Real estate agents in this market...

[freedomatlast]

The sellers' market is changing. It used to be that if you weren't listed in the MLS, you had no exposure. With all the listings available online now, that just isn't true anymore. With sites like Zillow, Redfin and many others, you get plenty of exposure and potential buyers get notifications on their phones and computers. I sold a house during the height of Covid by placing it for free on Zillow with great pictures and even added a video. Realtors were either too scared or weren't permitted to show houses at that time. The house sold in a couple of days for full list price and the buyers told me how refreshing it was to be able to work out all the details directly with the seller instead of involving a third party.

 

[marko]

SIL is a real estate broker in the high priced Boston area (Cambridge). What she's seeing is people buying $1.2MM houses now instead of the $2.5MM house they originally would have bought a year ago. Everyone has slid down a notch with fewer ridiculous "over asking" offers and houses now on the market for weeks instead of days.

She has noted that open houses that might have had 50 people show up a year ago now have become a lot leaner.

(In 2020, mid-Covid, our home sold in 45 minutes and $75k over asking.)

 

[ShokWaveRider]

The old adage still applies, "Location, Location, Location". If one lives in a desirable location and there is nowhere else to build, there is not a lot of choice but to pay the "going" price. Yes, the buying pool will deplete, but the cash buyers are still there.

90% of the folks in our neighborhood do not have a mortgage at all or decided to finance from having no mortgage at all to a 2.5% - 3% mortgage because they saw the source of cheap money.

There are only 4 homes for sale in our 700 home CC on our NE Fla. island. Go to the mainland and that number goes into the hundreds. No, homes are not selling as fast as before, but they do seem to be selling.

 

[jfn111]

I was showing houses yesterday that had been on the market 26, 39 and 18 days. This would have been unheard of last spring.
I tried to show a house that had been on the market for 45 days but my showing wasn't getting approved. I called the listing agent but he never answered, or replied to my voice mail message. (Some agents weed themselves out of the industry).

 

[jazz4cash]

The old adage still applies, "Location, Location, Location". If one lives in a desirable location and there is nowhere else to build, there is not a lot of choice but to pay the "going" price.

Every time I hear that old adage, I think it should be location, location, timing. The hot locations of a year ago are still hot, but timing makes a huge difference. The depleted buyers pool won’t drive prices above list as they did for the last few years. The market here in DC suburbs is still strong but it’s shifted towards the buyers.

 

[kyzymurgist]

I'm in the process of selling a rental. Currently under contract with closing later this month.

My Realtor has been in the business for a long time. He said this was the quickest reversal from strong sellers to moderate buyers market that he's experienced.

Insane conditions earlier this summer. My son purchased a home in July. His was the best of I think 18 offers over list price within a couple days on market.

My Duplex took 2 weeks to sell and required a price drop plus I accepted an offer well below list. And the buyer actually wanted me to repair items noted in the inspection report.[emoji16]

The realtor made another observation on current conditions. Mid market and high end homes are still selling well but the starter home category is dead. It's usually the opposite in market downturns.

 

[FiveDriver]

Although 5% of these inflated Listing Prices sounds like a lot of money -- that Commission gets sliced up thinner than the Prosciutto at a good Deli.

The usual split gives 2.5% each to the Listing Agent and the Buyer's Agent. Those 2 Realtors have to kick up around half of that money to their Broker of Record, a titual position that loosely resembles the Capos in a Neighborhood Numbers Racket.

So your 'Foot Soldiers' get around 1% of the Commish, maybe a little more depending on their level of sales -- Top Producers can negotiate beyond the typical 1% to 1.5% split. But the Listing Agent has to pay up front for Staging, Pro Photo Shoot, Media Advertising, etc. They also have to buy Lunch for the mid-week Broker's Open House to attract other Realtors to the Listing, and buy cookies for the Sunday Public Open House.

The Buyers' Agent has to gas up their flashy Realtor-mobile to taxi around potential buyers, making sure to avoid the worst parts of the bad neighborhoods, adroitly bypassing the train tracks, the noisy highway, and the overhead power lines in the immediate area.

As a general rule of thumb, the Realtor handling your transaction is working for less than 1% of the Sale Price.

 

[athena53]

During the financial crisis, my realtor, a woman DH and I have used for 2 transactions over the years, said she lived off 401(k) withdrawals and will probably have to work in her 70s. She's one one the good ones.

 

[street]

The sellers' market is changing. It used to be that if you weren't listed in the MLS, you had no exposure. With all the listings available online now, that just isn't true anymore. With sites like Zillow, Redfin and many others, you get plenty of exposure and potential buyers get notifications on their phones and computers. I sold a house during the height of Covid by placing it for free on Zillow with great pictures and even added a video. Realtors were either too scared or weren't permitted to show houses at that time. The house sold in a couple of days for full list price and the buyers told me how refreshing it was to be able to work out all the details directly with the seller instead of involving a third party.

I agree. I have bought real estate through the years and not once did I go through an agency. I always worked directly with the owner/seller. I felt the seller/buyer relationship being able to negotiate, communicate and get a feel for what each wanted was so much better than working through a third party.

When I sold real-estate I did it the same way with interested buyers. We went out kicked the weeds around and made a deal and got things done. I actually saved money and made more money in direct contact involvement with real estate dealing.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

We have never used a realtor to list a home of ours, but we welcome the buyer's agents. Listing a property is very easy in today's internet world. Even before I just put an Advertisement in the local paper. Being in Technical sales for over 30 years, I find it easy to write descriptions, take photos and post them on sites like Zillow. I would rather keep the 2.5%. I even print up color flyers to give to prospects.

I had a professional RE sign made and simply put it up outside with my phone number. I am not a believer in Open Houses, but that is just me. Honestly, I have got most calls from passing RE agents looking for a listing, and about 15% from prospective buyers themselves, but mostly realtors, but that is OK. I just say go look at the description and photos on XYZ listing service and let me know if you have a buyer. It has worked in the past. But there and then we have owned our last 3 homes outright and have NEVER been in a hurry to sell, and hopefully never will be. YMMV

 

[kgtest]

I heard a broker on the radio make the statement "People marry their homes, but they date their interest rates" It's true. You can always refinance after rates come down (if they come down).

Cash buyers will always be around, just a smaller piece of the pie.

A LOT of my friends (30-40yr olds) became licensed agents this year. In order to do 47million in txn in a year, you would need to sell an average of almost 4 - 1MM homes each month, or 8 500k homes each month. Or 1 47MM home in the year lol.

I am guessing a lot are scrapping for those 500k homes and getting 8 sales every single month would be difficult. One of my more active RE friends probably sold a total of 20 homes all year, and these weren't anywhere near 500k a piece. He collects debt as his fulltime job hehehe.

 

[kgtest]

The old adage still applies, "Location, Location, Location". If one lives in a desirable location and there is nowhere else to build, there is not a lot of choice but to pay the "going" price. Yes, the buying pool will deplete, but the cash buyers are still there.

90% of the folks in our neighborhood do not have a mortgage at all or decided to finance from having no mortgage at all to a 2.5% - 3% mortgage because they saw the source of cheap money.

There are only 4 homes for sale in our 700 home CC on our NE Fla. island. Go to the mainland and that number goes into the hundreds. No, homes are not selling as fast as before, but they do seem to be selling.

Location is key. Many of my neighbors tell me they are "never selling". They know what they have. My ole man said "Son you'll know when you have something good when everyone else wants it." So true. I've had agents literally leave starbucks gift cards in my door with hand signed notes saying they want to buy my home...not for their clients, but for themselves lol. Maybe its a fib, maybe it's true, but I've had at least 100 solicitations over the past 8 years. That's about 12 a year. The previous owner of my home bought this house by knocking on the door and soliciting an offer that the folks who lived her simply could not refuse. They then wanted to move out of here so bad, that they accepted my offer that was WAY less than what they had paid for it. But they moved onto the lake a mile or so away and it wasn't a bad move. They got their loss back and then some with some serious equity gains. I would argue less desirable in terms of lot size and closeness to neighbors, but they have 200 ft of private shoreline that they really love. Their son is a pro wakeboarder and snow boarder so they really needed to get on the lake to support his ambitions.

 

[lakerunner]

Location is key. Many of my neighbors tell me they are "never selling". They know what they have. My ole man said "Son you'll know when you have something good when everyone else wants it." So true. I've had agents literally leave starbucks gift cards in my door with hand signed notes saying they want to buy my home...not for their clients, but for themselves lol. Maybe its a fib, maybe it's true, but I've had at least 100 solicitations over the past 8 years. That's about 12 a year. The previous owner of my home bought this house by knocking on the door and soliciting an offer that the folks who lived her simply could not refuse. They then wanted to move out of here so bad, that they accepted my offer that was WAY less than what they had paid for it. But they moved onto the lake a mile or so away and it wasn't a bad move. They got their loss back and then some with some serious equity gains. I would argue less desirable in terms of lot size and closeness to neighbors, but they have 200 ft of private shoreline that they really love. Their son is a pro wakeboarder and snow boarder so they really needed to get on the lake to support his ambitions.

I can relate. We bought our current house from the daughter of the original owner. She was having a yard sale and I told we we wanted to move to this street. No Realtor and a one page purchase and sale. (We moved from eight houses away on a busier street.) After 15 years and a major renovation, we will be selling in the spring to move to our place on the lake. Fortunately, our current mortgage is less then the rent on a small apartment and the lake house is paid for. So no pressure regarding selling one to buy another.

 

[tryan]

The part timers will be culled .... successful full timers will take a break.

The realtor I've used for 30 years (dozens of buys n'sells) will simply stay within her network. Some percentage of property is for sale at any time.