patrick.net

Call it Crazy says

Analyzer says

Think about how these numbers change if applying to one of the million dollar shacks in the bay area...........

That's the part that no one will dispute.... (and makes no sense)..

In reality, it takes about the same amount of time by a realtor to sell/close a $200K house as a $1 million house. For the most part, the paperwork and effort is the same...

So, why is the commission (6%) on the $200K house $12K while the commission on the $1 million house $60K???? Did the realtors on the $1 million house do 5 times the amount of work???

It's nonsense.

I would be very interested in a DIY sale if/when that time comes. My only issue is that I'd be paranoid that that realtors will try to sabotage you and either not show clients your property or dissuade them from making an offer. They still have the market share at this point to do it. Hopefully not for too much longer.

DIY Sellers - Make sure to put in the write up that there are cash incentives for NOT working with a realtor. Two can play at the sabotage game.

I'd still fear that buyer's agents, despite still getting commission, will avoid your property in order to defend realty as a profession. In this low inventory market (in the Bay Area at least), it might be less of a worry, though, as they are more desperate.

hrhjuliet says

DIY Sellers - Make sure to put in the write up that there are cash incentives for NOT working with a realtor. Two can play at the sabotage game.

Not a bad idea...

Everything I read about Carter only confirms my belief that his supposed bad presidency is a media spin you all fell for. His voting record is proof why they would undermine him and make him appear weak. What happened with Ron Paul in the last election was predictable for the same reason.

The media propaganda machine is sophisticated, and some of you who think you are immune just proved that you are not. Ron Paul and Jimmy Carter are both honest, brilliant, compassionate, and that is the reason they would never fit into the Empire holding our congress hostage. I don't always agree with Carter or Paul, but they have been the Constitutional Republic's biggest champions. So naturally, they are unsung heroes and the media powers that be will make sure the public looses interest in them. Their voting records are what counts, and there is no comparison between their records and the past few presidents.

I'm still waiting for a legitimate argument not based in opinions the media formed for you about Carter.

Have a good paralegal or lawyer ready to write your contract. My father works in intellectual property law and he still will write up a tighter contract than a real estate agent for about $300, unless there is a cloud on the title, in which you would need a lawyer anyway. The standard form is something any lawyer can purchase, and that is all the real estate agents use. $300 versuse 6% based on the purchase price, not a tough choice.

a href="http://patrick.net/?p=1240170&c=1068380#comment-1068380">thomaswong.1986 says

hrhjuliet says

BTW Mr. Wong, it doesn't make Nestlé justified because the country itself participates in unthinkable horrors.

na! its just easier to beat up on the white guy and call him

racists slaver and imperialist.

What does this have to do with white guys? Seriously, your argument is extremely poor in this thread. Nestlé has a diverse board, and are Swiss owned...am I missing something? This is not a Caucasian American male run company. There are plenty of honorable Caucasian male run corporations in the States, this is not one of them. What is your point?

rooemoore says

Climate change industry? Don't you think the oil industry is a wee bit more powerful?

And this is where the rightwing usually retorts, "them science eggheads get GRANT MONEY". They're the ones with vested interests---all of 'em!

I do believe the science guy that was paid for by the Oil and Gas lobby. Quite convincing!

I think this is going to be the new trend.

Hey JoJo

While Reid know's you're on the internet, he said you're a fucking idiot and too stupid to even have the wherewital to even haplessly land on the ACA website, even with the Obamagator army they sent out to recondition your Stupidity condition, that they assumed originally afflicted you.

Reid on need for ObamaCare extension: People 'not educated' about Internet

It just keeps getting worse for you young fucks my friend.
Time for some new Leadership Kid.

Homeboy says

Hmmm....still trying to understand this. My question was, if you turn off all the busses, would you cut power to the transponders, rendering them inoperative?

Who is wantonly turning off "all the busses"? This is what I don't understand. I wouldn't take anything that guy says at face value, period. The 45,000 feet to depressurize thing remains pointless, and there have already been reports that that 45,000 feet number might be wrong.

Homeboy says

I think I get what you're saying here, but isn't the recommended procedure to shut off ALL the busses, then restore them one by one?

I'm not sure where you're getting that. If you have an idea of where the fire is, it makes much more sense to start there, and I suspect that's what the checklists say.

Homeboy says

It doesn't read as a well-researched report, but rather as a pilot just spitballing ideas about what might have happened, which I think is what he was doing. Still, it makes more sense to me than some of the convoluted theories about terrorism or pilot suicide.

Agree. He makes enough factual errors to make it seem badly researched, but it always seemed more plausible than some of the other stuff.

If you read aviation forums now, you see strange theories about how someone his now dumping trash off the coast of Australia to throw off the investigators on the real landing spot in Pakistan. It's all nonsense.

WOW! The UNtrustworthy are certainly in control of what information is apparent to the people!

Say hey! This was in the Wall Street Journal on March 30, 1999. Note "... how much it will buy."

Holy cow/interesting/compelling ...!

And where is it up to date??? Right here ... see the first chart shown in this thread.
Recent Dow day is Wednesday, March 26, 2014 __ Level is 103.6

WOW! It is hideous that this is hidden! Is there any such "Homes, Inflation Adjusted"? Yes! This was in the New York Times on August 27, 2006:

And up to date (by me) is here:
http://patrick.net/?p=1219038&c=999083#comment-999083

WOW! The UNtrustworthy are certainly in control of what information is apparent to the people!

And http://patrick.net/?p=1230886

lostand confused says

unlike Hillary who would have been a lawyer in Arkansas without Bill

Last I checked, she went to Yale Law School, worked as a lawyer for a non-profit or two in Massachusetts, worked as legal counsel to the Judiciary Committee on Watergate, and only then moved to Arkansas to follow Bill.

And then she basically become one of the best lawyers in Arkansas and one of the most influential in the nation. I'm pretty sure she would have done reasonably well in Washington on her own, had she not moved to Arkansas to be with Bill.

Seems like you're selectively being sexist here, praising the trailer trash and forgetting that Hillary Clinton was pretty damn successful on her own accord, and none of it had to do with being a fame-whore saying nonsensical 10-word phrases for the drooling masses.

Yes, a seller can pay a flat fee to get into the MLS, and then use an attorney or title company to manage the contract and closing.

At best, this will lower the commission from 6% to 3-4%. The issue is not that sellers don't need realtors, rather that the overwhelming number of serious buyers believe the buyer needs an agent to walk them through what they consider a complicated and adversarial process.

If the seller does not put in the write-up "3% to Buyer's Agent" or similar wording, the seller will see little other than lookie-loos and the unqualified wishers walking through.

I have bought and sold 8 houses. I bought 2 without using a realtor (caught them before they listed, during the 1990s) but buyers like me are rare. I did manage to sell one without using a realtor in 1996, but three others I tried to sell in 2004 sat despite my all out efforts with newspaper ads, signs, housing referrals, and even offering 3% to agents who brought a buyer. Yet each of the 3 houses had a contract within hours after I finally listed them, even though I raised the price. Since 2004 was during the bubble, I was able to get an agent to list for 4%. Still, all she had to do was type in the details and wait, and collect her 1% while the buyer's agent did all the work and got the 3%.

Just too many serious buyers want to use real estate agents. Until that mentality changes, realtors are here to stay. Since the buyers want the realtor to be 'free," sellers will be paying the commission at closing. If the idea of flat fee MLS listing catches on, at least we can see the 6% drop to the 3% paid to the buyer's agent.

APOCALYPSEFUCKisShostikovitch says

hrhjuliet says

DIY Sellers - Make sure to put in the write up that there are cash incentives for NOT working with a realtor. Two can play at the sabotage game.

And bounties for throwing REALTORs from bridges?

I read "ditching realtors" as dumping them in culverts.

Perhaps you have a closer exegesis of the title, informed by your long praxis and analysis of the hermeneutics of realtor liquidation.

Why do the sellers have to use MLS. Hey technical patrick.net people, create a new listing service. Charge a small fee to list and make it mega user friendly. Lawyers and paralegals could advertise their services the way real estate agents do. @patrick should do it. We would all help, right?

Offer a buyer agent a 4% commission and your house will be at the top of the Realtor's list to show his "buyer."

I could create a very sad list of companies that are evil, and I mean evil; dictionary definition style.

hrhjuliet says

Why do the sellers have to use MLS. Hey technical patrick.net people, create a new listing service. Charge a small fee to list and make it mega user friendly. Lawyers and paralegals could advertise their services the way real estate agents do. @patrick should do it. We would all help, right?

I have had some thoughts about doing this.....

I knocked on this door, when I was house shopping. I had to then go dig up a retired Realtor that I knew from my flooring days to do the paper work.

I did all the work, after the close he called me up trying to chisel 1.5% out of me, because the selling agent agreed to the sale with the provisions that he and the buyers agent would split 3%.

And to be honest, neither of those knucleheads were needed. I hired a RE attorney to do the title.

CaptainShuddup says

And to be honest, neither of those knucleheads were needed. I hired a RE attorney to do the title.

You would have needed an attorney or title company to "do the title" whether you had an real estate agent or not.

I look through my cousin's MLS listings, simply because I can. Here is a source that makes it ridiculously easy: Owners Realty, Inc. They are listed on redfin, etc. Just like any other listing, but they are a realty group for owners. Okay, so now why would you use a realtor? Glad my cousin doesn't read Patrick.net, she would be so angry with me, but the truth is her job is almost pointless.

These kind of stunts are what prolong the scandal.

Well you know its weird when the media covers a bridge blocking fairytale for 2 months, and then covers the invasion of a sovereign country for 2 weeks.

I'm married to the best man on earth and he never does anything but support my crazy ideas, so the last part, no, not personally. ;-)

My university just hosted the His Holiness the Dali lama. The Dali lama spoke about the ways we could bring ethics back to business, and the duty of each individual to boycott businesses that deal in slavery, child servitude and environmental pollution. It was a wonderful talk. Maybe someone recorded it? I think you would really enjoy his positive outlook and his many solutions to help cure the business world.

I will find out if it was recorded and post the link.

hrhjuliet says

Why do the sellers have to use MLS. Hey technical patrick.net people, create a new listing service. Charge a small fee to list and make it mega user friendly. Lawyers and paralegals could advertise their services the way real estate agents do. patrick should do it. We would all help, right?

there are many fsbo sites already, but realtors use fear, uncertainty, and doubt to get sellers to use them. classic fear line: "the biggest financial decision you'll ever make..."

sellers also figure that they can perhaps also benefit from the dishonesty of realtor games.

a big problem with fsbo sites: they generally don't share listings with each other, so the total number of properties on them is small. they are all afraid of being made irrelevant by sharing, and so they make themselves irrelevant by not sharing. ironic.

but if could find some compelling alternative system that i thought most sellers would use, i'd definite work on it.

The ones who make a sound like flushing toilet and ask for more.

Gees, what finishing school did you go to?

Not enough choices. :)

Sad, but true. :-(

I do believe moral businesses will find our way back into our world, we just have to help foster them, and boycott the wrong doers.

The nice thing about Owners Realty, Inc, is you can utilize Zillow and all the rest. Your listing will be treated just the same as the realtors.

Too many involved. Someone will take a plea bargain.

FSBO is the only way.

There is absolutely no need to pay someone 6% to provide a form you can download yourself or buy at an office supply. If there's a question, see a RE attorney. Always go through a title company (required if there's a loan involved).

The interwebs are awesome for marketing. Before that, there was the newspaper.

there are many fsbo sites already, but realtors use fear, uncertainty, and doubt to get sellers to use them. classic fear line: "the biggest financial decision you'll ever make..."

It is not a case of "fear" etc that prevents people from using FSBO sites, rather that the FSBO sites solve the wrong problem. We do not need a site that sellers want to use, we need a site that BUYERS want to use.

Unfortunately, too few serious buyers use FSBO sites. But using a FSBO site will attract lookie loos, unrealistic bargain hunters, and realtors hustling listings. Same with newspaper ads.

elliemae says

There is absolutely no need to pay someone 6% to provide a form you can download yourself or buy at an office supply.

The need for a realtor has nothing do to with the seller's ability to "download a contract" or any other incidental to the sale. If a seller can find a buyer, then the seller does not need a realtor. ALL A REALTOR DOES IS FIND A BUYER. Don't be confused because the realtor supplies a listing contract and a sales contract. These contracts are mainly to protect the realtor's interest.

That's why it's best to go through a group that lists through MLS, until someone creates a MLS that is made for owners AND sellers. For now it's actually VERY simple. Pay $295 to be listed on MLS through http://www.homeownersrealty.com/system/login.aspx?redir=&msg=You+must+have+paid+access+to+use+this+feature.
There are other sites like this.

Host a few open houses (your open house dates and times show up on Zillow this way just like anyone else) and take some great pictures. Leave a contact number or email, done.

Find a seller, use a title company or lawyer. Pay about $300 for that. Done.

Naturally, the real estate agents want you to think it's harder than that. It's not.