To realtor or not to realtor?
May 16th 2011, 1:06 pm
#31
Nuther day in paradise.ca
Joined: Aug 2008
Location: Ajax, Ontario
Posts: 7,263
May 16th 2011, 3:04 pm
#32
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 516
Re: To realtor or not to realtor?
We've worked with a couple of Canadian realtors - the first was excellent (a recommendation from BE). She didn't know the houses she was showing us, but took time to look at every aspect whilst we were viewing them. She didn't try to push us into buying and often pointed out negative aspects that we hadn't initially picked up on. Having heard a lot of negative things about realtors we were very pleasantly surprised.
The second realtor was nowhere near as good. She wasn't recommended and we got stuck with her because of our relocation. She just walked into the houses and wittered on about how wonderful they were, dismissing any of the issues we pointed out. The only houses she suggested we look at did not fit our criteria in any way, however they were much more expensive than our stated price range!!
So, some good, some bad - it's worth doing the open house thing and also asking for recommendations on BE!
The second realtor was nowhere near as good. She wasn't recommended and we got stuck with her because of our relocation. She just walked into the houses and wittered on about how wonderful they were, dismissing any of the issues we pointed out. The only houses she suggested we look at did not fit our criteria in any way, however they were much more expensive than our stated price range!!
So, some good, some bad - it's worth doing the open house thing and also asking for recommendations on BE!
May 16th 2011, 3:25 pm
#33
Binned by Muderators
Joined: Jul 2007
Location: White Rock BC
Posts: 11,685
Re: To realtor or not to realtor?
We are currently using a realtor for our first purchase in canada.
Couple of things:
we haven't signed any buyer's agreement ( and I wouldn't);
it has been useful viewing houses with him- he is pretty informative about
what is wrong with them, resale potential, how much things cost to fix etc etc. I would never spot the things he has spotted, sure a Home inspector would, but its nice to know things before you get to that emotionally invested point. He knows the area and the types of problems etc
we get tricklefed properties a few days before they come on MLS. This could be important for the house that turns out to to 'right';
for us of course its a free service and I suspect any seller's realtor wouldn't reimburse their client if there was no buyer's realtor so suspect it makes no difference to the price.
we put a lowball offer in and it was really useful to have him explain all the ins and outs of the contract and TBH the buying process is different and its good to have that explained, that said it has taken a few weeks to get to know each others thinking
Ours sent us all the properties that had sold in sub-division in last 15 months and sends the last 5 years for streets we are interested in. This is more than I could look up on council pages as it has photos , asking price, selling price. You can see the upgades etc
I don't begrude people earning a living. I charge a lot for my services and so understand he gets paid out of the deal.
His mortage broker was able to offer us prime -0.85 % which is at least 0.1% better than I would have found most places and 0.2% better than our bank
So I would go for a realtor. Why not? Do I trust him every inch of the way? Don't be silly, but that doesn't mean we don't get anything from it.
Couple of things:
we haven't signed any buyer's agreement ( and I wouldn't);
it has been useful viewing houses with him- he is pretty informative about
what is wrong with them, resale potential, how much things cost to fix etc etc. I would never spot the things he has spotted, sure a Home inspector would, but its nice to know things before you get to that emotionally invested point. He knows the area and the types of problems etc
we get tricklefed properties a few days before they come on MLS. This could be important for the house that turns out to to 'right';
for us of course its a free service and I suspect any seller's realtor wouldn't reimburse their client if there was no buyer's realtor so suspect it makes no difference to the price.
we put a lowball offer in and it was really useful to have him explain all the ins and outs of the contract and TBH the buying process is different and its good to have that explained, that said it has taken a few weeks to get to know each others thinking
Ours sent us all the properties that had sold in sub-division in last 15 months and sends the last 5 years for streets we are interested in. This is more than I could look up on council pages as it has photos , asking price, selling price. You can see the upgades etc
I don't begrude people earning a living. I charge a lot for my services and so understand he gets paid out of the deal.
His mortage broker was able to offer us prime -0.85 % which is at least 0.1% better than I would have found most places and 0.2% better than our bank
So I would go for a realtor. Why not? Do I trust him every inch of the way? Don't be silly, but that doesn't mean we don't get anything from it.
May 16th 2011, 3:33 pm
#34
Binned by Muderators
Joined: Jul 2007
Location: White Rock BC
Posts: 11,685
Re: To realtor or not to realtor?
Maybe on a FSBO there is some room for negotiation, but the reason sellers go the FSBO route is that they expect to keep the commission - not give it away to the buyer.
The process is different in Canada. It makes sense to use a professional to guide you through it all.
May 16th 2011, 3:58 pm
#36
Assimilated Pauper
Joined: Mar 2005
Location: Ontario
Posts: 40,022
Re: To realtor or not to realtor?
Whereas, if you have a buying agent, you have two agents who are paid to maximize the sale price.
May 16th 2011, 5:23 pm
#37
Binned by Muderators
Joined: Jul 2007
Location: White Rock BC
Posts: 11,685
Re: To realtor or not to realtor?
In BC the realtor's commissions are heavily weighted to the first $100,000 of the sale price. Above this, pushing up the sale price by $10,000 will earn a realtor less than $100. Only the most self-interested and money grabbing agent is going to risk the rest of the commission on a sale for that.
Maybe in your business it is worth p*ss*ng off clients for a hundred bucks but a good realtor knows it certainly isn't in their best interests. A realtor is only ever going to make serious money if they have lots of happy customers recommending them to others.
May 16th 2011, 5:30 pm
#38
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 14,227
Re: To realtor or not to realtor?
Novo has already refuted this and I completely agree with him.
In BC the realtor's commissions are heavily weighted to the first $100,000 of the sale price. Above this, pushing up the sale price by $10,000 will earn a realtor less than $100. Only the most self-interested and money grabbing agent is going to risk the rest of the commission on a sale for that.
Maybe in your business it is worth p*ss*ng off clients for a hundred bucks but a good realtor knows it certainly isn't in their best interests. A realtor is only ever going to make serious money if they have lots of happy customers recommending them to others.
In BC the realtor's commissions are heavily weighted to the first $100,000 of the sale price. Above this, pushing up the sale price by $10,000 will earn a realtor less than $100. Only the most self-interested and money grabbing agent is going to risk the rest of the commission on a sale for that.
Maybe in your business it is worth p*ss*ng off clients for a hundred bucks but a good realtor knows it certainly isn't in their best interests. A realtor is only ever going to make serious money if they have lots of happy customers recommending them to others.
May 16th 2011, 5:37 pm
#39
Assimilated Pauper
Joined: Mar 2005
Location: Ontario
Posts: 40,022
Re: To realtor or not to realtor?
Novo has already refuted this and I completely agree with him.
In BC the realtor's commissions are heavily weighted to the first $100,000 of the sale price. Above this, pushing up the sale price by $10,000 will earn a realtor less than $100. Only the most self-interested and money grabbing agent is going to risk the rest of the commission on a sale for that.
Maybe in your business it is worth p*ss*ng off clients for a hundred bucks but a good realtor knows it certainly isn't in their best interests. A realtor is only ever going to make serious money if they have lots of happy customers recommending them to others.
In BC the realtor's commissions are heavily weighted to the first $100,000 of the sale price. Above this, pushing up the sale price by $10,000 will earn a realtor less than $100. Only the most self-interested and money grabbing agent is going to risk the rest of the commission on a sale for that.
Maybe in your business it is worth p*ss*ng off clients for a hundred bucks but a good realtor knows it certainly isn't in their best interests. A realtor is only ever going to make serious money if they have lots of happy customers recommending them to others.
House and car sales differ from sales of services as there's no continuing business; whether or not you like the agent, you're not going to buy another house or car next week. It's not a business in which relationships or reputation are particularly important as the chances of the parties dealing with each other a second time are tiny. Something that's true even if you suppose that the mls commissioned sales arrangement is going to be around in years to come.
May 16th 2011, 5:57 pm
#40
Binned by Muderators
Joined: Jul 2007
Location: White Rock BC
Posts: 11,685
Re: To realtor or not to realtor?
House and car sales differ from sales of services as there's no continuing business; whether or not you like the agent, you're not going to buy another house or car next week. It's not a business in which relationships or reputation are particularly important as the chances of the parties dealing with each other a second time are tiny. Something that's true even if you suppose that the mls commissioned sales arrangement is going to be around in years to come.
A realtor starting out might spend 10% of their time working with clients and 90% of their time and money marketing themselves. They will only become rich when they can spend 90% of their time with clients and let their former customers do their marketing for them for free.
May 16th 2011, 6:00 pm
#41
Binned by Muderators
Joined: Jul 2007
Location: White Rock BC
Posts: 11,685
Re: To realtor or not to realtor?
As my reply to dbd33. There is a huge incentive to do something for your client that makes them want to recommend you. Isn't this how we are suggesting that newcomers go about selecting someone to work with?
May 16th 2011, 6:11 pm
#42
Nuther day in paradise.ca
Joined: Aug 2008
Location: Ajax, Ontario
Posts: 7,263
Re: To realtor or not to realtor?
It apears a few, dbd alan and scottie dog man, have had bad first hand dealings with Realtors and will not use, or even trust the information that they would bring to a sale anymore, while others, including myself, have had nothing but positive dealings with our Realtor.
50.50 then, if you are lucky you will get a good one.
Fortunatly my $$ is worth more than what i will trust to luck, hence why we used a guy who we knew well, was recommended by many, and, yes, a trusted friend.
Dont leave it to luck like what the 3 on here seem to have done. Use a Realtor who is well known and recomended by friends and maybe family.
50.50 then, if you are lucky you will get a good one.
Fortunatly my $$ is worth more than what i will trust to luck, hence why we used a guy who we knew well, was recommended by many, and, yes, a trusted friend.
Dont leave it to luck like what the 3 on here seem to have done. Use a Realtor who is well known and recomended by friends and maybe family.
May 16th 2011, 6:16 pm
#43
Assimilated Pauper
Joined: Mar 2005
Location: Ontario
Posts: 40,022
Re: To realtor or not to realtor?
I think the expression "work with" is unfortunate here, it implies a collaboration between purchaser and salesperson. It's a phrase the salesperson might like but it doesn't reflect the relationship, one doesn't "work with" the counter person in an appliance shop. I'm suggesting that the newcomer not use an agent for financial matters but instead gets someone locally experienced to be on their side in dealing with the agents. If the newcomer wants to use an agent for other reasons, good luck to them.
May 16th 2011, 6:21 pm
#44
Assimilated Pauper
Joined: Mar 2005
Location: Ontario
Posts: 40,022
Re: To realtor or not to realtor?
It apears a few, dbd alan and scottie dog man, have had bad first hand dealings with Realtors and will not use, or even trust the information that they would bring to a sale anymore, while others, including myself, have had nothing but positive dealings with our Realtor.
50.50 then, if you are lucky you will get a good one.
Fortunatly my $$ is worth more than what i will trust to luck, hence why we used a guy who we knew well, was recommended by many, and, yes, a trusted friend.
Dont leave it to luck like what the 3 on here seem to have done. Use a Realtor who is well known and recomended by friends and maybe family.
50.50 then, if you are lucky you will get a good one.
Fortunatly my $$ is worth more than what i will trust to luck, hence why we used a guy who we knew well, was recommended by many, and, yes, a trusted friend.
Dont leave it to luck like what the 3 on here seem to have done. Use a Realtor who is well known and recomended by friends and maybe family.
May 16th 2011, 6:29 pm
#45
Binned by Muderators
Joined: Jul 2007
Location: White Rock BC
Posts: 11,685
Re: To realtor or not to realtor?
I accept that there is a limit to how much you can generalize from personal experiences but a conversation I had, as a relative newbie, went something like:
Me: The house is exactly what we are looking for. It is listed at $X. Should we offer $X - a little bit.
Realtor: No. That is way too much. Offer $X - a lot.
Which we did, and it was accepted.
{Edited to add} All the positive real estate experiences I have had has been the result of following a realtor's advice. All the negative ones were where I thought I knew better. I am not trying to pretend there are not crooks and charlatans masquerading as realtors, but a good one is worth their commission.
Me: The house is exactly what we are looking for. It is listed at $X. Should we offer $X - a little bit.
Realtor: No. That is way too much. Offer $X - a lot.
Which we did, and it was accepted.
{Edited to add} All the positive real estate experiences I have had has been the result of following a realtor's advice. All the negative ones were where I thought I knew better. I am not trying to pretend there are not crooks and charlatans masquerading as realtors, but a good one is worth their commission.
Last edited by JonboyE; May 16th 2011 at 6:32 pm.