Feds probe realtors' 6 percent commissions.

[labgeek]

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: AntiEverything
Why should they? Are they supposed to help you sell your home for free?

FSBO should have the option to pay a fee to the buyer's agents. Of course, this isn't being allowed by the seller's agents and thus is anti-competitive.

You can do this... sort of.. The flat rate MLS systems out there will for ~$500 put it into the MLS. You preset what commission you put for the buyer's agent. Since there's no seller's agent you cut that part out entirely.

 

[rh71]

I know a lot of IT people who admit their job is easy ... even after they've gone thru many years of skills training/experience. But will any RE Agents do the same ... admit that it's easy ?

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: labgeek
You can do this... sort of..

But then we get to the fed probe. The buyer's agents aren't taking buyers to these houses. The buyer's agents are not taking their customers to the houses that best fit their customers needs.

 

[Spencer278]

Originally posted by: classy

Originally posted by: Toasthead
6% is too much!

Please. We have to go class every 2 years here in NJ. We have to pay for insurance as well as maintain our licenses. Forget about breaking the law, a person with a real estate license is a very safe person and I guarantee with a clean background. There is a lot into being a realtor. Thats like saying a school nurse does nothing and knows nothing except how to take a kid's temperature. I challange anyone of you talking smack, I bet any real estate agent knows more about real estate law and good amount of legal law as well than you could ever imagine. A bonafide lawyer can't even be a real state agent without going to class and passing a state exam like everyone else. You can't even hold a brokers license without at least 3 years of fulltime experience. You guys are clueless.

You do know that those laws are set up to protect the 6% commision and not to protect buyer or sellers right.

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

Originally posted by: sygyzy

Originally posted by: alent1234

Originally posted by: Skoorb

If you don't like it, go to a discount broker or sell it yourself.

According to this article you can't, due to anti-competitive practices.

yes you can

pay to have your home listed on MLS and take out newspaper ads like the RE agents do

go print flyers and have an open house on a weekend. then take people's calls and rush home to show your place any time day or night.

You're the only one here defending RE Agents. More power to them to be able to make what they make without much of a formal education. Graduate degrees in profiles? Sorry, I have to LOL at that one. All it takes is good looks and a license that anyone can get. Don't try to make the job bigger or grander than it really is.

Actually, I will have to defend them as well. In many cases they deserve every penny.

 

[Jzero]

Originally posted by: rh71
For what it's worth, I know a couple of people out of college who got a real estate license to show homes, part-time... and they are somewhat successful. That tells me something. It's really not all that hard to sell something in this market and the real estate business is one of the easy money-makers. People don't deny that, do they ?

If it's such an easy money maker, why isn't everyone doing it? Why aren't all the people that are doing it filthy rich?

 

[AntiEverything]

Originally posted by: labgeek

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: AntiEverything
Why should they? Are they supposed to help you sell your home for free?

FSBO should have the option to pay a fee to the buyer's agents. Of course, this isn't being allowed by the seller's agents and thus is anti-competitive.

You can do this... sort of.. The flat rate MLS systems out there will for ~$500 put it into the MLS. You preset what commission you put for the buyer's agent. Since there's no seller's agent you cut that part out entirely.

Yeah, I'm not quite sure what dullard is talking about. FSBO can offer to pay the buyers agent, it's totally up to them. Either they set a buyer broker percentage if they pay an MLS only broker to list them, or if they aren't on the MLS, the buyers broker can ask the seller to pay a commission.

It does get complicated when the buyer tells their agent about a FSBO they're interested in, and the seller refuses to pay a commission. In that case, the agent is bound by ethics to show the buyer the home, even if he doesn't get paid. I have heard of cases where an agent got paid ZERO in that situation. It happens. It just doesn't happen that often. Most FSBOs are so happy to sell their place they don't mind paying a couple percent to the buyers agent.

As I said earlier, if you all really want to pay realtors the same as a burger flipper, then don't complain when little old ladies sell their homes for far less than they're worth and end up on the street.

 

[classy]

Originally posted by: labgeek

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: AntiEverything
Why should they? Are they supposed to help you sell your home for free?

FSBO should have the option to pay a fee to the buyer's agents. Of course, this isn't being allowed by the seller's agents and thus is anti-competitive.

You can do this... sort of.. The flat rate MLS systems out there will for ~$500 put it into the MLS. You preset what commission you put for the buyer's agent. Since there's no seller's agent you cut that part out entirely.

First off your info is seriously in error. It costs significantly more than $500 to list in the MLS. First off you have to be a member and the member fees are quite high. Just to give you an idea, even though my broker is a member it still costs me $260 a year to be able to use the MLS. Discount brokers do not list your home in the MLS and if they do they charge you a hefty sum. I'll lay money you won't find anyone that list your home in the MLS for $500, that's a lie. Second of all a home owner can't list in the MLS without going through a broker who is a member. Usually the fee will only be 1% for the buyer's agent with the listing agent, your broker getting approx. 3%. I am a part time realtor and these are facts.

 

[AntiEverything]

Originally posted by: Spencer278

Originally posted by: classy

Originally posted by: Toasthead
6% is too much!

Please. We have to go class every 2 years here in NJ. We have to pay for insurance as well as maintain our licenses. Forget about breaking the law, a person with a real estate license is a very safe person and I guarantee with a clean background. There is a lot into being a realtor. Thats like saying a school nurse does nothing and knows nothing except how to take a kid's temperature. I challange anyone of you talking smack, I bet any real estate agent knows more about real estate law and good amount of legal law as well than you could ever imagine. A bonafide lawyer can't even be a real state agent without going to class and passing a state exam like everyone else. You can't even hold a brokers license without at least 3 years of fulltime experience. You guys are clueless.

You do know that those laws are set up to protect the 6% commision and not to protect buyer or sellers right.

You have no idea what you're talking about. If the 6% commission is so sacred, why do discount brokers exist? I see ads for them all the time in the paper, 2%-3%-4%-5%. There are a number of a la carte style brokers. Commissions start at 2% and you pick and choose which services you do or don't want. Pay more, get more. But some of you seem to think that you have a god given right to the resources that successful agents have spent a long time building.

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: Jzero

Originally posted by: rh71
For what it's worth, I know a couple of people out of college who got a real estate license to show homes, part-time... and they are somewhat successful. That tells me something. It's really not all that hard to sell something in this market and the real estate business is one of the easy money-makers. People don't deny that, do they ?

If it's such an easy money maker, why isn't everyone doing it?

because not everything is about money and people don't only work to make as much as they can or because it's the simplest. Not everyone has an interest in RE either, I know I sure as hell don't. I'll tell you though - the fact that my cousin is doing this in his spare time means that it was worth his free time to get in on this... and it's not like he's failing either.

Why aren't all the people that are doing it filthy rich?

I wasn't talking about getting rich. I was talking about easy money. Compared to a ton of other professional jobs, the money made comes in a lot easier, especially for the work that they do on a daily basis. Compare that to IT people - same situation - easy tasks, once you know your stuff.

 

[labgeek]

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: labgeek
You can do this... sort of..

But then we get to the fed probe. The buyer's agents aren't taking buyers to these houses. The buyer's agents are not taking their customers to the houses that best fit their customers needs.

And that need to be looked at. When buying the house here we put in an offer on a FSBO house. Our agent showed it to us. Even though it was a FSBO the seller and our agent had worked out a deal on the commission (2.5%). As a buyer's agent it would be stupid to limit the houses to only those listed with RE agents if others are available that match the buyer's requirements and are offering a commission to the buyer's agent.

And the way I read the article the investigation is that buyer's agents are refusing to show houses listed by discount agents as opposed to the full commission agent. That's a different story. MLS listing services cut out the seller agent entirely. As I understand it, and I've been doing a lot of reading on this lately, the buyer's agent usually gets full 3% (their share) or pretty close to it.

 

[squeeg22]

I agree that many RE agents work hard for their money. But, the fact that housing prices and the current rate of buying/selling of houses have risen drastically in the past few years, while inflation for many of the RE agents costs have not kept pace is the issue.

If the price of a house rises 30-35% in a 5 year period, while the costs associated with selling the house keeps pace with inflation (say 3-8%), the profit margin expands considerably. And isn't that the basis for the argument, or am I missing something.

 

[classy]

Originally posted by: Spencer278

Originally posted by: classy

Originally posted by: Toasthead
6% is too much!

Please. We have to go class every 2 years here in NJ. We have to pay for insurance as well as maintain our licenses. Forget about breaking the law, a person with a real estate license is a very safe person and I guarantee with a clean background. There is a lot into being a realtor. Thats like saying a school nurse does nothing and knows nothing except how to take a kid's temperature. I challange anyone of you talking smack, I bet any real estate agent knows more about real estate law and good amount of legal law as well than you could ever imagine. A bonafide lawyer can't even be a real state agent without going to class and passing a state exam like everyone else. You can't even hold a brokers license without at least 3 years of fulltime experience. You guys are clueless.

You do know that those laws are set up to protect the 6% commision and not to protect buyer or sellers right.

Haha. Yea okay. Tell me that when the State of New Jersey finds me guilty of just leaving out one thing and I get fined 10K minimum. Real Estate laws are place to protect the buyer and seller, the hell with the agents. Man you guys are seriously delusional. I tell you what go buy a real estate book that prepares you for the state test and just read it. By the way no self study is allowed. I am pretty sure in all states you have to go an approved class for so many hours and pass that test first before you are admitted into the state exam. Man if you only knew.

 

[labgeek]

Originally posted by: classy

First off your info is seriously in error. It costs significantly more than $500 to list in the MLS.

Garbage! I can do it for $399... There are NUMEROUS Flat Rate MLS services out there that put the info into the very same MLS you use. The house will be on realtor.com and every other one the same as if you did it yourself.

Edit -

I don't have my links in front of me, but I do remember this sites name from my recent voyage into this arena. http://www.yourigloo.com/

From their FAQ page:
1. What is MLS?
MLS® (Multiple Listing Service) is the most comprehensive computerized database of homes for sale with over 1.5 million listings nationwide. ... This is the same MLS used by a conventional broker who would charge you a full listing commission.

2. What is REALTOR.com and how will my listing be displayed?
The official Internet site for the National Association of Realtors currently with over two million home listings which are provided by 602 participating REALTOR Multiple Listing Services...

3. What if I sell my home myself?
$489 Flat Fee - If you sell your home off of one of our many internet Web sites you will be listed on such as Realtor.com, YourIgloo.com, Homestore.com, etc. you would have only invested a $489 Flat Fee. If a Realtor sells it, you will only have to pay the buyers agent typically 2.5 - 3.5% again depending on your area. You save thousands of dollars in commission!



So this is a lie???

 

[alent1234]

Take NYC. Someone sells a home for $400,000 that means $12000 to the buyers' and seller' brokerages. Then $6000 to each agent.

You sell 10 homes per year that's $60,000. You also have to deal with a bunch of buyers who will waste your time and buy through another agent. Not exactly rich. Reason agents can drive nice cars is that they can write off a lot of the expenses on their taxes. Or they could be leasing them.

 

[alent1234]

Originally posted by: squeeg22
I agree that many RE agents work hard for their money. But, the fact that housing prices and the current rate of buying/selling of houses have risen drastically in the past few years, while inflation for many of the RE agents costs have not kept pace is the issue.

If the price of a house rises 30-35% in a 5 year period, while the costs associated with selling the house keeps pace with inflation (say 3-8%), the profit margin expands considerably. And isn't that the basis for the argument, or am I missing something.

gas has risen faster than inflation

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

On a somewhat related note, can anyone reccomend any good books published recently on being a realtor? I don't want to do it as a profession, but i'd like to have all the knowledge.

 

[classy]

Originally posted by: labgeek

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: labgeek
You can do this... sort of..

But then we get to the fed probe. The buyer's agents aren't taking buyers to these houses. The buyer's agents are not taking their customers to the houses that best fit their customers needs.

And that need to be looked at. When buying the house here we put in an offer on a FSBO house. Our agent showed it to us. Even though it was a FSBO the seller and our agent had worked out a deal on the commission (2.5%). As a buyer's agent it would be stupid to limit the houses to only those listed with RE agents if others are available that match the buyer's requirements and are offering a commission to the buyer's agent.

And the way I read the article the investigation is that buyer's agents are refusing to show houses listed by discount agents as opposed to the full commission agent. That's a different story. MLS listing services cut out the seller agent entirely. As I understand it, and I've been doing a lot of reading on this lately, the buyer's agent usually gets full 3% (their share) or pretty close to it.

Thats also false. Discount brokers usually work off exclusive contracts. Meaning only they can sell the house and if a buyer wants to see the house they have to go through that agency. FSBOs do work differently, some of them. But in most cases they will pay just as much if not more than they would have paid anyway by going and listing their home with a realtor. You guys really miss and don't know a lot of stuff. A lot goes on behind the scenes. You may think that you have been to closing and they just show up and watch you sign some papers but is far more than that. I wish it was that easy.

 

[labgeek]

Originally posted by: classy

Thats also false. Discount brokers usually work off exclusive contracts. [/quote]

What part of NOT a DISCOUNT BROKER but FLAT RATE MLS do you not understand?

 

[classy]

Originally posted by: labgeek

Originally posted by: classy

First off your info is seriously in error. It costs significantly more than $500 to list in the MLS.

Garbage! I can do it for $399... There are NUMEROUS Flat Rate MLS services out there that put the info into the very same MLS you use. The house will be on realtor.com and every other one the same as if you did it yourself.

Post the place. Also realtor.com works with MLS. Those homes you are seeing are from a MLS. Post the place that told you they will list your house on any MLS $399. I bet it will be for a week at most. Dude you don't know what your talking about.

 

[labgeek]

Originally posted by: classy

Originally posted by: labgeek

Originally posted by: classy

First off your info is seriously in error. It costs significantly more than $500 to list in the MLS.

Garbage! I can do it for $399... There are NUMEROUS Flat Rate MLS services out there that put the info into the very same MLS you use. The house will be on realtor.com and every other one the same as if you did it yourself.

Post the place. Also realtor.com works with MLS. Those homes you are seeing are from a MLS. Post the place that told you they will list your house on any MLS $399. I bet it will be for a week at most. Dude you don't know what your talking about.

Guess again (copy and paste from above)


Edit -

I don't have my links in front of me, but I do remember this sites name from my recent voyage into this arena. http://www.yourigloo.com/

From their FAQ page:
1. What is MLS?
MLS® (Multiple Listing Service) is the most comprehensive computerized database of homes for sale with over 1.5 million listings nationwide. ... This is the same MLS used by a conventional broker who would charge you a full listing commission.

2. What is REALTOR.com and how will my listing be displayed?
The official Internet site for the National Association of Realtors currently with over two million home listings which are provided by 602 participating REALTOR Multiple Listing Services...

3. What if I sell my home myself?
$489 Flat Fee - If you sell your home off of one of our many internet Web sites you will be listed on such as Realtor.com, YourIgloo.com, Homestore.com, etc. you would have only invested a $489 Flat Fee. If a Realtor sells it, you will only have to pay the buyers agent typically 2.5 - 3.5% again depending on your area. You save thousands of dollars in commission!


And BTW, there price in Florida is $399

Edit 2 -
Straight from thier site:
Get all these great benefits for ONE LOW FLAT FEE plus:

FREE Yard Sign with steel stake
FREE Showcase Upgrade on Realtor.com including 6 photos Tell me more
FREE Link directly from Realtor.com listing to your contact information
FREE Comparative Market Analysis on request
6 MONTH listing on local MLS, Realtor.com and Yourigloo.com
RIGHT TO CANCEL at any time for any reason.
Customer Service Representative available 6 days a week, 7 am to 6pm est.

 

[classy]

Originally posted by: labgeek

Originally posted by: classy

Thats also false. Discount brokers usually work off exclusive contracts.

What part of NOT a DISCOUNT BROKER but FLAT RATE MLS do you not understand?

[/quote]


There is no such thing as a flat rate mls. What part do you not understand that in order to list on the MLS you have to be a broker, who pays a fee. You as a home owner or joe blow can't list on a MLS.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I'm not even going to get into this debate...:|

 

[Spencer278]

Originally posted by: classy

Originally posted by: labgeek

Originally posted by: classy

Thats also false. Discount brokers usually work off exclusive contracts.

What part of NOT a DISCOUNT BROKER but FLAT RATE MLS do you not understand?

There is no such thing as a flat rate mls. What part do you not understand that in order to list on the MLS you have to be a broker, who pays a fee. You as a home owner or joe blow can't list on a MLS.
[/quote]

But yet here you are trying to claim RE isn't anti-competivie?

 

[labgeek]

Originally posted by: classy

There is no such thing as a flat rate mls. What part do you not understand that in order to list on the MLS you have to be a broker, who pays a fee. You as a home owner or joe blow can't list on a MLS.

It's strange that I had a realtor I know tell me about them... And if I type it into google, I get lots of sites that offer it. And there's articles on how to do it. But they don't exist... hmm. yeah thanks for playing...