When Realtors Aren't Great

[ThePenIsMightier]

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We're looking at selling our house within the next year and a half and I'm the kind of person that wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing I could have sold it for more than I did. What SHOULD we be looking for in a relator so I know what to look for and can skip over the duds that everyone has mentioned here?

We're currently in a ~$440k house in the burbs, so out of the typical wheel house of some of the higher end highly regarded real estate agents on this forum.

You know what? Why not look to a forum sponsor as a potential guy? From what I've seen, Jordan Lotoski lists everything from ground floor condos up to $3MM+ mansions on acreages.

If he only listed property that was $1MM+ I'd be a little suspicious, but seeing him all over the map gives me a decent feeling that he's worth talking to. Plus. I think I've heard high praise for him from other respected members on the site.
I really didn't want this thread to shit all over the entire profession. I just wanted to shed light on an aspect of the profession that's rather unfortunate.

I personally recall a listing of his that was essentially a $600k knockdown in Kensington. That's not orders of magnitude away from where you're talking. Maybe give him a call. Maybe he even answers iM's, LinkedIn, InstA, and whatever else, (unlike the clown rodeo I was trying in Edmonton).

[89coupe]

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We're in the market for a nice new house but the last realtor I used has gone off the map, though he pretty much only dealt with property in Airdrie, he was a great guy. Now, since we are kind of back looking for a realtor (not actively looking but considering options) it seems like we may just end up dealing with the listing agent for whichever house we end up getting. How many people have gone this route and had success? It seems like it may be a decent option because some signs point to the realtor being more willing to push the sellers on a low offer since they are getting double commission. Plus I am pretty picky and the only purpose for a realtor would be the paper work, I don't need someone showing me houses at random because Ive probably already seen it on Realtor.ca and if I didn't already want to see it then there would be no point.

I have lots of buyers approach me that want to represent themselves, it’s very easy. I just get them to sign a customer acknowledgment form and fill out the forms for them. Saves the seller 50% of the commission and gives the type of buyer who likes to represent themselves the satisfaction they did it their way.

[Euro_Trash]

My PC commentary: I've used 3 separate realtors in this city:
- First one I used twice
- Second one is a sponsor on this site
- Used a new one for our latest purchase
I wouldn't say any of them jumped out as being any better (or worse) than the previous, but I have recommended the third one to people. Spend your time grinding on fees and making sure there are professional photos, the market does the rest IMO.

[89coupe]

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Somebody I respect once told me if everything in your life fails, become a realtor. From my experience this is largely true. Most of the realtors I know were the ones barely making it through high school and didn’t bother with any sort of post secondary or trade school after high school.

There are some good ones out there but let’s face it, it’s an industry largely dominated by uneducated morons trying to make a buck.

I worked in O&G for 21 years in Geophysics. I recognized things were slowing down and thought about going back to school to pursue a different profession but decided to try my hand at real estate. I was financially sound and saw the potential to make very good money. Best decision I ever made. It’s a tough gig for someone with no financial backing, 100% commission based. I’ve seen many people try and fail miserably. But if you have a good network and the right attitude it can be very rewarding.

Also, don’t ever be shy about negotiating commission rates, I always help people who are in a tight situation. When you start selling or buying homes over a million dollars commissions are crazy and there is definitely room for deals.

Not every Realtor is trying to break records or bank $100k a month, some genuinely enjoy helping others.

Do your research, ask the smart questions and don’t expect anything less than what you want.

[killramos]

It is very interesting that you edited your post just to up the ridiculous monthly income you quoted

We’re you concerned that 60k/mo didn’t quite make your e peen big enough?

[89coupe]

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It is very interesting that you edited your post just to up the ridiculous monthly income you quoted

We’re you concerned that 60k/mo didn’t quite make your e peen big enough?

Cause I realized that wasn’t enough for some of the top realtors haha.

I also noticed a bunch of posts were deleted for whatever reason.

Bizarre.

[ExtraSlow]

You don't always have to marry rich to reach your #aspengoals

[Pauly Boy]

Being a realtor is every white-man's fall-back career after their dreams of being an architect fall through.

[ExtraSlow]

[ThePenIsMightier]

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...

I also noticed a bunch of posts were deleted for whatever reason.

Bizarre.

I see zero deleted posts, but... I'm due for a new prescription.

[Pauly Boy]

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Marine Biologist is second

[RedDawn]

The even bigger scam is commercial realtors. Every business's lease has one of these leaches hanging off their lease agreement. Worse, every time the business renews their lease or wants to execute an option, like expand to the space next door, the leach is there to stick their hand in the business's pocket again. This is just the tip of the iceberg too. When a million dollar commercial building or piece of developable land gets sold, there's a commercial realtor there leaching off a massive commission off of that sale as well. The cost for all of these useless commissions end up getting passed onto the customer. Every business you interact with has no choice but to inflate their prices to cover these commissions and it ultimately ends up reducing the purchasing power of every citizen.

Change can't come soon enough to dismantle the residential and commercial realtor scam.

[dirtsniffer]

could be worse. In ontario, you basically need a realtor for a residential rental sucking off 1/12 of your annual rental income.

[R-Audi]

I got a kick out of the CCIM comments.. having taken 3 of the courses, its not exactly challenging (way easier than Univ. level Finance courses) and not exactly widely aknowledged. At least now I know Im ~3/5's the way to my PHD!

[mr2mike]

In the US, the number of realtors outnumber the houses for sale.
Sounds like you can negotiate their sales commission with this fact on hand. Haha.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-rea...ng-11616328002