Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Real estate agents are a soon-to-be obsolete career. You can thank the internet for that. I think that's one of the things I would thank the internet for...
LOL.
Been hearing and seeing this for 15+ years. It's almost as credible as "I saw it on the internet so it must be true."
LOL.
Been hearing and seeing this for 15+ years. It's almost as credible as "I saw it on the internet so it must be true."
I started in 2005 and I was told that back then. I'd say if anything, good agents provide more value now than they did in 2005. The business and technology is so much more complicated now than it was back then.
Most people that work a 9-5 job don't realize how hard it is to make a living selling real estate. No sick days, no paid vacation, no paid holidays, no pension, no weekends. A 10K commission on a house is split 4 ways. Take out taxes and expenses on 2500 and the amount left over is minimal.
Real estate agents are a soon-to-be obsolete career. You can thank the internet for that. I think that's one of the things I would thank the internet for...
Such narrow thinking... any day now... lol NAR has to get credit for protecting the profession overall... they most certainly do that.
The "internet" has zero ability to impact the profession... and it's not for the lack of trying... plenty of big examples like Zillow.. you look at it and you'd think that it's possible to replace agents with computers... I used to think so... the challenge is the data... the magic is in the data, not in the internet's ability to connect everyone... no matter how snazzy the front end.
The first hurdle to anything working technically is that there are countless decentralized MLS systems... you need a license to access all the data... and there's no overarching data governance and no overarching standard data model... you can license MLS without being a Realtor... NAR is national... MLS is not... you are not replacing all this with the "internet" until the data gets figured out nationally... and I believe there is zero incentive for them to do that.
The next hurdle is the actual services an agent provides... I have been happy and sad with experiences with agents... the benefits to their service outweighs the costs (to me) (currently)... I don't see how the "internet" replaces all those services... now in fairness, this could change when I am charged to use a buyer's agent... I will cross that bridge when I come to it... until then it will be interesting to see how the profession evolves.
Such narrow thinking... any day now... lol NAR has to get credit for protecting the profession overall... they most certainly do that.
The "internet" has zero ability to impact the profession... and it's not for the lack of trying... plenty of big examples like Zillow.. you look at it and you'd think that it's possible to replace agents with computers... I used to think so... the challenge is the data... the magic is in the data, not in the internet's ability to connect everyone... no matter how snazzy the front end.
The first hurdle to anything working technically is that there are countless decentralized MLS systems... you need a license to access all the data... and there's no overarching data governance and no overarching standard data model... you can license MLS without being a Realtor... NAR is national... MLS is not... you are not replacing all this with the "internet" until the data gets figured out nationally... and I believe there is zero incentive for them to do that.
The next hurdle is the actual services an agent provides... I have been happy and sad with experiences with agents... the benefits to their service outweighs the costs (to me) (currently)... I don't see how the "internet" replaces all those services... now in fairness, this could change when I am charged to use a buyer's agent... I will cross that bridge when I come to it... until then it will be interesting to see how the profession evolves.
NAR's grasp on MLSs is eroding. How far that will go is anyone's guess. But there is More to the Story.
When The Internet develops ethics...
When The Internet decides to provide honest, accurate localized information...
When The Internet provides focused and appropriate locally-relevant contract guidance...
When The Internet gains trust of wise consumers...
When The Internet develops negotiating skills...
When The Internet learns to "read" the other side of the transaction and to press the right levers...
When The Internet previews houses...
When The Internet tells you that the house smells like pet urine, mildew, smoke, etc, so a buyer doesn't have to waste time on it...
Eh. Whatever...
No good agent needs to feel threatened by The Internet.
FWIW:
Licensed Agency is a career opportunity.
"REALTOR" is a trade group membership, NOT a career. One can have a career without being a member of the trade group.
A brokerage or property management career without a license is a much dicier proposition.
Zillow, often labeled "The Internet," publishes false data about my home and SF off the county website rather than accurate SF.
Yet, Z improved a bit when they got licensed as a brokerage and accessed MLS data and feeds. But, they get a pass on ethics and integrity and skills since they are "The Internet." They will have to operate with skill and integrity and provide better service.
Last edited by MikeJaquish; 01-23-2024 at 05:50 AM..
Most people that work a 9-5 job don't realize how hard it is to make a living selling real estate. No sick days, no paid vacation, no paid holidays, no pension, no weekends. A 10K commission on a house is split 4 ways. Take out taxes and expenses on 2500 and the amount left over is minimal.
If it is too difficult to make a living, get out of the business. There are too many real estate agents chasing too few listings, so I doubt they are all working 7 days a week, 12 months a year. They want sellers to pay them for all of the time they are sitting on their hands so they can "make a living."
Agents do provide a valuable service and I will use an agent when I sell in a few months. But is that service worth 90% more in 2024 than it was in 2017 (the increase in value of my house since I bought it)? Who else had their wages go up 90%? Yet, agents still want to charge the same percentage. It isn't up to me to make up, in my one sale, for the fact that there has not been that much on the market for them to make commissions on.
NAR's grasp on MLSs is eroding. How far that will go is anyone's guess. But there is More to the Story.
When The Internet develops ethics...
When The Internet decides to provide honest, accurate localized information...
When The Internet provides focused and appropriate locally-relevant contract guidance...
When The Internet gains trust of wise consumers...
When The Internet develops negotiating skills...
When The Internet learns to "read" the other side of the transaction and to press the right levers...
When The Internet previews houses...
When The Internet tells you that the house smells like pet urine, mildew, smoke, etc, so a buyer doesn't have to waste time on it...
Eh. Whatever...
No good agent needs to feel threatened by The Internet.
FWIW:
Licensed Agency is a career opportunity.
"REALTOR" is a trade group membership, NOT a career. One can have a career without being a member of the trade group.
A brokerage or property management career without a license is a much dicier proposition.
Zillow, often labeled "The Internet," publishes false data about my home and SF off the county website rather than accurate SF.
Yet, Z improved a bit when they got licensed as a brokerage and accessed MLS data and feeds. But, they get a pass on ethics and integrity and skills since they are "The Internet." They will have to operate with skill and integrity and provide better service.
Yup, you tap into the skills aka services that an agent provides and it's painfully obvious that the internet cannot provide them all... AI aside because that is a scary proposition for all of our professions.
Ultimately what I tried to point out is that it comes down to the data... even when NAR loses full grip on MLS, it will need to be centralized, and it will need to be cleaned up... it will always be "Garbage In = Garbage out"... until there is data governance and enforcement, no algorithm is going to be good enough with today's tech.
That's not even tapping into what info about "my house" or "my property" may be "protected" from public consumption because it hurts the sale... i.e. your example that my house smells like poopy... there is no equivalence to product reviews that we see today on Amazon.
Such narrow thinking... any day now... lol NAR has to get credit for protecting the profession overall... they most certainly do that.
The "internet" has zero ability to impact the profession... and it's not for the lack of trying... plenty of big examples like Zillow.. you look at it and you'd think that it's possible to replace agents with computers... I used to think so... the challenge is the data... the magic is in the data, not in the internet's ability to connect everyone... no matter how snazzy the front end.
The first hurdle to anything working technically is that there are countless decentralized MLS systems... you need a license to access all the data... and there's no overarching data governance and no overarching standard data model... you can license MLS without being a Realtor... NAR is national... MLS is not... you are not replacing all this with the "internet" until the data gets figured out nationally... and I believe there is zero incentive for them to do that.
The next hurdle is the actual services an agent provides... I have been happy and sad with experiences with agents... the benefits to their service outweighs the costs (to me) (currently)... I don't see how the "internet" replaces all those services... now in fairness, this could change when I am charged to use a buyer's agent... I will cross that bridge when I come to it... until then it will be interesting to see how the profession evolves.
Without agents, good luck getting current data on the internet. Do people not realize where the data comes from? No co-broke - no Z/T/R because they can't make money selling your contact info to agents anymore. It's circular, no agents- no or limited data and no Z/T/R or at least not as you know them today. If they survive they'd probably have to become a paid platform instead of free for public browsing, at a minimum.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,550 posts, read 81,103,317 times
Reputation: 57750
Recent reductions in realtors is not related to the internet, it's the lack of homes to sell.
Our neighbor worked for a local realtor, then moved to Redfin. Prior to Covid she would sell 4-5 homes a year in our area, and at over $1 million her commissions were at least $30-40k each time. Back then every house had 20-30 offers over asking and they sold for 100k or more over the price. Her husband is in tech so they were doing really well, until the inventory dried up. Now she has a corporate sales job in a completely different industry.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
