A simple analogy for realtor commissions is a long-distance flight abroad.

Someone who was booking a flight from San Diego to Phoenix probably wouldn’t be too concerned about the quality. Because the flight only takes an hour, most can endure the inconveniences…..mostly due to the generally lousy service we get in every industry. We’ve become accustomed to not expecting much.

But when it comes to a long-distance flight, we might look harder at the differences.

Buying or selling a higher-end home is like flying to Australia.

A non-stop flight from LAX to Sydney, Australia is 15.5 hours, which should make people think harder about the choices. Not only does the airline, the staff, the type of airplane, the quality of the food, reviews, etc. get more scrutiny, but so does the seating chart.

Sitting in the economy section can be endured for an hour on a flight to Phoenix, but will you put up with screaming kids, the barking dog, and the guy who fills up more of his share of the seat for 15.5 hours?

Or do you deserve first class?

The problem with realtor commissions is that the agents all get paid the same, regardless of the quality of service provided. It’s as if every buyer and seller pays for a first-class seat, but then only 10% to 20% of them get that level of service. It’s why there are so many complaints about realtors not being worth it – most don’t live up to the expectations, or their fee.

The commission lawsuits intend to change that, and they think they will cause the rates to go down.

But realtors intend to convince you that they are worth the usual fee by improving their presentations. The consumers who are willing to investigate will probably find something like this:

The exceptional realtors probably aren’t too interested in lowering their fee, so let’s examine the hiring of a realtor in the post-lawsuit era. Note that after years of using a pixel phone, I have finally switched to the iphone15promax – my first video with the new phone will start the inquiry: