS for me at the minimum cost. Then, I will handle all negotiations, offer writing, etc, myself. Instead, in Texas all negotiations have to go through the agent and he must make available all services (including consulting, offer writing, anything the full-service guy would do). So, they make it impossible for a realtor to explicity offer a reduced level of service (say just post your MLS data and move on to the next client).
Sure, I can go post my listing FSBO, on ebay, or wherever else. But, if you don't use the MLS your listing is probably only seeing about 5-10% of buyer's eyes.
I am saying that you are required to have a realtor to post a listing on the MLS.
This has always been the case. The MLS is Realtor owned.
I am required to first have a real estate agent license, and hang my license with a broker to whom I must pay expensive monthly fees; then join and pay expensive annual fees to the National Association of Realtors (where I am bound by a strict Code of Ethics), the Arizona Association of Realtors, and the Southeast Valley Association of Realtors in order to be able to post a listing on the MLS.
Why should the general public have access to the MLS, when I have to be licensed and continuously pay a lot of money to have access to it?
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in Texas all negotiations have to go through the agent and he must make available all services (including consulting, offer writing, anything the full-service guy would do). So, they make it impossible for a realtor to explicity offer a reduced level of service (say just post your MLS data and move on to the next client).
Maybe Texas is trying to protect the public because many people attempt to navigate their way through a real estate transaction without representation and get into legal trouble in the process because they don't know what they don't know. Maybe you're qualified, but so many people are not.
These contracts are very complex and it's easy to screw up and find out that one has agreed to something they didn't think they agreed to, and it can cost them a lot more money than the commission they saved by having professional representation. Or they don't realize the urgency of the escrow time restrictions and before they know it they've had a buyer bail out. Or in the case of the buyer, one screw up on a time line can cost them the sale and their earnest money.
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Sure, I can go post my listing FSBO, on ebay, or wherever else. But, if you don't use the MLS your listing is probably only seeing about 5-10% of buyer's eyes.
Does the law state that if you do not place your home on the MLS that you do not need an agent; but if your home is placed on the MLS that you are required to have an agent?
Can you provide a link to the law? I would like to read it so I can understand it.
One poster in some thread made the statement that he sold his last 3 homes by placing them on Craigs List.
I am saying that you are required to have a realtor to post a listing on the MLS. And, then the minimum level of service that a realtor is required to give his client is exceptionally high (in Texas atleast). As a seller, I just want my listing placed on the MLS for me at the minimum cost. Then, I will handle all negotiations, offer writing, etc, myself. Instead, in Texas all negotiations have to go through the agent and he must make available all services (including consulting, offer writing, anything the full-service guy would do). So, they make it impossible for a realtor to explicity offer a reduced level of service (say just post your MLS data and move on to the next client).
Sure, I can go post my listing FSBO, on ebay, or wherever else. But, if you don't use the MLS your listing is probably only seeing about 5-10% of buyer's eyes.
That is a little overstated.
80% +/- of Buyers start their search on the internet. Not necessarily Realtor.com, but on the internet.
Realtors account for only about 70% of sales across the country. Because the real estate market thrives in freedom.
Buyers and Sellers expect For Sale properties, MLS listed or not, to be posted on all those sites, just so Buyers will find them. (Well, not EBay.)
And listings are heavily advertised all the time outside the MLS, aimed at both agents and Buyers.
The MLS is only one tool. A privately-owned tool, not a public utility. It is far from the end-all, be-all.
One poster in some thread made the statement that he sold his last 3 homes by placing them on Craigs List.
Sure, you might luck out selling your home on craigslist or the classifieds, but any wise seller would know that you are doing yourself a huge disservice if that is your only outlet. A vast majority of buyers use a realtor and/or the MLS as their single means of searching for a home. And, even a greater majority of *serious* buyers look only at the MLS. Like many realtors choose to do, there is no harm in throwing your listing up on craigslist or the local paper to generate a little more traffic. But, if you really want to move your house and generate top dollar, you need to use the exchange with the greatest market penetration -- that being the MLS.
Sure, you might luck out selling your home on craigslist or the classifieds, but any wise seller would know that you are doing yourself a huge disservice if that is your only outlet. A vast majority of buyers use a realtor and/or the MLS as their single means of searching for a home. And, even a greater majority of *serious* buyers look only at the MLS. Like many realtors choose to do, there is no harm in throwing your listing up on craigslist or the local paper to generate a little more traffic. But, if you really want to move your house and generate top dollar, you need to use the exchange with the greatest market penetration -- that being the MLS.
Thanks for the link. I think it's a good law.
It protects the consumer by spelling out the "minimum service required" which requires the agent to receive and present offers and answer questions about the contract.
If a seller doesn't want that representation, then s/he can make use of the hundreds of other ways that were mentioned earlier to market a home.
Good agents don't just put a home on the MLS and hope it sells. They spend a lot of money marketing for buyers constantly, and for the property specifically.
It protects the agent on the other side of the transaction because too many times, the unrepresented seller will look to that buyers agent to answer questions to help with the seller side of the transaction. That puts an unfair burden on the buyers agent and it could be legally interpreted as forming an agency by the actions. That would place the agent in a dangerous position of being a dual agent without realizing it and set her up for a law suit.
The fee for that minimum service would be much less than the full service, and the client knows exactly what s/he is getting.
It protects the consumer by spelling out the "minimum service required" which requires the agent to receive and present offers and answer questions about the contract.
If a seller doesn't want that representation, then s/he can make use of the hundreds of other ways that were mentioned earlier to market a home.
Good agents don't just put a home on the MLS and hope it sells. They spend a lot of money marketing for buyers constantly, and for the property specifically.
It protects the agent on the other side of the transaction because too many times, the unrepresented seller will look to that buyers agent to answer questions to help with the seller side of the transaction. That puts an unfair burden on the buyers agent and it could be legally interpreted as forming an agency by the actions. That would place the agent in a dangerous position of being a dual agent without realizing it and set her up for a law suit.
The fee for that minimum service would be much less than the full service, and the client knows exactly what s/he is getting.
More states should enact laws like that.
Bill
Back Door dual agency. Yes. It happens all the time.
Buyer's Agent presents offer.
Seller says, "What do I do now?"
Off to the Dual Agency races... Through the back door.
Buyer's Agent is stuck if he doesn't get the property for his client, and possibly stuck if he does.
Back Door dual agency. Yes. It happens all the time.
Buyer's Agent presents offer.
Seller says, "What do I do now?"
Off to the Dual Agency races... Through the back door.
Buyer's Agent is stuck if he doesn't get the property for his client, and possibly stuck if he does.
Right, and there was one agent who posted recently that s/he didn't know what dual agency is.
Agents need to know the Agency Law and be extremely careful. If an unrepresented buyer or seller asks the agent a question, the agent must very politely inform him that because of the law of agency that he cannot give any assistance or guidance whatsover, and recommend that the party seek advice from a real estate attorney or another real estate agent.
Back Door dual agency. Yes. It happens all the time.
Buyer's Agent presents offer.
Seller says, "What do I do now?"
Off to the Dual Agency races... Through the back door.
Buyer's Agent is stuck if he doesn't get the property for his client, and possibly stuck if he does.
So, the dual agency rules need to be changed then to accommodate this.
Why do we need these hard rules for selling real estate (on the MLS), but in no other marketplace or industry? You can run the risk that a guy down the street wants to sell his $50,000 car but doesn't know how to transfer title or write up a contract. But, you know what? He figures it out. The real estate industry is bogged down by these laws pitched to protect the consumer but the real intent is to protect the agent's commission.
So, the dual agency rules need to be changed then to accommodate this.
Why do we need these hard rules for selling real estate (on the MLS)(the Rules aren't hard, you want free access to a system paid for and designed by and for professionals) but in no other marketplace or industry? You can run the risk that a guy down the street wants to sell his $50,000 car but doesn't know how to transfer title or write up a contract.(Agents transfer the title as well as draw up the vehicle contract - since I read contracts dealerships naturally dislike the service I provide family members, most of the time anyway) But, you know what? He figures it out. The real estate industry is bogged down by these laws pitched to protect the consumer but the real intent is to protect the agent's commission.
We live in a litigious society.
If someone had not found a way to damage a client where no rule existed we would not have a rule of law to protect a client, agent or broker.
Lawsuits for ad valorem property far exceed the damage one would claim for a vehicle, vehicles are not unique, real estate is.
Agency protects relationships among agents & principals, and believe it or not it is very common throughout all working relationships. It is specialized in RE.
Please name a law which protects commission that was intended to protect the consumer.
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But, you know what? He figures it out. The real estate industry is bogged down by these laws pitched to protect the consumer but the real intent is to protect the agent's commission.
