 Buying a house.? |
| My partner and i would love to buy a house, in the region of £100,00. we'll need at least 6 months to save for surveys and deposits etc. There is some really nice houses in that price range, ... |
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 What is the value of buying a trailer park home? Would the value increase like a house? |
| What is the value of buying a trailer park home? Would the value increase like a house?... |
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 House Prices? |
| I love in Los angeles CA and realy want to buy my first property (townhouse).. but the prices are sky high, but i heard that prices are going to drop...Is that true?... |
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 To move or not? Truly want to move!? |
| Hello All!The facts.Owe 99k asking 135k Round Rock,TX (Suburb of Austin) leaving us w/24k and change(after all closing and 6% Realtor fee) I am disabled(counted as income) our credit is medium high, ... |
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 If i purchased a home in 2005 and it was a subprime loan and then i walk away and it forcloses? |
| AND THE BANK TAKES IT BACK AND THEN LISTS IT WITH A REALTOR AND PUTS IT ON THE MARKET FOR HALF THE PRICE I PAID FOR IT THEN THEY SELL IT FOR THE LOW PRICE WILL THEY COME AFTER ME FOR THE DIFFERENCE AS... |
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 If you have a mortgage at 9.5% and the house costs 50,000? |
| and you have a 30 year fixed mortgage. What would you end up paying for the house?... |
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 Being a first time homebuyer, what can me and wife do to get a mortgage with very bad credit?? |
We did see a realtor but they told us we need to wait until next year to let some of our good credit history mature.
Additional Details
We can afford it, its just that it seems our ... |
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 What happens if they ignore my offer? |
| We just put an offer in on a house that is selling for $189,998. On the listing, they offered to pay one year of HOA fees with an acceptable offer. We offered $180,000 plus the 1 year HOA. We ... |
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 Tired of wasting money on renting...can I get financing? |
My husband and I have looked at getting houses at least once every year but it never works out. I usually get discouraged and give up.
Here's our situation:
Husband:
*... |
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 Do you think that the Real Estate Market has falled enough to make you step in and buy a home? |
I am a Realtor on the North Shore of Long Island and I am curious how the general public is viewing this matter.
Additional Details
whoops, it should say, "fallen enough"... |
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 Is this sound weird? 10 points for the best advise. Thank you? |
| I am looking for a rommate or apartment in DC. Normally, it cast about $ 500-700 per month with room mates. I came across this post. They only want $300 per month. I ignored the post because I ... |
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 Mortgage closing and Tenants? |
| I am closing on a property April 9th. The tenant is suppose to have moved out already but he is still there. I can't even schedule cable services or any other utlities becasue he is refusing to ... |
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 Pay off a mortgage or invest? |
| I have a 50k mortgage @ 5.68% on a coop bought for a total of 72k. After four years I think the coop's now worth about 300k. If I pay off the mortgage isn't that a significant return on my ... |
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 Should I relisted a with another realtor after 6 months!? |
| My house on the market almost 6 months now, drop the price twice already, but not a single offer, Should I take my house off the market after my listing contract end with my current agent and ... |
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 Since a large piece of my backyard slid into my neighbors yard, how much should I bill him for the use of it? |
| This may sound like a stupid question, but you have to understand that in Southern California, land has an extremely high value. I seems to me that since he has about a quarter acre of my property in ... |
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 Mortgage rate locked or is it? |
| If I locked in a rate with my mortgage bank, get the commitment letter, and then the rate goes way down. Am I under any legal constraint to go through the deal with them if I find a better rate with ... |
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Cardinal Rule | Would you pay 1.8 years of mortgage payments for 40 hours...? |
....of a Realtors time? Do the math folks. Your mortgage is 30 years, and real estate agents will charge ~6% to sell your house. So you are giving them 30*(.06)=1.8 years worth of your sweat and payments to sell your house for you. Selling usually only takes a month or so if the price is at market value. And they don't even work for you full-time, they have many clients. So you are giving up 1.8 years of payments to somebody for probably 40 hours of their time.
Why do we put up with this? It is obscene. Prices has tripled in the past 8 years where I live, but commissions remain mysteriously at 6%. In a truly free market, this percentage would decline as home values increased so that the overall dollar payout remained the same, or grew slowly with inflation. The fact that it remains the same is evidence of a market failure, and points to the real estate industry needing reform.
Additional Details
What I'm seeing in the responses is that you think the price is justified. Let's run the numbers. 500,000 house (starter home where I live) at 6% commission equals 30,000 in fees. Assume 75-25 agent-broker split. Each agent (buyer and seller) then makes 30,000/2 * .75 = 11,250 for that one transaction. For 40 hours of actual work that is over $280 per hour.
Doctors don't get paid that much. Don't you think their knowledge and experience is valuable? Anyone with a GED who takes a two week class can become a realtor, it takes about 10 years to become a doctor. |
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Marko
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Although I agree with you in principal, it's sometimes difficult to do anything about it. Realtors used to actually provide a lot more service for a lot less money. My parents bought a house for $30,000 in Huntington Beach in 1970 - the 6% realtors commission on that transaction was $1,800. Selling the same house for $800,000 today would cost $48,000. Yes, we've had inflation over the last 35+ years, but not over 2500%. And now, most people browse the MLS on the internet, check values on Zillow.com, and generally do a lot of research before they ever engage a realtor. So realtors actually provide less service than they used to.
Still, your only real alternatives are to list with a discount broker or for sale by owner, and a lot of regular commission brokers will purposely steer their customers away from these properties.
In a hot market, I don't think it really matters because transactions happen so quickly. I used a discount broker myself for the purchase of a couple of investment properties in Arizona a couple of years ago, and received a rebate back on what would have been part of his commission. But in a slow market, if I had to sell I still might use a full commission broker.
Unless there's a strong enough coalition formed to work against it, I don't think there could be a significant change in the system. The lobby supported by this industry is tremendously strong, and realtors won't easily give up the large amounts they make. |
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Janet P
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My broker is worth every penny.
I would not be anywhere close to as successful as I am w/o my broker. I am not paying for his time, I am paying for his experience, knowledge and AMAZING negotiation powers. I make far more profit from a sell with him they I could possibly manage without him. I do the math, and I am WAY ahead of the game. |
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Amanda H
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Your math is pretty bad. For one, most areas don't have a median price of 500K. Second, homes over a certain dollar amount typically work on split commisions-- which means after about 100K the commision drops.
Third, assuming the agent gets 75% is pretty high-- many are a 50/50.
The other part that you seem to be COMPLETELY missing out on is that agents have TONS of expenses that they pay out of pocket and then have to 'reimburse' when they make a sale. Office fees, license fees, insruances, sign fees, advertising, etc.
I was an agent for 6 months and accrued ATLEAST $2,000 in fees in that time, and i didn't do ANYTHING above an beyond- no website, no fancy cards (the plainest ones i could find!) no extra REALTOR association fees (not all agents belong), no personalized for sale signs w/my name, no classified ads, etc.
Yes, I can see the point in which the sales of homes have skyrocketed and the percentage that agents get hasn't changed-- that's a bit annoying-- but I know that you CAN negotiate if you are savvy enough.
And let's not forget-- while a properly priced home SHOUDL sell in 30 days often times it doesn't-- and also often times sellers are EXTREMELY stubborn and uncooperative and its hard to get them to lower an overpriced home or make simple changes to make it more saleable (decluttering.)
So yes, i see both sides-- but you need to pain the whole picture before making a judgement!! |
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Laurie D
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I agree with Janet above.
You are not only paying them for "probably 40 hours of their time", you are paying them for their knowledge, negotiating skills, marketing, advertising, etc.
Although you CAN sell your home on your own (I have) not everyone has the time or effort into marketing their home, open houses, juggling showing appointments, etc. For some (most) people it is worth paying 2.5-7% to have an agent do this for them. |
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sdmike
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You are proof that you can't learn to be a real estate guru by watching late night real estate infomercials - even if you buy the tapes...
Its people like you that keeep the RE attorneys busy. |
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Myron
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Finally a refreshing perspective on the real estate industries greed. First I think there is a valid point or two in almost every previous answer. The problem with the industry today is it has lost sight of the service side of the business and has focused on the comissions available. The work involved in selling a house has became much easier today than ever before. The tools that were once known and available only through agents are now free or easily available to all. The price should never set the commission and buyers should have to pay their own agent. The NAR has lobbied hard for decades to protect real estate agents from many issues. As a lender the often hardest part of my day is cleaning up real estate agents sloppy work on the horribly written purchase and sales agreements my clients come in with. As a real estate agent I am just amazed at the decline in competence the majority of people in both lending and real estate. I have always received a 80% split and no desk fee. The other costs are part of doing business. Theres reason for agents to whine about time spent with a client and gas expenses, ad copy, dues, etc. Its part of the cost and if you cant pay it your in the wrong business. Learn to be more effective and those costs are pocket change. It isnt a buyers or sellers fault if you have no real aptitude for this business, either learn to do the job effeciently, or get out. Mechanics pay tens of thousands of dollars for tools and they dont make a fortune if they cant repair a car either. Commissions should froze regardless of price range to 3,000 per side, maximum and 1,500 as a minimum. This is fair and reflective of what a average agent is worth, adjusted for todays business climate. Each party in a transaction should pay their own agent. This would cause a fast exit from the trade of the greedy, lazy, and incompetent agents. It was still a service related industry 30 years ago when I started and should become one again. In my recommendation I would still make a very nice living as would many agents that are in this business because they have what it takes. |
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Yanswersmonitorsarenazis
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And if you really had any clue about the market, you'd find that it has been dropping.
A few years ago, it was hard to get anyone to sell your home for less than 7%.
As values kept jumping, more agents got into the business, which increased competition and drove down the average commission to around 6%.
You obviously haven't been around in really slow markets either. Selling in 30 days is NOT normal. 90-180 days was the norm years ago. It is near that range now.
The longer the home is on the market, the more it costs the agent. Agents don't make you pay them upfront, but they have to pay their own cash upfront to market your home. Part of what you pay them for is to cover those costs.
Most agents who list multi-million dollar properties are not getting 6% either. They'll set a fee, dollar-wise, on top of the cooperating broker's commission. So they are already discounting their fees as values go up.
If you really don't like realtors, or don't value the knowledge and experience they have to offer, don't use them. God knows, I wouldn't want to work with you as a client either. I'm sure you think no mortgage broker is worth paying 1% of their loan amount for the service we provide either.
And over the years, as you continue to not pay for professionals to assist you, you'll sell your home for less NET money than you would've gotten using a realtor. You'll probably overpay for every home you buy.
But best of luck to you. You're going to need it. |
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Jon H
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you pay a realtor for what he/she nows not how much she works. I'm a mortgage broker from edmonton alberta, i work with one realtor who sold her clients home in one day for the asking price. The client didn't want to pay her full commision ( 7% + 3%) because he believed she didn't earn it. So she told him fine refuse the offer and find another realtor who may take 30 days or more to sell your home. He realised it was in his best interest and paid up |
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Searchlight Crusade
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I think we can agree that what you're after is the most money in your pocket (if you are selling) or the best property at the lowest price (if you're buying).
There have been any number of public interest groups doing studies of people selling FSBO versus in conjunction with agents. Net result: The people selling with agents netted almost 5% of the gross sales price more with an agent than without.
For buyer's agents, it's even more clear cut. They're being paid out of the selling agent's cut, which is paid by the seller. I'm a buyer's specialist, and my goal is making a difference of at least 10% to my client's bottom line with every transaction. According to client surveys, I hit this goal way more often than I miss.
The rational answer to your question: Because by spending that money, the average person ends up with more money in their pocket.
Nobody forces anyone to use an agent. I can point you to ways to get your house listed on MLS for under $100. You can view any number of free listing websites if you're a buyer. But there's a lot more to getting a property sold than that, as generations of home buyers and sellers have discovered. There are light years between just getting it sold and getting it sold within a specific time frame for the best possible price. And the differences on the buyer's side make the seller's side look easy. |
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djtfn
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That are other things you can do. You should look into www.theyellowsign.com. It is a FSBO program. no fees free listing on-line and 24 hour info line. It is sponsor by allied home mortgage |
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