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I tend to agree with you. I've been house hunting. They have not been helpful AT ALL. They want a fast closing, since they make their money by volume. I've been lied to, pressured to sign exclusive agreements, not provided with information on neighborhoods, or anything other than offering to show the house and if I do view it, do I wanna buy it right away? When commenting how much work one house would require, the agent responds, "It's only money." I kid you not.
I even contacted a supposed relocation agent once. Her relocation expertise was to tell me "Let me know when you want to see something!" Yeah, that was really helpful. I expected info about the different areas to look in, the safer areas, the hot selling areas, the areas on the way up vs those on the way down, etc.
Recently I saw a house listed for sale on one site, but it was not on another. I was interested in it, so I emailed the listing agency and asked to confirm if it was for sale. I got a standard response that she was matching me with a personal agent to discuss the property. I responded that I don't need to be matched with anyone, since at this point I just want to know if the house is for sale. I kid you not that she responded that she could not confirm or deny that their agency has that house for sale...only a personal agent I've been matched with can do that. Strange but true tales from real estate world.
Our most recent agent would not take us to see more than two houses in any given day. And she also bitched about us having our kids with us. Well, duh, I'm not paying $50 for a sitter in order to see two houses!
I just attempted to look at a neighbour's house on the broker's website. They won't let you see pictures unless you log in. They really don't want to have to deal with those awful bidding war /multiple offer situations.
That salary is meaningless in terms of competence. Execution, ethics, service, integrity are not dependent on business model, W2 or 1099.
If an agent told me they had to have a salary to be ethical or to provide service, I would say, "PLEASE, get out of real estate," and would tell them to apply at Walmart to get a weekly paycheck.
Couldn't agree more. The business model has nothing to do with the quality of service the clients receive. I've dealt with bad agents and good agents from every brand of real estate brokerage under the sun. The name on the door of their office had absolutely no bearing when it came to their level of competence.
One thing I will say about Redfin is that at least around here they tend to attract a lot of brand new agents and agents who can't make a living being on 100% commission. Being on a salary means a guaranteed income which is a lot less scary to new agents and of course works better for agents who can't make 100% commission work. Redfin is not all that big in my area though. I don't see them too often.
Our most recent agent would not take us to see more than two houses in any given day. And she also bitched about us having our kids with us. Well, duh, I'm not paying $50 for a sitter in order to see two houses!
You're hiring the agent. You either knew this ahead of time, or should have known this. And I agree that refusing to show more than two houses in one day is ridiculous.
Not wanting the kids there, well, that's understandable but not always practical.
Quote:
Originally Posted by WildColonialGirl
I just attempted to look at a neighbour's house on the broker's website. They won't let you see pictures unless you log in. They really don't want to have to deal with those awful bidding war /multiple offer situations.
So use another website. WTH is the big deal? Or give them your email address, or a fake email address.
You're hiring the agent. You either knew this ahead of time, or should have known this. And I agree that refusing to show more than two houses in one day is ridiculous.
I'm assuming she has that rule because of the kids coming along. If they are littles, I have found that they have a meltdown at house #3. There are just too many transitions for the littles. My rule for parents that have to bring littles along is no more than 3 homes in one day, and I want to hit the first house right after nap time so they are at their best. It is too hard on the kids, and I'm not willing to set up showings to have to cancel them because the kiddos have had enough and start to meltdown.
Sometimes moms and dads don't realize how stressful being in and out of houses is for small children.
Let's look at the real estate profession, and maybe you will have a better understanding of it.
#1--80% plus of the agents going into the real estate business, will fail out of it. They will leave the business, when they reach the point they no longer can afford to or have savings to cover their expenses. A large percentage of those failing agents will never make a sale, or have a listing sell. Those agents, will really not understand the real estate business, and do not really understand how to fill a client's needs.
#2--80% of all sales, will be made by just 20% of all agents. These agents will be the ones that really understand the real estate business, and how to properly serve a client's best interests. They put their client's best interests as the #1 reason they are working each day. They know if hey are interested in serving their client's best interests, they will earn a commission, so they do not let the commission be the driving force.
#3---If you divide the number of sales made by agents in a year, by the number of agents, you will find that they will average 3 homes a year. However as 20% of agents are going to sell 80% of he property and make real good money, there will not be 3 sales a year available for the other 80% of the agents. A lot will not make even one sale.
#4---There are two types of residential agents.
A--The Counselor. They sit down with their clients, and find exactly what will satisfy them. They will narrow the search area down to small sectors of the city, and knowing the home that is their clients dream home, and they can limit number of showings to 3, and their client will buy one of those 3. This the type of agent, that is in the top 10% of agents in number of sales.
B--The frustrated tour bus driver. Instead of doing a proper counseling job, they load the clients into their car, and show them home after home, often for months and sometimes even over a couple of years. The reason they show so many homes is they really do not understand what the client really wants.
A good example of what I mean. Back in 1974 I was called by a woman I knew who told me her brother in law was coming to town, and needed a small place where they could have horses, goats for girls to tie ribbons on, cows for the son to practice roping, etc., as they were big into Kid Rodeos. She was booking him one hour apart with agents to show them what they had over the next 4 days. . I told her to have him come to my office at 7 pm on the second day. We talked for an hour and he told me how unsatisfied with the 2 acre properties he was being shown. I told him to come in the next day at 2 pm and let me work with him for the rest of the day if needed. When he got there along with his sister in law and wife, and we went to see the 3 places I told him he should look at. One was a professional boarding set up with a practice arena. One was a nice little 20 acre farm, where he could grow much of the feed. The third I held for last. It was a 40 acre property, with an executive brick house. It had a great stable set up for 6 horses. It had a professional size rodeo practice facility. It had a hot walker (you hook up your horse to a merry go round that exercised your horse operated with an electric motor. Was owned by an owner who was a professional horse shoer, and rodeo rider and roper who wanted to move to warm weather year around area of Texas. He could lease out 35 acres to farmers with unlimited water for irrigation to help pay the bills. He was in love. The owner would not be back in town till late that evening, who I called and made appointment to show it the next day at 9 am. It was not listed, just an owner who would pay a 6% commission to any one that sold it.
I got there at 8:45 and found the buyer and seller eating breakfast. The buyer had got there at 6 as he was so anxious and was just going to drive by. The owner was in the yard, so he stopped and they talked. They worked out owner financing, etc. When I got in with them, they told me what they had agreed to, and I just had to write up the sale. He did not even bother to call and cancel the other appointments his sister in law had set up for the rest of the day and the next day. Instead he just called and they went home 2 days early.
This is an example of counseling. Other agents listened to the sister in law, and I talked to he client. I knew exactly what would fill his needs. I showed him the other two properties to show him what was available. The kids in junior rodeo in their club, practiced together at his arena. This arena brought him enough new business from their parents to pay for the place including all payments. He leased his hay property out on a 50-50 basis. He supplied the water and land, and the farmer did the growing and those expenses. Instead of buying hay, he even had excess hay he sold to the rodeo kids families from his share. He told me later that was the cheapest property he ever bought.
I was an investment real estate broker from 1972 till I finally retired. I kept count of how many showings per sale, and found it was 1.5 showings per sale over all the years in the business. I sold my first apartment house (2 year old brick upscale building) my first day in the business to a former co-worker. I sold identical unit next door 2 days later. The next week, I exchanged a 2 year old 16 unit apartment house for the down payment on a large irrigated farm, and was off and running. In those 2 weeks, I did more dollar volume than nearly all agents in the area were doing a year.
It can be good or bad, you just never really know until you perhaps interview 2-3-4 agents or get recommendations from friends and families.
The Redfin agents I know are just different kind of agents. They probably were not that great at prospecting and generating business....or did not want to. They wanted it dropped in their laps....which they get with Redfin. That doesn't make them bad agents.
I think they are only willing to show you 4 hours in a set timeframe in a set area. So if you are set on living in a specific area that may work. If you need to see 4 different houses in 4 different cities...it makes it more difficult.
Also the agent who writes your contract is typically different than the agent who shows you the house.
I'm not sure that is a great idea or not. I would think you might want an agent who has seen the house, who has walked around it with you, seen the other houses you liked or didn't like to help you come up with the right offer price.
If you have bought a dozen houses and moved around the country a dozen times, really detailed with contracts and have a good memory, it can be a great option in the right situation.
It's probably not the best option in every situation.
Was she paid via W2/salary or as an independent contractor on straight commission?
She's a regular real estate agent. They work on commission.
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