patrick.net

realtor says

You know, Patrick could probably have gotten a huge amount of business from the between one and two million Realtors out there, surely his biggest potential market

Well, it is a good thing he isn't a complete sellout, like most realtwhores.

But he has expended a very great deal of time effort and money trying to convince everyone that we are all crooks, liars, and incompetent.

Please don't take credit from your colleagues in the world's (second) oldest profession. It wasn't Patrick that convinced me - it was the dedicated douche-baggery of the realtwhores that I ran into that allowed me to form this opinion.

How many “never do business with” lists do you suppose he is on. And do you expect us to be nicy nice when he unilaterally declared all out war on us.
Stephen Manion - Realtor, Broker

Ah - so you are a bully too. Keep talking - I think you are doing a better job of smearing mud on yourself.

realtor says

Go look at the graph that accompanies the article. It shows a downward blip in a continuing upward trend following a deep, prolonged and consistent decline. Nowhere in the month old article does it say anything about “HOME PRICES COLLAPSING AGAIN.”

As it relates to the Bay Area.... its a long correction, as some call it a crash.

As for South Miami.. :) By all means its a better time to buy...

realtor says

Who are the only competitors of his valuation business? We are. Coincidence? Surely you are not that naive.

I was running the housing crash site for four years before I thought of making a business out of comparing rents to prices.

So my dislike of realtors goes back a long way, and the business is just something I came up with that seemed to be on topic and useful. I still can't pay my rent with the little money I make from the site. So it's just been a labor of love (or hate, as you wish) for the most part.

I had such consistently bad experiences with realtors that I don't think I can ever be convinced they are on the buyer's side. Their financial motive is to trap people in as much debt as possible. That's how they get paid. More debt = higher commission. No purchase = no commission. So the buyer's agent has the opposite financial interest from his client. A built-in conflict.

It's a lousy business because of the way it's structured. If realtors were hourly I'd have a lot more respect for them.

Dear Stevie,

REturds suck dirty butt.

Regards,
Wyle E Coyote - Genius

it is absurd that reWHORES get paid based on sales amount. Absurd.

Perhaps in regions of the country where prices didnt inflate or crash we may find more
honest realtors, but where we have (had) highly inflated prices well above the norm,
realtors look at every home as a commission making machine. The ends justify the means
to pinch that extra $10K in commission. $1M sales gets you $60K right off the top.
Of course realtors want to keep prices inflated.

But this is what happens when you have a shift toward 'service economy'.

It’s a lousy business because of the way it’s structured. If realtors were hourly I’d have a lot more respect for them.

Realtors are commissioned salespeople.
Not inherently better or worse than others (autodealers, travel agents, and nearly all store sales clerks whose pay is at least partly based on commission). No one bashing realtors here has ever had a commissioned sales job?
Restaurant waiters and barmen mostly live from tips, which really is a commission on sales. No one here worked that in college?
Further, income of any business owner (including a doctor or dentist) directly depends on how much he sells. No one in that category?
For SW and other engineers, govt. contractors are commonly paid "cost-plus", meaning your profit is a fixed percentage of cost - the more it costs the client, the more you get. Nobody been on a govt. contract, either?

Neither me nor anyone in my family is or have been a realtor. But I'm against bashing them simply for the fact that their income is in proportion to the sales volume.

Fisk says

No one bashing realtors here has ever had a commissioned sales job?

Steering somebody into a nicer pair of shoes than they originally wanted is a *bit* different from roping them into a suicide loan on an $600,000 property that was going to collapse to half that in two years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ubsd-tWYmZw

Troy says

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ubsd-tWYmZw

I had viewed that long time ago, of course. The only one actually seen "roping" here is the wife, any impropriety by Suzanne is merely surmised. This flick is rather an indictment of wives and warning about marrying with care or not at all than an indictment of realtors and warning about bying overpriced RE.

Do you think that wife's extortion has been limited to a house, and not involving cars, jewelry, furniture and what not?

Fisk says

any impropriety by Suzanne is merely surmised

"Suzanne researched this!"

I had such consistently bad experiences with realtors that I don’t think I can ever be convinced they are on the buyer’s side. Their financial motive is to trap people in as much debt as possible. ... If realtors were hourly I’d have a lot more respect for them.

My partner and I had lousy experiences with realtors when we were shopping for a house during the 1980's Housing Bubble. As it turned out the home we picked out was FSBO which made me nervous as I didn't have anyone to hold accountable for problems, which is why we hired a lawyer who specialized in such matters to be our agent in the transaction.

thomas.wong1986 says

But this is what happens when you have a shift toward ’service economy’.

Prostitution is also a 'service economy', so I guess for those with lesser morals, it is only a few steps down from there to become a used-house-salesman.

Fisk says

Realtors are commissioned salespeople. ...

That is not justification enough to succumb to full-blown conflict of interest where you work against the interest of the buyer whom you purport to represent.

There are very few commissioned sales jobs in which the salesperson claims to represent the buyer. The only ones I can think of are some people I know in the arms-brokerage business - however, the buyer's agent in that case actually does work for the buyer and is subject to intense oversight and significant (sometimes life-threatening) penalties if they play fast-and-loose with conflicts of interest.

More silly nonsense coming from the Duck. Agent relationships are disclosed, in writing, and are subject to the approval of the client. If an agent represents BOTH parties in a transaction, they must disclose their "Dual-Agent" status to both parties. Dual agency is subject to the approval of both parties. If a client refuses this disclosed relationship, they are, by law, allowed to engage another agent that would exclusively represent them in the transaction.

Duck, if you think your post has any merit, why not organize a class action suit on behalf of all these imaginary clients that were misrepresented? Your wifey might even be able to collect some big attorney fees, which would allow you to buy up more over priced real estate.

native94027 says

thomas.wong1986 says

But this is what happens when you have a shift toward ’service economy’.

Prostitution is also a ’service economy’, so I guess for those with lesser morals, it is only a few steps down from there to become a used-house-salesman.

humor worthy of recognition! excellant!

realtor says

You know, Patrick could probably have gotten a huge amount of business from the between one and two million Realtors out there, surely his biggest potential market, if he made his system accurate and became property licensed to do appraisals. But he has expended a very great deal of time effort and money trying to convince everyone that we are all crooks, liars, and incompetent. A disinformation campaign any modern political consultant would be proud of. How many “never do business with” lists do you suppose he is on. And do you expect us to be nicy nice when he unilaterally declared all out war on us. Who are the only competitors of his valuation business? We are. Coincidence? Surely you are not that naive.
Stephen Manion - Realtor, Broker

Maybe he could have made cash from realtors... But money's not everything. Especially for those who want the truth.

Disinformation campaign? Surely you don't remember "buy now or be priced out forever" or "now is the best time to buy" being shoved down our throats by the NAR do you? How many years have they been spewing this garbage?

It's rants like yours that give realtors a bad name. Get over yourself.

I had such consistently bad experiences with realtors that I don’t think I can ever be convinced they are on the buyer’s side. Their financial motive is to trap people in as much debt as possible. That’s how they get paid. More debt = higher commission. No purchase = no commission. So the buyer’s agent has the opposite financial interest from his client. A built-in conflict.

Patrick,

I've given this a lot of thought and while I probably don't have as much experience dealing with these vermin as you do, I don't think that price is ultimately what they are chasing. It is my understanding that sure, the buyer's agent will push buyers to make a higher offer. That's not because it will make them an extra 50 bucks, it's because the seller is more likely to accept the offer. Quick closing, dollar cost averaging, etc. On the flip side, the selling agent will usually try to convince their sucker client to take the low offers. Losing 50 bucks is acceptable if it means having to not work another 5 hours or wait 3 months for the house to sell.

Always
Be
Closing

They're pencil-pushing middle-men that function to make sales happen and happen quickly. All would rather their clients agree to buy or sell at the first opportunity than let it drag out for several months. Obviously the interests of their clients come after their own, and they are often conflicting.

Fisk says

No one bashing realtors here has ever had a commissioned sales job?

Is there a commissioned job other than realtor where an uneducated sleazeball can make $30k for doing ten hours worth of work? I'd say normal sales people and waiters actually EARN their money.

native94027 says

Prostitution is also a ’service economy’, so I guess for those with lesser morals, it is only a few steps down from there to become a used-house-salesman.

A few? More like a thousand. Let's face it, you're not forced to pay for sex. In NAR's cartel, you're practically forced to pay your kid's college tuition to these fuckers just to sell your house.

Not just prices collapsing.
Homes are collapsing too.
My siblbing's Socal-Fortress hillside fortress is showing signs of slippage during the wet weather we're having.
Maybe oughta get all the HELOC they can from it and walk away from it before it slides away from them.

realtor says

es, and you can do so because I always put my real name over my writings. You know, Patrick could probably have gotten a huge amount of business from the between one and two million Realtors out there, surely his biggest potential market, if he made his system accurate and became property licensed to do appraisals. But he has expended a very great deal of time effort and money trying to convince everyone that we are all crooks, liars, and incompetent. A disinformation campaign any modern political consultant would be proud of. How many “never do business with” lists do you suppose he is on. And do you expect us to be nicy nice when he unilaterally declared all out war on us. Who are the only competitors of his valuation business? We are. Coincidence? Surely you are not that naive.

Stephen Manion - Realtor, Broker

you know what's hilarious?

if patrick were to sell a $1M house, i have no doubt you'd be the first in line to kiss his ass to get that commission.

realtor says

Yes, and you can do so because I always put my real name over my writings. You know, Patrick could probably have gotten a huge amount of business from the between one and two million Realtors out there, surely his biggest potential market, if he made his system accurate and became property licensed to do appraisals. But he has expended a very great deal of time effort and money trying to convince everyone that we are all crooks, liars, and incompetent. A disinformation campaign any modern political consultant would be proud of. How many “never do business with” lists do you suppose he is on. And do you expect us to be nicy nice when he unilaterally declared all out war on us. Who are the only competitors of his valuation business? We are. Coincidence? Surely you are not that naive.
Stephen Manion - Realtor, Broker

This was not very convincing...I would suggest that it is better to not argue a point if you can't supply a halfway compelling perspective. I'm just trying to imagine Patrick as an appraiser ... PatricK: "well, judging by rents - this home is worth 200,000 ... doubt the bank will approve your 450k loan, sorry" Buyers Agent: "He's off his gourd! I know a truly professional appraiser ... he'll swing by tomorrow and get an appraisal for 450k so you can move into your new, cozy HOME!"

Oh sorry ... didn't see where you said "make his service accurate" - the whole point of his system is that it IS accurate from the buyers perspective - if you'll be financially better off by renting than you will by buying, the 'accurate' prices given by the agents and their appraisers (using recent sales ... circular logic in my mind) are TOO HIGH. Naturally, from the seller's perspective the 'right' price is as much as can be obtained. BTW I do computer repair work for realtors and loan brokers, who are often infected by viruses (and potentially liable if private financial information from their clients, stored on these infected PCs, is leaked to identify thieves) - I charge 400$ per hour, which by my estimate is an excellent price for what you get (price is based upon going rate for such services, only one data point so far (mine) but I'm sure it's accurate).

Very simple. At the end it is all about supply and demand (domestic demand, excluding foreign cash buyers).

Most factors pointing to lower demand:
1. High unemployment rate
2. Rising interest rate
3. Would-be move-up buyers trapped with negative equity
4. High inflation in non-housing items such as energy and food
5. Less sub prime lending; fewer people qualify for mortgage

Most factors pointing to more supply:
1. Retiring baby boomers who need to trade down
2. Foreclosures and short sales; shadow inventory

There is no bottom until supply meets demand. Home prices cannot go up until demand out grows supply, or people's real income after tax after non-housing necessities go up.