Realtors take a hit.

[okie john]

I've had to good fortune to work with two realtors who absolutely earned their commissions.

A good one helps you mitigate issues before they turn into lawsuits. For instance, some of the electrical work in one of my houses was, umm, questionable. One form asks whether the electrical system is up to code. Your options are, "Yes," "No," and "I don't know." I was about to mark "No" when the realtor stopped me.

"Are you a licensed electrical inspector?"

"No."

"Then how do you know that the wiring isn't up to code?"

"I don't."

"Then mark, 'I don't know.'"

Getting out of my lane would have handed the buyer's agent a lever to negotiate on price. After the sale, the same guy also decisively handled a couple of things where the buyer started to be a pain in the ass.

Good realtors will also have a battalion of landscapers, painters, handymen, plumbers, electricians, etc., who show up and fix things NOW. That's critical when you need to sell a house. Also, because the realtors feed them so much business, that they don't dare dream of trying to screw the homeowner.

That said, I fully recognize that there are plenty of shitty realtors in the world.


Okie John

[RoyGBiv]

Last house I sold, in about 2002, I paid $500 to get it listed on MLS. Our listing said FSBO, 2% commission for buyers agent. Sold in a few weeks.

Only problem was the agent requesting a short list of piddly repairs be done by a paid contractor. Things like extending a condensation drain line further away from the house, which required a PVC connector, 8 feet of pipe and some glue. After some back and forth I offered to give their earnest money back so their buyer could find a different place. We eventually agreed that I'd pay for their home inspector to come back and reinspect my repairs. Cost me $100.

We bought our current house from a FSBO seller.

Don't get me started on the absolute ripoff that is the title business in Texas. 10x the cost vs NC.

[okie john]

Don't get me started on the absolute ripoff that is the title business in Texas.

I think the change to realtor's commissions is just the beginning of the change that's about to hit the real-estate industry. There's no longer any need to research titles manually and no reason to wait for checks to clear. That house of cards is about to start falling.


Okie John

[Borderland]

The last house I sold had a buyers agent that was impossible. She brougt a totally incompetant inspector with an attitude. He found a few small items but missed the big one. The house needed to be partially resided but he never looked at the 2nd floor where the sun and rain hit the house. I was prepared to do that but he didn't see it. The two electrical items he found I repaired or replaced. The other item was a new roof. The roof was only a year old so it wasn't an inspection item but she claimed it wasn't the proper material according to the CC&R's in my neighborhood. I finally told her I wasn't going to replace the roof and the price was fixed. No deal.

The perspective buyer called me a few days later and wanted to talk. He came over and said he would buy the house and inform his agent to do the paperwork. One reason I don't care for some real estate agents and their tactics. It shouldn't be that hard. I did have a wonderful listing agent though. She gave me some damn good advice and worked hard to get it sold. I was probably her biggest handicap.

About 10 years later I met my present wife and she needed to sell her house after a divorce. Called this woman and asked if she wanted to sell it. She did and it sold in about a week in a sellers market. Smooth as silk.

[rob_s]

I hate realtors as much as, if not more then, car salesmen.

That said, I have a great guy, who is also a mortgage broker, that is his own real estate broker, that I’ve used on multiple deals now and we love him. He’s done a LOT for us to include going to Home Depot himself, getting a couple,e of bags of dirt, and filling in a “hole” that a buyer was whining about after I told him to tell the buyer to go fuck himself.

I agree that the industry is poised for a collapse. When every stay at home mommy decided she could be a “part time agent” it was the beginning of the end and with the internet there’s just so little for them to do.

I could go on for days with shit real estate agent stories…

[ragnar_d]

I think it's a crock of crap. There are some good agents out there but the majority couldn't sell water in a dessert and aren't worth a .1% commission, especially in the age of putting the listing on the internet.

Either you have met a couple of the realtors I've had the misfortune of dealing with or the experience is just common across the board. I've worked with one and know a couple that are worth every bit of their 6% commission for what they do, the others . . . not so much.

Interest rates are not, and they went from being artificially low to being artificially high.
And property taxes keep on rocking up at the same time.
And values are high if you are selling, but high if you are buying. A friend here is moving from his three (maybe four) bedroom two story (with full basement) on ~5 acres to a single story small patio home. He is planning to need to come up with about $150k to make the transition.

Sounds like you're in my area. I've seen a 75% increase in property taxes, developments that were "From the $200s" when we moved here are now "From the $400s". The whole place reminds me of Orlando when I moved there in '08 with all the construction and development on any cow pasture that sat still for too long.

Hoping in the next couple years that we can exit suburbia and get as far into the country as possible while still being a reasonable drive to work.

[mmc45414]

Sounds like you're in my area. I've seen a 75% increase in property taxes, developments that were "From the $200s" when we moved here are now "From the $400s".

You make it sound like I have it good!!

Though here property taxes (many places?) fund the schools, so right now you have most all of the school districts running at property owners for levy increases, right after the state come through and did a reassessment and everyone's valuation went up significantly, though realistically it is still lower than actual market value. It is not that big a deal and we have no trouble swinging the increase, but the school districts are all leaning heavily on a fear-based sales that grates against me.

And our community is higher (rates) than others (especially in a neighboring county that is more rural), but our community is primarily lower cost homes than others with higher rates. Many of my friends are paying monthly property taxes that rivel what our PITI was when we moved here. But then other friends are building their later life dream homes in surrounding counties, partially because of the taxes needed to support the core city (Dayton) in the central county (Montgomery). This is exacerbated by the largest area employer (WPAFB, headcount ~35k) is in a neighboring county (Greene). And people that do not like the sprawl that leaves some neighborhoods behind (maybe including ours, eventually) just cannot seem to grasp that people are simply coin operated and make decisions accordingly, it is basic human nature.

[RoyGBiv]

You make it sound like I have it good!!

Though here property taxes (many places?) fund the schools, so right now you have most all of the school districts running at property owners for levy increases, right after the state come through and did a reassessment and everyone's valuation went up significantly, though realistically it is still lower than actual market value. It is not that big a deal and we have no trouble swinging the increase, but the school districts are all leaning heavily on a fear-based sales that grates against me.

TX did a rejiggering of school funding (state contribution) last year that resulted in a decrease in that portion of my property tax... by about $1500, IIRC. Overall valuations are completely nuts. We protest (formal process) almost every year and have been successful in most. The amount of work you need to put in to keep givernment (not misspelled) at bay could be a full time job.

[Borderland]

Either you have met a couple of the realtors I've had the misfortune of dealing with or the experience is just common across the board. I've worked with one and know a couple that are worth every bit of their 6% commission for what they do, the others . . . not so much.


Sounds like you're in my area. I've seen a 75% increase in property taxes, developments that were "From the $200s" when we moved here are now "From the $400s". The whole place reminds me of Orlando when I moved there in '08 with all the construction and development on any cow pasture that sat still for too long.

Hoping in the next couple years that we can exit suburbia and get as far into the country as possible while still being a reasonable drive to work.

Hoping in the next couple years that we can exit suburbia and get as far into the country as possible while still being a reasonable drive to work.

I did that 18 years before I retired and just lived with the 1 1/2 hr commute everyday. Toward the end it turned into a 2 hr commute. I got by with using mass transit to absorb the cost.

The problem here now for people who want to move to the country is everyone moved years ago and nobody is selling. I haven't seen any new construction where I live in 3 years.

[Borderland]

TX did a rejiggering of school funding (state contribution) last year that resulted in a decrease in that portion of my property tax... by about $1500, IIRC. Overall valuations are completely nuts. We protest (formal process) almost every year and have been successful in most. The amount of work you need to put in to keep givernment (not misspelled) at bay could be a full time job.

Our property tax assessment happens every two years and the assesed value is always below market value. They don't seem too axious to trigger an appeal for whatever reason. Probably understaffed like most of the county departments are here. It's a very rural county, even though we aren't that far from the metro area.