[quote=ārascott, post:23, topic:2141, full:trueā]
As someone who has a Realtors licenseā¦but doesnāt really practice (I use it for my own investing, and help a few people per year)ā¦I can see both sides of the coin.
The reality is it is a serviceā¦ there is nothing wrong with doing it yourselfā¦but the vast majority of the public donāt feel comfortable doing such a large transaction on their own, particularly when they have never done it, or only do it a few times in their adult lives.
In a red hot marketā¦a seller can probably put their place FSBO on Zillow and sell it. In a normal or slow market, thatās likely not going to work.
On the flip sideā¦a buyer in a red hot market is going to get really frustrated, really fast. As Zillow is delayed a day or two from getting MLS feedsā¦and by then the house could be gone.
That gets to the ace up the sleeve of the Realtors associations. The MLSā¦Realtors own it, they are the gate keepers. Zillow is out of business tomorrow if Realtors decide to cut off their feed.
So no, I see it very unlikely that theyāll be too disrupted.
BTW, Redfin is nothing but another broker with another pricing model. Every city has always had discount brokersā¦I got discounts/rebates on every home Iāve personally bought/sold in last 20 years. Just ask for itā¦nobody should be paying 6% unless you are under say $125-150k range.
Finally. Donāt underestimate peopleās cluelessness when it comes to negotiations. And Iām not just talking the price. Inspection repairs are the biggest hangup I see occurā¦and if one party is clueless, belligerent, or whateverā¦it can become a mess real quick. People often become very emotional about their homes and having agents mediate often really moves things along when problems come up (inspection, closing, mortgage, etcā¦)
[/quote]Everything that you mentioned is right on. To me, the issue with real estate agents if the fact that the entry barriers are incredibly low, such that the market is flooded with incredibly inexperienced and frequently incompetent agents who provide very little or no value to their clients, and, in many cases, can actually be a net negative.
To me, this is the biggest problem with the industry, as people who donāt know much about real estate also donāt know how to differentiate among good and bad agents. So, they either blindly call up an agent who happens to be advertising in the area, or ask for referrals. The latter would be a good strategy, except that most people whom theyāre asking know just as little about real estate as they do, so theyāre just as likely to get referrals to incompetent agents.
Having said that, the vast majority of the population, including those who say that they really donāt need an agent, actually knows practically nothing about residential real estate, and could benefit quite a bit from a competent real estate agent. In the right situation, a competent real estate agent can actually add a lot of value, but knowing whom to hire and at what price is a definite problem that most people face.
Yes, the commission rebating model has been around for quite some time, and you can frequently do a lot better than Redfin or any of the other large rebating agencies, both in terms of the commission rebates and the actual service. On our last purchase, for instance, our commission rebate was 70% from a highly experienced agent, but it really depends on your level of experience (meaning how much or how little handholding you require from an agent) and the purchase price.