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#1 SportsGuy

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Posted 13 June 2015 - 09:42 PM

I am almost done my classes and assuming I pass the test, i am getting my RE liscense.

 

I am hoping to eventually do this full time.

 

I am sure everyone has their horror stories about RE agents, since so many are bad.

 

So, if you could have your perfect agent, what would you look for?(I have a pretty good idea of the answers but I am seeing if anything else is said I havent thought of)


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#2 BSLChrisStoner

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Posted 13 June 2015 - 09:47 PM

I think most people do their homework ahead of time now.... are aware of local comps... have an understanding of what they want... what is feasible. The biggest thing people probably want is just having someone who will be quick to respond to questions, and be an advocate for them when needed in-terms of negotiation.

Didn't know you were doing this... I think you will do well. Congrats.



#3 RShack

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Posted 13 June 2015 - 09:49 PM

The worse trait they do (as a group) is not trying hard to get top dollar for the seller... they get significantly more when the house they're selling is theirs... but when it's somebody else's house, they decide the diff in their individual net commision for an extra $10K or $15K isn't worth the time and hassle... which means they're working more for themselves than they are for the seller...


 "The only change is that baseball has turned Paige from a second-class citizen to a second-class immortal." - Satchel Paige


#4 Cisc-O's

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Posted 13 June 2015 - 09:53 PM

My uncle does business real estate. His place is in Parkville off of Harford rd. I think attentiveness and open selections and a lot of communications with upfront expectations. Would not hurt for you to get comfortable with the lending side of things and who to refer your customers so they don't get taken for and you can pin point an affordable price range.
<p>I am pretty sure Shack is thinking of PBR.

#5 SportsGuy

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Posted 13 June 2015 - 09:54 PM

The worse trait they do (as a group) is not trying hard to get top dollar for the seller... they get significantly more when the house they're selling is theirs... but when it's somebody else's house, they decide the diff in their individual net commision for an extra $10K or $15K isn't worth the time and hassle... which means they're working more for themselves than they are for the seller...

Yea this is bad provided they aren't selling the house at the current market price.

 

When i bought my current house last year, there were so many hoiuses just sitting because the agents and sellers(usually the sellers) wanted too much for their house.

 

Ironically, my house sat and was priced well above what I paid for it but they weren't off their rockers at all...just bad luck on their part and some poor decision making.



#6 RShack

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Posted 13 June 2015 - 10:01 PM

Yea this is bad provided they aren't selling the house at the current market price.

 

Thing is, "current market price" is fuzzy... it's whatever somebody is willing to pay...

 

Studies have shown that RE agents get way more for their own houses than they do for their customers's houses... which tells you they aren't trying as hard and instead are advising their customers to take an offer when they wouldn't take that offer if if was their own house...  

 

Now, I guess you can chalk that up to human nature or some such BS... but if the agent is *really* serving their customers, then they ought to try to get what they'd get if it was their own house... and if they did, I bet that over time they would have numbers that demonstrate that to future customers... everybody will tell'em that they'll get'em top dollar, but I wonder how many can actually prove it...


 "The only change is that baseball has turned Paige from a second-class citizen to a second-class immortal." - Satchel Paige


#7 You Play to Win the Game

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Posted 13 June 2015 - 10:03 PM

A lot of money in commercial RE right now. But simply put... do the right thing and build a rep. You'll do great.

Still doing the jewelry thing?

#8 SportsGuy

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Posted 13 June 2015 - 10:05 PM

Thing is, "current market price" is fuzzy... it's whatever somebody is willing to pay...
 
Studies have shown that RE agents get way more for their own houses than they do for their customers's houses... which tells you they aren't trying as hard and instead are advising their customers to take an offer when they wouldn't take that offer if if was their own house...  
 
Now, I guess you can chalk that up to human nature or some such BS... but if the agent is *really* serving their customers, then they ought to try to get what they'd get if it was their own house... and if they did, I bet that over time they would have numbers that demonstrate that to future customers... everybody will tell'em that they'll get'em top dollar, but I wonder how many can actually prove it...


That's sort of surprising since they make money on their house once but they continue to make money on others several times.

Of course, this is also why most RE agents suck.

#9 SportsGuy

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Posted 13 June 2015 - 10:06 PM

A lot of money in commercial RE right now. But simply put... do the right thing and build a rep. You'll do great. Still doing the jewelry thing?


Yea I am...but I'm bored with it and ready for a career change.

I will always sell diamonds to customers but I can do that whenever and wherever I need to. This has more long term upside for me I think.

#10 RShack

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Posted 13 June 2015 - 10:12 PM

Yea I am...but I'm bored with it and ready for a career change.

I will always sell diamonds to customers but I can do that whenever and wherever I need to. This has more long term upside for me I think.

 

Would you give up the store?  Or do both things from it?  Or what?


 "The only change is that baseball has turned Paige from a second-class citizen to a second-class immortal." - Satchel Paige


#11 RShack

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Posted 13 June 2015 - 10:14 PM

That's sort of surprising since they make money on their house once but they continue to make money on others several times.

Of course, this is also why most RE agents suck.

 

Short-term thinking is the disease of modern times...


 "The only change is that baseball has turned Paige from a second-class citizen to a second-class immortal." - Satchel Paige


#12 SportsGuy

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Posted 13 June 2015 - 10:15 PM

Would you give up the store?  Or do both things from it?  Or what?


I sold my store last year.


Been working out of an office for a while now.

#13 You Play to Win the Game

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Posted 13 June 2015 - 10:17 PM

Nice. I agree. That's an emerging market here soon. Good luck.

I look forward to my "buy a house, get a free diamond" promotion whenever I find a chick-not-from-west-virginia who's into me. ;)
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#14 Mike in STL

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Posted 14 June 2015 - 11:14 AM

Good luck Rob. I must say, since I bought a house last summer, I feel like I had the perfect realtor. Horror stories I heard were a realtor that pressures you into buying. Either because its expensive and they make more, or because they dont want you to look at a ton of houses. Or they expect the buyer to do all the leg work when finding places to look at.

My realtor had a good eye for detail we wouldnt have noticed otherwise. Some of those details were deterrents in the long run.

So I would say have a keen eye for detail, communicate often, and make your client feel comfortable. Dont get annoyed if you show them 30 houses. Thats what I appreciated most.
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#15 Mackus

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Posted 15 June 2015 - 09:25 AM

I think the "perfect agent" is different for everybody.  So to be the perfect agent, you just gotta be flexible and give your clients whatever they are asking for and always make it seem like it's no big deal to pull it off.  I've only bought houses, not sold, so my experience is limited to that side of it.  I imagine the realtor is of much bigger import when selling that buying, unless the buyer is foreign to the area.

 

When I've searched for a house, I typically would find the ones I want to look at online, then tell my realtor to set up the showings.  Like Mike said, the biggest thing was simply having them around to take me to look at houses when I wanted to look at them, which was often and to see a ton of houses.  I didn't need very much in terms of recommendations or how to look through some problems to see what could be fixed and improved.

 

I'm sure there are tons of other people who don't want to do any of the up front legwork.  They hire the realtor, expect the realtor to find the best houses to see, and then walk through them and decide.  Probably need some hand-holding in terms of information about the neighborhood and what might be good or bad about the house as well.  This would almost definitely be the case for anyone relocating who doesn't have the luxury of seeing tons of houses and doesn't know much if anything about the area.  I've never done it, but I imagine a good realtor is worth their weight in gold to the buyer in that scenario.

 

Ideally for me, I'd like if buyers could not even have to use realtors but be able to set up appointments with the listing agent.  Then just use a realty office or lawyer to draw up the contract, and save much of the 3% fee the buying agent gets (not from the buyer, it's from the seller, but that would still trickle back down to the buyer).

 

Good luck!  Do you have an agency lined up to join or gonna be out on your own?



#16 mweb08

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Posted 15 June 2015 - 09:31 AM

That's sort of surprising since they make money on their house once but they continue to make money on others several times.

Of course, this is also why most RE agents suck.

 

They get more money in the long run by selling quickly and moving onto to other clients rather than waiting to get the best possible price.

 

There's a short scene on this at the beginning of the Freakonomics movie.


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#17 Russ

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Posted 15 June 2015 - 10:42 AM

Good luck Rob. I must say, since I bought a house last summer, I feel like I had the perfect realtor. Horror stories I heard were a realtor that pressures you into buying. Either because its expensive and they make more, or because they dont want you to look at a ton of houses. Or they expect the buyer to do all the leg work when finding places to look at.

My realtor had a good eye for detail we wouldnt have noticed otherwise. Some of those details were deterrents in the long run.

So I would say have a keen eye for detail, communicate often, and make your client feel comfortable. Dont get annoyed if you show them 30 houses. Thats what I appreciated most.



You need to look at it from the realtor's point of view. This is how they make their living and there are only so many hours in the day. Everybody wants to look at houses in the evenings and after work. They can't waste time taking you all over creation. If you wanted to look at thirty houses, after about 10 I wouldve told you that you need to sit down and figure out what you're looking for. That's borderline disrespectful.

If you looked at thirty houses, a couple things probably happened. The realtor didn't ask you the right questions about what you were looking for or you didn't communicate well what you wanted. Or you didn't know what you wanted. Either way, I would've kicked you to the curb long before that.

#18 Russ

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Posted 15 June 2015 - 10:46 AM

The point is, if you're a realtor, show houses that have what the people are looking for. And find out what they're looking for. To do anything else is wasting everybody's time.

#19 SportsGuy

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Posted 15 June 2015 - 10:46 AM

I think the "perfect agent" is different for everybody.  So to be the perfect agent, you just gotta be flexible and give your clients whatever they are asking for and always make it seem like it's no big deal to pull it off.  I've only bought houses, not sold, so my experience is limited to that side of it.  I imagine the realtor is of much bigger import when selling that buying, unless the buyer is foreign to the area.
 
When I've searched for a house, I typically would find the ones I want to look at online, then tell my realtor to set up the showings.  Like Mike said, the biggest thing was simply having them around to take me to look at houses when I wanted to look at them, which was often and to see a ton of houses.  I didn't need very much in terms of recommendations or how to look through some problems to see what could be fixed and improved.
 
I'm sure there are tons of other people who don't want to do any of the up front legwork.  They hire the realtor, expect the realtor to find the best houses to see, and then walk through them and decide.  Probably need some hand-holding in terms of information about the neighborhood and what might be good or bad about the house as well.  This would almost definitely be the case for anyone relocating who doesn't have the luxury of seeing tons of houses and doesn't know much if anything about the area.  I've never done it, but I imagine a good realtor is worth their weight in gold to the buyer in that scenario.
 
Ideally for me, I'd like if buyers could not even have to use realtors but be able to set up appointments with the listing agent.  Then just use a realty office or lawyer to draw up the contract, and save much of the 3% fee the buying agent gets (not from the buyer, it's from the seller, but that would still trickle back down to the buyer).
 
Good luck!  Do you have an agency lined up to join or gonna be out on your own?


Not yet...I'm going to weigh my options once I have the license.

#20 SportsGuy

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Posted 15 June 2015 - 10:47 AM

The point is, if you're a realtor, show houses that have what the people are looking for. And find out what they're looking for. To do anything else is wasting everybody's time.


Yea, that's what I do for diamonds. Similar concept, different product.




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