The real estate industry is known for its gimmickry, and is ripe for internet hucksters who put their own twist on it.
SD_Coastal sent in this latest attempt – an internet-referral company who has realtors who will discount their commission by 50%. Towards the end they slip in that you have to sell AND buy a house to get the package deal:
1. This is one of the most important decisions of your life – choosing a realtor solely based on their commission structure during a frenzied-up market is asking for trouble.
2. The real estate industry doesn’t want to help you figure it out – rarely do you see any guidance on how to select a realtor from those in the business.
3. If you only ask one question of your realtor-candidates, ask how many homes they have sold this year. It is by far the best gauge to determine if they have adequate experience with navigating these choppy waters, and can help you too.
Don’t ask a yes or no question – ask specificially “HOW MANY SALES?”, and if they have closed at least one sale per month then they something to offer – and it would be smart to ask more questions to find out what.
4. Most every agent will offer you a package deal if you sell-then-buy, but you’ll probably have to ask for it.
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I’d like to know how many “Jim The Realtors” are out here.
From the outside looking in, it seems anyone with a pulse and a few dollars can become a realtor. Which doesn’t make any sense. Why do the owners of these various realtor groups work to undermine the very profession they’re in?
Based on my own limited experience as a buyer, for every JtR, there are probably 20 or more realtors who shouldn’t be in the business.
One of the best tools in researching an agent is to see there transaction history. Agents representation of both buyer and seller are a matter of public record. You can look up agents at:
http://www.movoto.com/findagent.aspx
Just type in the name and you will see the the amount of volume they have had. Though this is just one data point, it is helpful in making a decision.
Or you can just hire Jim the realtor and get a no nonsense no bull agent who will make decisions for your best interest and not just his 🙂
I hopr the R-team brings back the agent scorecards, or somebody publishes every agent’s sales history where it is easy to find.
Why can’t we have an ebay-like feedback system for each realtor which can be completed by both clients and realtors alike?
The association of realtors needs the dues-paying memebers, so they won’t do anything to filter out the scum or incompetants.
Movoto has work to do though.
I inputted my name again, and they have Brad Rust as my broker (never heard of him and I’ve been a broker since 1988) and no other contact information or sales history.
I love the idea, but it needs to be somebody who is huge so it is obvious where to go.
Yeah Jim, I looked you up too a while ago and…saw “Brad Rust”
In 1988, the DRE was probably recording agents info on punch cards and reel to reel data tracks, the database dump to movoto didn’t go so smoothly.
Maybe Brad Rust is JtR’s alter ego or his Tyler Durden so to speak.
Please avoid any cutesy suggestions about re-naming the business after a certain ’66 Chevy….
It’s not rust, it’s the paint color!! What do you want for $700!
Didn’t Redfin try something like that months ago? Backed off the idea and apologized pretty quickly after realtors rebelled.
movoto appears to be a phony scam. I inserted 3 agents who I know are high volume agents and got no information. I don’t know what their deal is but its probably to capture your name and sell them as hot leads. there’s a new scam every day with these clowns.
I think a better question is: How many sides have you done in the last 12 months?
If the goal is to determine at least one sale per month, it may not matter how many months’ worth. But the more the better.
Or are you asking that of me Dave? If so, the answer is 50+.
I came a cross your videos and subscribed to your youtube channel, I just started looking for a house with my fiancé and wish there was a JtR in Carson, Ca.
Welcome – you can probably still pick up a thing or two here, stay tuned!
Look at as many properties as possible, and you will run into the right agent along the way.
Didn’t Redfin try something like that months ago? Backed off the idea and apologized pretty quickly after realtors rebelled.
Yes they did and quickly retreated once agents complained of inaccuracies. Glenn could have buried the competition but let off the gas.
Just in my area alone (East Coast), I am amazed…AMAZED…that virtually NO realtor does video walk throughs! Even to post on YouTube with or without commentary. The couple that might “doctor” it up with the nice easy listening music and all that make-me-want-to-gag crap or hire out the “service” that just strings the photos together into a “video” (double gag). Pathetic!
I want to strangle some of these people as they don’t realize the traffic they can generate with these things, blog or not. (Heck just put a YT link in the MLS description alone and the spiders that crawl these things pick it up and spread it to all the other type sites out there because it displays said MLS listing in full!)
Guess you just got to be the rebel of sorts beyond that and do your thing to get the traffic. If others are jealous of your success, well #1 it’s a byproduct, #2 tell them to do the same thing (and then see how many actually end up doing it, technologically incompetent or not)