Wallet Pop has a great article titled “Real estate truths you won’t learn from HGTV” talking about how real estate investments are probably not the best way to invest your money. It was a very interesting consumer focused article discussing the pitfalls of following the remodeling craze the home design shows recommend.
But the final item really caught my eye. It discussed the weakness of many real estate agents. They are trained to be experts in contract and law, but the recommendations to make the home easier to sell may be off base.
Now the required caveat, the top real estate agents do know their stuff. The problem is the bottom 70 percent who have gotten a license and you hired because they are a friend of a friend.
These are the agents that end up giving the industry a black eye and making sellers and buyers yell, I hate my agent! A fortunate side effect of the downturn is many of these part time out of touch agents are leaving the field. The costs associated with keeping their license is more than the income they can bring in.
One of my biggest HGTV beefs is that the real estate agents who provide staging, remodeling and sales and value advice are introduced as “real estate market experts” on many of the shows. The truth: Getting a real estate license requires a few hours of classroom instruction and a multiple-choice test, much of it covering legalese and ethics. It’s entirely possible to become a real estate agent without knowing anything about anything, and many agents are completely worthless. I wish HGTV would do a show called “I Hate My Agent!” featuring the stories of home owners who got screwed by Realtor-spin. There are plenty of them out there. via Real estate truths you won’t learn from HGTV.
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Good article. It is amazing how ill-prepared most new agents are- and I'm speaking from not being there too long ago. The people who can least afford more real estate education are the ones who most need it.
This is so sad but true. All of my colleagues try very hard to keep up on the latest, and we work extremely hard to cover all of the bases and keep happy clients. Happy clients come back, happy clients send their friends too.
you might not like them but you most certainly can't live without them. Honest hard-working agents exist, they're just hard to find, but finding one is easy if you know what to look for.
No doubt there are some horrible real estate agents, but there are some great ones as well who can really help their clients save money.
I agree that about the top 30% of agents really are hard working, ethical business people who know what they are doing and represent clients well. With this downturn over the last 18 months, hopefully enough bad agents are forced to leave the business so that this 30% will move closer to 50% plus.
Kevin Schmidtchen
I see some agents giving advice when they clearly know nothing about the subject, and I also see ones who are clearly looking out for themselves. It's unfortunate the reputation of some does affect most all.
This is because in past real estate market is one one of easy money making and peoples jump into it to make some fast money. But now time changed and hope such agents will leave this profession because prices of property comes down and its hard to find buyers due to economy crunch.
If only I could look like that dude in the pic
Don't get stuck with an agent you hate! Here's some advice about choosing the right agent:
http://www.myhome.ie/residential/advice-centre/10…
Don't hate your agent. Fire him/her. If you do not interview several agents in order to choose the best one, then you're part of the problem. Sure there are bad agents. There are bad members of every profession. The great thing is, bad news travels fast and bad agents are usually not agents for very long.
Well,,,my house was listed on Monday,,,with the wrong photograph.The address is mine the picture of the house is my neighbors.Today,Tuesday,I was told by my agent that the City inspectors were coming over between 9a.m. and 1 p.m.Fact is they were scheduled between 12 p.m. and 4p.m.I go to work at 2p.m. so I had to cancel or risk a rescheduling fee.That is two mistakes in the first two days.Why is the skill level of real estate professionals so low?I caused a scene at my realtors office and asked out of my contract.He said "No,but I dont even like doing business with people 'like you'"So what is he saying?All this and at the same time I am under intense pressure at work and the market is the pits.The USA politicians and thier rich friends could care less,they live in a different world.
We just were sold out by an agent here in Dallas. The agent definitely did not end up representing us but wanted to close for his payday – coming down on our original price $ 200,000. We truly regret not firing him — we kept thinking he would follow through and do what he said – like make flyers and not leave the bin in front empty, or the inside without flyers – for a $ 600,000 home. He told us he always answered his phone – He actually answered only about two times in the entire 9 months he had the listing. We interviewed him so thought he would do what he said — We learned a hard lesson!!
Don't feel bad about canning your agent. I have already gone through two of them. At this point in time its the market forces that are hindering sales more than the realtors themselves. Two decades ago one could purchase real estate quite comfortably without a realtor and just use a good real estate law attorney. You could even pop into the local REO office at the bank and take a peek at their inventory and make an offer. I do miss those days. This is currently a mess and hopefully in another 5 years things will be back the way they were. Hopefully!
Unfortunately, in this business a common measure of success is the money. If we know we get paid when a transaction closes, let's operate with out the expectation of getting paid. Let's operate to serve our clients needs; serving the needs tends to meet the clients expectations. And if we meet those needs and expectations, the money will come on it's own. I believe that a happy client is better then a single commission. For me, I've found my best referrals come from clients I've work hard for and didn't close, because my goal is to serve my clients needs as a trusted real estate adviser. Yes sometimes that means advising not to close and supporting a client in a decision that is better for their family. If we operate that way, all that's left is the abilities of your agent. To that, I would advise to pick a group of agents you are comfortable with, do your homework, and interview the agents. Be sure to tell them you are interviewing them and others, most of the ones you don’t want to work with will opt out.
Vikas is wrong. You do not “need” an agent. The idea that you “need” an agent to buy or sell a house is totally a fabrication of the real estate agency business itself. There is no law preventing a person from buying/selling/or otherwise conducting their own real estate business.You need a license ONLY to conduct OTHER PEOPLE’S BUSINESS. If you are intelligent and motivated to learn, there’s nothing stopping you from doing it yourself and skipping the “70% chance of getting a bad agent”– and therefore someone who maybe licensed to do your business, but is fundamentally disinterested in your welfare. (what other “profession” would put up with statistics like that??) . I think the real estate profession should be embarrassed to call itself “professional” when 70% of its constituents are not.
The only reason that it appears you need an agent is the mafia-style control of information & collusion agents try to maintain. Just TRY to call a listing agent for some peripheral information because your agent is not available that day and see what happens. If you are even responded to at all, you will be told that you need your agent’s PERMISSION to talk to them. What?? Who’s working for who here? I think the RE industry is running scared with the internet making information so available, service & trust levels being so bad, and an ever increasingly educated clientele who can do their own business better than someone who’s primary interest is closing a deal – any deal.
My advice to buyers & sellers if you want to use an agent: DO NOT sign any agreement that limits or removes your ability to conduct your own business. This is 1st paragraph in bold in a representation contract. Cross that line out. Don’t be shy; don’t be harassed into not doing it. Also, make sure you write in a clause that allows you to fire your agent at will. Agents won’t like it, but do it anyway. If it’s one thing your learn in real estate…everything is negotiable.
This is in response to Carolyn comment. I'm a real estate agent and I thought it was amusing. I agree with Carolyn, if you think you can sell your home in a down market by all means cross out whatever language you don't like, don't sign an exclusive agreement with one company or better yet, put a For Sale By Owner sign on your front yard.
Good luck with that. You'll price it too high, your property will become distressed, you won't be in an MLS system so most buyers won't even know you're on the market.
Real Estate agents don't get paid until when and if they sell your property. So ask them to put their time, money and effort into marketing, showing and selling your home but ensure they understand that you reserve the right to take advantange of their advice and their marketing so you can try and sell it yourself and not compensate them at closing.
Ok, you may not get the successful agents on board but perhaps you'll find someone who fits the profile of "the joy of working with the opportunity of not getting compensated".
Thanks for the laugh Carolyn and good luck with your endeavors.
My wife has actually decided to study for and get her real eatate licence just so we dont ever have to use a RE again in the future. Seriously, shes incredibly bright and we figure the time and effort to do this will pay off over the years cause we know we will be moving around a few times in the near future. I think RE are a dying breed and cant wait for the extinction sign to be posted. RIP!
I think it is safe to say that all or the majority of the agents that are reading and responding to these issues, you are part of the agent community that is concerned and responsible.
Honesty and Integrity are what makes for life-long clients, and those agents that have a short term focus, will have a short term career.
I am so upset with my agent I am on the brink of firing him. My 1st mistake was my lender refered me to this guy. I have since wised up and discovered…..hmmmmm maybe they are working together so they both come out as winners.
Since we haven't been able to find anything that we like, we decided to purchase a smaller property as an investment, do some renovations and make that our home for 5 years and rent it out later or sell and use the profit towards our final home. We decided to spend less for the investment property this would allow for a better return if we decide to sell or rent.
The agent continues to find excuses (i.e. bank owned, not in the right neighborhood, can't locate it, sometimes no response at all) why we continue to see property in the original price budget and not the reduced budget. He insist we should offer full price for any house we are interested in stating "you want to get as much as possible for your seller's assist." We have money, I rather have a cheaper mortgage than less money at closing. I've sent him homes that we were interested in seeing and have yet to hear back from him about scheduling time to see them. I have at this point set up appts myself to see these properties.
When I questioned how the tax credit worked, his response was it's basically on an "as needed basis." WTH…….. He's been trying to push one property on us, it's at the top of our budget and we don't like the propery. Finally, my husband had to let him have it. Now he calls today after saying "we shouldn't wait the time is now." my husband and I have been toying with the idea of just waiting until after the tax credit is over and hoping prices will drop or their will be a better selection. Oh and getting rid of him and the lender.
The only good thing about working in the real estate industry (I’m not a real estate agent) is figuring out who the good agents and bad agents are. Our board absolutely coddles our agents to death, and as a result, many of them are completely helpless. Nine times out of ten, someone asking a question any broker would know, IS the broker. I truly fear for the future of real estate, after seeing how unethical some of these people are.
@Francis
Your attitude is exactly what disgusts me about agents. Pathetic.
There is a marvelous novel called "Hot Air" by Joel Samberg that real estate agents will HATE. You can get it at http://www.publishamerica.net/product111752.html. Very funny and interesting. Well worth it. A great autumn read.
Ours is a "Top Agent" from a very high end firm. She is a lying, controlling, manipulative, woman. We tried to fire her but "we signed a contract". I'm sure there are good ones out there. We told her boss what she did and she didn't care one bit.
Everyone ought to just sell there houses on trademe. Realters are coining it in – just look at the cars the buggers drive! It's not like they are well quailfied like school teachers or they actually do something worthwhile like nurses or doctors. Flipping sponging parasites the lot of them! And I bet I know who frustrated homeowner is referring to!
My wife and I recently found a foreclosed house in need of considerable cosmetic repair. An agent who works in the same office as the listing agent “showed” us the house. I inquired about what issues we should be making notes of so we can put together an informed offer to the seller (bank). She replies, the same as if the house wasn’t foreclosed…this after I explained we hadn’t ever been involved in a foreclosed house before. So I contacted an agent later that day who handles almost exclusively in foreclosed homes in our region. She is everything we wanted the showing agent to be, breaking down what to look for/what to not worry about. She offered to walk us through the house but only after she did research on our would be house, and the local comparable. She got in touch with the showing agent and shortly after the showing agent calls me and reams me out for violating our “verbal agreement.” I explained that we wanted a foreclosure expert and that she clearly wasn’t someone we felt had our best interests at heart. (she had badmouthed the listing agent 2 times during the showing) am I wrong here or was I justified seeking an agent who was knowledgeable, dignified, and has my interests in mind?
I meant to point out, we never signed a buyer contract with this agent nor ever suggested we would use her as our agent since she dealt with properties much farther south than we intended moving to.
With gas going to $5 in the near future you won't have to worry about out of town appraisers and agents.
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Agree with Brandon …
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