Are Realtors Worth It?

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Maybe I'm an exception. I found the house I wanted. The realtors are splitting 6% for sending me a contract and making a few phone calls. I don't know what other things they actually do but mine is doing a poor job of keeping me informed on when a roof will be put on the house I'm buying so we can close on it. It was supposed to happen tomorrow but roofers haven't shown up all week. Very frustrating but maybe I just have a bad one. My mistake using an old girl friend. She sucked at that too or maybe she didn't suck enough. Seriously though, I know the 6 % is not a requirement now and I'm not the one paying it but they certainly don't do much that I can tell. At least not in this deal. Maybe if they have to research and show multiple homes etc but even then, 6% is a chunk if you figure actual time spent. Maybe I should get my agent's license.
 

Dorkus

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I am surprised that the internet has not killed off the real estate agents like it has most other "old school" industries. For some reason, this type of business really has not adapted.

To answer your question, I was told by a real estate person once that their main job is to keep the sale from collapsing. I don't know if that is accurate but what I was told.
 
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Question, are you saying to use an agent as opposed to a realtor, or making the offer yourself with out the help of an agent or realtor? All realtors are agents or brokers while many agents are not realtors...

Realtors have a lot more education as opposed to an agent. It does not necessarily make them any better than some agents.

Last home I sold my Broker kept me from making some huge mistakes that would have cost me thousands (we did an as is sale on our home after moving into our new one. As for our home I would never have found it and probably payed less working with him. Our Broker was not a Realtor.


"Real estate agents are licensed professionals who facilitate property transactions between buyers and sellers.

REALTORS® are licensed professionals who facilitate property transactions between buyers and sellers and are members of NAR (National Association of REALTORS®), adhering to a strict Code of Ethics and high standards of conduct. All REALTORS® are licensed real estate professionals, but not all real estate agents are REALTORS®. "

Are you using realtor and agent as a synonym?
 

TwoShoots

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Bad realtors just set up showings for you to see houses, then show them to you. Then they take whatever number you say back to the sellers.
Good realtors will set up showings, point out problems in the hosue while you're there, point out issues with surrounding buildings, research the properties you're interested in for boundary issues, easements, etc, then work with you to come up with an offer that is as low as you can possibly get away with, maybe lower.
Then they work to close the deal.

A good realtor is worth their commission. A bad realtor is worth a sandwich and a tank of gas.
 
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Like anything else, it depends. When I listed my house in CO I choose one of the "flat fee" outfits. I wasn't unhappy with them or their fee. I even offered a 2.5% commission to any buyer's agent that sold the home. This was on a home just a hair under $500k. I didn't get a single showing in nearly 6 months for a prime piece of real estate in the CO mountains in a seller's market...because even though it was listed on the MLS no one would show it.

I finally went with a well respected agent in the Denver metro area. After a week of photos, videos, staging stuff, etc...he called me about 4:30pm on a Fri and told me the listing was live on the MLS. At 7am Sat morning he called and said he had 2 showings at 8am and 9am. The first couple that looked at it made an offer and bought the house for asking price. Smoothest real estate deal I've ever done...and I did it from Idaho.

If you're buying the only downside (aside from just having a crappy agent) is the price of the home might be adjusted with the commission in mind. 6% is typical but that's usually negotiable. It's pretty easy to get 5% most of the time.
 


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