Readers Weigh In On Real Estate Competitiveness and Commissions

RE:Readers Weigh In On Real Estate Competitiveness and Commissions

James — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 13:00:00 GMT

Julia. . .The European model was tried here, N.Y., N.J., Pa., Ct. etc. Name WAS Foxtons. If I remember correctly they started at 1.5% (when they were YDH REALTORS). FOXTONS came from G.B. and bought YDH out and moved the commission scheduel to 2% then to 3%. The fact is they are out of business because you just cannot operate on 3%. I am licensed in two states and in those two states commissions are negotiatable. I dare say, though I do not know, in the other 48 states the commissions are negotiated as well. In this day and age there is no reason for a consumer not to know that. There is too much information out there, and in NJ we are required to let them know. (BTW I rarely negotiate my commissions). I have been in the business since 1990 and since then, Yahoo, Microsoft and many others were going to change the industry and do away with Realtors and agents. That never happened. What has happened is many of those sites have come on board and sell "clicks" to point the consumer our way. Something to keep in mind is that there are bad apples in every profession, including yours. If REALTORS and agents were not worth whatever the negotiated commission is, then why do banks, and other large institutions (i.e. HUD) use REALTORS and or agents? Because we are professional. Enough said. James

RE:Readers Weigh In On Real Estate Competitiveness and Commissions

Julia — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 13:00:00 GMT

There is no need for realtors. There should be websites listing the homes. People should pay a small amount of money to the websites to list their homes. 6% to realtor is too high. Even they split it, 3% is still too high. High real estate commissions increases home prices. To pay 6% to realtor, home owners increases the actual price of the home. Realtors make a lot of money only selling 1 or 2 homes every month with little effort.

RE:Readers Weigh In On Real Estate Competitiveness and Commissions

Sick of high fees — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 11:00:00 GMT

5 percent or higher is much too much to pay for a salesperson to sell your house. Paying an agent $24,000 to sell a $400K home in a a month is absurd. The whole economic model of selling homes in North America is wrong. It encourages far too many agents relative to the inventory available because they only need to sell a few homes to make a living. Check out the rest of the world sometime. Rates in Britain range range from 1>2%. Its time for the Real Estate cartel to end.

RE:Readers Weigh In On Real Estate Competitiveness and Commissions

Mike — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 13:00:00 GMT

It is here to stay! Go guys who changed real estate forever!

RE:Readers Weigh In On Real Estate Competitiveness and Commissions

Andrew — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 13:00:00 GMT

I hope to change the industry in coming years.

RE:Readers Weigh In On Real Estate Competitiveness and Commissions

Rob — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 13:00:00 GMT

After reading the all to familar horor stories...keep in mind in most states a listing contract is a employment agreement! You hire them, if you are unhappy with their performance - Fire Them! The owner is always in control.

RE:Readers Weigh In On Real Estate Competitiveness and Commissions

Danielle — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 11:00:00 GMT

I have yet to meet a loan officer that is available for anything more than bestowing a lifetime extortion if you qualify! As for realtors, my experience with an agent was a farce. First the man said he would represent me when my home was inspected. No show. I have sat with every clients at closing" was his response when asked to grace mine. Guess what? Upon reading the pack of lies called HUD1, had he been there, I would have had him arrested for fraud!

RE:Readers Weigh In On Real Estate Competitiveness and Commissions

Tim — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 11:00:00 GMT

The fact of the matter is that the professionals in the real estate business, Realtors and Loan officers, are on call 24/7. We are expected to be available 7 days a week. The money made per closing might seem excessive but we compete for each and every customer. Customer loyalty in this country in non existent making the job even tougher. The average person isn't wired to be in this line of work due to the stress. How many people are willing to gamble on whether or not they will get paid?

RE:Readers Weigh In On Real Estate Competitiveness and Commissions

Jeremy Affleck — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 11:00:00 GMT

The real estate profession needs to be revamped, otherwise they will lose to technology. I can evision an online MLS service giving sale comps and online contract docs. Realtors in the future will be the ones contracted only to show the houses for a fee. This business is also in need of outisde regulation just as any other profession undergoes.

RE:Readers Weigh In On Real Estate Competitiveness and Commissions

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 11:00:00 GMT

We have been looking for over a year and a half to find a house. Of the real estate agents we have come across only one didn't make me want to go run and vomit. All the rest are truly a scary bunch... I am so praying for the day when I can buy a house WITHOUT one. I hope the housing downturn sends them back to selling used cars- and the truly despicable unethical ones?

RE:Readers Weigh In On Real Estate Competitiveness and Commissions

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 11:00:00 GMT

Price fixing? There are no industries that should be allowed to price fix fees for or by any means. And the R.E. Market should be more open to the ability for Realtors, Consumers, and Real Estate Services to be priced at different price points for different levels and types of service. Change is inevitable when you have markets that have been so hot over the last few years. And now people are needing different price points and service for many reasons. In economics, we call that a Free Market.

RE:Readers Weigh In On Real Estate Competitiveness and Commissions

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 11:00:00 GMT

Cost of living in Western Europe is higher than in US. If European realtors get 1.5% commission than why American ones get 6%?

RE:Readers Weigh In On Real Estate Competitiveness and Commissions

Mark — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 11:00:00 GMT

I have moved three times. Each time I negotiated with the Agency we used to pay something other then the standard commission. There is no rule you have to pay them that commission. Price your home right, make it sellable. All homes we sold, sold in less then three weeks. Negotiate, use good reasoning and make sure your home is ready to be sold.

RE:Readers Weigh In On Real Estate Competitiveness and Commissions

Lucia — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 11:00:00 GMT

On realtor overpayment: Like any other sales person, a realtor has to work for free until they finally get paid and they can never foretell when that will be or how much it will be. Sometimes they get paid when they haven't done much at all, and this is what confuses people. The fact of the matter is, if they didn't work all those days, nights, weekends, and holidays for no pay, they just plain wouldn't get paid at all.