So what do real estate agents do?

[kahiljabroni]

Can we just get rid of them already?

Seems like they just try to look extremely clean cut and trendy and make vague claims about how they're always closing.

The entire industry seems like a farce. It's like we're forced to use them. They have no discernable skills that differentiates them so they just sell themselves. "Look at me and how successful I look. Don't i look smart in these glasses and this bow tie? You have to give your money to somebody because of this monopoly we maintain... why not give it to someone who looks like me?"


They don't really offer a service so it just basically comes down to who can network the best and portray success.

Am i wrong?

 

[Bald1]

Marketing and networking are pretty valuable, especially if you buy and sell frequently. For the one off buyer in a hot market you can do without them.

 

[Threetrees]

You’re paying for the convenience of someone doing the work/market research for you duh

 

[Tone C]

As opposed to fake estate agents ?

 

[JudoThrowFiasco]

You know you don't have to use them, right?

 

[dc007]

They have great social skills. Being able to talk to people of various income levels and make them comfortable. It’s a hard job. People I know that do well at it, work crazy hours but make bank

 

[terrapin]

many of them are not much better than your average conman and do not deserve to be employed. but there are also some really good ones who will really go out of their way to help you find and purchase a home or sell one too. but you have to be VERY careful or you are losing money with them when they dont fully have your interests in mind.

one real estate woman i know runs this low level scam. whenever she sells a house she finds comparables all around from the neighborhood but she intentionally picks comparable homes that sold LOW due to factors you dont know anything about. that way your home is listed lower than it will actually sell for and then she doesn't have to show it very often before it sells. more money for her for very little work at your expense.

 

[The Hash Slinging Slasher]

They basically do all the work. There’s a ton of paperwork involved in buying and selling houses, setting up appointments with inspectors, surveys, title transfer details, negotiating, and just making sure everything is done legally and correctly. It’s no different than any other industry, there’s very good ones who are looking out for you and then there’s ones who aren’t.

 

[AristotleAmadopolis]

You know you don't have to use them, right?

all houses are
listed on realtors though?

 

[AristotleAmadopolis]

u can just get a realtor license and be ur own and then u can make money from it for
others

 

[sleepwalk]

In my experience? Lose 20lbs, adopt a sales technique like it's the one true religion, and cheat on their husband.

After that, sell houses and drink wine.

 

[Eusung]

I'm curious - is real estate a very common career choice for trust fund babies?

I've been looking at tons of youtube videos about different places to live in the US, and seemingly all of the vids are from small youtube channels run by young realtors. They all seem like very wealthy yuppies/hipsters in their 20s like this lady:

This girl for example:

 

[rocketskates]

They aren’t mandatory but I’ve bought and sold two homes in my lifetime and I can tell you that a good agent is helpful in gauging what you should list your home for AND the lowest offer that you should entertain.

My agent was a family friend who also does appraisals. His experience was worth the percentage that he took out of my profit.

 

[ThinkGreen]

My real estate agent was my cousin and it was extremely helpful. He found me a bunch of properties (often before listed), hooked me up with his loan guy, got to use his appraisal guy, etc. He worked in construction for years before getting cancer so his background knowledge was extra beneficial.

I think the worst part about being a real estate agent is the grind. You have to pretty much be on call 24/7, especially if you don’t work for a big firm.

 

[Hollywood Jack]

I'm curious - is real estate a very common career choice for trust fund babies?

I've been looking at tons of youtube videos about different places to live in the US, and seemingly all of the vids are from small youtube channels run by young realtors. They all seem like very wealthy yuppies/hipsters in their 20s like this lady:

This girl for example:

I think it attracts all types of people. You don’t need a fancy degree or anything like that. So people without degrees can get their license without too much hassle. There’s levels and a lot of people start off selling low end properties and then work their way up. Young people who start off selling high end may correlate more with coming from wealth. Good looking women also seem to be over represented.

 

[billiam]

On the selling side, they can hook you up with the cheap contractors and save you a lot of time doing open houses and getting the house sold. For buying, I find them less useful and the % of sale compensation structure is a conflict of interest.

 

[HARRISON_3]

Do you even American Beauty, bro?

 

[kahiljabroni]

What work? What research?

 

[jeff7b9]

Depends on the agent. I have definitely had my clients benefit from my services to the tune of thousands of dollars on numerous occasions and saved people from buying houses that had damage that most homebuyers wouldn't recognize.

I helped one client who lived out of state increase the sale value of her late father's home by $180,000 in about 2 months by spending $30k on mostly cosmetic upgrades. She was pretty happy with my services.

I handle all the service appointments for clients that don't live at the house as their primary residence, and do other stuff like that to make their lives easier. That's actually probably the most consistent way that my clients benefit, I take care of most of the shit that would make the experience stressful.

 

[kahiljabroni]

Everyone hates the tipping system but for some reason they don't mind paying 6% of their home proceeds to some do nothing Chooch.

There should be home transaction companies that charge a flat rate to facilitate and inspection appraisal.