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all realtors have access to the MLS some have certain specialties, agents for buyers don't charge a fee to show you properties. Why would you need more than one realtor? If you aren't happy with a realtor you could always change.
If you like the person and they seem knowledgable and capable stick with him or her. If you don't care for the agent or have doubts about ability get another.
You might "interview" three or four on the internet or by phone then pick one. Stick with the one unless doubts develop.
Realtors feel you are being disloyal when you work with more than one. All their time and expense is for naught if they are not able to find you a property you want to buy. It is always best to find just one you feel very comfortable with and whom you feel is trying their best for you. If they do not meet up to your expectations, discuss it and terminate the relationship but stay loyal to only one.
The model is broken. The realtor gets a cut of the sale, instead of being paid directly by you for their service, so it is in their interest to "own" you and not "share" you with any other realtors. Its also in their interest for you to pay more rather than less for a house since their cut is proportional to the selling price.
The model is broken. The realtor gets a cut of the sale, instead of being paid directly by you for their service, so it is in their interest to "own" you and not "share" you with any other realtors. Its also in their interest for you to pay more rather than less for a house since their cut is proportional to the selling price.
Silliness.
you think a group of Realtors is more honest than a single one?
I have no problem with a client bouncing around. But it makes little sense. You simply get multiple people showing you the same stuff. How does that aid the client? If I deal with someone for a while I get a reasonable view of what they want...and I stop showing them things they don't want.
I move a client up once in a while. That is because they have made it clear they don't want what they say they do...The third time the client points out how pedestrian the layout of a 60K condo is it will likely lead to 75K condos without that layout. The Realtor skill is to tell what it is the client wants...which is often quite different from what the client says he wants.
The agent is much more interested in closing the sale than in increasing the price. You net $2500 on a $100,000 sale. You get another $250 if it goes up $10,000. That is not a big deal. You go for the $2500 every time.
you think a group of Realtors is more honest than a single one?
I think that "follow the money" is the most useful indicator of where people's loyalties lie. The system is designed such that the realtor and his client's interests are at odds. That does't mean every member of a group is going to behave in exactly the same way, there are other factors that influence individual actions, but the one factor that is shared by all realtors is that the more their client spends, the more they get paid. The system is defective by design.
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The agent is much more interested in closing the sale than in increasing the price. You net $2500 on a $100,000 sale. You get another $250 if it goes up $10,000. That is not a big deal. You go for the $2500 every time.
Yeah, that's a vast over-simplification and I'm pretty sure you knew it when you wrote it. There are a million different ways to influence the course of events, many of them totally passive - ignoring or downplaying information, not putting in that extra effort to dig up some property that may be just as suitable, etc. Most of them can occur long before anyone is close to closing.
I think that "follow the money" is the most useful indicator of where people's loyalties lie. The system is designed such that the realtor and his client's interests are at odds. That does't mean every member of a group is going to behave in exactly the same way, there are other factors that influence individual actions, but the one factor that is shared by all realtors is that the more their client spends, the more they get paid. The system is defective by design.
Actually that defeats the whole model...Any percentage "agent" model. Note though that a better one has not been found to my knowledge. I think buyers should pay their own agents but that is a different issue.
The conflict is not as strong as you make it though. The payout occurs only with a successful sale. So the agents motivation is both to complete the transaction and make the most money. The latter vastly overpowers the former. Over my career I have seen a few exceptions...including a couple that I did not like at all. But I would tell people to worry far more about incompetence than being taken financial advantage of. Twenty to one at least.
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Yeah, that's a vast over-simplification and I'm pretty sure you knew it when you wrote it. There are a million different ways to influence the course of events, many of them totally passive - ignoring or downplaying information, not putting in that extra effort to dig up some property that may be just as suitable, etc. Most of them can occur long before anyone is close to closing.
Again it is almost always getting it closed that is the issue. Trying to optimize both an illicit return and closing is a difficult to impossible task.
You obviously believe RE Agent are much cleverer than I do. I have seen a couple over the years....but mostly the herd is simply not that bright. And most of the ones that are bright enough don't need the mechanism. Note you want to leave them happy rather than poor. It is how you make out long term.
It has nothing to do with being clever. It's simply that the interests of the buyer and the interests of his agent are not in alignment so there is a natural tendency, a sort of invisible hand, at work. A sort of reward for not caring.
For example, if the situation were reversed - such that a realtor could earn more by actively finding a better deal for their client, then the more savvy agents would certainly use their abilities to their advantage - and consequently the buyer's advantage too. The fact that the current system does not reward the realtor for going that extra mile is what I am talking about. In fact, that may even explain your observation of why the herd is not very bright - there is no reward for being so.
And regarding "happy" versus "poor" - that's no dichotomy. People who overpay for a product are frequently the happiest customers.
It has nothing to do with being clever. It's simply that the interests of the buyer and the interests of his agent are not in alignment so there is a natural tendency, a sort of invisible hand, at work. A sort of reward for not caring.
For example, if the situation were reversed - such that a realtor could earn more by actively finding a better deal for their client, then the more savvy agents would certainly use their abilities to their advantage - and consequently the buyer's advantage too. The fact that the current system does not reward the realtor for going that extra mile is what I am talking about. In fact, that may even explain your observation of why the herd is not very bright - there is no reward for being so.
And regarding "happy" versus "poor" - that's no dichotomy. People who overpay for a product are frequently the happiest customers.
However closing the transaction is of primary interest to both. And that is a well shared goal which may have another subset of shared goals. And it is very often true that finding a good deal is one of the shared subset.
I would still assert that the client is vastly more likely to be damaged by incompetence than by greed, be it deliberate or inherent.
I also suspect most clients come upon the fact that they were not well served...perhaps later rather than sooner but in time. Not all of those who discover this are actually correct.
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