Realtor Commissions (buyer, price, estate)

[gigi927]

Hey Trainwreck...I gotta respectfully disagree with your 7 year itch, I mean rule .

Having been a realtor in AZ for almost 4 years, and now newly licensed in TX, and having a high tech background as well, I find that some realtors who have been in the business a long time are nowhere near as tech savvy, do not respond to things at internet speed, and do not use the technological tools at their disposal to the biggest benefit for the client. Obviously, this isn't all realtors who have been in biz for 7 years or more, but it's a trend that I spotted just a bit. In really competitive markets, such as Phoenix was for several years...this technological edge can be the difference between a client getting a house or not. I'd venture a guess that the market here is headed in that direction.

Secondly, and I think more importantly than # of years licensed, is finding out what other experience the realtor has. Other relevant experience can actually be just as or more important than being a realtor for a really long time. For example, my husband, in a previous career, was in the financial services industry (stockbroker). He has experience working with mortgage lenders and is super super knowledgeable about various debt instruments and what types might work better for a particular client's financial situation. He doesn't do the lender's job, but it does help in initial discussions regardign financing.

Another example is that I, in a previous career, was an attorney (DONT HATE ME, Y'ALL. I have been in recovery now for 10 years, he he). In AZ, realtors are actually allowed much more latitude in drafting contractual provisions on behalf of their clients than here in TX. You can bet that our contract provisions were the most tightly worded and the most protective of our clients than most of the realtors writing special provisions out there. I've seen realtors who have been in the biz for 20 years who would write special provisions that literally were so vague and so putting their clients in a jeopardizing legal position that it scared me.

So...I guess I'd say while your rule is a good thumbnail, there are definitely other factors to look at that can really, really put the client at an advantage than just years of experience.

So, will this thread become a rousing debate on realtor qualifications, or should we go back to discussing the Weirds and the Not Weirds? Meanwhile, I think I will go back and lurk in my corner and wait for the lawyer jokes to start flying (ducking now).

[Trainwreck20]

Gigi, I won't disagree with you at all, really...there are probably a lot of good realtors out there that are relatively new, but almost all the 'bad' ones will be new. Not that there will not be some really good new realtors. This is a very broad generalization and will probably be more applicable to the big 'factory' real estate corps.

My neighbor (who both he and his wife were in my wedding) is a realtor and has been in the biz for only 6 years, I think, and I used him to sell my house, so I broke my own rule. On the other hand, he did come highly recommended .

I am finding that many, many realtors are Tech Savy or out of business...the MLS system has come so far that you have to know how to 'distill' the info. It all goes back to the '...lies, damn lies, and statistics' and the most useful thing I find from the agent is the ability to translate all the data and tell me what it REALLY means. Which of these properties are really comparable, why or why not, and what do I need to pay attention to. That kind of ability is what really makes a good 'technical' agent, and that is what is often missing in new agents.

I agree with you on the 'other' experience, although more fundamentally, it sounds like he has a background that requires a high level of thinking and analysis, which feeds back into my comments above. I have seen WAY too many people get laid off from their administrative job at the hospitol or quit thier job teaching, and decide they would make a great realtor. Many of them are friendly, personable, hard working people, but do not have the skill set to make the higher level analysis that I would want.

Finally, regarding attorneys, I really have no problem with them except for some of the trial attorneys I have run across . Anyway, when buying a home, if should be a very cut and dried process. If one of the parties gets a lawyer to write a contract, then the other party must also or risk getting shafted w/o knowing it until too late. Then, you end up re-inventing the wheel in some cases - re-agruing things that should have been established as the norm long ago. Now, I understand that there are particular cases thay may be outside the norm, but not a very large percentage.

Anyway, the thread was kinda resolved (I think?) so I don't feel to much like a hijaker

[gigi927]

You're right, we are pretty much in agreement This forum is so pleasant! I wasn't sure how you'd take my comments.

It's absolutely true that people think realty is an easier job than it is and that anybody can do it. Explains why there were well over THIRTY THOUSAND realtors in Phoenix when we left.

Unfortunately, there's no way to make buying a home a cut and dried process. There's just too much emotion tied up with both parties. It's kind of like handling divorce cases - they should be easy to wrap up but people get obsessed about haggling over the dumbest little things. And if you're in a state that doesn't typically engage lawyers in real estate deals, and one party seeks out a lawyer, I always know that that party is going to be an absolute pain in the behind.

Thanks, Trainwreck, for sparing me a lawyer joke today.

[Trainwreck20]

:When I sold my house, the buyer wanted to engage a lawyer and work some specific language in the contract about 'what ifs' for the future. She was worried that there was a water leak in the foundation, and to be fair, there was some indicators that that might be true; however, after a plumber and building inspector (both hired by her) said, no, there is no leak, she still wanted some language in there about if there was a leak discovered in the future.

As you might guess, that would require some very specific language and would open me, the seller, to all sorts of liability into the future. It can be argued what is exactly meant by pre-exisiting, for example. To make a story a little less long, I told her she could take the standard contract, or pay for my attorney (regardless if she ended up buying the house) to review and argue the condition she wanted to propose (which probably would end up almost identical to what state law/rules requires anyway).

She ended up with the standard contract.....

[tygr]

We were/are selling our house in Cali and went thru a *huge(I'm talking *massive!) fiasco with the would-be buyers and their agent.
w/o going into all the details, our fabulous realtor, who we'd been working with for *months*ended u graciously walking away with *nada*, once we decided to take our house off the market.

Seems to me, there should be some way to ding her for her unprofessional behavior. Not for revenge, per se, but just to warn others, y'know?

Good luck to you, and thanks for the heads up!

[Torontonian]

I was talking to Meritage homes's sales manager and specifically asked about buying a house without having realtor involved from my side. He is not willing to give any credits even free upgrades towards realtor's commisions at all :-(

Any experience with Meritage here in Austin? I just like one of their floorplan (in Westside Preserve)

[AustinGuy]

Torontonian, if Meritage won't give you a discount, than you should look for one of the realtors in town that will give you 1% back or some such after closing and bring them into the Meritage office. Meritage won't be happy about it, but they'll deal with them.

[Torontonian]

Thanks AustinGuy,

I still don't think it is fair to give away biggest chunk of the commisions to an agent while doing all the work by yourself

I guess agent gets the commission from the builder for BRINGING IN the buyer, doesn't it?

[gchapman]

Originally Posted by Torontonian

Thanks AustinGuy,

I still don't think it is fair to give away biggest chunk of the commisions to an agent while doing all the work by yourself

I guess agent gets the commission from the builder for BRINGING IN the buyer, doesn't it?

A quick question, was this a new home purchase? Typically new home sales don't have commission fees on them because you are purchasing directly from the builder.

[The beave]

Real estate commisions are paid by the seller not the buyer.