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.
I think there is one set up. Some have suggested hiring a realestate attorney to draw up the papers for your sale, give him 500 or a 1000 bucks and sell it yourself. I don't trust realtors at all, for good reason.
They only thing realtors have going for them is the MLS. That's it, IMO.
And while I’m on the topic...
My home appreciated only $2,200. So in actuality, that 6% commission of $7,440 was 34% of my appreciation. I put in a down payment, the house appreciated, and I lost a full one-third of my appreciation to the Realtor who sold the home. That is a very excessive fee in this day and age of computer buying and selling.
You don’t pay 6% for legal advice or for accounting fees. You sure as heck don’t pay a 6% fee to list and sell your car. Folks would scream bloody murder for being charged $2,400 to resell a $40,000 car. So why do we continue to accept such gouging on the most expensive asset we own?
A specialized Realtor Listing which ONLY Realtors have access to amounts to a monopoly today. The Realty trade is obsolete but refuses to go away due to the fantastic money involved.
We definitely need a means to list homes on the internet ourselves and cut out these middle-men who are taking 6% of our total home values.
SaveSix...Help-U-Sell...Assist-to-Sell!
Go for it.
Let me ask you this.
You have a job. You’ve been doing it for a decade. You’re one of the best at your job there is. You make $140,000 a year doing it and treat your clients and co-workers fairly.
Suddenly, some shmuck, who’s never worked a single day in your industry, says you make too much money and should continue doing the same work you’ve been doing for 10 years, but now only do it for $30,000 a year.
What would you say to them?
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.