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A GOOD real estate agent performs various professional tasks requiring expertise that save you time and money, protect your interests, and keep you out of troub

by Shooter 17y ago

A GOOD real estate agent performs various professional tasks requiring expertise that save you time and money, protect your interests, and keep you out of trouble, at a cost that is less than doing it yourself. Kind of like a GOOD lawyer (I noticed your JD) or a good accountant. You can do it yourself...just like you can fix your own car or plumbing, but the results may not always be what you intended. It may SEEM like a super simple task until you're knee deep in shit and then you start to appreciate why there are professionals with training who stay up-to-date and have E&O insurance for the field, etc. Specialization is a good thing. The bar to get a real estate license is lower than getting most other professional licenses, though, so there are many more BAD agents than bad plumbers/accountants/mechanics. I think most real estate agents suck. Just like I think most lawyers suck. It doesn't mean that either shouldn't exist, though. I've got to go to bed...I'll come back later.

mikeryan 17y ago
I don't disagree that there's some value to having an agent. But as someone looking to buy in the Bay Area, the amount realtor's (particularly buyer's realtors) get paid relative to the work they put in, is all out of whack. Finding houses is easy, that's what MLS listings do. So that leaves the hidden "gotchas" in the actual sale process, For a buyers agent to get 3% of an $800,000 home is ridiculous. I'd rather pay a lawyer $500/hr to do the 10-20 hours of work closing a deal.
- wglb 17y ago
  I have done by-owner transactions twice--it was lots of fun. The lawyer time in each case was not more than two or at most three hours. If it is more than that, there is something unexpected.
- encoderer 17y ago
  When I was in school still I was a researcher for an appraisal firm. Mostly commercial but also a great deal of jumbo-loan-sized residential business. One of many lessons learned was that most the best properties never make it onto MLS.
- anamax 17y ago
  > I'd rather pay a lawyer $500/hr to do the 10-20 hours of work closing a deal. Where does buying a house require 10 hours of paperwork? (It seems endless while you're doing it, but it's way less than 10 hours and almost all of the paperwork is canned.) Do you really think that a lawyer has 10 hours of expertise that's relevant to buying the typical house? (How many houses have you bought?)
  - mikeryan 17y ago
    I have bought none, if its less then 10 hours my point is even better made ;-)
    - encoderer 17y ago
      I'm not a fan of realtors either, but in addition to the fact that the best properties never hit MLS (as I mentioned above) the part where a buyers agent earns their keep is everything before closing. And for that, a lawyer cannot help you. I've bought two houses, one in my original hometown, and another for a cross-country move in a city I'd never lived in. In both cases I viewed dozens of homes before putting in any offers. Because I had a realtor, it was as simple as finding a home I wanted to see and emailing him about it. We'd group a few together and he'd take us through them. In cases where there was a lockbox, he'd call the sellers agent and get the code. Others, when it was still occupied, he'd call the sellers agent and let them know there would be a showing. I only remember a couple times when the sellers agent was there. Now, try doing it on your own. No sellers agent is going to give you a lockbox code. If its occupied, no owner is going to let some couple walk thru their home unescorted. You're going to have to call the sellers agents and make appointments. They're not really working for you so they're not going to be nearly as responsive as your agent is. With your agent he'll setup an appt with you, a few hour block, to drive around and see the homes. On your own, you're not going to have these clustered appointments. Even if you get some scheduled back-to-back, you're at the mercy of the sellers agents keeping themselves on time. This would've been hard enough in hometown the first time around. My second time, when I moved 1000 miles away, it would've been a positive nightmare. Our agent then blocked off whole days on a few separate occasions where we flew into town to see as many homes as possible in a weekend. I think you get my point. Buying a home is hectic. There are so many variables to keep track of. Even more so when you're also coordinating a cross-country move. The buyers agent was like combining all the best qualities of a tour guide, a personal assistant and a paralegal. They abstracted a lot of complexity. They were an expert we could rely on for advice and guidance. They knew things about neighborhoods I had no clue about despite living in the city most my life at that point. Now, 3% is a bit high, though it's not the near-criminal-ripoff you make it out to be. And to condemn the whole practice based largely on the fact that you are choosing to buy into one of the most expensive and inflated markets in the country seems a little over the top to me. Even in California the median sale is half the $800k you mentioned.

by Shooter 17y ago

mikeryan 17y ago

I don't disagree that there's some value to having an agent. But as someone looking to buy in the Bay Area, the amount realtor's (particularly buyer's realtors) get paid relative to the work they put in, is all out of whack. Finding houses is easy, that's what MLS listings do. So that leaves the hidden "gotchas" in the actual sale process, For a buyers agent to get 3% of an $800,000 home is ridiculous. I'd rather pay a lawyer $500/hr to do the 10-20 hours of work closing a deal.

wglb 17y ago
I have done by-owner transactions twice--it was lots of fun. The lawyer time in each case was not more than two or at most three hours. If it is more than that, there is something unexpected.
encoderer 17y ago
When I was in school still I was a researcher for an appraisal firm. Mostly commercial but also a great deal of jumbo-loan-sized residential business. One of many lessons learned was that most the best properties never make it onto MLS.
anamax 17y ago
> I'd rather pay a lawyer $500/hr to do the 10-20 hours of work closing a deal. Where does buying a house require 10 hours of paperwork? (It seems endless while you're doing it, but it's way less than 10 hours and almost all of the paperwork is canned.) Do you really think that a lawyer has 10 hours of expertise that's relevant to buying the typical house? (How many houses have you bought?)
- mikeryan 17y ago
  I have bought none, if its less then 10 hours my point is even better made ;-)
  - encoderer 17y ago
    I'm not a fan of realtors either, but in addition to the fact that the best properties never hit MLS (as I mentioned above) the part where a buyers agent earns their keep is everything before closing. And for that, a lawyer cannot help you. I've bought two houses, one in my original hometown, and another for a cross-country move in a city I'd never lived in. In both cases I viewed dozens of homes before putting in any offers. Because I had a realtor, it was as simple as finding a home I wanted to see and emailing him about it. We'd group a few together and he'd take us through them. In cases where there was a lockbox, he'd call the sellers agent and get the code. Others, when it was still occupied, he'd call the sellers agent and let them know there would be a showing. I only remember a couple times when the sellers agent was there. Now, try doing it on your own. No sellers agent is going to give you a lockbox code. If its occupied, no owner is going to let some couple walk thru their home unescorted. You're going to have to call the sellers agents and make appointments. They're not really working for you so they're not going to be nearly as responsive as your agent is. With your agent he'll setup an appt with you, a few hour block, to drive around and see the homes. On your own, you're not going to have these clustered appointments. Even if you get some scheduled back-to-back, you're at the mercy of the sellers agents keeping themselves on time. This would've been hard enough in hometown the first time around. My second time, when I moved 1000 miles away, it would've been a positive nightmare. Our agent then blocked off whole days on a few separate occasions where we flew into town to see as many homes as possible in a weekend. I think you get my point. Buying a home is hectic. There are so many variables to keep track of. Even more so when you're also coordinating a cross-country move. The buyers agent was like combining all the best qualities of a tour guide, a personal assistant and a paralegal. They abstracted a lot of complexity. They were an expert we could rely on for advice and guidance. They knew things about neighborhoods I had no clue about despite living in the city most my life at that point. Now, 3% is a bit high, though it's not the near-criminal-ripoff you make it out to be. And to condemn the whole practice based largely on the fact that you are choosing to buy into one of the most expensive and inflated markets in the country seems a little over the top to me. Even in California the median sale is half the $800k you mentioned.