A reporter from the New York Times accuses realtors of doing work-arounds to the NAR Settlement and steering buyers away from for-sale-by-owners.

The 30-minute podcast tells stories about a realtor who started her own website to display the commission rates she was paying on her listings, and a home seller who confessed the usual frustration with realtors not wanting to negotiate their commission. When he went for-sale-by-owner, one agent showed him a couple of texts from other agents suggesting they boycott the guy. Of course, now the seller is creating his own real estate start-up to do it better, so the reporter is, in effect, giving him a national infomercial.

That’s all you got?

You’re doing a national podcast that is suggesting the whole realtor community is guilty of breaking the new rules. Please tell me you have more evidence than that!

Like most reporters, she takes a couple of isolated events and blows them way out of proportion just to make her story more sensational.

If she would have had me on the podcast, I’d explain that commissions aren’t negotiable – each agent charges what they think their service is worth. If you don’t agree, go find another realtor.

If a consumer is adamant about paying less and figures that the quality of service they receive is probably about the same with all agents, there are plenty of choices. Just use google to start your search – in fact, there are companies that will assist you in finding the right discount agent – for a fee (usually paid by the agent):

The market today is tough as nails, and you want/need to hire a great agent with a track record. Use the Find An Agent on Zillow to review an agent’s recent sales and reviews to get a good feel for what they can do for you.