# About Real Estate Agents



## Berubeland (Sep 6, 2009)

We've had a ton of discussions about realtors and if they are a good deal etc on this board. Well a while back I read a post by our very own Mike Holman (Four Pillars) where he discusses why you can't trust your real estate agent when buying a house. It's now got over 300 comments many of them illustrating the "cream of the crop"

So grab a glass of wine and go check it out http://www.moneysmartsblog.com/why-you-cant-trust-real-estate-agents-when-buying-a-house/ and don't forget the comments. Professional indeed lol


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## Sampson (Apr 3, 2009)

I read the article years ago and it's amazing to see the updated comments. Still pi$$ing off realtors I see.


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

As I mentioned to Rachelle - for every comment on that post, there were two or three other comments that I deleted because they were just too offensive. Class acts indeed.


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## Homerhomer (Oct 18, 2010)

All one has to do is watch one of those HDTV shows like million dollar homes or something to see how they work, the last thing anyone should do is trust any of them, unfortunately I am sure there are some agents who indeed have the best interest of their clients in mind, but they are lost in the sea of all those crooks.

I was shopping for a house without an agent, I was told at least few times that nobody will deal with me if I don't have an agent. I think the best interest of this cartel was on their minds.


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## bayview (Nov 6, 2011)

I have lived, worked and owned properties in cities which cost at least 2.5-3x more than those in Vancouver & Toronto with similar locations. Like here, there are tons of incompetent & unethical agents, mainly due to the low barrier entry of joining the industry. But a main difference is that I cannot understand why are agents here eg on the seller side required to be paid 3-5% commission of the transacted price vs maximum 1-2% which is norm in the overseas cities I mentioned earlier. For a newbie like me, Mike's article is really helpful.


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## crazyjackcsa (Aug 8, 2010)

Nothing that I didn't already know, which isn't a condemnation. People walk into all sorts of situations without giving it any thought. Car dealerships, mechanics, contractors, real estate agents, everybody is trying to get PAID. Can you blame them? Not really. 

I actually kind of feel for real estate agents. I've met people that want the moon and the stars for less then the price of a coffee. One friend of mine has spent 2 years and looked at upwards of 100 houses because he "knows he'll find just what he's looking for". I've seen houses on the market for 5 years because the seller refuses to move one dime off the selling price.

Potential buyers and seller need to be realistic, stick to their own priorities and use agents for what they are, middlemen.


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## dogcom (May 23, 2009)

Price is one thing, but the most important thing for an agent to do is listen.

When I sold my house my price was set to the market in conjunction with what I could get for that money in the area I wanted to live in. I told him that I was only willing to come down in price if the rest of the market was also coming down an equal amount or more. He listened to me and didn't force anything onto me. When buying I am sure he wanted to get the deal done so he could spend time on other deals and I realized this even if he didn't tell me that. In the end it was my decision and I own up to it and that is it. I am sure I could have done a little better in the negotiations but that is my own fault and not his and in the end I was happy and like very much where I live now.


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

I have to admit that I loved my realtor, and was worth every cent. That being said, we knew him personally, so it was just a business transaction, but we know other receive similar service.

Agent had a ton of experience (more than 30 years), was a previous president of the mls, and was really honest and helped us set expectations. We wanted a large house with everything, in the best neighborhood in the inner city for a low price *lol*. Boy, did the agent have to work at explaining that we probably couldn't have it all. When we gave our max price range, he wouldn't actually even let us look at anything more. He said that even though we could afford it, and were approved for twice the amount, he didn't want to show us anything in the higher price range because no other houses in our range would compare. He confirmed that our max price was our price, and stuck to it.

We say alot of houses, and he was very patient, and reminded us what our buying criteria really was, and that the Star Wars room with a wet bar, and hot tub, though very cool, couldn't offset a lack of a functional kitchen. Houses that were over priced, we were told to wait, and see if the price would drop. Finally, when we found the place, he did all the research to find out the history, and why the people were selling, and we could get it for. The agent put in our offer and negotiated well. He found out that the price drop was because the last offer fell through because of financing. When we put in the offer, the sellers were worried that we wouldn't be approved, our agent assured them that we could pay easily, and negotiated putting a slighty higher deposit, and somehow dropped the price of the house, so we paid even less than what we were planning.

I know there are alot of realtors that suck (the one before this one, didn't listen to me, and we ended firing him), but there are some really good ones. Isn't that the same with FA?


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