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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]If I'm paying someone $200/hour, they better have a lot more letters after their name than "B.A."[/quote]

Well that is what most plumbers, electricians, and other tradespeople charge these days. With that said, all of those people perform services that I cannot perform on my own. Not so for real estate agents. [/quote]

Numerous specialties among agents...short sales, investors, foreclosures, first-time buyers, FHA, probates, navigating programs for first time buyers, negotiations to keep everyone out of court etc. Its not 1 size fits all. Most of the posters here appear to be conventional and high-end buyers and sellers. Coastal elites. Maybe you don't need an agent. But navigating some of the specialty areas and more nuanced aspects of getting a property closed when emotions are HIGH is certainly well served by a good agent. And lawyers don't hand hold at all. You just try calling a lawyer on a Saturday or Sunday or after hours or a holiday about your transaction. Likely they will be MIA. Unlike an agent. In addition to nuances and specialties, don't underestimate the value of the "24/7 on call" accessibility factor one gets with an agent to having a smooth closing. That alone should be considered "time and a half." No agents aren't always needed by the elites, but they are often needed to help protect others.[/quote]

24/7 availability is overrated. Almost every aspect of a sale can be handled during normal business hours. Just to make numbers simple, if I'm bidding 1M on a property, and I find it myself on zillow or redfin, the agent has to unlock the door for a view, call it two just so I can be sure, draft and present and offer and maybe a counter offer, unlock the door for an inspection, and show up for closing. Is that really 10k worth of work? Right now it's more like 20k. [/quote]

Sounds great theoretically. But that's not quite how it works. The practical reality is that Buyers and Sellers call and text their agents 24/7 and seem to go ballistic or have mini-meltdowns when they cannot reach them. Maybe not with this group of clearly elite Buyers and Sellers but for "the other half" of struggling Buyers and Sellers getting to closing can feel like a house of cards, so much riding on lining up everything to get that 1 perfect property under contract and then so much riding on closing on or selling that 1 specific property. It can be an extremely stressful timeframe for many Buyers and Sellers. A good agent softens blows and takes the arrows. All kinds of negotiation and finessing goes on behind the scenes by an agent to lock in a property and then to ensure a peaceful transaction that they may never really tell the client about or give them the play by play on... So many personalities for the agent to navigate as well. Think about 2 business partner sellers who suddenly can't seem to agree on anything; or a separating couple who stop speaking to each other during a transaction; or 4 heirs with very different ideas; out of state Sellers; or a property with DC tenant issues. An agent can be in the middle of all that drama trying to make everyone happy because everyone has to sign off on every single thing. It is not for the faint of heart. That's for sure.

But yes, might not be a bad idea for there to be some sort of a flat fee commission CAP on million dollar and up commissions. [/quote]

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