I would think that they would essentially have to warrant the house for 99 years to justify this fee. Another fee that has never sat well in my eyes is the commision fees that must be paid to designated “in house” real estate brokers of exclusive upscale subdivisions. They recieve the brokers commision regarless — and you must list with them. You could sell your own residence to a family member and still have to pay full commision. What a monopoly racket. Can imagine what would happen if automobile manufacturers tried this same technique ---- the public would be outraged
Haven’t had a used house salesman’s referral since July…and have been booked a whole week in advance since August began.
The newer market is wiser and the agent is being left out whenever possible. I’m having lunch with an agent on Wednesday who runs an office that refuses to list houses…but strictly represent buyers. He argues that agents who do otherwise have a built in conflict of interest with every client that walks in their door looking for a new home.
The times…they are a changin’…
Excellent post Jim. More in that post than meets they eye.
I don’t market directly to agents either but you have me confused.
You’re meeting with an agent that only represents the buy side of the transactions.
Are you looking for referrals from him?
I think working with a select group of buyers only agents would be good for all parties.
Perhaps. I’ll know more after our meeting. I accepted his invitation.
Millions of Americans…who were sold on the house they could not afford, and who were (often) referred to the mortgage lenders who foreclosed on them…by their local neighborhood real estate agent.
If you look at the polls ranking various professions, very few fall lower in respect and esteem than the real estate agent.
People who are listing their homes and are having their homes listed for over a year…are feeling overlooked by their real estate agent.
People who are listing their homes and being encouraged to accept 25% or less of the listing price in order to sell it…are being encouraged to do so by their real estate agent.
Folks…the last person in the world that I want to link myself or my business to, or to depend upon for business, is a real estate agent.
I have kept my distance for years. When I moved down here to the Ozarks and lowered my starting fee to $250, I had agents who referred me, regularly. In January, when I went to $275, most of them stopped. My response to that was to go to $315…and now I’m booked nine days in advance and getting an invitation to lunch.
It’s a different game, guys. If there is a real estate agent calling the the shots in your life, it’s only because you want him to.
Home sales for July in detail. Bad here in the midwest.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38828563/ns/business-real_estate/
How do you market to the home buyer and not the agents?
James,
I thought you had a job as a code inspector. Am I mistaken?
The fallacy in all realtor relationships comes down to this:
every licensed real estate person involved iin the transaction, including the buyers agent, is in fact working for the listing broker, and therefore has a duty to the client… the seller.
Please explain a bit further.
Contracted with a St. Louis County burb for a year until I moved to Southwest Missouri as a building inspector for them. Set up a (by-the-inspection) deal with them that was paying $1500 per week for a three day per week, four hour day. When I left, I set up a former NACHI bud in my spot who is still doing it and making $700 to $1000 per week under the same agreement. When I tried to set up a similar deal down here with a city in the center of a county with no building codes, all I was doing was pissing people off for $400 a week and hurting my inspection business, so I walked away from it after a couple of months.
Small municipalities with small budgets cannot afford building inspectors salaries…but you can cut some interesting deals with creative contracts that allow them to bring in revenue from permits, pay you from those revenues, and you and they make a lot of money.
Another twist…
Why nobody wants to buy a house
Commentary: With government bribe money gone, so is any sane demand
Oh, sure, a lot of gullible first-time buyers got lured into the market over the last 18 months to take advantage of an $8,000 federal tax credit (not realizing how little difference that money will make when the first property-tax bill hits at the same time the roof springs a pesky leak and the city hits you with a special assessment for sidewalk repair). But that tax credit has expired – and, with it, any semblance of demand for homes.
Excerpt: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-nobody-wants-to-buy-a-house-2010-08-24
July was my worst month for business since my first year in business.
Ditto for me, too, Jim. Us CMI’s are not getting the business, because agents know we do a great job at inspecting, so these agents do not hire us as to not alarm the home buyer.
I have tried pushing pre-sale inspections, but most all agents and brokers will not do them, as the defects we find will have to be put on disclosure forms, then the buyers read them, and not even take a look at the home we pre-inspect.
Right now, these agents, RE companies, and office brokers are all looking at it at the wrong way.
Anyone out there working for banks/investors/mortgage companies inspecting homes recently vacated by the former home owner that has foreclosed on the home? Contacts?
Looked like it wasn’t getting any better on my news here this morning
The CA tax credit is almost done… I’m being told that there’s a huge wave of homes that are “almost ready” and so on.
Some of this is likely just “Fear Based TV” as the media like to scare society straight.
There is a possibility that it’s a “Perfect Storm” sitting just off the coast, getting ready to make landfall.
There is a company here in KC called “Value Pest”. They do termite treatments for $399. They now have another company here called “Value Check”. They do structure, mechanical, and termite inspections on any size home for $249. They say they are licensed, insured, and certified in Kansas and Missouri.
It is rare that commercial business goes down along with the real estate business. It is usually one or the other. When one goes down, the other goes up. Now, they are both in trouble.
Buckle up. Fall is going to be rough. That van down by the river is looking better and better.
I am busy, worked all last weekend and two a day for the rest of this week. I have been giving away insurance inspections.