Realtors are overpaid

I'll take this one

For every dollar I make the company takes 40 cents

My advertising, access, phone, computer etc costs amount to approx $70,000 per year

If I don't sell anything, I still have the $70,000 worth of costs

i bet if you cut out all the pron surfing you do at the office you could cut your costs down to about 20K

No one's saying that realtors don't provide a valuable service to some people.

I also have a friend who recently became a realtor. It wasn't easy, and she's still having a hard time closing, but it sure isn't 5 years of university expensive to "get into."

When someone's house in vancouver sells in 3 days, please explain to me how the fee for the realtor at a shade under 20 grand is justified? (I know it's a one of a kind market, but it still happens.

Wouldn't your house selling quickly be somethhing good? If I were trying to sell my house, the sooner it sells, the better, so why not pay the agent more if it sells sooner..especially if he busted his ass and showed the house like 10 times a day? I realise the market in the Lower Mainland is nuts, but I'm pretty sure you get my drift.

If you think realtors are overpaid dont use them. Its not really that complex. They charge a rate and its your choice to pay them that much. Some companies charge less as well, maybe look into those but who knows how good they are.

yes. i sold my condo a little while back on my own. the people i sold it to were working with an agent and i told him that i was co-operating with agents, but they would only get a $1500 fee and that's it. i put an extra $7K in my pocket b/c i did it myself and it didn't cost me a dime to sell it.

i bet if you cut out all the pron surfing you do at the office you could cut your costs down to about 20K

Dude, the pron is FREE, free I tell you, one of the great perks of working here
Of course, it costs me a good couple $100,000 a year in all the time I waste watching it, but hell you only live once

but the good part is you will NEVER have to work with a realtor (unlike a lawyer where you could be in a situation where you need one)

you may not have to work with a realtor, but the likelyhood is pretty slim if you are in the housing market.

here's a good example for you gw.

the realtor that had the listing of the place we just bought sold their clients out just to get our listing. they could have easily gotten their clients another 15-30K by running the open house and not encouraging them to take our offer before the open house. if they had run the open they would have made maybe an extra $600 vs the extra $14K from our listing. plus they double ended on the house we bought because we didn't have a realtor.

more on that commission-
that 6800 was split with the agent that brought the buyer
3400 each

the real esate board charged him 100 bucks for the sale
lets say he did one ad for 500 bucks
get the listing on his website 80 bucks
his office likely charged him 30-40% 1000

so that guy actually made likely just over 2000 on that sale. but your point is still very valid

and on realtors incomes, but be so sure. 20% of agents make 80% of the money. the other 80% of realtors are fighting for the remaining 20%

there are alot of starving realtors in good markets.

Good point, I forgot about the other realtor.

I'm not really picking a side on this. Sales is a tough job and when you work soley on comission then hell ya take the money you can get when you can, because you can't say when your next "paycheque" is going to come.

I admire you people in sales because I could never do it. I just don't have the right mind set for it.

I could never do it. I just don't have the right mind set for it.

you mean you're not a sllimy, sleazy, greedy bastard?

you mean you're not a sllimy, sleazy, greedy bastard?

Oh no - I'm all that and more :evil: - I just don't like selling stuff :D

I'll take this one

For every dollar I make the company takes 40 cents

My advertising, access, phone, computer etc costs amount to approx $70,000 per year

If I don't sell anything, I still have the $70,000 worth of costs

You ever work and lose money in a month?

While this type of work has unlimited opportunities, it also has some very high risks compared to the traditional work for wage

If it was so easy everyone would do it, which is why you only see people getting into this type of work when the markets are hot and there is "easy" money to be made, the rest of the time, most people realize that it is not easy work bail

While you can get struck by lightning and make a sale in 3 days, the average length of time you work with someone in our market is 36 months, try and amortize $20,000 over that time, not counting the costs accociated with it

PS- I work and average of 340+ days per year, the average person works 240

Assuming a commission rate of 7%/2.5% and an average detached home price of $700K, you would have to sell 6 properties to make back your expenses. I'm not in real estate, but that doesn't seem too bad in today's market. If you averaged one sale a month, you'd pull down almost $90K in pre-tax profit.

man
realtors must love me.
i researched what properties intrested me.
Then when i had the money, i went to them and told them the ones i liked.
they shows me similar properties, but i knew what i wanted.
My parents came up here, and did the same thing. knew what they were after, and had seen the listings..

If you dont like the way the realtors work, then dont deal with it.. Its their profession, and i have seen them bend over backwards to help people. A good realtor is a good thing..

there are some realy great realtor out there. i'm sure gooch and gw are 2 of them. they both have made this line of work there occupation. A way to pay the bill's etc. They didnt just jump in here last summer to ride the wave like tons of other idiots have. another good point in having a realtor sell or help purchase a property is they take some risk's . like filling out the paper work. if something isnt listed properly say square footage. there can be big shit happening down the road. Next year when my house goes on the market I will use a realtor. I would like to do the job myself, but when houses are selling between 6 and 800,000 in my area a small fuck up can cost.

I think for a lot of people, it's a matter of convenience and time.

If they really wanted to, they could research buying and selling houses, the market, and do their own foot work. However, a lot of people decide (by necessity often) to hire someone to do that work for them.

Many people quickly discount this option, but compare it to buying or selling a car. How much time do you spend researching, advertising, showing, etc. when you are buying or selling a car? Multiply that time by 10 or so, and you've got the investment possibly required for a house.

I totally lost where that was going.

But don't try to sell me on hordes of realtors just out there helping their fellow man. Just try and find me a realtor who isn't in it purely for the money.

but the good part is you will NEVER have to work with a realtor (unlike a lawyer where you could be in a situation where you need one)

But we will always HAVE to work with a teacher of some sort.

I've been considering becoming a such said slimeball. The equity of listings in my local market has been the largest concern. I could see myself being one the realtors that is in that 20% of a good market, as there are many realtors in this town that have been set up for 20 years or more.