Realtors are the worst

Ok not all of them, but enough of them to give the whole a bad name.

Last year my family and I were in the process of selling our house. We were offered full price from several buyers, but decided to take our house off the market. A family member died and all work went virtual so there was no need to move. Covid also got us rethinking long term plans.

Fast forward to this month. The vultures (realtors) are out in full force.
No joke, January 4th my mailbox was filled to the brim with realtors trying to get us to sign with them.
Some were so rude I can’t imagine how they get any clients or buyers. I can see realtors are in a panic. I was a little perturbed by some of the mailers, letters and rude notes, but people are free to advertise and I’m free to put it in the garbage.

Today took the cake. A realtor walked up to the house at dinner time without a mask. My very well mannered husband gave him a quick chew out and slammed the door in his face. I don’t know if this is a normal practice but I find it rude, inappropriate, especially during Covid. Ok you don’t want to wear a mask at the store, during protests etc, but we are talking personal property here, where you have not been invited.

I know this market is brutal. There are hardly any houses for sale and if that is how realtors get all of their income, I would suggest a different line of work.
In the price range our house is in there is less than zero chance anyone would sign with a random person walking up to your door.

Don’t ever trust a realtor with pricing your house either. There is so much information out there to do your homework. The very first realtor that toured our house said it was overpriced. Like I said we had several full price offers, but just imagine if she was our listing agent. How many thousands of dollars would her advice have cost us?

Out of curiosity, what state are you in?

Is there an influx of people?

Or do you happen to be sitting on some acreage developers want for apartments and town homes?

Had you have offers of renters yet?

I know there are a few real estate brokers on this forum. I used to be one in California. One thing I found about working in the greater Los Angeles area was this. If an agent is a minnow , that agent will be eaten up by the sharks in the business.
I've had experience with a few nationalities in the business and I can say this, with one nationality I worked with, there was NO work ethnics of the real estate business at all. It all came down to a " dog it dog " type of business dealings. Some how I manage to survive in the business just telling the truth .
It is true, even experience brokers may not no the actual value of properties due to supply and demand. I always approach the homeowner with a casual environment that they would enjoy having me represent them in the sale of their home or business by saying something like the market is moving fast day by day now and its best for you to set the price after I show some recent sales. I also said, don't base your decision exclusively what is being shown by these sales.

My selling point when showing property was this... when I took a listing, I'd ask the owners about the emotional settings of certain rooms around the house ( of course I wouldn't ask about the bedroom ) and they would answer. I sold many houses due to them answers.

originally posted by: Nivhk
Out of curiosity, what state are you in?

Is there an influx of people?

Or do you happen to be sitting on some acreage developers want for apartments and town homes?

Had you have offers of renters yet?

Wisconsin. Our area is very desirable because of both the school district and huge size of lots, all houses have their own well and septic which is very desirable in these times.

Yes there is a huge influx of people and the price of new builds are through the roof and take about 2 years to build due to supply shortage. There is no inventory, like nothing. One of our offers was out of state, another from one of the more crowded metro areas.
We were asked about renters when we listed but weren’t interested.

a reply to: JAGStorm

It's funny...a neighbor friend of my wife, is a realtor (lives two doors down the street).
Wife and I have been talking about moving out of state lately...and she casually mentioned it to her friend that we were thinking about it.

The first thing this friend and neighbor said to my wife was NOT: "Oh, no, I can't believe you're thinking of moving"...or " Wow...we're really going to miss you...please stay!"...

She said: "Do you need a realtor?"

a reply to: musicismagic

If it was dog eat dog before it must be crazy now.
There are too many realtors here and we just don’t have that many houses.

a reply to: IAMTAT

That’s terrible.
If she was smart she would say she didn’t want you to move and Then if you needed any advice, yada yada!

I found listing a home is like being part of their family. Always good contact with the homeowners after the listing and I marketed the home to all the neighbors. Was usually able to relist the property if it didn't sell in 90 days. When you do list your property, prior to listing that is, you should ask this question if you didn't already tell them and its this... would you like to know why we have such memories of this room ( usually its the kitchen the housewife will talk about ), at that point you'll realize the true character of the sales agent. I would tell my agents this, while going through the house , you are really listing the emotions of the homeowners and that is why it maybe best to have them set the price.

a reply to: musicismagic

Sounds like you have a lot more common sense than some of these people here. There wasn’t a single mailer that I would ever consider doing business with. Some of the notes were just plain rude. Who gets business that way?

For example, one realtor said he was very concerned we didn’t sell our house and wanted to know why and didn’t like how our listing was worded. I have to laugh at it. I know they don’t know why the house was taken off, but I don’t think this is how I would approach people.

We aren’t selling so it’s just a nuisance right now, but in today’s climate I really don’t appreciate the knocks on the door near nighttime. Luckily I have a crazy dog and a big husband. I seriously couldn’t believe that this is how people get their listings and part of me wonders if this might be burglary scoping.

a reply to: JAGStorm

I have a property in an area that is completely saturated. You can't find a lot the size of a postage stamp, that is not already owned. About five years ago I started getting offers for "I want to buy your house", in the mail.

They started at about one or two a week. It has slowly increased until now I get three or four daily. You are so right about some of them being down right rude. I get a ton of voice mails asking if I want to sell my house, and some are so rude I would never call them back, and would slam the phone down in their ear, if I had answered the phone.

I know why they are stalking me. It is not that the property is that great, it is just that there is no unowned property in the area, and the location is desirable.

a reply to: NightSkyeB4Dawn

Do you live in Washington state?
I know people there that described the exact same thing you are saying.

We have a lot of open land here, but it is very expensive and building is super expensive, like 300 per sq ft to build with min house sizes and the cost of the lot, the cost of the well and septic. It adds up super fast and most people can’t afford to build so buying is the only option. I heard that wood/concrete prices are going up weekly. Most people here do not move, even in a good year the inventory here is very low. During the pandemic it was even worse, which is why were were offered asking price for ours.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: musicismagic

Sounds like you have a lot more common sense than some of these people here. There wasn’t a single mailer that I would ever consider doing business with. Some of the notes were just plain rude. Who gets business that way?

For example, one realtor said he was very concerned we didn’t sell our house and wanted to know why and didn’t like how our listing was worded. I have to laugh at it. I know they don’t know why the house was taken off, but I don’t think this is how I would approach people.

We aren’t selling so it’s just a nuisance right now, but in today’s climate I really don’t appreciate the knocks on the door near nighttime. Luckily I have a crazy dog and a big husband. I seriously couldn’t believe that this is how people get their listings and part of me wonders if this might be burglary scoping.

To be honest with you , I was just a country boy from the farmlands of the midwest and moved to California . There I learned the business as a minnow swimming with the sharks. I always kept this... honesty is the best policy. With that in mind I worked hard to be around good and honest agents. Which there are many by the way, at least I thought so. But then again people knew me and would like to sell my listings. I also had the pleasure of being a sales trainee manager for new agents for one of them big franchise real estate offices. Usually in a buyers market if you have some experience selling, when you have a buyer, best to have a real estate attorney do the contract and always work with a title companies escrow division or a major banks escrow division. ( recommend this on all business and apartment transactions )

Always have a legal escape clause in your counter offer. May come in handy, such as subject to a successful and closing of a purchase of another property. I always recommend leaving the new property address out of the counter offer.

Good luck

a reply to: JAGStorm

Realtors are unneccessary and they know it. Anyone living in a desirable market with a few hundred dollars for a lawyer can sell a house.

That's why realtors are the way the are. They're the MLM/girl boss/pyramid scheme of occupations, and somehow they've gotten people to fall for this scheme hook line and sinker. It amazes me.

There's no way I'm giving any percentage of me sale or purchase, or even a flat fee far and above what an actual lawyer makes to pay a real estate agent to list my home (something they basically made up) and tell me what tiny renos I could do to get more money out of my house. Home inspectors also exist, and no one needs a real estate agent to access one. No agent will convince me they're worth paying because they took 3 hours of education on how to spot leaky roofs.

If I needed anonymity, or had so much money that I couldn't be bothered, sure, but I hope anyone buying/selling a house knows they don't need a real estate agent, and they dont have to let agents muscle in on their sales, either.

Hate the profession. 10/10 a scam.

a reply to: Atsbhct

Hate the profession. 10/10 a scam.

I would say 8/10
They aren't all scammers, but a lot of them are.
I've used some decent ones with good results.

I do agree with your assessment of the industry. If they can't figure out where it is going they are going to sink.

originally posted by: Atsbhct
a reply to: JAGStorm

Realtors are unneccessary and they know it. Anyone living in a desirable market with a few hundred dollars for a lawyer can sell a house.

That's why realtors are the way the are. They're the MLM/girl boss/pyramid scheme of occupations, and somehow they've gotten people to fall for this scheme hook line and sinker. It amazes me.

There's no way I'm giving any percentage of me sale or purchase, or even a flat fee far and above what an actual lawyer makes to pay a real estate agent to list my home (something they basically made up) and tell me what tiny renos I could do to get more money out of my house. Home inspectors also exist, and no one needs a real estate agent to access one. No agent will convince me they're worth paying because they took 3 hours of education on how to spot leaky roofs.

If I needed anonymity, or had so much money that I couldn't be bothered, sure, but I hope anyone buying/selling a house knows they don't need a real estate agent, and they dont have to let agents muscle in on their sales, either.

Hate the profession. 10/10 a scam.

you have some very good points

one of my specialties was in the land business in southern Calif. ( also a Calif. license contractor ) when dealing in land a few things are necessary, but when buying land, a broker does come in very handy since prime land is usually listed with attorneys and they have connections in the real estate business with people that sell land. Oh, and 10 percent commission on land sales, I can tell you at least from my experience I always earned it. I also would try to sell my own listings on smaller parcels of land, big parcels, always would include an attorney, and other specialist to complete the sales.
Land sales in escrow can be as long as 2 years or more...

originally posted by: JAGStorm
Ok not all of them, but enough of them to give the whole a bad name.

Last year my family and I were in the process of selling our house. We were offered full price from several buyers, but decided to take our house off the market. A family member died and all work went virtual so there was no need to move. Covid also got us rethinking long term plans.

Fast forward to this month. The vultures (realtors) are out in full force.
No joke, January 4th my mailbox was filled to the brim with realtors trying to get us to sign with them.
Some were so rude I can’t imagine how they get any clients or buyers. I can see realtors are in a panic. I was a little perturbed by some of the mailers, letters and rude notes, but people are free to advertise and I’m free to put it in the garbage.

Today took the cake. A realtor walked up to the house at dinner time without a mask. My very well mannered husband gave him a quick chew out and slammed the door in his face. I don’t know if this is a normal practice but I find it rude, inappropriate, especially during Covid. Ok you don’t want to wear a mask at the store, during protests etc, but we are talking personal property here, where you have not been invited.

I know this market is brutal. There are hardly any houses for sale and if that is how realtors get all of their income, I would suggest a different line of work.
In the price range our house is in there is less than zero chance anyone would sign with a random person walking up to your door.

Don’t ever trust a realtor with pricing your house either. There is so much information out there to do your homework. The very first realtor that toured our house said it was overpriced. Like I said we had several full price offers, but just imagine if she was our listing agent. How many thousands of dollars would her advice have cost us?

I've been in mortgage finance for nearly 20 years now. Work with Realtors everyday. The problem is that 80% of Realtors shouldn't be in the business. The issue is the industry has no real standards and anyone can become a Realtor after taking a two or three day class. This is why Realtors have the stereotype of the bored housewife.

In addition, it is a 100% commission business so you eat what you kill. If you aren't good at building a business, you'll fail. 20% of Realtors do 80% of the business. The problem consumers have is finding that 20%.

There are some good Realtors and the best way to find them is referrals. However, Realtors have to be constantly lookign for new clients so that is why they are always prospecting.

One of the issues is that buying and selling a home is a huge emotional process. Sellers often think their home is worth more than it is and buyers think the home is worth less. There are all kinds of other issues that can crop up. The reality is that most people suck at selling their homes because they are too emotionally invested. For proof of this all one has to do is see the failure rate for For Sale By Owner (FSBOs). Something like 80 or 90% wind up listing with an agent eventually.

Realtors do make a lot per transaction, but the reality is that is the cost of doing business. That commission is also split with the brokerage so it doesn't all go to the agent. See most people rather pay an agent only if the property sells, not for services rendered. As a result, the agent is working on a contingency basis and any time someone being paid contingent they have to charge more for the risk of not being paid for work performed. Not many people want to work on something say two or three months and then not make a dime because the deal fell apart. Realtors take that risk.

Yes, anyone can sell or buy without an agent. You can also pull your own teeth without a dentist or represent yourself in court. It doesn't mean it is always smart to do so.

Worked for a Lady who had a good house in a desirable neighborhood who had to sell because of a new job out of state.

I learned TONS from her!!
Any realtor who walked thru telling her she had to update rooms was tossed out the door. Her attitude was if a buyer doesn't like it they can remodel. Realtors who couldn't manage to show the home during normal hours got canned.
Something about if it's not convenient for me I'll find another potential buyer.
Bye Felicia!

There were many more, but the result was she sold the home as is, sold well over market price an didn't have her life upended during the process.

a reply to: JAGStorm

We sold off two homes and we hired the realtor but they
worked for the buyer,not us.When we were buying it was
a sellers market,then when selling,it's a buyers market.

One problem with shady realtors , is if they know you have moved away and the house is empty until it sells , they will Use it As a crash pad without your permission . .. we had that happen to us .
They made a copy of the lock box key and would go in late night after partying at the local bars( that were in walking distance ) , sleep there so they wouldn’t have to drive drunk ,take a shower in the morning , and head back to work.... imagine my surprise when I made an unexpected trip home to check in the property and found shampoo, soap , wine bottles ,a sleeping bag , in our house .... after finding out from neighbors who they saw going in every night ...i immediately Confronted the realestate agent , fired her , changes the locks and put up a camera .