REALTOR.coN

[1gayguy]

Well having just got out of the biz let me offer you some tips.
1. Go Large- Bigger does mean better when it comes to advertising. They have more revenue to spend on it. A question to ask is how many web sites will I be listed on. At my former employer it was 5.
2. The commission is not always negotiable with a larger firm.The com. rate is set by the larger corp. so the agents hands are tied. A smaller agency can be more flexible but might not have the resources (see #1) to do the job the way you'd like.
3.Today's buyers start their searching on the web (see #1). When I left the biz 2 months ago the latest stat was something like 75% of buyers start their searching on the web. Web presence and photo's to go along with it are or should be standard practice.
4. Open Houses- the good and the bad. The good, they offer more exposure, especially if the agent uses good road signage. The bad, very rarely does a buyer come from an open house directly.
5. Watch the market- Ask for absorbtion rates and stock levels of your area.
Absorbtion rates tell how low and how many houses are on the market.Stock levels speak of the inventory and your competion.
6. The condition of what your selling- Short version, make it perfect! Even if you're selling a fixer upper, buyers will expect it to be perfect regardless of price and disclosures.
7. And lastly, the Buyers- Very strange animals they are. You will be asked questions that you'd never dream of. They want everything they can get for their money, sometimes stuff that you wouldn't think of asking for.Then after inspections they'll hagle more. They will wear you down.
8. Get something to help with the stress- Seriously, I've had a client who pulled their listing after the husband had a panic atack because of the stress.Selling can be one of the most emotionally wrenching times and a roller coasters you'll be on other than buying.
p.s. The company I used to work for is Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage. They are the National franchise. If you see a Coldwell banker Jon Smith Realty- he's an independent franchise and not part of the national ( less support from the national corp.).
Good luck!

 

[Eagle653]

^^^That's priceless information. Thanks for the service you provided us here today.

Having just sold a house, and bought another one, I can endorse 2gayguys great observations. (I do wish I had read them back in March but, oh well. I survived the ordeal even if I made some ill-informed choices along the way. All worked out in the end, thank God.)

 

[SilverRRCloud]

Thanks 2gayguys. Great posting.

SC

 

[slobone]

Based only on what I've read -- if you're selling you ought to move quickly. Most experts seem to think prices are going down.

 

[1gayguy]

Not to toot my former company's horn but, at Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage technology is a happening thing. All listings get a minimum of 6 photos, a video tour from the outside in room by room and exposure on Realtor.com, ColdwellBanker.com, Openhouse.com plus the traditional MLS. Coldwell Banker agents also have access to a technology called Lead Router. If you were to go to ColdwellBanker.com and click on a listing. You've decided that you might want to take a look at it. You click on the agent, write an e-mail including your preffered method of contact and hit send. Your written message gets converted to audio and sent directly to the agent's cell phone. The agent has a time limit in which to contact you, if they don't, the info gets sent to the next agent in rotation. The goal is to get you in contact with an agent before you get off line.
On ColdwellBanker.com you can search for properties by area, price and type as well as Search a CB office and read a little bio of the agents in that office. You can also use that Lead Router feature to contact a potential agent.
All in all just from the technology standpoint it worth the commission.
Take a look at the various Realtor web sites. You find a personality to the company you may want to hire just by looking at how much technology goes into what could a potential client's first impression.
As a disclaimer, I chose to leave the profession due to the changing market conditions. Lack of a steady income has a way of making one choose what to do. Agents work on a commisiion only basis and when the market turns like it has now, it make them all hungry.
If there is anything else you might like to know feel free to PM me.

 

[TaigaStar]

I've been dealing with them for a while. Century21 was rude as hell (and I have another grudge, which you'll see later). ReMax was beyond insulting, as the realtor said there was no way my salary could get me a co-op and that I didn't want to move to a certain area because (without meeting me, mind you) I would not want to be the only white person in an all-asian area. Another place I went to (they handled the sale of our old place) was pretty nice but didn't try to find things hard enough. The people I'm currently dealing with are super-friendly (especially since the apartment I was going to close on with them got snatched away by Century21 after I wasted time signing contracts) and they actually suggested other apartments based on what the one I was buying looked like. Really, I was amazed that they called me the day after I was declined for one apartment to say they had one to show me in the same area with very similar statistics. Yes, the woman seemed a little amazed that I (the totally white guy) had absolutely no problem with areas that had large asian populations.

If you're in the New York area, I suggest Exit Kingdom Realty (www.exitkingdomrealty.com), as they're quite friendly and actually listen.

 

[Lube]

Well I've never sold a house, but did buy one house (a fixer upper, actually--not that I'm particularly handy, but that's another story).

I would say the personality/ability of the realtor is far more important than the company itself. IMHO. I'm not in the business.

We had one realtor who had no clue what we wanted. Even after telling him time and time again. Some people don't listen. Isn't that a realtor's job?

We ended up with a guy who figured out exactly what we wanted (which wasn't what most people wanted). He was great to work with. After a few false starts, he started showing us only houses we would truly be interested in. Was worth his weight in gold.

Things are probably a little different when selling, but even then you don't want your realtor chasing after people who really have no intention of buying what you're selling.

I really think it's all in the personality.

 

[slobone]

The main reason for skyrocketing house prices in the US in the last few years has been the amount of foreign capital streaming into the country. All that money being generated in China, especially, has to be invested somewhere, and the US is considered the best place to put it. Partly because the Fed has kept raising interest rates, which are now quite a bit higher than in Europe.

OK. How does that affect prices? Well, if more money is available for mortgages, they're going to be easier to get. So banks have invented all kinds of creative ways to finance houses, like interest-only loans and so forth. This has made expensive houses more affordable for ordinary people and thus driven prices up.

Also a lot of people who took their money out of the stock market in the crash of 2000 put it into real estate. Especially baby boomers who figured they could sell their houses when they retired, move someplace cheaper, and use the excess equity for living expenses. Oops... time for plan B.

But it all depends where you live. Prices have dropped quite a bit in Phoenix and Orlando, but they're still holding pretty firm, maybe even going up, in the SF Bay area.

And buyers are sitting on the sidelines waiting for prices to go down. So it can take a long time to move a house.

Do you need to sell right now? Maybe it would make more sense to wait a couple years.

But don't take financial advice from me -- that would be totally nuts!

 

[iman]

I sold an investment property not long ago, I'm glad i didn't read your post first, it really wasn't that complicated. Prudential is very big where I live and I used an affiliated local office. I never met with the buyer until settlement and let the agent handle the negotiations. I always felt that Coldwell Banker overpriced their properties, but that might be good for the seller. Coldwell does have national exposure which would be good for your properties because they would have appeal for retirees and people that want a second home.

Please don't feel sorry for the agents, they do very well for doing very little. Sorry about that agents.

 

[Austin40acres]

In my limited experience, (bought and sold two houses), trust your first instincts.

I had one agent that worked wonderfully the first time I bought a house, but she was horrid when I tried to sell it 6 years later. I should have realized from the get-go on the 2nd time around that she wouldn't work because I did all of the proofreading of the flyers that were in the folder on the dining room table and out on the sign on the front yard. It went downhill from there.

The second time I sold my house, I got a recommendation from a friend in the local real estate business (but not an agent herself) and I sent the woman an e-mail. I got a response via e-mail, a phone call, and a personal visit, all at my convenience within a couple of days. She was on top of everything! She even sold my house before it officially went on the market and got the buyers to agree to all of MY terms!

The other thing that I've learned is that (and I apologize for being politically incorrect), women buy houses. That is, despite everything else in our society, by and large a husband will go with whatever his wife decides is the best house for their family. That may be changing, of course. So, having a female real estate agent may be an advantage (Str8, lesbian, or "lipstick lesbian") She can help point out what will make your property attractive to the female buyer.

Bottom line (IMHO):
1. Trust your instincts when you first meet an agent.
2. I give the nod toward female agents, not that I'm opposed to a male agent.

A4A

 

[1gayguy]

Sorry to differ on agents not earning their keep.
Not all do. Like any profession you have the great performers and those that struggle.
Agents have to "set the stage" so to speak with their outward appearances. Most of the agents I worked with drove nice vehicles, however out of 25 agents there were only 3 that had bought their vehicles new. Most had bought thier higher end vehicles used.
My first year (last year) I sold eight properties from the end of May ( my first closing) through the middle of November. That was my last closing until mid June of this year. That's seven months with no income. Now through in professional fees and dues plus tax liability my income for the previous year ended up being roughly 9000.00 on 28000.00 that I as paid.
People think that the commission that they pay all goes into the agent's pocket. So not true. The commission is spit at least twice if it's an in house sale to four times for sale that an angency from outside brings a buyer.
Depending on the agent's split is (that's determined by how much closed business they bring in) depnds on the income. If you're new to the biz, the split is usually 50/50. Say the commission paid at closing is 12000.00. The sale used two agents from two different offices. Right off the bat, that commission get split in half. So your agent brings 6000.00 back to the "house". Then it gets split with the "house according to the split arrangemnt. If they're new and the split is 50/50 they walk way with 3000.00 out of the original 12000.00. Now there are the fees. CBRB charges their agents 600.00 a year for legal defense and other misc. services. Then there is the local board fees of roughly 300.00 a year plus national fees ( if you're a Realtor and not every one is) of roughly another 500.00 a year. Now part of the tax liability due to the feds is a 2500.00 self employment tax. That is over and above any income tax liability. So for an agent to do really well, they have to sell or close at least a property a month to get their split share up above the 50/50 split. Ideally two or three closings a month will giv an agent a "good" income of say roughly 30,000.00 to 45,000.00 a year.
And to say agents don't earn their commission, not so. Try taking buyers around to 5 to 10 properties over the course of a weekend day. OR 3 to 5 properties on a week night. I must have shown one client 25 homes all over the state before they finally chose one. Then there's the writing of the offer, the negotiating, the inspections, more negotiating beforeou even get close to closing. That's just on the buy side. On the sell side, there are the listing contracts to be written, photos to be taken, videos to arrange and be available for, open houses to run and a whole lot of other shit that needs to be done. Once an offer comes in, the agent has to present it advise on it negotiate it, be there for the inspections and the re-negotiating before you come close to closing.
Now on top of all the physical aspects there are the emotional side of things. You may have a buyer who wants to back out or a seller who gets offended by the demands from the buyer. The late night phone calls form clients with questions that can't be answered untill the next day. You're basically on 24/7 when the market is good.
There's a whole lot of stuff that goes on behind the sences that the public don't even know about.