WSJ: Beware real estate cartel

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just wanted to add that I hate Realtors. They are, as a general group, not that bright and the digital revolution has made them largely obsolete.

But, they infiltrated state houses long ago so state laws are on their side apparently.

I don't think there is any law that says that agents need to be paid 5-6%. Also, there is no law that says you have to use them either. Tons of FSBO, other private listings get sold all the time.

There is no law but the point is that may be engaging in anticompetitive behavior to keep these high fees.

I agree and no wonder DoF is looking into it.

Not giving anyone access to MLS or unregistered agents/brokers to do business is certainly anti competitive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The DoJ is coming after you next:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/warning-to-the-real-estate-cartel-11625783854

Finally, hopefully consumers can get away from this ridiculous system that compensates brokers exorbitant sums of money for only a few hours of work. TBH, a vast majority of the process could probably be largely automated for a $20 fee anyway. Ridiculous US consumers have so much wealth destroyed from insane fees, or are forced to buy less because of fees.

Funny, I did a 5 hour home inspection today with a lawyer who is involved in this case. Guess, I don't have to day anything else, and we will forgot about the twenty plus hours I spent with him at other houses, working out finances, and two previous pre inspections.

Then you are the exception. Last time I bought a house and had it inspected, it was me and the inspector. Agent wasn't there.

So you spent 5 hours with an inspector, you made a call or sent an email to set up the time, you took a few minutes to fill out the bid form (a template I might add) and you will sit in on the close, maybe? So that is what, 15 hours max, right? And for that, you are getting a 5 figure payout.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All you jaw flappers are still complaining about real estate agents. Still wondering why you don't become agents if they are useless, have no skin in the game, and are largely obsolete but yet make ridiculous sums of money for doing nothing.

This is not the time to become a relator as very soon they would have to be ok with much less commission. There is no justification for such a high commission with nothing bringing of the value here. A HS kid could do a better job if license and other requirements are out.

You all have been saying this the entire 15 years I’ve been on this board. You know how much money real estate agents have made during that time?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The DoJ is coming after you next:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/warning-to-the-real-estate-cartel-11625783854

Finally, hopefully consumers can get away from this ridiculous system that compensates brokers exorbitant sums of money for only a few hours of work. TBH, a vast majority of the process could probably be largely automated for a $20 fee anyway. Ridiculous US consumers have so much wealth destroyed from insane fees, or are forced to buy less because of fees.

Funny, I did a 5 hour home inspection today with a lawyer who is involved in this case. Guess, I don't have to day anything else, and we will forgot about the twenty plus hours I spent with him at other houses, working out finances, and two previous pre inspections.

Then you are the exception. Last time I bought a house and had it inspected, it was me and the inspector. Agent wasn't there.

So you spent 5 hours with an inspector, you made a call or sent an email to set up the time, you took a few minutes to fill out the bid form (a template I might add) and you will sit in on the close, maybe? So that is what, 15 hours max, right? And for that, you are getting a 5 figure payout.

How did you even get into the property without your agent present?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The DoJ is coming after you next:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/warning-to-the-real-estate-cartel-11625783854

Finally, hopefully consumers can get away from this ridiculous system that compensates brokers exorbitant sums of money for only a few hours of work. TBH, a vast majority of the process could probably be largely automated for a $20 fee anyway. Ridiculous US consumers have so much wealth destroyed from insane fees, or are forced to buy less because of fees.

Funny, I did a 5 hour home inspection today with a lawyer who is involved in this case. Guess, I don't have to day anything else, and we will forgot about the twenty plus hours I spent with him at other houses, working out finances, and two previous pre inspections.

Funny how you cherry picked and only highlighted this one transaction. Are you suggesting there are no transactions that take less than 20 hours beginning to end? I’ve purchased/sold several homes both with realtors and on my own with a flat fee attorney. Realtor fees should be by the hour. $750 an hour will motivate buyers to be more precise with their search.

More like 75 cents an hour. We handed our agent the key to our house and she had it painted, floors refinished, deck and some other repairs done, had a new garage door installed, carpet cleaned in the basement, and had windows and house cleaned. She had the house staged and had photos, floorplans, and a tour done. She spent three hours sitting on her ass at an an open house and then made us respond to offers a few days later. She didn’t do anything after that except meet the appraiser, termite inspector, and our movers. She spent maybe a couple hours making sure the movers got everything out of the house and then took all our old paint to the County. She spent a lot of time with the settlement because we were in two places. For that she made over $9,000. She should have gotten $750 for the little she did. My neighbors were all impressed but she didn’t do any of the work

Aren't you funny. I've bought and sold many houses and have employed different agents for everyone. I have never had an agent do any of these things you've documented. I had to deal with our appraiser who made a serious mistake in our documentation in which he left information on a page related to a different house. My agent did nothing. No one I know has ever had an agent do more than the minimum. Anyone can become a agent.

PP’s description sounds a bit over the top, but last time we sold, our agent took care of hiring painters, somebody to put in new countertops, photos, staging, new carpets, cleaning, re-glazing the tub, and probably other stuff I’m forgetting. We paid her 2.5% of the sale price (the buyer’s agent got the other half). I still think it was a lot for the work put in, but honestly, it would have taken me so much longer to find the right people to do the work and be around for all the appointments. We probably got to market earlier and sold faster because of her work.

Your case isn't the norm.

The you did a bad job of shopping around for a good agent and negotiating terms. That seems like your problem.

I interviewed 9 agents for my last house sale. Many were recommended by others. I started with one then fired her. In my life I've had one good, knowlegeable realtor. One.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My realtor was absolutely useless. I got all the listings. She got us in with her access, of course, but I found the places online. She submitted our prefer. And then when things got awkward with the sellers (they didn’t do the agreed upon work, still had stuff in the yard and house on closing day, etc) she did NOTHING. The lady at the title company helped us work out a solution by holding money in escrow until they completed the clean out and agreed upon repairs. It made me so mad. And we corked over $15,000 for this “work”. At most, it was worth maybe $300. At MOST.

I agree with OP. Realtors are a scam.

Same situation. We never got help with the things the home seller didn't do. We also had to push the realtor every time an issue came up. At closing she did nothing. We didn't get keys, security codes etc and she hinted that we owed her a gift. She could barely get us in the houses we were interested in. I hate them and will use a lawyer in the future.

[Anonymous]

Agents are worthless. The same situation happened with me when the agent wasn't communicating clearly with the other side on providing the details of the possession, final walk through, etc.

I delayed the closing and sent an email to my title company, their lawyer, and copied agent and her broker. I told them that they are liable if I incur loss. Closing had to move back 4 days and they paid me rent at my current place for those days.

Along with lawyers, car salesmen and politicians, agents are the worse of the worst.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The DoJ is coming after you next:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/warning-to-the-real-estate-cartel-11625783854

Finally, hopefully consumers can get away from this ridiculous system that compensates brokers exorbitant sums of money for only a few hours of work. TBH, a vast majority of the process could probably be largely automated for a $20 fee anyway. Ridiculous US consumers have so much wealth destroyed from insane fees, or are forced to buy less because of fees.

Funny, I did a 5 hour home inspection today with a lawyer who is involved in this case. Guess, I don't have to day anything else, and we will forgot about the twenty plus hours I spent with him at other houses, working out finances, and two previous pre inspections.

Then you are the exception. Last time I bought a house and had it inspected, it was me and the inspector. Agent wasn't there.

So you spent 5 hours with an inspector, you made a call or sent an email to set up the time, you took a few minutes to fill out the bid form (a template I might add) and you will sit in on the close, maybe? So that is what, 15 hours max, right? And for that, you are getting a 5 figure payout.

Agents never show up to the home inspections. That's the time to make them responsible if they miss anything, Also, never go for the recommendations from your agent. They get kickbacks/favor from their referrals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The DoJ is coming after you next:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/warning-to-the-real-estate-cartel-11625783854

Finally, hopefully consumers can get away from this ridiculous system that compensates brokers exorbitant sums of money for only a few hours of work. TBH, a vast majority of the process could probably be largely automated for a $20 fee anyway. Ridiculous US consumers have so much wealth destroyed from insane fees, or are forced to buy less because of fees.

Funny, I did a 5 hour home inspection today with a lawyer who is involved in this case. Guess, I don't have to day anything else, and we will forgot about the twenty plus hours I spent with him at other houses, working out finances, and two previous pre inspections.

Then you are the exception. Last time I bought a house and had it inspected, it was me and the inspector. Agent wasn't there.

So you spent 5 hours with an inspector, you made a call or sent an email to set up the time, you took a few minutes to fill out the bid form (a template I might add) and you will sit in on the close, maybe? So that is what, 15 hours max, right? And for that, you are getting a 5 figure payout.

Agents never show up to the home inspections. That's the time to make them responsible if they miss anything, Also, never go for the recommendations from your agent. They get kickbacks/favor from their referrals.

What? I have bought two properties and my agents have been there both times. About to buy another one and my agent will be there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agents are worthless. The same situation happened with me when the agent wasn't communicating clearly with the other side on providing the details of the possession, final walk through, etc.

I delayed the closing and sent an email to my title company, their lawyer, and copied agent and her broker. I told them that they are liable if I incur loss. Closing had to move back 4 days and they paid me rent at my current place for those days.

Along with lawyers, car salesmen and politicians, agents are the worse of the worst.

My goodness, what a clever girl.

[Anonymous]

Agents charge high fees because they are a monopoly. the sooner we get rid of them the better. they add no value over what a lawyer can get done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The DoJ is coming after you next:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/warning-to-the-real-estate-cartel-11625783854

Finally, hopefully consumers can get away from this ridiculous system that compensates brokers exorbitant sums of money for only a few hours of work. TBH, a vast majority of the process could probably be largely automated for a $20 fee anyway. Ridiculous US consumers have so much wealth destroyed from insane fees, or are forced to buy less because of fees.

Funny, I did a 5 hour home inspection today with a lawyer who is involved in this case. Guess, I don't have to day anything else, and we will forgot about the twenty plus hours I spent with him at other houses, working out finances, and two previous pre inspections.

Then you are the exception. Last time I bought a house and had it inspected, it was me and the inspector. Agent wasn't there.

So you spent 5 hours with an inspector, you made a call or sent an email to set up the time, you took a few minutes to fill out the bid form (a template I might add) and you will sit in on the close, maybe? So that is what, 15 hours max, right? And for that, you are getting a 5 figure payout.

No, I spent 20 hours showing him and his partner houses. Then they zeroed in on a very popular area with no houses on the market. I called or talked to every agent in the area and found two who had possible listings. I met the agents at both houses and the large properties looking at the properties, taking photos and videos for my busy clients, and then discussed terms such as price, closing, rent back with each agent. I met with the buyers on as Saturday morning and reviewed the information with them They decided to make an offer on one of the houses and I spent another hour working with their lender to put together the terms of the financing. On Sunday, I met the buyers at the house for at least 1.5 hours as they were determining renovations they might make to the house. Then I met with their renovator on Tuesday for about three hours, so that he could determine what could be done to the house. On Wednesday, I did fill in a boilerplate contract for the seller. I met with on of them to sign the contract and sent it to the other for electronic signature. I sent the documents to the agent. The next day we negotiated the offer with the seller and I made the agreed upon changes. That took maybe another hour. Then we ratified the offer and scheduled the 5 hour home inspection.

Since then I have met contractors at the house on three times for at least three hours each time. I also have provided contacts for the sellers for a variety of items from movers to contractors, to organizers to childcare in the new area.

That's what I do.

But what I really did was get a house in a very desirable neighborhood for my clients that they would have had to spend more for in a likely competitive situation. I did this solely because I am well regarded in the agent community.

My clients appreciate my hard work -- even if you do not. But then you have nothing to offer me and I would never work with any of you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Real estate agents are lazy idiots who don’t add much value to society. Good riddance.

This.

+1 good riddance