Why cant we solve the real estate agent 6% ripoff?

[GasX]

Why is this thread still going on?

You pay 6% because you are too dumb to negotiate to 5%
You pay 5% because you want to not put a lot of effort into selling your home
You pay 2.5% because you are will to do all the work of a seller's agent but still have buyer's agents bring you customers...
You pay 0% because you do it all yourself.

It's up to you to figure out which value proposition is best for you taking into account that involving agents is probably going to increase the number of potential buyers you have access to and thereby increase the final selling price AND selling a house is a royal pain in the ass and paying someone else to handle the heavy lifting is worth something...

 

[MrSquished]

It's not my thread



*sigh* I thought we were making progress.

Tell you what, Champ. Go find out who the real thread author is and take your straw men up with him. You're obviously having trouble keeping all of this straight. Who's who, who said what, etc. I've said my piece.

i just assumed it was your thread because of how active you are in it. my bad.

however, you really are going to stick by you have actually been attacking the entire industry getting 6% vs a Realtor getting 6%? i mean you kept repeating who cares where the actual money goes, it's about the agent getting 6% - who cares what happens to the money. i don't think you said one single time the word RE industry or RE companies. it was agent, agent, agent doesn't do enough work to deserve 6%.

let me know, cause i'll have to pick a 15 minute time slot to go through the myriad of posts where you (and MrDudeMan) have specifically attacked the individual agent only FOR that 6%.

if you really can't admit that you just now switched to RE industry, dunno what to tell you.

 

[DesiPower]

You're willing to part with money to avoid a trivial amount of work, which is your right. Other people are more self-motivated and logical. It isn't whining to discuss the difference.

Hey, this is a free country if you want to DIY then please, by all means, go for it, there is nothing stopping you from doing that.

 

[BikeJunkie]

i just assumed it was your thread because of how active you are in it. my bad.

however, you really are going to stick by you have actually been attacking the entire industry getting 6% vs a Realtor getting 6%? i mean you kept repeating who cares where the actual money goes, it's about the agent getting 6% - who cares what happens to the money. i don't think you said one single time the word RE industry or RE companies. it was agent, agent, agent doesn't do enough work to deserve 6%.

let me know, cause i'll have to pick a 15 minute time slot to go through the myriad of posts where you (and MrDudeMan) have specifically attacked the individual agent only FOR that 6%.

if you really can't admit that you just now switched to RE industry, dunno what to tell you.

Dude, seriously... you have got to learn when to walk away. You just made a complete fool (and tool) of yourself, yet I let you off the hook as easily as possible. I know you're only here at this point so you can find some way to save a little face, but quibbling over some perceived delineation between "agents" and "industry" is weak, pathetic, pointless, and not at all in the spirit of what was really being debated here. The overarching point has been, and always will be, whether the value holds up to the cost. It does not, and you've made it abundantly clear that having that fact shoved in your face infuriates you, causes you to speak in tongues, and severely impairs your ability to reason and to think critically. Your insistence on this red herring, coupled with your routine and persistent personal attacks, only reinforces the fact that you have nothing of substance to offer here. Your argument as to whether real estate is a skilled profession was downright embarrassing, as was your misapplication of logic regarding soft skills in other skilled professions. Then you revealed you really had no clue who the hell you were even talking to, nor did you have any idea what you were reading.

Let it die, bud. Let it die.

 

[MrSquished]

Dude, seriously... you have got to learn when to walk away. You just made a complete fool (and tool) of yourself, yet I let you off the hook as easily as possible. I know you're only here at this point so you can find some way to save a little face, but quibbling over some perceived delineation between "agents" and "industry" is weak, pathetic, pointless, and not at all in the spirit of what was really being debated here. The overarching point has been, and always will be, whether the value holds up to the cost. It does not, and you've made it abundantly clear that having that fact shoved in your face infuriates you, causes you to speak in tongues, and severely impairs your ability to reason and to think critically. Your insistence on this red herring, coupled with your routine and persistent personal attacks, only reinforces the fact that you have nothing of substance to offer here. Your argument as to whether real estate is a skilled profession was downright embarrassing, as was your misapplication of logic regarding soft skills in other skilled professions. Then you revealed you really had no clue who the hell you were even talking to, nor did you have any idea what you were reading.

Let it die, bud. Let it die.

Let's keep in consideration the thread title mentions REAL ESTATE AGENT and then read the below.

Realtor: 6%, no legal expertise, no recourse when their advise or inability to write a proper contract fucks you silly

you start with accusing REALTOR (aka one person) with getting all 6% of commission. you are not arguing against an industry, you are arguing against an individual getting ALL 6%

- Early in the thread, you used the amount of work that you do as evidence that your commission is deserved and that your services are valuable. Non sequitor. Show me that you can sell/buy my house faster and with more bulletproofing than I can on my own, and for less cost (account for your 6% commission).

talking about YOUR 6% commission. talking about one person, not a corporation and/or industry (not to mention ignoring that the 6% is really mostly split between two companies)

Yeah, except you're leaving out half the picture here: your 6% commission and the "value" it allegedly buys your clients. You have still failed to justify what is essentially an enormous mark-up on the "services" you provide. On a $300,000 house, you are charging $18,000 for services that can be had for $1,000, and the latter are of significantly higher quality. What is the other $17,000 for? A convenience fee for people who haven't found the various FSBO sites yet?

again talking about YOU, implying an individual (just as the thread title implies) you have yet to mention an organization and/or industry - you have still only railed against individuals.

2. Many real estate agents think they're attorneys / contract experts. You know who doesn't charge 6%, but rather $300 and IS an attorney / contract expert? AN ATTORNEY.

again, only reference to an agent. not an organization. again implying an agent gets all 6%, still not even acknowledging that is often split between two organizations (let alone agents)

Can you take pictures with your camera? Do you have internet access? Can you find yourself an attorney? Guess what: you don't need a $30,000 real estate agent.

again implying only the agent alone demands 30k (the full 6% commission) absolutely zero acknowledgement that it's not an agent that demands that, but rather a company. which splits that mostly between 2 agents from their companies, of which their 1099 employees get a fraction of that. you are still talking AGENT here not industry nor company.

Since it was no money out of our pocket, we contacted a buyer's agent to help find us a home. We found troves of inventory that they never presented to us. We'd get one or two homes every other day or so... they just trickled in. Meanwhile, my wife and I collected stacks of prospects. Ultimately, we decided to build (signed the contract yesterday, in fact) and asked the builder for a 2% kickback for not burdening us or them with a realtor in the transaction. The alternative that we presented was we'd bring a realtor who'd be willing to kick back half their commission to us (remember that friend of the family?). In that case, they'd end up being out 3% instead of 2%.

here you imply A REALTOR would kickback HALF their commission to us (in that case being out 3% vs 2%) - again implying A REALTOR (not a company or industry) would be giving back half of a 6% commission - implying A REALTOR would get 6%.




the only time you did not specifically reference an individual realtor is after i repeatedly called your BS out and I mentioned RE industry and/or company. now you are onboard with that.

you are so full of shit brother.

 

[FelixDeCat]

Dude, seriously... you have got to learn when to walk away. You just made a complete fool (and tool) of yourself, yet I let you off the hook as easily as possible. I know you're only here at this point so you can find some way to save a little face, but quibbling over some perceived delineation between "agents" and "industry" is weak, pathetic, pointless, and not at all in the spirit of what was really being debated here. The overarching point has been, and always will be, whether the value holds up to the cost. It does not, and you've made it abundantly clear that having that fact shoved in your face infuriates you, causes you to speak in tongues, and severely impairs your ability to reason and to think critically. Your insistence on this red herring, coupled with your routine and persistent personal attacks, only reinforces the fact that you have nothing of substance to offer here. Your argument as to whether real estate is a skilled profession was downright embarrassing, as was your misapplication of logic regarding soft skills in other skilled professions. Then you revealed you really had no clue who the hell you were even talking to, nor did you have any idea what you were reading.

Let it die, bud. Let it die.

but, but $30,000 man .... THIRTY THOUSAND DOLLARS for a 15 min drive by and some snaps of 500k home that sells itself

then what? maybe 5 more mins to type a description and put it up in mls? pfft

the best part is, the buyers and sellers are too stupid to know any better and will pay us whatever we want!!!!!11111one

 

[BikeJunkie]

Let's keep in consideration the thread title mentions REAL ESTATE AGENT and then read the below.

Keep splitting those hairs, buddy ... I know you think you're making a point, but it really just looks like your grasping wildly at straws. At least you're not still confusing me for the OP though, right :biggrin:

you start with accusing REALTOR (aka one person) with getting all 6% of commission. you are not arguing against an industry, you are arguing against an individual getting ALL 6%

Try again, chuckles. Here's the meat of my post that you quoted:

Realtor: 6%, no legal expertise, no recourse when their advise or inability to write a proper contract fucks you silly

Attorney: $300 (max), insurance-backed legal expertise, plenty of recourse if they foul up

This was an obvious cost comparison, genius. And if you weren't bright enough to pick up on that at the time, at the very least it's being explained to you now, purely for your own benefit. But since it doesn't suit YOUR agenda, you refuse to accept someone else's explanation of their intent (as if one should have been necessary in the first place - it was obvious).

As I've stated repeatedly, I couldn't give two shits where that 6% goes once it leaves my pocket. It doesn't affect the person choosing between FSBO and a REALTOR on single bit, and is therefore inconsequential to the decision making process. Why is this so bloody hard for you to understand? Do you need it in crayon? But hey, thanks for proving my point with my own posts... saves me the trouble (which I wouldn't have gone to for someone who's so consistently demonstrated nothing but contempt for simple comprehension).

You've made up your mind that this "agent vs industry" argument is the holy grail to your argument. The spirit of the conversation has always been whether real estate agents were worth the expense when obviously cheaper and higher quality alternatives were available. But that's far too ugly of a truth for you, so you keep falling back on this nonsense. Whatever helps you sleep at night, I guess.

Ask yourself this: if your position is that of righteous truth, why do you constantly feel so compelled to attack irrelevant professions, other people, and spin one red herring after another? I would think that if the foundation of your argument was half as solid as you've convinced yourself it is, you wouldn't need the tools of the troll to get by. Your pride is clearly at stake here, but even still, this is getting ridiculous.

 

[BikeJunkie]

but, but $30,000 man .... THIRTY THOUSAND DOLLARS for a 15 min drive by and some snaps of 500k home that sells itself

then what? maybe 5 more mins to type a description and put it up in mls? pfft

the best part is, the buyers and sellers are too stupid to know any better and will pay us whatever we want!!!!!11111one

Well keep in mind he hasn't even been at this for a year. He still think's he's doing the lord's work ()

 

[FelixDeCat]

I love your dogged determination BikeJunkie. He is simply overpaid for the work he does and it has been proven.

I *will* however give him this much - when the market sucks (and it rarely does), he wont make a dime. Perhaps he can study coding in his spare time.

 

[Greenman]

I love your dogged determination BikeJunkie. He is simply overpaid for the work he does and it has been proven.

I *will* however give him this much - when the market sucks (and it rarely does), he wont make a dime. Perhaps he can study coding in is spare time.

If an agent plays his cards right it doesn't matter much if the market sucks. A buddy of mine was up 3 million after about 8 years of working as an agent. He lost it all in the crash, so he didn't play his cards quite right.

Edit: The bottom line is that real estate agents offer a service. Often, that service is greatly overpriced, but you don't have to use it. The two main issues are the publics belief that selling real estate is complex and difficult, and that many agents refuse to be involved with a seller that isn't using one.
I think the days of a full price agent are numbered, I would expect to see a fixed fee model come into play.

 

[MrSquished]

Keep splitting those hairs, buddy ... I know you think you're making a point, but it really just looks like your grasping wildly at straws. At least you're not still confusing me for the OP though, right :biggrin:



Try again, chuckles. Here's the meat of my post that you quoted:



This was an obvious cost comparison, genius. And if you weren't bright enough to pick up on that at the time, at the very least it's being explained to you now, purely for your own benefit. But since it doesn't suit YOUR agenda, you refuse to accept someone else's explanation of their intent (as if one should have been necessary in the first place - it was obvious).

As I've stated repeatedly, I couldn't give two shits where that 6% goes once it leaves my pocket. It doesn't affect the person choosing between FSBO and a REALTOR on single bit, and is therefore inconsequential to the decision making process.

sure it would not matter IN SOME CASES if you were actually being honest in who you were attacking for that 6%. in those other cases, it's irrelevant where the money goes, because as i stated, it's a gray area, for some people buying and selling their own RE is cool, just like the myriad of other examples i gave that you didn't address where people could save money.

the fact you could give two shits where the 6% goes once it leaves your pocket and used that 6% number to attack singular individuals of a profession that were a small piece of that 6% just goes to prove what a putz you are. in fact you kept attacking 'profession', not total industry. that's a significant difference. yet again proving my point you are full of shit.

the fact you continue to argue it isn't really just kinda keeps making you look like a stupid obtuse jackwagon. it's not inconsequential when you are saying an individual does not deserve that money vs the 2 different companies it goes to, and then to the various different places the rest of it goes. it means you are a really dishonest debater holding on to the dear hope that their ignorance can be ignored.


unfortunately for your feeble mind in this case it makes all the difference. there is a big difference in attacking a single agent of a profession vs an entire industry on the primary way they generate income.

if you can't grasp that pretty significant difference, there is literally no hope for you.

i didn't make up your intent, i quoted it. you just can't suck up the fact your own words just made you look like such a fucking liar and fraud.

hey man it's cool. i'm glad i could educate you on how to deal with your future issues with commission structures that piss you off.

good luck next time.

p.s. i thought my post on you as a software architect, with no time nor organizational skills getting paid in a commission per successful client purchase works was pretty darn good. i think you should print it and frame it on your wall, to remind you how you got so pwned in a thread on the internetz you should keep it in mind. it could save you further humiliation in the future.

p.s.s. you seem to ride bikes. you are lucky, you don't even need to wear a helmet, your skull is so thick you could survive any impact.

 

[alkemyst]

For anybody else reading - let me break down to you a key BikeJunkie piece of misinformation. His point is that realtors do not deserve a 6% commission for the work they do.

He keeps refusing to acknowledge that's not what realtors get, and when told of that, said it is not even a point - yet if a realtor is really not actually getting that amount of money, his whole argument is a bunch of horse shit.

Let's take a 500K property. at a 6% commission rate that's 30K. THIS IS THE NUMBER HE CLAIMS REALTORS ARE GETTING AND IS ALL PISSY ABOUT.

But in realty - In almost all cases you are splitting that commission with another agent - because typically most homes have a buyer's agent different than the seller's agent - so you split that commission.

So now at 3% you are down to 15K. I work at a large firm. They take 6% off the top to cover what are transaction fees - for marketing, having a full time financial advisor on staff, a manager, an assistant manager and a processing manager. Ok so now that 15K is 14,100.

A fresh agent at a major firm works at a 50/50 split. As you do more transactions there are stages where your cut gets higher as you hit certain dollar levels. But let's go with 50/50. So out of that 14,100 you get $7,050. Now remember that you are a 1099, you need to pay taxes on it, so it's good to sock away 20% for uncle sam down the road.

So now you are at basically $5.5K.

So BikeJunkie's consistent STATEMENT OF FACT is that the Realtor just made $30K on a $500k transaction.

Reality? That agent just made $5.5K

So when BikeSchmuck can get honest, maybe an honest discussion can be had.

Ask him what his bill rate is and what he takes home.

I am sure he is going to say it's over $100/hr, but those making that selling property aren't going to be in this battle.

My bill rates are $175 as a deployment engineer to nearly $300 as an architect.

My salary doesn't change really except for bonus stuff here and there. I have a good life.

It's like an RE agent having to move a $150k vs $400k property. Both are so close in commission yet the $150k property is going to take much more work. People coming with kids, asking for drinks/lunches/snacks, etc. They aren't interested in buying a home, they want open house shit.

That said you have those in my world and that world that won't touch a job that doesn't guarantee them $500k to multiples of that each year.

And people are lined up wanting to pay them.

 

[MrSquished]

of the 4 apartments i've rented, i've paid no fee on 3. i take the time to go for no fee that was my choice. but if some people want me to find them an apartment for a fee, by all means i'll do it. you don't make much though on rentals, you can make a decent little check if it's a luxury rental like for 3k+ we have around here.

 

[MrDudeMan]

I've been looking at buying more rental properties recently and I just got this email from the listing agent regarding a house we toured:

Hi xxxxxx,
Thank you for calling about xxxxx. For OUR listings, we provide you with the seller’s contact information, and the seller will show you the home.
Seller Information:
xxxxx


We list houses for a flat fee of $495 instead charging a 6% commission, but the seller is obligated to pay a buyer’s agent 3%, if the buyer has an agent. As long as you don’t have an agent, the 3% savings of the commission for the seller can in all likelihood be passed on to you.
If, for some reason, you don't end up going with the property you originally called about, let us represent you on the purchase of any other property that we are not the listing agent for and receive a 2% cash rebate. We give our buyers a check at closing for 2/3 of our commission, and we take only a 1% commission. This arrangement is based on the buyer doing the initial legwork to find the house, and we submit the offer and do all the paperwork.
For more information about how this works, see http://www.creekviewrealty.com/rebate.html
If you want us to show you properties under a different arrangement, we can do that, but we will need to discuss further so we can be sure exactly what your expectations are.
Here is a link to our property search: http://www.creekviewrealty.com/findhome.html

Thank you.
Rachel Silverman
Creekview Realty
DFW 214-OWN-HOME (696-4663)
Fax 972-881-9955

The effective 1% commission is much more palatable even though I still disagree with percentage based commission. She did pretty much the same marketing as any other realtor I've ever seen: listed the house on MLS, put a sign in the yard and a lock box on the door, and gave the owners advice about what to do to sell (clean, update this or that, hired a photographer, etc.).

I thought I would post that email in this thread to give an example of how things are beginning to change. I will definitely list my next house with a realtor like this because it's barely more expensive than using fsbo.com and you actually get a person who is willing to do some of the paperwork. She told me that she switched to this model two years ago and her income went up substantially. I'm sure people will say the downside is that buyers and sellers have to meet face to face and emotions, negotiation, blah blah blah will get in the way. She said that isn't usually her experience and that people have been happy because they all feel like they're getting a good deal with the added benefit of a realtor to do some of the paperwork. Win-win from my perspective.

 

[MrSquished]

I've been looking at buying more rental properties recently and I just got this email from the listing agent regarding a house we toured:



The effective 1% commission is much more palatable even though I still disagree with percentage based commission. She did pretty much the same marketing as any other realtor I've ever seen: listed the house on MLS, put a sign in the yard and a lock box on the door, and gave the owners advice about what to do to sell (clean, update this or that, hired a photographer, etc.).

I thought I would post that email in this thread to give an example of how things are beginning to change. I will definitely list my next house with a realtor like this because it's barely more expensive than using fsbo.com and you actually get a person who is willing to do some of the paperwork. She told me that she switched to this model two years ago and her income went up substantially. I'm sure people will say the downside is that buyers and sellers have to meet face to face and emotions, negotiation, blah blah blah will get in the way. She said that isn't usually her experience and that people have been happy because they all feel like they're getting a good deal with the added benefit of a realtor to do some of the paperwork. Win-win from my perspective.

i did state earlier that i do believe the RE commission business model will change, albeit more slowly than some think. but technology will do so.

it looks like as a listing agent they do the few basics. although here we hire our own photographers. we also do a lot more than just put a sign up and list to the MLS. for example - a lot of agents once they list either send or make calls to all nearby addressses that a property has become available nearby. it's pretty common that folks know someone wanting to move near them. we also host broker's open houses - we basically pay out of our own pockets to cater an open house open to broker's only so they can see the property and if they have buyers looking for those specs, that's a marketing tactic. usually the food is good too lol

also depends on how much they are willing to pay for services that push their MLS listing to other websites. it's not cheap. also it seems they don't do open houses? those do work. some sellers require the listing agent be present at every showing no matter if the buyer is coming with another agent. that's a bunch of time. i'm sure she said a lot of sellers don't give a shit about the emotion, but most sellers they really don't want to be around when their place is being shown.

and they still give the buyer's agent 3% when it can easily be done for 2.5% (most listings these days are 2.5%)

but it's a business plan to monitor. what market is this in?

 

[MrSquished]

well after just over 3 months being officially licensed got my first two accepted signed offers on the same day. One for a 1.305 Million dollar property and one for $235K. That's over 1.5 million dollars of real estate woohoo! Now to get through a smooth attorney review and to closing. Still a lot of work to do before getting a very big check and a little check.

 

[alkemyst]

well after just over 3 months being officially licensed got my first two accepted signed offers on the same day. One for a 1.305 Million dollar property and one for $235K. That's over 1.5 million dollars of real estate woohoo! Now to get through a smooth attorney review and to closing. Still a lot of work to do before getting a very big check and a little check.

How much commission after expenses? How much time involved?

 

[Ban Bot]

WaLaw in Washington (state) has a flat $5k fee as a buyer agent.

 

[alkemyst]

WaLaw in Washington (state) has a flat $5k fee as a buyer agent.

Most above will have a problem with $5k.

 

[Tommy2000GT]

How can real estate agents have the best interest for their buyers if they can work in cohorts with the seller's agent to keep the price high so they will both benefit.?

 

[alkemyst]

How can real estate agents have the best interest for their buyers if they can work in cohorts with the seller's agent to keep the price high so they will both benefit.?

Buyer's agents are bullshit. Consider them a necessary evil if you can't handle it yourself.

No Problem.

 

[Midwayman]

I just don't get the real estate agent any more. As a buyer I do all the research myself online. They basically let me in and fill out a pre-printed contract. It hardly seems worth the cost. On the sellers side they do even less. It would seem a more fair model would be a listing fee and then a small fee per showing of your house. Pay a lawyer to write up the contract. I know that is essentially how Redfin works with their buyer's agents. The whole commission model doesn't seem to have anyone's interests at heart except the real estate agents.

 

[Sattern]

You can always sell your house on Craigslist for free and keep the 6% to yourself.

Nobody forces anybody to do anything although I think paying 6% is a bit much, but that's how people get rich off you I guess.

 

[alkemyst]

I just don't get the real estate agent any more. As a buyer I do all the research myself online. They basically let me in and fill out a pre-printed contract. It hardly seems worth the cost. On the sellers side they do even less. It would seem a more fair model would be a listing fee and then a small fee per showing of your house. Pay a lawyer to write up the contract. I know that is essentially how Redfin works with their buyer's agents. The whole commission model doesn't seem to have anyone's interests at heart except the real estate agents.

You can YouTube on almost how to do anything as well.

 

[MrSquished]

How much commission after expenses? How much time involved?

the bigger deal is a 2.5% commission the smaller a 2%. so neither were 6% although I can't know how much the sellers agent is getting, but it's most likely the same.

on the 1.305 million dollar property definitely had a little bit of luck. Although I am a new agent I leveraged some of my previous work experience into a higher than 50/50 split to start which is rare for a brand new agent. I will be getting $19K on a 2.5% commission, although because it's one of my first two transactions my mentor will get 25% of that. It's tax free so at least 20% gets socked away for uncle sam.

lucky in that I got the lead during my weekly assignment manning the front desk greeting walk-ins and answering the phones. you usually get a bunch of leads during certain front desk times - i follow up with every one, by doing searches for them, sifting through listings, sending them stuff to see, following up even if no response at least once if not twice. 90% or more of them flake on you wasting your time but you gotta follow up with all of them. So that's hours and hours of wasted time that counts towards how much I work.

My buyers, a couple, the wife called 3 times about properties at close to a million. Both previous agents did not reply, I did and was very responsive. They stuck with me. I've had about 6 calls for people saying they were approved for 1 million or more. 5 flaked, these did not.

I showed them 8 properties and it only took 3 weeks before we put in our offer last saturday. This is very rare. I met them 4 times. My commute time is 1 hour + roundtrip. Some days I do it twice a day if something comes up, like today actually. I spent probably about 6 hours with them in person including 2 meetings. We have exchanged over 200 texts and over 100 emails. I did searches for them every day on the MLS and other sites. Many phone calls as well with them and with other agents. My hours don't end until I go to sleep usually at 1am in that I will always respond to an email or text anytime, or run searches, draw up a contract, send emails etc.... I introduced myself to their attorney at 9pm the other day via email, he responded at 11pm that night. Good RE industry people don't have off hours. The closing is going to take up a lot of my time and I have to be very fast and responsive. There will be a lot of communicating with them, their attorney, then the home inspection if it goes through review, then the appraisal, then fixing things, then the closing.


The second property listed at $255K and we got accepted at $235 after being outbid at $225K. I guess the others bid $230K and wouldn't go higher or had less to put down, who knows. I worked with this couple over 2.5 months. Showed them 15 properties over about 6 times meeting them after doing a buyer's consultation at the office for 30 minutes. The showings I dunno, plenty of hours as they were looking all over the place. Now I have to do their closing as well. Closings can take months or you can get lucky and they take 30 days. Tonight at a broker's happy hour I had two seasoned realtors tell me their story with just a hellish appraisal process that has dragged on for weeks. Something new, the appraiser said the bars on the windows had to go. Which is weird as many places have bars on the windows in this market on garden level and 1st floor places - possibly somethign happened with a fire and people couldn't get out so now the banks want no bars on windows. They were there themselves with tools taking the bars off. Shit two properties I showed I had to bring my headlamps for my buyers and a flashlight cause there was no electricity. It's interesting work.

For the 235K place at a 2% buyers commission I will get $2,700 tax free. Gotta put some away for taxes.

In the last 3.5 months/14 weeks as a licensed broker I have done 112 hours of front desk time, 77 hours spent setting up, running and breaking down an open house. I have shown dozens of rentals with many renters, with 2 successes for about 600 bucks. I have worked with 7 buyers, including one guy that has used up the most time of any buyers yet, 20 showings, a ton of searches, emails over 3 months and nothing. I've been stood up by 2 renters. The other 4 buyers also took up a lot of time and ended up with zero dollars. Following up with all open house contacts with searches and emails/calls - more hours for zero results.

And there is a very good chance one or both of these deals falls through as well. When agents meet up at these broker events like tonight, we tell our stories. Good and bad. The amount of horror stories about months of working with buyers or sellers and having deals fall through after months after offer was accepted is nuts. One agent known as a very thorough good agent had 5 closings that were scheduled fall through this year after so much work on each one. Shit happens. Just gotta roll with the punches.

I know a very talented newer agent very smart and young but works like hell. Has had some listings but in one year but in 30 offers and only 2 got accepted. In a competitive market like this that is common. So the work you put in for 28 buyers that actually put in offers let alone the ones that don't ended up in 2 transactions. You have to present all offers so even if you know it's going to be rejected in such a competitive market, you legally have to make it of course. It's a seller's market here, 1/3 of listings end up in bidding wars, and many of the rest have large amounts of offers. So you waste a lot of time for nothing. at 2 of my first 5 offers being accepted i'm lucky I guess. I mean I do work hard for my customers.

My 1.305 million dollar buyers one is a surgeon the other in sales, after we got accepted they asked me how long have I been doing this. I said well 3.5 months and you are my first of 2 deals that came in within days of each other (besides rentals) but I know the market pretty well from being a photographer in it for 2 years seriously. She said wow, we could tell you were newer but not that new, but you busted your butt for us day and night, and were very diligent and responsive and smart. I feel I work hard. It's a little bit of luck too.

I put a shit-ton of miles on my car as well.