Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Capo,
I was specifically responding to the last post of Crescent's, rather than to the original poster, to whom I'd already replied. I suggested to the original poster that they report this realtor both to the realtor's broker and to the WA Real Estate Commission. Absolutely, the original poster's realtor was sneaky and slimy. It's probably a good idea to read through the whole thread before deciding that I was defending the real estate industry. It's called a "thread" because people respond to each other.
I may be a real estate agent but if you've seen any of my posts before, I spend a lot more time warning people against real estate agents than defending them.
I agree with you, though. There are some real sleazebags in the industry, and they give people like me, just trying to provide real estate services without BS, a bad name.
I wasn't addressing it solely at you per se, but more so in general. But, my apologies for missing the first part of your post, I thought you were commenting more to the OP's situation.
I'm certainly not a person who dislikes realtors, it's just the sleazy ones. Which, unfortunately, were all too common throughout the country before this recent national "crash." I think that realtors who are highly experienced, educated, and trained can be a great resource for people looking to buy or sell their home.
What I don't like are these realtors who seem to have a sense of entitlement to a $30,000.00 commission check for simply spending a day opening a few doors for me. To ME, a realtor is more than an escort driver. They should be a trained and educated (formally, not at a 1 week training class) in both business and real estate and should be able to offer me statistical and regression analysis, trends, an understanding of legal considerations, etc. etc.
I certainly don't come close to the income potential of what some of these full time realtors use to make, yet my industry requires me to have a masters degree, multiple certifications, 10+ years of experience, etc. Somehow, similar requirements haven't been adopted by many real estate agencies.
I certainly don't come close to the income potential of what some of these full time realtors use to make, yet my industry requires me to have a masters degree, multiple certifications, 10+ years of experience, etc. Somehow, similar requirements haven't been adopted by many real estate agencies.
You're telling me! As a real estate agent, I have to deal with these clowns on a regular basis. To become an agent, you have to pass a test, but you don't even need to be a high school graduate. There are some continuing education requirements, but they're not exactly stringent.
The real estate agents you called were probably showing houses. Weekends are the busiest for real estate agents. However...
The vast majority of rental houses are not listed on the MLS, and most real estate agents and Realtors don't do rentals, since they can pretty much only earn a commission from MLS listed rentals, and here aren't very many of them.
My suggestion? Rent a house without an agent. Craigslist has plenty of houses for rent. nwsource.com has some as well. When you're ready to buy, call an agent. Then they'll return your calls
Hi Ira,
We mostly called the contact numbers on rent.com (property management through realestate company such as windmere). Today I got a call back on one of the houses and I'll be meeting the leasing person at an open house tomorrow night at 6pm. Not a wonderfully convenient hour considering where we live and the traffic but we'll take whatever we can get. I've been scanning craigslist and am not finding many and what we are finding is out of our range. (Under 1200) I'm seeing a lot of prices around 1400 and over. Thanks for the tip on nwsource.com, I'll take a look.
I am a Realtor in another state, not Washington, so I am not sure of the standard procedures there. It is true we earn a commission at closing but most people have no idea that agents do not receive a salary of any kind from their agency. If there is no sale we earn nothing for our work. As independant contractors we pay for most everything from office space, printing, advertising, insurance, gas and on and on. Why do people think it is ok to use the time and services of anyone and not expect to pay for it. Now that said, the agent should have informed you that there was going to be a fee upfront. That way you could have made an informed decision on how to proceed.
It is becoming more common for agents to charge a "retainer" for showing properties and in our office that money is returned to the buyer at closing so you have nothing to lose if you are serious about a purchase/rental. In this economy we all have to make a living. Imagine the amount of time you would have spent if you had to call each property or agent individually. As you work with an agent and you see more properties your needs are fine tuned and you agent can help you more efficiently. If you had to do this with each property agent seperately you lose that advantage. Working with an agent can save you a lot of time and needless effort. Since you signed no agreement with the agent.(Why not?) you owe her nothing. Regardless of that you used her time, expertise and services. You might consider paying up a reasonable portion. Good karma and lesson learned.
There is no transaction that is a "little" work. Most of what an agent does is never seen by the seller or the buyer whether it happens before a listing goes public or after the offer is accepted. Do you offer your doctor, dentist, plumber etc a lunch as a thank you for their service?
I am a Realtor in another state, not Washington, so I am not sure of the standard procedures there. It is true we earn a commission at closing but most people have no idea that agents do not receive a salary of any kind from their agency. If there is no sale we earn nothing for our work. As independant contractors we pay for most everything from office space, printing, advertising, insurance, gas and on and on. Why do people think it is ok to use the time and services of anyone and not expect to pay for it. Now that said, the agent should have informed you that there was going to be a fee upfront. That way you could have made an informed decision on how to proceed.
It is becoming more common for agents to charge a "retainer" for showing properties and in our office that money is returned to the buyer at closing so you have nothing to lose if you are serious about a purchase/rental. In this economy we all have to make a living. Imagine the amount of time you would have spent if you had to call each property or agent individually. As you work with an agent and you see more properties your needs are fine tuned and you agent can help you more efficiently. If you had to do this with each property agent seperately you lose that advantage. Working with an agent can save you a lot of time and needless effort. Since you signed no agreement with the agent.(Why not?) you owe her nothing. Regardless of that you used her time, expertise and services. You might consider paying up a reasonable portion. Good karma and lesson learned.
There is no transaction that is a "little" work. Most of what an agent does is never seen by the seller or the buyer whether it happens before a listing goes public or after the offer is accepted. Do you offer your doctor, dentist, plumber etc a lunch as a thank you for their service?
There are lots and lots of people that work on commission only. You knew the deal when you got into that business. Personal Injury attorneys don't make a dime unless their clients collect, so there's an example of people who have far more overhead costs and time invested than real estate professionals.
I am a Realtor in another state, not Washington, so I am not sure of the standard procedures there. It is true we earn a commission at closing but most people have no idea that agents do not receive a salary of any kind from their agency. If there is no sale we earn nothing for our work. As independant contractors we pay for most everything from office space, printing, advertising, insurance, gas and on and on. Why do people think it is ok to use the time and services of anyone and not expect to pay for it. Now that said, the agent should have informed you that there was going to be a fee upfront. That way you could have made an informed decision on how to proceed.
It is becoming more common for agents to charge a "retainer" for showing properties and in our office that money is returned to the buyer at closing so you have nothing to lose if you are serious about a purchase/rental. In this economy we all have to make a living. Imagine the amount of time you would have spent if you had to call each property or agent individually. As you work with an agent and you see more properties your needs are fine tuned and you agent can help you more efficiently. If you had to do this with each property agent seperately you lose that advantage. Working with an agent can save you a lot of time and needless effort. Since you signed no agreement with the agent.(Why not?) you owe her nothing. Regardless of that you used her time, expertise and services. You might consider paying up a reasonable portion. Good karma and lesson learned.
There is no transaction that is a "little" work. Most of what an agent does is never seen by the seller or the buyer whether it happens before a listing goes public or after the offer is accepted. Do you offer your doctor, dentist, plumber etc a lunch as a thank you for their service?
No kidding. When I've bought houses I've had to do nearly all of the work myself. Research the neighborhoods, the houses, the prices, figure out which ones I want to see, etc. Even the nice realtor I had last really didn't have anything to add. He was just nice enough to sit back and let us go where we wanted.
The whole industry is built up on some serious crap. My understanding is that many realtors won't show homes that aren't listed through a "big" agency. You can get a discount place to at least stick you on the MLS, but many realtors will steer you away from those listings, and certainly away from a FSBO, so that everyone eventually has to pay them the fee. I didn't have a huge problem with this in TX, where 6% of the house was "only" $8700 (though I was still doing all the work to prepare the house, take the pictures, etc -- selling agent had only to list us on MLS and put up a sign, which I could have easily done myself if I had access to it). Here, though, moving is absolutely impossible. 6% is close to $30,000. Makes me furious that I COULD sell it myself and keep the money, but knowing that most buyers are going to be steered away unless I give away that money to someone else.
In this age of free information on the internet, something in real estate has to change. There is no good reason to have to pay 6% of your house price, 3% to two different experts. I'm all for buyer's agents, actually, because if you're going to be showing your home to strangers, you do want someone babysitting them. I think $15k is awfully steep for someone who is a chauffuer -- I think the BUYERS should be paying for as much service as they need. If they NEED neighborhood recommendations and expertise and are actually getting qualified advice, let the BUYERS pay. For a buyer like me that already exhaustively looked at every possible thing online, only to first wind up with a stupid realtor that wants to stuff me in issaquah highlands and then with a second one that doesn't know anything more about it than what I already found out, why did the sellers have to fork over that kind of cash? Dumb. And the listing agent? Seriously, they get that much cash too, just for printing up a pretty sign?
This racket of not-showing-houses-that-aren't-bought-in has got to go away. People should have the right to buy and sell houses as they please, with as much or as little house as they want, without the BS. It's crazy to think that even though we're under water, we could make up the difference with our savings, EXCEPT between the excise tax and realtors fees, there's no way we could do it. Total BS.
The whole industry is built up on some serious crap. My understanding is that many realtors won't show homes that aren't listed through a "big" agency.
You know, Jenlion, I should take offense that you're berating my "always so honorable" industry. But I'm not offended and you're mostly right. The whole industry IS built on some serious crap, and I wish the whole pay structure were different. As a commission salesperson, a lot of real estate agents are under heavy pressure to sell, rather than work in the best interests of their clients. The "big" agencies steal half the commission from their agents, and make them telemarket to get clients, and there is a high expectation that you need to "look" successful, so a lot of agents go into hock big time buying that Mercedes and expensive suits. I can't quite play that game, I am not affiliated with a "big" agency,I clearly march to the beat of a different drummer, and my expenses are much smaller than the average agent, so I go around in my 9 year old Chevy and wear shorts and Hawaiian shirts, but most agents aren't in the position where they can buck the system.
As far as boycotting the homes not listed through big agencies, that's mostly a thing of the past. As the real estate bubble exploded, agents just couldn't afford to honor these defacto boycotts. Nowadays, so long as they can get a commission, they'll show anything.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
