Correct only because he paid way more than a dime - 3% of the purchase price. It was part of the check that he cut to the seller.

Bonfire.1996 said:

---

Not sure if this has been posted, but my experience with buyers agents has been terrible. As a lender paid on how much business I generate, I negotiate daily, and I can spot when someone isn't negotiating in good faith.

Buyers agents NEVER negotiate in good faith on your behalf. How do I know this? The lower the price they get you, the lower the commission. Also, they want to maintain good relationships with listing agents for future negotiations.

I will be much, much better off negotiating on my own and paying a flat fee to a buyer representation service for documentation, only. You will be better off too.

---

Its going to be this in the end.

wessimo said:

---

Correct only because he paid way more than a dime - 3% of the purchase price. It was part of the check that he cut to the seller.

---

It's almost like the additional 3% is just baked into the purchase price of the house. Kind of like how wages are baked into the price of my dinner last night. I don't recall seeing a line item on the receipt for the cook but I am pretty sure I contributed enough to cover his work in preparing my food.

wessimo said:

---

Correct only because he paid way more than a dime - 3% of the purchase price. It was part of the check that he cut to the seller.

---

Nah. If you think this change is going to reduce prices of real estate by 3% or 6%, you are getting way too in the weeds. It will still be a supply and demand equation.

The reality is, over time, this will increase prices as sellers will have more of their own money to flip into new purchases.

The buyer, nai06, in fact didn't pay a dime of the seller commission. Next time, when his closing costs outside the price of the house, rise by multiple thousands of dollars, he will reconsider the value proposition

The purchase closing disclosure has two dollar figures: closing costs and cash to close. Closing costs are sunk costs. When those go up for buyers agent commissions/fees, buyers will change behavior.

Houston Lee said:

---

Logos Stick said:

---

Houston Lee said:

---

BMX Bandit said:

---

Never understood how buyer agent was an "agent" for the buyer given that increasing the price the buyer pays for the house benefits them. No incentive to get the buyer a better deal.

---

Realtors have a code of ethics and a fiduciary duty to their client. So, in theory your statement is true, but as a Realtor you don't get many referrals or repeat clients if you think or behave in this way.

---

No agent is going to be active about it. It's a passive thing. The agent for the buyer is not actively working to get a better price for the buyer.

I had an agent one time only show me the highest comps in the area. The sell price of the house I was looking at seemed too high for that area. I got suspicious and contacted another broker. Sure enough, there were a ton of comps that she left out that were much lower. That agent is now a broker, so it didn't hurt her at all. I'm quire sure I was not the first person she did that to.

It's all inside baseball.

---

You really don't know what you are talking about. Comps can be lower or higher than a listed price. They are mainly used to price a house and for appraisals. Sellers are going to try and use the higher comps to justify their price. All your agent did was show you that there were indeed higher comps and that the sellers asking price was in line with the market. They did nothing wrong. If you wanted to make an offer at a lower price than listed, you still could. Did you make an offer or are you just full of crap?

---

This is why everyone is dunking on your "profession."

nai06 said:

---

wessimo said:

---

Correct only because he paid way more than a dime - 3% of the purchase price. It was part of the check that he cut to the seller.

---

It's almost like the additional 3% is just baked into the purchase price of the house. Kind of like how wages are baked into the price of my dinner last night. I don't recall seeing a line item on the receipt for the cook but I am pretty sure I contributed enough to cover his work in preparing my food.

---

Its not. No matter how much you profess that it is. You will realize this the next time you buy a house and your closing costs go up drastically, after you've negotiated the price of the house.

Bonfire.1996 said:

---

nai06 said:

---

I feel like a lot of y'all have only dealt with crappy realtors.

I just bought a house a couple of weeks ago and the 3% going to my Buyers agent was worth every penny.

---

**worth every penny of the sellers money. You didn't pay a dime.

When you actually have to start paying, you will realize that some of the tasks you listed will be better, more efficiently serviced by you, in house.

---

And they will require more time and energy from me. I am happy to pay someone else to do that for me.



It's similar to changing the oil in my truck. I used to do all my own oil changes for our vehicles. It's not hard, doesn't take too long, and is far cheaper than paying someone else to do it. Overtime though I have realized I would much rather spend my time doing something else than changing the oil in my truck. So I now pay someone to do it for me.


Just because I can do something and save myself some money, doesn't mean I actually want to do those things.

Bonfire.1996 said:

---

nai06 said:

---

I feel like a lot of y'all have only dealt with crappy realtors.

I just bought a house a couple of weeks ago and the 3% going to my Buyers agent was worth every penny.

---

**worth every penny of the sellers money. You didn't pay a dime.

When you actually have to start paying, you will realize that some of the tasks you listed will be better, more efficiently serviced by you, in house.

---

Where do you think that money came from?

The Buyer ended up paying those commissions. He borrowed the money, and paid it.

nai06 said:

---

Bonfire.1996 said:

---

nai06 said:

---

I feel like a lot of y'all have only dealt with crappy realtors.

I just bought a house a couple of weeks ago and the 3% going to my Buyers agent was worth every penny.

---

**worth every penny of the sellers money. You didn't pay a dime.

When you actually have to start paying, you will realize that some of the tasks you listed will be better, more efficiently serviced by you, in house.

---

And they will require more time and energy from me. I am happy to pay someone else to do that for me.



It's similar to changing the oil in my truck. I used to do all my own oil changes for our vehicles. It's not hard, doesn't take too long, and is far cheaper than paying someone else to do it. Overtime though I have realized I would much rather spend my time doing something else than changing the oil in my truck. So I now pay someone to do it for me.


Just because I can do something and save myself some money, doesn't mean I actually want to do those things.

---

comparing a $100 oil change and a $9,000-$15,000 buyers commission, is……quite something.

Bonfire.1996 said:

---

nai06 said:

---

Bonfire.1996 said:

---

nai06 said:

---

I feel like a lot of y'all have only dealt with crappy realtors.

I just bought a house a couple of weeks ago and the 3% going to my Buyers agent was worth every penny.

---

**worth every penny of the sellers money. You didn't pay a dime.

When you actually have to start paying, you will realize that some of the tasks you listed will be better, more efficiently serviced by you, in house.

---

And they will require more time and energy from me. I am happy to pay someone else to do that for me.



It's similar to changing the oil in my truck. I used to do all my own oil changes for our vehicles. It's not hard, doesn't take too long, and is far cheaper than paying someone else to do it. Overtime though I have realized I would much rather spend my time doing something else than changing the oil in my truck. So I now pay someone to do it for me.


Just because I can do something and save myself some money, doesn't mean I actually want to do those things.

---

comparing a $100 oil change and a $9,000-$15,000 buyers commission, is……quite something.

---

I guess you don't value your personal time like I do.

nai06 said:

---

I feel like a lot of y'all have only dealt with crappy realtors.

I just bought a house a couple of weeks ago and the 3% going to my Buyers agent was worth every penny


-created an MLS search of the area for us including pre-MLS listings
-arranged several showings for us where we had the place to ourselves for an hour
-Provided comps
-found an inspector for us
-prepared all of the offer paperwork for us to sign digitally (took about 2 minutes to sign)
-connected us with a lender that could move quickly
-presented our offer and negotiated for us (the seller had a pain in the ass father that was getting involved)
-has a list of contractors for some light reno we need done before moving in
-is in contact with our lender to make sure we hit our 3 week closing date.


We ended up putting in an offer on a house that was in Pre-MLS. Given the market and the area we are looking in it, had to be competitive to prevent them from going to market. We included a few waivers that I was previously unaware of to help strengthen our offer. A week later, a house with the same floorplan, on the same street, with fewer updates, and in need of more work, sold for $10k more than what we paid.


Several you will be quick to point out that I probably could have done all of the above without a buyers agent/realtor. You are absolutely correct. It would also have taken me a hell of a lot longer and caused me additional headaches to do so. I don't have time for that **** . Our realtor made the process much less stressful and more streamlined than I ever could have on my own. And that's is why she is getting the 3%, she earned every bit of it.

---

Here's the problem with your entire scenario.

-created an MLS search of the area for us including pre-MLS listings
-arranged several showings for us where we had the place to ourselves for an hour
-Provided comps
-prepared all of the offer paperwork for us to sign digitally (took about 2 minutes to sign)
-connected us with a lender that could move quickly
-is in contact with our lender to make sure we hit our 3 week closing date.

This is all the exact same work whether the house is selling for $350k or $3M
Thus the argument for flat fees vs. % commissions

-found an inspector for us
-has a list of contractors for some light reno we need done before moving in

that's called "brother in law" work. So what? RE agents aren't farming out those services and not getting something in return or helping a friend or family member. And you can find all of that in minutes on a neighborhood FB page.

Tex117 said:

---

Bonfire.1996 said:

---

nai06 said:

---

I feel like a lot of y'all have only dealt with crappy realtors.

I just bought a house a couple of weeks ago and the 3% going to my Buyers agent was worth every penny.

---

**worth every penny of the sellers money. You didn't pay a dime.

When you actually have to start paying, you will realize that some of the tasks you listed will be better, more efficiently serviced by you, in house.

---

Where do you think that money came from?

The Buyer ended up paying those commissions. He borrowed the money, and paid it.

---

you guys are going to realize that 6% commissions were not baked into home values. I understand the theory you are purporting, and I understand nai06's restaurant example. It is still a supply and demand equation that operates outside of the commission discussion.

I'm here to tell you behaviors are going to change dramatically when buyers have to write a check for a sunk cost.

nai06 said:

---

I feel like a lot of y'all have only dealt with crappy realtors.

I just bought a house a couple of weeks ago and the 3% going to my Buyers agent was worth every penny


-created an MLS search of the area for us including pre-MLS listings
-arranged several showings for us where we had the place to ourselves for an hour
-Provided comps
-found an inspector for us
-prepared all of the offer paperwork for us to sign digitally (took about 2 minutes to sign)
-connected us with a lender that could move quickly
-presented our offer and negotiated for us (the seller had a pain in the ass father that was getting involved)
-has a list of contractors for some light reno we need done before moving in
-is in contact with our lender to make sure we hit our 3 week closing date.


We ended up putting in an offer on a house that was in Pre-MLS. Given the market and the area we are looking in it, had to be competitive to prevent them from going to market. We included a few waivers that I was previously unaware of to help strengthen our offer. A week later, a house with the same floorplan, on the same street, with fewer updates, and in need of more work, sold for $10k more than what we paid.


Several you will be quick to point out that I probably could have done all of the above without a buyers agent/realtor. You are absolutely correct. It would also have taken me a hell of a lot longer and caused me additional headaches to do so. I don't have time for that **** . Our realtor made the process much less stressful and more streamlined than I ever could have on my own. And that's is why she is getting the 3%, she earned every bit of it.

---

couple of comments...

I would not want the agent picking my inspector. Conflict of interest there.

Why would a seller share pre-MLS listing with other brokers? Doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Is that even legal or ethical?

Bonfire.1996 said:

---

Tex117 said:

---

Bonfire.1996 said:

---

nai06 said:

---

I feel like a lot of y'all have only dealt with crappy realtors.

I just bought a house a couple of weeks ago and the 3% going to my Buyers agent was worth every penny.

---

**worth every penny of the sellers money. You didn't pay a dime.

When you actually have to start paying, you will realize that some of the tasks you listed will be better, more efficiently serviced by you, in house.

---

Where do you think that money came from?

The Buyer ended up paying those commissions. He borrowed the money, and paid it.

---

you guys are going to realize that 6% commissions were not baked into home values. I understand the theory you are purporting, and I understand nai06's restaurant example. It is still a supply and demand equation that operates outside of the commission discussion.

I'm here to tell you behaviors are going to change dramatically when buyers have to write a check for a sunk cost.

---

But they can finance it no? If so, then 3% over a 30 year mortgage is nothing.

Bonfire.1996 said:

---

Tex117 said:

---

Bonfire.1996 said:

---

nai06 said:

---

I feel like a lot of y'all have only dealt with crappy realtors.

I just bought a house a couple of weeks ago and the 3% going to my Buyers agent was worth every penny.

---

**worth every penny of the sellers money. You didn't pay a dime.

When you actually have to start paying, you will realize that some of the tasks you listed will be better, more efficiently serviced by you, in house.

---

Where do you think that money came from?

The Buyer ended up paying those commissions. He borrowed the money, and paid it.

---

you guys are going to realize that 6% commissions were not baked into home values. I understand the theory you are purporting, and I understand nai06's restaurant example. It is still a supply and demand equation that operates outside of the commission discussion.

I'm here to tell you behaviors are going to change dramatically when buyers have to write a check for a sunk cost.

---

I didn't say it was, but its the BUYER coughing up money in the end.

Yes, behaviors are going to change, probably in ways we can't really predict.

When we moved from Houston proper to MoCo, we had an agent who was a big help. She helped with both the sale and the purchase, and adjusted her rate down a bit to do both. What she really was able to do was locate neighborhoods we didn't know about and direct our search. I really don't mind paying an agent for that help, but at the same time it seems a bit telling that in Europe, the rates for the same services are about half of what we pay here.

Logos Stick said:

---

Bonfire.1996 said:

---

Tex117 said:

---

Bonfire.1996 said:

---

nai06 said:

---

I feel like a lot of y'all have only dealt with crappy realtors.

I just bought a house a couple of weeks ago and the 3% going to my Buyers agent was worth every penny.

---

**worth every penny of the sellers money. You didn't pay a dime.

When you actually have to start paying, you will realize that some of the tasks you listed will be better, more efficiently serviced by you, in house.

---

Where do you think that money came from?

The Buyer ended up paying those commissions. He borrowed the money, and paid it.

---

you guys are going to realize that 6% commissions were not baked into home values. I understand the theory you are purporting, and I understand nai06's restaurant example. It is still a supply and demand equation that operates outside of the commission discussion.

I'm here to tell you behaviors are going to change dramatically when buyers have to write a check for a sunk cost.

---

But they can finance it no? If so, then 3% over a 30 year mortgage is nothing.

---

only if the value is there on the appraisal.

Logos Stick said:

---

You show all the damn comps so we get the median and the mean. You don't intentionally leave out comps to justify the seller's asking price! Which is exactly what she did!

If I decide to offer the upper range, that's on me!

No ****ing way I'd ever you use as a realtor. Sleazy!

---

It is funny to me how someone can post multiple things in this thread that i would consider unethical and immoral and then follow that up with -

Quote:

---

Realtors have a code of ethics and a fiduciary duty to their client.

---

Bonfire.1996 said:

---

Logos Stick said:

---

Bonfire.1996 said:

---

Tex117 said:

---

Bonfire.1996 said:

---

nai06 said:

---

I feel like a lot of y'all have only dealt with crappy realtors.

I just bought a house a couple of weeks ago and the 3% going to my Buyers agent was worth every penny.

---

**worth every penny of the sellers money. You didn't pay a dime.

When you actually have to start paying, you will realize that some of the tasks you listed will be better, more efficiently serviced by you, in house.

---

Where do you think that money came from?

The Buyer ended up paying those commissions. He borrowed the money, and paid it.

---

you guys are going to realize that 6% commissions were not baked into home values. I understand the theory you are purporting, and I understand nai06's restaurant example. It is still a supply and demand equation that operates outside of the commission discussion.

I'm here to tell you behaviors are going to change dramatically when buyers have to write a check for a sunk cost.

---

But they can finance it no? If so, then 3% over a 30 year mortgage is nothing.

---

only if the value is there on the appraisal.

---

ok so lets talk practicality...

why wouldn't the seller do that and give the money back to the buyers agent. Most sellers are rolling that money into a new house anyway so no harm no foul on taxes.

or why wouldn't the mortgage company simply allow it, like they allow all kinds of other stuff to be rolled in? Is it not legal?

BBRex said:

---

I really don't mind paying an agent for that help, but at the same time it seems a bit telling that in Europe, the rates for the same services are about half of what we pay here.

---

Change is absolutely coming to the industry. No question about it. No matter what the justification current realtors have, no matter what was done in the past, change is coming.

Between the advances in tech, other models that work perfectly well (see e.g. Europe), the days of price fixing 6% are going to be over.

Good realtors that actually provide good value will find a way to make it in the new landscapes...the "hobby" crowd will soon be out of that hobby.

The rest...no idea what will happen.

Bonfire is exactly right. Houses aren't priced like household goods. No seller bakes in the 6% commission into his selling price. It just doesn't happen. For example, the comps for my home justify a sales price of $1.4 mill. I get sick to my stomach knowing that the only real way I can sell it is by using a realtor. Not so much to guide me, but basically like a pay off so they won't black ball my property from being sold. 6% would be about $85k. If I now up my selling price to $1.485, I have priced myself out of the market and it will either never sell for that, or get taken back down to $1.4 in negotiation. So in practicality, the buyer pays nothing. The 6% comes directly out of seller's profit. And it really ****ing sucks.

Hungry Ojos said:

---

Bonfire is exactly right. Houses aren't priced like household goods. No seller bakes in the 6% commission into his selling price. It just doesn't happen. For example, the comps for my home justify a sales price of $1.4 mill. I get sick to my stomach knowing that the only real way I can sell it is by using a realtor. Not so much to guide me, but basically like a pay off so they won't black ball my property from being sold. 6% would be about $85k. If I now up my selling price to $1.485, I have priced myself out of the market and it will either never sell for that, or get taken back down to $1.4 in negotiation. So in practicality, the buyer pays nothing. The 6% comes directly out of seller's profit. And it really ****ing sucks.

---

Then do a FSBO or negotiate your commissions down. You don't want to pay 3% to a buyer's agent (understandably), but you can't go to 0%....so the challenging part is what commission can you pay the buyer's agent and still attract showings.

StandUpforAmerica said:

---

Hungry Ojos said:

---

Bonfire is exactly right. Houses aren't priced like household goods. No seller bakes in the 6% commission into his selling price. It just doesn't happen. For example, the comps for my home justify a sales price of $1.4 mill. I get sick to my stomach knowing that the only real way I can sell it is by using a realtor. Not so much to guide me, but basically like a pay off so they won't black ball my property from being sold. 6% would be about $85k. If I now up my selling price to $1.485, I have priced myself out of the market and it will either never sell for that, or get taken back down to $1.4 in negotiation. So in practicality, the buyer pays nothing. The 6% comes directly out of seller's profit. And it really ****ing sucks.

---

Then do a FSBO or negotiate your commissions down. You don't want to pay 3% to a buyer's agent (understandably), but you can't go to 0%....so the challenging part is what commission can you pay the buyer's agent and still attract showings.

---

If I do a FSBO, I am blackballed from using the MLS. Plus, no buyer's agent is going to show the house if I'm not offering a commission. And even if a buyer finds out about the house and loves it, the agent is going to persuade them elsewhere where a free 3% lies. Same if I try to reduce the commission to something closer to reasonable. That's the problem. Realtors hold ALL of the power in home buying AND selling and can effectively force you to hand over 6% if you want to sell.

In a perfect world, I would advertise my house, have someone make an offer. If I like it, we can fill out an earnest money contract and forward it to any one of the millions of title companies around. They do all of the work anyway. Pay a title company to run a schedule c, draft the deed and handle the money. You don't need a realtor for any of this, it is extremely simple.

StandUpforAmerica said:

---

Hungry Ojos said:

---

Bonfire is exactly right. Houses aren't priced like household goods. No seller bakes in the 6% commission into his selling price. It just doesn't happen. For example, the comps for my home justify a sales price of $1.4 mill. I get sick to my stomach knowing that the only real way I can sell it is by using a realtor. Not so much to guide me, but basically like a pay off so they won't black ball my property from being sold. 6% would be about $85k. If I now up my selling price to $1.485, I have priced myself out of the market and it will either never sell for that, or get taken back down to $1.4 in negotiation. So in practicality, the buyer pays nothing. The 6% comes directly out of seller's profit. And it really ****ing sucks.

---

Then do a FSBO or negotiate your commissions down. You don't want to pay 3% to a buyer's agent (understandably), but you can't go to 0%....so the challenging part is what commission can you pay the buyer's agent and still attract showings.

---

Agree. FSBO is the only way to go. Do your own research and know what your house is worth or if your buying, check school and city reports for data such as school ranks, crime, numbers of police/firemen and community web sites that provided data. etc. Then get a real estate attorney to handle paper work close with a title company.

People have gotten so use to using a reflator and not doing their own work. This stuff isn't that hard.

Hungry Ojos said:

---

StandUpforAmerica said:

---

Hungry Ojos said:

---

Bonfire is exactly right. Houses aren't priced like household goods. No seller bakes in the 6% commission into his selling price. It just doesn't happen. For example, the comps for my home justify a sales price of $1.4 mill. I get sick to my stomach knowing that the only real way I can sell it is by using a realtor. Not so much to guide me, but basically like a pay off so they won't black ball my property from being sold. 6% would be about $85k. If I now up my selling price to $1.485, I have priced myself out of the market and it will either never sell for that, or get taken back down to $1.4 in negotiation. So in practicality, the buyer pays nothing. The 6% comes directly out of seller's profit. And it really ****ing sucks.

---

Then do a FSBO or negotiate your commissions down. You don't want to pay 3% to a buyer's agent (understandably), but you can't go to 0%....so the challenging part is what commission can you pay the buyer's agent and still attract showings.

---

If I do a FSBO, I am blackballed from using the MLS. Plus, no buyer's agent is going to show the house if I'm not offering a commission. And even if a buyer finds out about the house and loves it, the agent is going to persuade them elsewhere where a free 3% lies. Same if I try to reduce the commission to something closer to reasonable. That's the problem. Realtors hold ALL of the power in home buying AND selling and can effectively force you to hand over 6% if you want to sell.

In a perfect world, I would advertise my house, have someone make an offer. If I like it, we can fill out an earnest money contract and forward it to any one of the millions of title companies around. They do all of the work anyway. Pay a title company to run a schedule c, draft the deed and handle the money. You don't need a realtor for any of this, it is extremely simple.

---

- Why should you get to use the MLS? They've paid to establish and maintain that system. It is an either/or. If you want access, you go through a realtor. If not, do an FSBO.
- Why should they show a house with zero commission? Unless the buyer has agreed to pay the commission out of their pocket, you can't expect the realtor to work for free.
- Buyer's agents will show plenty of homes with that have less than 3%. Now if you go below 1.5-2.0%, then you'll probably have issues.

You're free to go on your own since you don't value the service you might get.

Houston Lee said:

---

agracer said:

---

Houston Lee said:

---

Logos Stick said:

---

Houston Lee said:

---

Logos Stick said:

---

Houston Lee said:

---

NEWS FLASH: If you are a Buyer this is what is coming:

SIDE NOTE: Just to be clear. When a showing of a property is booked, the Seller is supposed to leave the home for the showing. Sellers are not going to keep doing this for unverified "curiosity seeker" buyers that may or may not be pre-approved for a mortgage loan.

1- Buyers can't tour a property unless they first sign a Buyers Agent Representation Agreement. This agreement will detail how much the buyer or the seller will have to pay for the Buyers Agent commission.

2-Or the buyer can wait for the listing agent to host an Open House

3-If you are an unrepresented buyer a listing agent is probably not going to waste their time kicking their seller out of their home and showing you their listing in a private showing because you will come across as a curiosity seeker or a buyer that may not be pre-approved for a loan.

---

This

"Buyers can't tour a property unless they first sign a Buyers Agent Representation Agreement. This agreement will detail how much the buyer or the seller will have to pay for the Buyers Agent commission"


is not going to fly!

---

Its in the NAR Settlement that everyone is so happy about. The NAR settlement really benefits the seller. But, what the sellers don't seem to understand is now they have truly limited the buyers ability to tour and buy a house and in turn will have actually shrunk the pool of potential buyers for their own home.

---

No, that is not what is in the NAR agreement based on your own posts in here.

I wish I could get through to you, but alas, its impossible,. With all due respect, you are wrong.

---

Nope. Not Wrong.

Here is the wording from NAR about the settlement from an email I received from NAR President Kevin Sears:

MLS participants acting for buyers would be required to enter into written agreements with their buyers before touring a home.

So, buyers have to sign or the agent can't show them. Plain and simple.

---

as has been pointed out multiple times, they can call the listing agent to see the home.

---

As has been pointed out multiple times, they can certainly call the listing agent. But, listing agents are not buyers agents and they will not be opening up the home for every unrepresented "buyer" that comes along. Its a complete waste of time for the seller and the listing agent to vacate a home for every random person that calls without doing some pre-screening. That is what a buyers agent is supposed to do.

Unless there is an open house going on, if you call and you don't have representation or at least a pre-approval for a loan for the sales price of the listing, you are not seeing the home. And you will need to send a copy of your pre-approval to the listing agent before they agree to kick the seller out of their home so you can see it.

---

LOL, OK...

I'm not arguing for unfettered access to the MLS. It's their proprietary software, and that's fine. However, they've also arranged for it to be really the only effective way to market real estate in Texas.

To answer your second question, the agent has a fiduciary duty to the client. So if the client wants to buy a house with no buyer's commission, that's too bad. They shouldn't have agreed to represent the buyer without insuring they'd get paid. To not do so and then only show houses where you get a free 3% from the seller doesn't seem to be acting in the best interest of the buyer.

Hungry Ojos said:

---

I'm not arguing for unfettered access to the MLS. It's their proprietary software, and that's fine. However, they've also arranged for it to be really the only effective way to market real estate in Texas.

To answer your second question, the agent has a fiduciary duty to the client. So if the client wants to buy a house with no buyer's commission, that's too bad. They shouldn't have agreed to represent the buyer without insuring they'd get paid. To not do so and then only show houses where you get a free 3% from the seller doesn't seem to be acting in the best interest of the buyer.

---

Start your own MLS.

To your 2nd point, it is amusing how so many people want everything in this process for free.

It is too late to go down this path, but it would have been much better in the long run IMO if realtors were paid by the hour for everything. Look at houses for three hours, that will be 3 x hourly rate. Spend 8 hours getting a house ready to be listed, get paid 8 x hourly rate..

StandUpforAmerica said:

---

Hungry Ojos said:

---

I'm not arguing for unfettered access to the MLS. It's their proprietary software, and that's fine. However, they've also arranged for it to be really the only effective way to market real estate in Texas.

To answer your second question, the agent has a fiduciary duty to the client. So if the client wants to buy a house with no buyer's commission, that's too bad. They shouldn't have agreed to represent the buyer without insuring they'd get paid. To not do so and then only show houses where you get a free 3% from the seller doesn't seem to be acting in the best interest of the buyer.

---

Start your own MLS.

To your 2nd point, it is amusing how so many people want everything in this process for free.

It is too late to go down this path, but it would have been much better in the long run IMO if realtors were paid by the hour for everything. Look at houses for three hours, that will be 3 x hourly rate. Spend 8 hours getting a house ready to be listed, get paid 8 x hourly rate..

---

Huh? I don't want anyone to do anything for "free". But if a buyer wants to hire an agent, then the buyer should pay them for their services. Not the seller.

Logos Stick said:

---

nai06 said:

---

I feel like a lot of y'all have only dealt with crappy realtors.

I just bought a house a couple of weeks ago and the 3% going to my Buyers agent was worth every penny


-created an MLS search of the area for us including pre-MLS listings
-arranged several showings for us where we had the place to ourselves for an hour
-Provided comps
-found an inspector for us
-prepared all of the offer paperwork for us to sign digitally (took about 2 minutes to sign)
-connected us with a lender that could move quickly
-presented our offer and negotiated for us (the seller had a pain in the ass father that was getting involved)
-has a list of contractors for some light reno we need done before moving in
-is in contact with our lender to make sure we hit our 3 week closing date.


We ended up putting in an offer on a house that was in Pre-MLS. Given the market and the area we are looking in it, had to be competitive to prevent them from going to market. We included a few waivers that I was previously unaware of to help strengthen our offer. A week later, a house with the same floorplan, on the same street, with fewer updates, and in need of more work, sold for $10k more than what we paid.


Several you will be quick to point out that I probably could have done all of the above without a buyers agent/realtor. You are absolutely correct. It would also have taken me a hell of a lot longer and caused me additional headaches to do so. I don't have time for that **** . Our realtor made the process much less stressful and more streamlined than I ever could have on my own. And that's is why she is getting the 3%, she earned every bit of it.

---

couple of comments...

I would not want the agent picking my inspector. Conflict of interest there.

Why would a seller share pre-MLS listing with other brokers? Doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Is that even legal or ethical?

---

Lot of MLS-sites have "coming soon" listings all the time that aren't live for people to do showings but have plenty of pictures up for the property. I've also heard of events that allow for agents to preview a property before it is a live listing. I'd guess this is marketing thing but also if you can get an offer in before the house actually goes live due to agents networking and communicating to actually sell a house there is also probably going to be less competition/offers to compete against.

Edit to add: Off-market purchases do happen.

jja79 said:

---

You're free to go on your own since you don't value the service you might get.

---

I valued my seller's agent. Got the house sold over a weekend.

Buyer's agent did absolutely nothing.

A lot is going to change. Tech is going to change alot of this. Just look at the stock market. "No commissions" is now very normal. (Just an example of tech changing an industry).

Its coming.

At today's home prices, I think agents need to be more realistic.

They are not adding any more value to a home that is now worth 2x - 3x then it was just a few years ago, but their commissions have increased accordingly.

Personally, I have never used a buyer's agent to look at homes. I usually find what we want and then find an aggie or someone we know to finish the transaction (consider it a gift from the seller). Granted we also normally look at new builds.

the response of "well build your own mls" is wild to me.

its seems like the entire home buying process is built around agents selling to other agents and agents buying from other agents and not clients buying from other clients with agent representation if necessary.

Did the absolutely nothing the buyer's agent did include bringing you a buyer so you got it sold on agreeable terms?