realtors......would a British estate agent system do well here
#181
Re: realtors......would a British estate agent system do well here
Or as you are still in the uk and already moaning about how canadians do things.....stay in the UK.
Several posts have started saying how some realtors do not work for the money, etc etc
Sorry I love being a realtor and helping as much as the next person, but I have a mortgage to pay and two teenage sons who just cost lots of money and both hoping to go on to university.
I work to earn a living to pay my bills and to have the things I want in life. I am lucky that I really enjoy my job. Like the other realtors I give a gift to my clients but i have heard of some who give 25% of their pay away!!!! for using their services.
Sorry folks but I only go to work to earn money. My voluntary work is done in my free time when I am not working.
If I come up on the lottery you will not see me for dust, I will be out camping, skiing, golfing and drinking wine.
Several posts have started saying how some realtors do not work for the money, etc etc
Sorry I love being a realtor and helping as much as the next person, but I have a mortgage to pay and two teenage sons who just cost lots of money and both hoping to go on to university.
I work to earn a living to pay my bills and to have the things I want in life. I am lucky that I really enjoy my job. Like the other realtors I give a gift to my clients but i have heard of some who give 25% of their pay away!!!! for using their services.
Sorry folks but I only go to work to earn money. My voluntary work is done in my free time when I am not working.
If I come up on the lottery you will not see me for dust, I will be out camping, skiing, golfing and drinking wine.
#182
Re: realtors......would a British estate agent system do well here
You have a choice to use a realtor or not. In Cochrane today there are 199 houses for sale by realtors. Privately on 'we list' which is the main one here there are 17. These two figures tell me that more people want to pay a realtor to sell their house than do it privately. That is their choice.
Sure - I wouldn't turn down a kickback if it was legal and an accepted practise in my profession, but that still doesn't mean people can't complain about it.
The level of protectism in the industry is a joke - especially when the barriers to entry should be zero.
I should have the right to represent myself as my own buyers agent and not be forced into paying for a service I don't want. If selling realtors passed on the buying agents commission to the buyer directly then I'd bet you'd start to see a BIG drop in number of buyers using an agent...
#183
Re: realtors......would a British estate agent system do well here
Sorry but thats bullshit. To realistically sell a house you have to at least offer commission to a buyers agent. This is nothing more than a kick back...
Sure - I wouldn't turn down a kickback if it was legal and an accepted practise in my profession, but that still doesn't mean people can't complain about it.
The level of protectism in the industry is a joke - especially when the barriers to entry should be zero.
I should have the right to represent myself as my own buyers agent and not be forced into paying for a service I don't want. If selling realtors passed on the buying agents commission to the buyer directly then I'd bet you'd start to see a BIG drop in number of buyers using an agent...
Sure - I wouldn't turn down a kickback if it was legal and an accepted practise in my profession, but that still doesn't mean people can't complain about it.
The level of protectism in the industry is a joke - especially when the barriers to entry should be zero.
I should have the right to represent myself as my own buyers agent and not be forced into paying for a service I don't want. If selling realtors passed on the buying agents commission to the buyer directly then I'd bet you'd start to see a BIG drop in number of buyers using an agent...
Buy For Sale by Owner, then there's no commission, and you can represent yourself.
But if you've never used a good buyers agent then you really don't know what you are missing. A good agent will save you time and money and worry.
#184
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 14,227
Re: realtors......would a British estate agent system do well here
The choice to restrict yourself to FSBO properties isn't really a choice at all. It doesn't matter how good a job you do, the fact that you cannot meaningfully refuse the services of a purchasers realtor means that you (collectively) are not operating in a free market. This is my main complaint - it's not that you do not earn the income you receive, it's that I cannot do the work myself if I so choose. It doesn't mean that I would make that choice, but it would be nice to actually have it.
#185
Re: realtors......would a British estate agent system do well here
The choice to restrict yourself to FSBO properties isn't really a choice at all. It doesn't matter how good a job you do, the fact that you cannot meaningfully refuse the services of a purchasers realtor means that you (collectively) are not operating in a free market. This is my main complaint - it's not that you do not earn the income you receive, it's that I cannot do the work myself if I so choose. It doesn't mean that I would make that choice, but it would be nice to actually have it.
#186
Re: realtors......would a British estate agent system do well here
The reason that people hire Realtors is the exact same reason the Company's hire Marketing Consultants and Advertising Agencies., they know that the professionals make a better job than eager amateurs. You just don't see the cost of that when you buy your Kellogg's Corn Flakes. But you can always buy the cheaper, un-advertised "own brand" supermarket products.
In this analogy is Sam-In-Okotoks the PC realtor; better than the name brand and cheaper to boot?
#187
Re: realtors......would a British estate agent system do well here
I would love to earn her minimum commission on every sale, but in my market we rarely see her minimum commission, let alone her higher commissions.
#188
Re: realtors......would a British estate agent system do well here
The hot agent in the Beach now, the Wright Sisters, had no presence five years ago and will likely have none in five years hence. I suppose this is, in part, because few people stay; they buy into the neighbourhood, feel fulfilled in having been fashionable and move on. The clients and the agent aren't going to have contact after the one sale and, within a transient population, there's little in the way of referrals.
I wonder where last year's hot agent went. Perhaps retired to the Bahamas. Perhaps selling furniture.
#189
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 14,227
Re: realtors......would a British estate agent system do well here
The reason that people hire Realtors is the exact same reason the Company's hire Marketing Consultants and Advertising Agencies., they know that the professionals make a better job than eager amateurs. You just don't see the cost of that when you buy your Kellogg's Corn Flakes. But you can always buy the cheaper, un-advertised "own brand" supermarket products.
Last edited by Alan2005; Aug 15th 2009 at 2:00 am.
#191
Re: realtors......would a British estate agent system do well here
The reason that people hire Realtors is the exact same reason the Company's hire Marketing Consultants and Advertising Agencies., they know that the professionals make a better job than eager amateurs. You just don't see the cost of that when you buy your Kellogg's Corn Flakes. But you can always buy the cheaper, un-advertised "own brand" supermarket products.
Problem being there is no other choice in real estate. All I want is the choice, then at least I can make the decision whether or not to pay for the services of a buyers agent.
#192
Binned by Muderators
Joined: Jul 2007
Location: White Rock BC
Posts: 11,682
Re: realtors......would a British estate agent system do well here
It is not a way I would recommend going about things, but it is not correct to say you have no choice.