3 ms·

my beef with the commissioned agents is that paying them a commission does not actually influence them to work on your behalf; they still work on their own beha

my beef with the commissioned agents is that paying them a commission does not actually influence them to work on your behalf; they still work on their own behalf. For example, keeping your house for sale on the market longer (by rejecting offers) tends to eventually bring a higher price. A study or two has shown that real estate agents keep their own houses on the market for longer than average. But longer on the market is more work for the agent, while the small percentage increase in a higher price doesn't enhance their commission by nearly as much as it does the homeowner's, especially considering there is frequently a substantial mortgage on the house (meaning, the homeowner gets to collect the "bank's share" of any additional sale price) but what will your realtor recommend? "list it at a low price to generate interest and start a bidding war", pretty much the opposite of what you should do. In the grand scheme of things, a commission for making a large, complex selling process go smoothly is not a ridiculous notion, but when your agent is participating in plucking your feathers it's pretty annoying.

ajhurliman 3y ago
You’re not forced into taking any deal you don’t want to; your real estate agent can’t accept deals without your consent. I agree, agents are usually more focused on deal flow than particular outcomes, but it’s sort of a fundamental issue with agency in general. A software consultant is more focused on you signing off on the work than your bottom line, it’s hard to get people to not act in their best interest, and for the average person the home buying/ selling process is probably too complicated for them to navigate without going through some training. I think the biggest reform that could be passed is to disentangle NAR and MLS.
- fsckboy 3y ago
  when I am paying somebody handsomely for their domain expertise, I don't want to become as educated as they are in order to evaluate what they throw in front of me. I want advice that I can trust from a fiduciary.
userinanother 3y ago
The incentive is to close the deal asap the extra 100k for the seller isn’t much for the realtor

ajhurliman 3y ago

You’re not forced into taking any deal you don’t want to; your real estate agent can’t accept deals without your consent. I agree, agents are usually more focused on deal flow than particular outcomes, but it’s sort of a fundamental issue with agency in general. A software consultant is more focused on you signing off on the work than your bottom line, it’s hard to get people to not act in their best interest, and for the average person the home buying/ selling process is probably too complicated for them to navigate without going through some training. I think the biggest reform that could be passed is to disentangle NAR and MLS.

fsckboy 3y ago
when I am paying somebody handsomely for their domain expertise, I don't want to become as educated as they are in order to evaluate what they throw in front of me. I want advice that I can trust from a fiduciary.

userinanother 3y ago

The incentive is to close the deal asap the extra 100k for the seller isn’t much for the realtor