Posted on 08/22/2007 5:32:12 AM PDT by Hydroshock
It seems to me that when times are tough in real estate that this would be a good time to get into the business. After all, if you can make a living in this environment, when times are good again, you could make tons of money.
Nobody learns much during good times. It’s the hard times that offers the lessons.
Here endeth the lesson. :)
By checking the credit scores of the possible RENTERS. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice--shame on me!!!!!!
Nobody learns much during good times. It’s the hard times that offers the lessons.
Here endeth the lesson. :)
Great! So I’m going back to my old profession of game room and snack consultant for dot.coms!
It would be a better time to try establish a small local agency. The ones in it for the fast buck clear out making some room, and if you’re real lucky one of the older established ones retire and sell out.
The small town independant guys don't usually do that sort of thing.
Like everything else, you have to be careful. There are plenty of sharks in the water no matter where you are.
That was my experience here with a Realtor who was in it for the long haul. She found a nice house (and, as important, a good neighborhood) for me in 1985, and I lived in it for 17 years. When it came time to sell after I married mrs riverdawg, that same Realtor got the listing and the house sold in six weeks. We lived in my wife’s house for nine months, bought another house (again with the help of the same Realtor) and then sold hers before it was formally on the market. Yes, the Realtor made a bunch of money on the four transactions but I can’t imagine them going any smoother. There are times and places where FSBO works just fine for some people, but a perceptive, hard-working seller’s agent usually earns her/his commission - especially in a buyer’s market.
"Dear Lord, PLEASE give us ONE MORE BOOM and we promise not to blow it all this time!"
BUMP
How about the Home Owners Associations (HOAs) that charge a $75. setup fee to take 1 minute to modify the home account with the new owners' information?
We charge $35 non-refundable for our time in showing the property, checking credit worthiness and references.
Our commissions earned on rentals is usually less than half of 1 month's rent. The only positive thing that can come out of it is that treating folks honestly and fairly may mean a bonafide purchaser client in the future.
Ignorance was indeed bliss...as I was "Rookie of the Year" in my Board of Realtors.
We're already bound by a strict Code of Ethics to treat all parties fairly.
Buyer Agency is a gimmick to compete with Listing Agents who get paid no matter which one of the other 6,000+ agents in our local Board of Realtors has the buyer.
A strong Listing Agent can lay on the Florida beach...have his cell phone ring and earn income...because ALL agents are actually helping him sell his listing.
Buyer Agency...through a Buyer Broker Agreement...creates a contract that says that buyer cannot buy any home without your buyer agent being involved.
Sunday open houses now see virtually every prospect coming through the home by themselves claiming they are working with an agent.
In the "old days", there was such a thing as "procuring cause" (open house sign, newspaper ad, flyer).
Now an agent can sit on her butt and tell her buyers to visit open houses by themselves..."if you see something you like, call me". It's BS! ;^(
“A year or 2 from now, the headline will be ‘As housing soars, people flock to Realty as a profession’”
Only a year or 2? Not according to past trends.
Make that 5 years from now. This is going to be long and bloody. Realtors are going to have to find an honest living.
ping
I think much shorter than that. And realtors are making an honest living. It’s not illegal or immoral to sell a home.
LOL! The guy who owns the condo I’ve been renting is trying to sell it - I should print this out and leave it on the counter before the next two dozen hungry brokers come in for a tour. ;)
That said, we know realtors have been bailing out of the industry for well over a year now.
FWIW, why isn’t there an e-bay for houses. Why do we have Realtors at all in this modern era? We still need escrow and title companies, but folks who sell homes? Really?
Today, anybody could take a bunch of pictures of their house and write a description and list it on an e-bay style listing and call it “houses for sale.com” or something. Direct buyer to seller and omit the exorbitant 6% commissions we are being gouged.
Sure, Realtors provide very useful information, but that should not cost you 6% of your home’s value, which is often a MUCH higher percentage of your home’s equity. When I sold my home for $124,000 with only $28,000 of equity, that $7,500 RE commission was 25% of my equity!!!! Nice work if you can get it!
Why not have a website where we can list our homes and we can go get an RE consultant for a small fee to help us price the home and advise us what to fix up for the sale, etc. 6% is highway robbery.
So why not? Probably because those 1.3 million remaining Realtors are doing everything in their power to insure it never happens.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.