Real Estate Agents - How much do they do?

[Buff]

I'm using a real estate agent for the purchase of my new house and also for the sale of my current house. I know that it isn't the best time of year to get quick results but I can't help but wonder if I'm getting the best advice, if any, from my agent.

When you are selling a house, what does a good agent do for you? Obviously he/she will check out your house to see what it is like so he/she can get an idea of what it is worth. How much do they check it out? Mine just did a quick walk through, not paying close attention to detail. He showed me comparables and recommended what I can get for my house. So he listed it and has had several open houses, but he himself has never showed it to another of his clients. I remember when I bought my house the agent (who has since moved ot Calgary) showed us lots of houses, including many that he himself was listing.

I've said to my agent many times "We're getting showings but no offers, what can I do to my house to make it more attractive". His response is always "Nothing, it shows nicely". We've done a lot of cleaning and tidying up to make it look more clean and open but our agent hasn't given us any indication of things that may be a turn off to prospective buyers.

I was under the impression that real estate agents will do a walk through with or without you and take notes and give you recommendations on what you need to clean, tidy or fix up to prepare to sell your house. I haven't got any of that.

The house I'm buying is conditional to the sale of my current house by a certain date and that date is fast approaching. I'm worried I'm going to lose out on this house because I'm not getting the best advice.

Am I expecting too much or just experiencing the frustrations of trying to quickly sell a house during the slow time of year?

[guzzy]

Originally Posted by Buff

I'm using a real estate agent for the purchase of my new house and also for the sale of my current house. I know that it isn't the best time of year to get quick results but I can't help but wonder if I'm getting the best advice, if any, from my agent.

When you are selling a house, what does a good agent do for you? Obviously he/she will check out your house to see what it is like so he/she can get an idea of what it is worth. How much do they check it out? Mine just did a quick walk through, not paying close attention to detail. He showed me comparables and recommended what I can get for my house. So he listed it and has had several open houses, but he himself has never showed it to another of his clients. I remember when I bought my house the agent (who has since moved ot Calgary) showed us lots of houses, including many that he himself was listing.

I've said to my agent many times "We're getting showings but no offers, what can I do to my house to make it more attractive". His response is always "Nothing, it shows nicely". We've done a lot of cleaning and tidying up to make it look more clean and open but our agent hasn't given us any indication of things that may be a turn off to prospective buyers.

I was under the impression that real estate agents will do a walk through with or without you and take notes and give you recommendations on what you need to clean, tidy or fix up to prepare to sell your house. I haven't got any of that.

The house I'm buying is conditional to the sale of my current house by a certain date and that date is fast approaching. I'm worried I'm going to lose out on this house because I'm not getting the best advice.

Am I expecting too much or just experiencing the frustrations of trying to quickly sell a house during the slow time of year?

Real estate agents do not even deserve a fraction of the commission they receive but unfortunate it is almost an unnecessary evil. It is what it is and they all charge the same so we are forced to use them. Welist is god sent if it works for you. I know many that have sold and succeeded using welist. Just for selling a $500,000 house the two realtors involved will share $21000. That is ridiculous for the amount of work they actually do. How much of that commission they pocket vs what the brokerage takes I don't know but it is still way over the top. I understand your frustration.

[Old Yeller]

Buff, how long ago did you list?

The average time to sell a house in Calgary is 32 days. Starter houses may sell a little faster but not enough to be vastly different from the average.

I'm listing my house shortly (trying a few private buyers first - not through welist, just word of mouth)... but yes, I think mostly it's the time of year, and the amount of selection that's on the market currently. One other problem is with the variety on the market and the # of listings being more than 6000, there's a lot more "tire kickers" who aren't really seriously looking.

I think as long as your house is clean, well kept, and not falling apart, someone will eventually fall in love with it and put an offer in. You're probalby doing the same tricks that my potential realtor told me to do (about making it appear larger or more open). Just keep at it, I'll be the same way when I list as you are, but patience is a virtue.

[photon]

Not all agents are good at telling you how to stage your house, one that I sometimes use is pretty good at it, others really don't have any idea.

There's tons of listings so it'll take a while to sell unless you really undercut on price.

Even him not bringing his own clients to the house, while odd (most agents would love to double end a deal), could just mean that he doesn't have any clients looking for that kind of house in that area.

You could be up front and ask for a little more detail about what he's doing for your house (any extra advertising, etc), what he could do, and why he is/isn't doing it.

[albertGQ]

Use Nabber. He's good

[Buff]

Well my previous realtor moved to Calgary. He was awesome for us, even though we were just in the buy a house stage and we weren't selling anything. Unfortunately, like I said, he moved to Calgary. I think he was the best possible realtor for us and I can't help but compare him to our current realtor. Which probably isn't fair but I'm certain I'm not getting the same level of service with newguy that I would've received with the good guy.

Unfortunately Nabber doesn't live in Lethbridge.

[Winsor_Pilates]

The range of realtors out there is extremely vast. Some realtors really impress me and others can't even hold a phone conversation well.

I would recommend speaking to mulitple agents before you list with one and seeing who you think will do the best job of selling your house and getting you good value.

Your agent not telling you how to stage your house is odd to me. That seems to be an exremely important part of real estate sales these days. Our last agents in Calgary had us completely overhaul our decor and even repaint some walls. It seemed like a lot of work, but it helps.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by guzzy

Real estate agents do not even deserve a fraction of the commission they receive but unfortunate it is almost an unnecessary evil. It is what it is and they all charge the same so we are forced to use them. Welist is god sent if it works for you. I know many that have sold and succeeded using welist. Just for selling a $500,000 house the two realtors involved will share $21000. That is ridiculous for the amount of work they actually do. How much of that commission they pocket vs what the brokerage takes I don't know but it is still way over the top. I understand your frustration.

How are you forced to use them? If you don't want to use one, use welist and see if it's as easy as you think.

There's a reason that people still use agents, and not just list privately. Agents are a lot more useful then you think. Maybe you've just had bad agents?
Also, your commision seems way too high. I'm not sure what you're calculating that with but it doesn't seem right.

[ken0042]

Also keep in mind how realtors get paid. They only get paid for completed results. So that means they have to do a lot of stuff for a bunch of people, then get paid by just one of those people. Most commision jobs are like that; the difference with realtors is that the seller sees the exact amount they get paid; whereas it isn't as obvious how much a guy working at the Brick gets for writing up that sofa.

And if it was strictly an hourly rate by the very client; I'm not sure I would have put down a $500 retainer to have the realtor I used to buy. In fact it was just a few questions to him in an email, he sent me all sorts of info, a few more questions, then we were looking at houses. I bought the 2nd one he showed me. There's no way I would have gone that far if I was paying him to start off with.

So by having to pay him, you are hopefully bringing buyers to you. It just so happens we are probably in the slowest period we've seen in 18-24 months.

[Nabber]

Hey Buff, I'll try to help by telling you what I believe the perfect realtor should do when selling a house, if anyone has anything to add, I love if you posted as it helps me do my job better.

Selling a home steps - Do a thorough walk through. Get the home owner to point out all the selling features especially stuff that may be easily missed, such as heated floors, underground sprinklers, etc. Make suggestions to help improve the appeal to potential buyers, reduce clutter, staging furniture, paint, etc. Do a lot of research to come up with the perfect list price, compare homes on the market as well as recent ones sold. Put the home on MLS, set up appointments make it easy for other realtors to book appointment. Do open houses at least once a month, with a lot of advertising. Pass out flyers to neighbors letting then know when the open house will take place, an ad in the local paper with the date and time. As well advertise the open house on the MLS listing. Put up flyers of your listing around the community such as grocery stores, gas station, the real estate office, etc. Word of mouth to other agents, my office has Monday morning meetings where all agents advertise new listings. Put ads in papers, magazines, wherever you can envision potential buyers reading. Hmmm can’t think of much more, anyone have anything to add to that?

Hope that gives you an idea of what the perfect agent should be doing but as other mentioned this time of the year is slow, homes are taking time to sell. With regards to your agent not showing your place it happens, he may not have clients looking in that area or people just call their realtor when they see an ad for your house, but it could be a red flag that he’s no targeting the public with his advertising, hope that helps.

[guzzy]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

How are you forced to use them? If you don't want to use one, use welist and see if it's as easy as you think.

There's a reason that people still use agents, and not just list privately. Agents are a lot more useful then you think. Maybe you've just had bad agents?
Also, your commision seems way too high. I'm not sure what you're calculating that with but it doesn't seem right.

7% on the first $100,000 and 3.5% for everything above that. On $500,000 it works out to $21,000.

I am not saying all realtors are bad, I just think their commission is ridiculous for the amount of work they do. I don't think using welist would be easy. It realtors were paid by the hour they would be the wealthiest people around.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by guzzy

7% on the first $100,000 and 3.5% for everything above that. On $500,000 it works out to $21,000.

I didn't know it was that high. That's quite a nice chunk of money.

[Flames in 07]

Originally Posted by guzzy

7% on the first $100,000 and 3.5% for everything above that. On $500,000 it works out to $21,000.

I am not saying all realtors are bad, I just think their commission is ridiculous for the amount of work they do. I don't think using welist would be easy. It realtors were paid by the hour they would be the wealthiest people around.

Well to be fair is it is 21k / 2 = 11.5k for each realtor.

[Buff]

Originally Posted by guzzy

7% on the first $100,000 and 3.5% for everything above that. On $500,000 it works out to $21,000.

I am not saying all realtors are bad, I just think their commission is ridiculous for the amount of work they do. I don't think using welist would be easy. It realtors were paid by the hour they would be the wealthiest people around.

Obviously it is different from realtor to realtor and city to city. In Lethbridge the realtor's take 5%. My realtor is taking 4% and he'll only take 3% if he sells the house.

[Buff]

Originally Posted by Nabber

Hey Buff, I'll try to help by telling you what I believe the perfect realtor should do when selling a house, if anyone has anything to add, I love if you posted as it helps me do my job better.

Selling a home steps - Do a thorough walk through. Get the home owner to point out all the selling features especially stuff that may be easily missed, such as heated floors, underground sprinklers, etc. Make suggestions to help improve the appeal to potential buyers, reduce clutter, staging furniture, paint, etc. Do a lot of research to come up with the perfect list price, compare homes on the market as well as recent ones sold. Put the home on MLS, set up appointments make it easy for other realtors to book appointment. Do open houses at least once a month, with a lot of advertising. Pass out flyers to neighbors letting then know when the open house will take place, an ad in the local paper with the date and time. As well advertise the open house on the MLS listing. Put up flyers of your listing around the community such as grocery stores, gas station, the real estate office, etc. Word of mouth to other agents, my office has Monday morning meetings where all agents advertise new listings. Put ads in papers, magazines, wherever you can envision potential buyers reading. Hmmm can’t think of much more, anyone have anything to add to that?

Hope that gives you an idea of what the perfect agent should be doing but as other mentioned this time of the year is slow, homes are taking time to sell. With regards to your agent not showing your place it happens, he may not have clients looking in that area or people just call their realtor when they see an ad for your house, but it could be a red flag that he’s no targeting the public with his advertising, hope that helps.

Thanks Nabber. I know that it is the slow time of year and I understand that he may not have the type of clients looking for my house style or area. Those are understandable and I've already thought of them. However I can't help but think that if maybe I would've painted this room, or re-arranged that room, or changed this thing or that thing that maybe I would've had an offer by now.

The only reason my house is up for sale right now is because my wife stumbled upon a house that we both really really want. Our plan was to do some work to our house and yard over the fall and winter and early spring and then sell next year (assuming we find a house we want and can afford). With that in mind I figured that our realtor would've told us many things to do do prepare the house for sale. Unfortunately he didn't see the things I saw and when I brought up a few things he said that I don't need to worry. I believed him but am now second guessing him.

[Dan02]

Problem is real estate commisions that we have now were setup when housing values were significantly lower and it took some effort on realtors before both buying a selling. It wasn't uncommon for listings to expire and the realtor lose moeny. Now a days it entirely different and the realtors are really trying to cash in.

As someone said for a 500k,its only 11.5k realtor(double if they do both sides), involved in 12 transactions a year, 138k. Keep 60% as read in another thread is 82.8k. The few realtors i know could do that with their eyes closed. I think the commisions definately need to be revisited in the wake of the vast increase in the prices of housing in Calgary.

The last realtor we had was completely worth the money though. Probably took us through close to 50 houses before we found the one we wanted(made a offer on one after about 30 houses but were unsuccessful) and they got just over 8600 for their troubles.

[fwd]

be careful around this realtor
http://www.doverrealty.com/agents.html

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by Dan02

Problem is real estate commisions that we have now were setup when housing values were significantly lower and it took some effort on realtors before both buying a selling. It wasn't uncommon for listings to expire and the realtor lose moeny. Now a days it entirely different and the realtors are really trying to cash in.

As someone said for a 500k,its only 11.5k realtor(double if they do both sides), involved in 12 transactions a year, 138k. Keep 60% as read in another thread is 82.8k. The few realtors i know could do that with their eyes closed. I think the commisions definately need to be revisited in the wake of the vast increase in the prices of housing in Calgary.

The last realtor we had was completely worth the money though. Probably took us through close to 50 houses before we found the one we wanted(made a offer on one after about 30 houses but were unsuccessful) and they got just over 8600 for their troubles.

That's exactly why I want to be an agent. Prices go up, it gets easier to sell and your pay shoots through the roof since it's all % based.

[Dan02]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

That's exactly why I want to be an agent. Prices go up, it gets easier to sell and your pay shoots through the roof since it's all % based.

as long as you're willing to move around/get certified where ever the hot markets are then you're going to make a mint being a agent, as much as we might hope Calgary won't be the hot market it is forever.

[Ironhorse]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

How are you forced to use them? If you don't want to use one, use welist and see if it's as easy as you think.

There's a reason that people still use agents, and not just list privately. Agents are a lot more useful then you think. Maybe you've just had bad agents?
Also, your commision seems way too high. I'm not sure what you're calculating that with but it doesn't seem right.

We used a realtor when we were shopping for our new house, and used the same agent to sell our old home. She was very good. She also got a *lot* more money for our old home than I could have gotten.

FWIW,there's a house in our neighbourhood that I go by everyday. It was on We-List for a good 3 months. Then one day, the sign changed to one from an established realtor. The house was subsequently sold within a week...