another realtor rant...

Also, I have two deals right now that are with 4% realtors, and without being rude, you get what you pay for…

 

Oh I agree. I started in this business a little over a year ago. My wife has been in it for over 18 so we do not do it part time. She is over 33 million last year and I was almost at 5 million in sales. If you are hungry you will make it if not then you will fall to the wayside just like anything in life.

 

Get this....
Sister makes offer on house in Florida over asking. Puts in a standard escalation clause that allows them to raise their offer price once within a specified time if the seller gets a bonafide higher offer.
Seller state they have a higher offer. My sister uses the clause and wants to pay the extra. Contract is drawn up and signed by both parties....

Seller gets ANOTHER offer $40k and reneges on the signed contract. And basically says the escalation clause was open to intrpretation....

My sister is moving for her husband's job relocation. She has a limited time to get a place, get kids in school, etc...

She finds out the sellers themselves are lawyers and wife is a Supreme Court litigation attorney...

She so screwed...

 

After agreement is reached I usually rewrite the contract with the agreed upon price and get rid of the escalation addendum altogether. Again, a good realtor knows what language to use and not use. Without knowing the details she should still have a strong claim though. At a minimum she should be able to force them to buy her out.

P.S. Florida has a standard escalation addendum approved by the Florida Bar association, so that’s what they should have used.

 

I think all you guys talking about how overpaid and underskilled realtors are should give it a shot.

 

My misanthropy could prove a hindrance.

 

It's like many other "big ticket" sales processes. You work your butt off on many different things hoping you get the close. I sold software that ranged from 20k to a little over a million, but it had a 6-18 month sales cycle.

So you worked for free on many things and then were greatly rewarded on what closed.

 

I guess that wasn't a realtor related post but I wanted to share.

Standard escalation clause.
Signed contract was not rewritten and included the clause.
Supposedly this is what happened... seller realtor explained to these two lawyers that an escalation clause was good for multiple offers until closing not the first higher offer and at the price agreed at signing.
IF my sister had time to fight it everyone told her she would win... but no time or money for lawyers.

 

Realtors get their commission because if you bypass them, your property is blacklisted and they won't show it. Not sure how that translates these days with services like Zillow, etc. I've paid several hundred thousand $$$ in realtor commissions over the years.... they've easily made more than I have on my real estate investments, with no skin in the game.

NONE

Meanwhile, I lay awake at night stressing about my real estate investments, and the next $10K bill coming my way.

That's not right.

Realtors should get a flat fee for a listing/sale + expenses (legal, advertising, photography, etc.). I think something like $1,500 sounds about right.

 

“no low ballers, I know what I got!”

 

Realtors get there commision because most of them are worth it. What you loose on commision fees is gained by the price your realtor will get you for the sale of your home. They will make more on your home than a FSBO. Its a proven fact.

 

Realtors can't even spell English. How can I rely on them to get me a premium selling price?

 

“Shhhhhh, just give me your money”

I never understood why any halfway smart person wouldnt just take the 2 hour seminar and do some reading to get their realtor license. and keep that fucking fee for themselves. Most of the people I meet in realty I wouldn’t trust with power tools. But i have to trust them to benefit me in a complicated financial matter like buying/selling a home?

 

If she sent her deposit to the title company within the allotted time on the contract(usually 3 days), she could prevent them from selling the house. She still may be able to.

Sending PM

 

I've been looking at homes for like 8 months and being someone who works in sales I can't believe how horrible the listings are. Terrible photos, descriptions that my 5 year old could do, tons of errors, etc. I am working with a realtor and he has said that because stuff sells with zero effort that many of them are getting super lazy. We have had a pretty good time laughing our asses off when we walk into homes that are grossly misrepresented.

 

I show homes that are FSBO all the time, and have sold/bought a couple. And I’ve always gotten paid. It’s not hard to show the value of my services.

You’re picking the wrong realtors. You should research your realtor before you sign a contract with them, or let them show you houses. There are Zillow reviews, and they should have their credentials on their profile. I have a law degree as well, so my English is better than some… Pick the wrong realtor, you may end up like @JCW’s sister, or other folks who get screwed over.

 

I sold my house last June and found a realtor who charged a flat fee... I would say as above, you get what you pay for, and as you said here, because I didn't use a standard realtor I had very few showings in a very hot area and none of them were from the big name realtors in the area. I don't know if it hurt my selling price enough to justify the difference but it likely was pretty close.

 

Apparently after the 2nd showing tuesday the real estate professional that locked up locked the wrong lock so late yesterday I get a call asking me to head over there (in rush hour naturally) to get in. Turned out to be a huge stroke of luck, as I got to chat up the 2 buyers that went thru. They both were falling over themselves in love with the place by the time they left. One of the realtors with them was pretty sharp- asked a lot of good questions, made good observations and was professional. The other one...

buyer: " I love the kitchen floor!"
me: "thanks, and it's heated"
buyer and agent: "WHAAAAAAAA??? OOOOOHHHHH"
agent then looks at her printout of the listing... "oh yeah, it does say heated floors here"

the other buyer tried his damndest to get me to tell him the offers I had, I only gave the most vague hints. As we're wrapping it up he tells me "I'm putting in an offer for XXX tonight". If that number happens it'll be the highest price sale in that 'hood by a mile and I just might buy me a Kramer.

 

Everyone wants to bitch and complain until they need you cause shit is hitting the fan.

It reminds me of a story about the guy who hits the machine to get it working correctly.....the bill is for the expertise and knowledge we have.

And yes, like mechanics/racers/builders/internet car parts etc..... You get what you pay.

 

A lot of the time, no you don't- that's why all the contempt. Outside of the few flat/lower rate options out there, the traditional options all cost the same and vary widely on value.