The DOJ-Antitrust Division should pursue these clowns and clean up the local real estate market so that home buyers and sellers get the benefit of a competitive market.
I believe that people should be paid fair wages for their work, but $30,000 to sell a house is robbery.
Geeez. It's 6 1/2 % or 7% around here. Outrageous.
About time. When are they going after the funeral industry?
Realtors better beware. The Feds will focus on an industry for a long time. And they tend to send folks to prison over Sherman violations.
I am a REALTOR® and I'll be happy to answer any questions on the topic and discuss these issues. I am an honest hardworking man, and I am proud of my profession and what I do to help people with their (typically) largest investment.
If selling FSBO was truely the way to go, I would be out of work. But I'm not. I'm very busy. In fact, on the low end 80% of FSBO sellers will end up using the services of a realtor, and there is a good reason for it. We have the qualified buyers. The buyers who have the motivation and financial ability to purchase a home. We have inventory of hundreds, while the FSBO has an inventory of one. And if you think about it, what is the main reason a highly motivated and qualified buyer would skip homes listed with a realtor to buy a FSBO? The answer: Because he want to avoid paying the commission too. But there's only one commission to save. So in order for a FSBO seller to get the commission he has to convince a buyer to pay it. A buyer who purposely skipped 80% of the avaiable homes on the market and sought out the FSBO to save money.
Selling a home is not about advertising, it's about marketing. Exposing a house for sale to the entire market of qualified buyers will leverage the law of supply and demand to a seller's benefit. Yes, you can sell your home with an ad in the paper and a sign on your lawn, but you've just scratched the surface of potential buyers. In that small pool of buyers in a hot market you will certainly find "a" buyer. You'll feel great thinking you saved a ton of money too. But I have access to the entire market worldwide, and I have the tools and expertise at using them . When I charge a certain % commssion, with my marketing tools, experience, and negotiation skills, I will net a seller more money (money in his bank account after paying me) than he can get on his own 90% of the time-- in any market.
It's easy to look at a closing statement and see the empty spot where the commission would have been paid and feel great about saving x% of the purchase price. But the reality is, with the very limited marketing and exposure, it probably cost you more than that percentage to "save" it.
I don't mind help-u-sell and the others and for sale by owner. Hell, if anyone in CA can figure out all the paperwork and legal technicalities, more power to them. Otherwis I'm willing to work my but off. I get 5% if another realtor brings the buyer or 4% if I find the buyer and list the house. I show the house, advertise and whatever, so I work for my money.
We have afew 2-3 million homes in our area. I think I would charge a point lower for over 1 mill and so on. Why not. But I haven't had that problem : ).
If you contract with someone to sell your home then you are to blame if you get skewered.
We sold our last house ourselves and were amazed at how easy it was. If you price it right, it will sell. Ours sold in two days. We had a lawyer do all the paperwork for us and everything went smoothly and on schedule...much better, in fact, than when we've had realtors selling our previous homes. And our costs were 1/10th what a realtor would have cost us. We felt stupid for listing with a realtor in our past transactions.
But understand when you are whining about the 6%, that people will work only as hard as their incentive to do so. Here is an interesting article about a couple who couldn't sell their place in Manhattan at 6%, and so offered 7% and raised their price...the place sold almost immediately for the new asking price. A good lesson in human nature and motivation...