Realtor's commissions just dropped...

[jawatkins]

I didn’t know what I was doing when I bought my first house and it probably cost me a few thousand dollars by just doing what the realtor told me, we did negotiate down like 10k but probably could have done more. When we sold my dad’s house we had a lot of people that wanted to buy it before he even died. We just used a lawyer and the title company, smooth as butter.

 

[ISUBryceC]

I recognize that there are some good ones out there. But the market is glutted with people that got in to get on the gravy train who do little more than add you to the MLS or drive you to homes you tell them that you want to see.

I’d never say realtors are useless, that’s not true. Are they worth what they get paid? Not in this housing market, no way.

 

[TennNole17]

Flat rates in some markets really took off.

That said- my buyers agent showed me 10-20 houses over 6 months (that I mostly found on Zillow). The convenience of her time and my availability to show me those, was worth it. I don’t want the sellers agent showing me (I hated open houses).

She was invaluable in helping writing offers in an odd market.

 

[goldmom]

So is it more than 6 or less. You didn't really specify what the norm is.

I don’t know of any commission that’s more than 6% unless it’s a farm or ranch, multi family or commercial. And those are negotiable too.
Any “set” fee is considered price fixing and illegal.

 

[goldmom]

You can't though. Not on a fixed rate loan. You can ask the seller to repair those things prior to closing, but you can't ask for cash at closing.

This is why you need a Realtor.

In some states you can get a “credit” but it has to be spent on a named specific repair.
Much of what’s under discussion in this thread varies from state to state.

 

[goldmom]

I’m not sure if it will save anyone much of everything. A good realtor is worth their weight in gold. They can navigate you through a lot of otherwise expensive problems.

There are far too many hacks in the industry that don’t earn their share of the commissions. Maybe some of them will go away. Most of them leave the industry fairly quickly as is.

Agree. The saying that 10% of agents make 90% of sales is pretty accurate.

 

[ping72]

The last time I sold a home, we paid a lawyer less than $1K to do the contract and paid a few hundred for an inspection conducted by someone chosen by the buyer. The idea that someone else should have "earned" more than a couple thousand, let alone $20K or more, for that amount of work is ludicrous.

This. Much of what people in this thread are saying in support of realtors can be done by a lawyer for a fraction of the price.

 

[TailgateTom]

When I went to sell my first house, I hired a realtor. It was 7%, non-negotiable. I was in my early 20’s at the time and didn’t know any better. Realtor was the laziest POS. Didn’t do anything other than list the house on the website. After 6 months I only had a couple of showings and fired her.

Listed the house on Craigslist and it sold in 2 weeks. Paid an attorney $1K to draw up the paperwork. Saved myself about $6K.

 

[who r u]

i thought 7% was the rate, i guess im old.

i would never use a realtor to sell a house. (live in iowa)

using a realtor to buy a property is ok

we just bought a foreclosure property and with the amount of time our agent spent to complete the transaction she probably didnt make minimum wage.

home inspections are mostly a joke. most of them know nothing about how things in a home are supposed to work.

 

[kwik44]

Never have used a realtor on any home or land, buy or sell. Just cut to the chase & hit the abstract.

Some have been unfamiliar with the approach, so I've done the leg work for the other party to help. Some know exactly how they want it done, so we negotiate a bit before coming to an agreement.

This day in age, it's extremely easy to advertise. No need for the extra fluff.

 

[Tenacious E]

Most fees aren't financed into the loan, they're cash at closing. The only fees added to the loan are government loan fees, like FHA or VA. Or for a refinance, they can usually get rolled in. But with purchases, when someone has 3% down, for example, there's no room to add more because they're already maxing out the loan-to-value.

I’m okay with that. If the margins are that tight, buyers can save another year before buying. We didn’t buy a starter home until 30. If we waited until 31, if anything, it would have made us more determined.

 

[fredjr82]

I’d rather pay a house inspector $100/showing to walk through houses with me than a realtor. At least I’d get some value out of it then.

My last realtor was very close to that. I paid him the normal commission. He was referred to me and wasn't at a large organization or part of a team. We walked through some houses and he'd point out things that are issues or would become issues.

I enjoyed working with him and will do so again when I downsize after the kids are gone.

 

[DavidHawk324]

Flat rates in some markets really took off.

That said- my buyers agent showed me 10-20 houses over 6 months (that I mostly found on Zillow). The convenience of her time and my availability to show me those, was worth it. I don’t want the sellers agent showing me (I hated open houses).

She was invaluable in helping writing offers in an odd market.

To me, if you want that type of service as a buyer (having your own agent show you 10-20 houses), you’ll be able to get it. The question is, are you willing to pay what sellers were previously paying for that service? For example, on a $500k house, would you be willing to pay $15k for the showings and the other help a realtor offers? Maybe you would but I think a lot of people wouldn’t. I could see a future service where 1-10 showings is $xx , 10-20 is $xx, etc. Make the more time consuming clients pay more.

I did use a flat fee realtor when I sold in Des Moines area 5 years ago and saved ~ $12k. He did fine. My only concern was that buyers agents would potentially try to sway clients away from my house if they didn’t want to help flat fee realtors, even if they got paid fully.

The Wall Street Journal had a podcast ep on this lawsuit and they had voice recordings where sellers were trying to sell their house without paying 3% to buyers agent, and the buyers agent flat out says they aren’t going to show the house to their client then. Feels like buyers agents are like referees where they can sway things pretty easily by making negative comments to the buyer even if its in their own interest.

 

[goldmom]

When you’re spending your own money to buy anything, you should be your own best friend.
If you don’t have that figured out then you can’t be helped.
From buying a rotten tomato at the grocery store to buying a car, a TV, a set of sheets - to buying your biggest investment which is a house.
Ask questions. Google stuff. That agent is earning a check. Some are better at it than others. You can choose who you work with and if you can do a better job then by all means do it.
We moved from New Jersey to Southern California and had no knowledge of where to live. We had to rely on a Realtor. Same when we moved to Dallas. And Detroit. And all the stops in between.
Maybe we were lucky but we got great help and performance everywhere we lived. Again I believe if you can buy/sell on your own then that’s great. But if you want to rely on an agent then don’t be a babe in the woods. Do some research and try to get familiar with the process and the market. It’s so easy now - and just remember its your money.