patrick.net

A lot of people assume that realtors have a crystal ball and can predict what's going to happen. We are just like everybody else and have no idea what the future holds. What we can do, is give opinions (just like anyone else) that are based on what we are seeing. As with layman, 100 different realtors will have 100 different opinions about the same thing. As a buyer or seller, your job is to interview as many realtors as possible and find the one who's opinions you trust. Still no guarantee that they will be right but at least you're relying on someone who is following the market daily and seeing first hand what is going on out in the streets. Hey, if realtors all knew what was going to happen next do you think we'd still need to be working for a living?

Unfortunately it's really difficult to get a straight answer out of someone whose earns money on making sales to make a living. There's not going to be a lot of Realtors that turn all there clients away and tell them that your better off waiting until next year or two years from now. What do you expect the Realtor to eat in the mean time? At some point the Realtor has to put there own interests ahead of yours. I'm not saying all Realtor are bad or evil, it's just that you need to keep in mind that Realtors have motives as well, after all they have to eat too. No salesman stays employed very long if he re-directs all his customers down the street where they can get it cheaper.

If you buy into the notion Realtors are even necessary then I agree with TechGromit.
How ever they aren't.

I can see the health of the market on line, I can even see a sales heat map at my local county Tax roll website. I can do all of the leg work the Realtor has done, the seller can list on millions of online websites. There's just no need for a Realtor in 90% of the transactions.

Good or Bad is irrelevant. I bet I am one hell of a Ice deliveryman too, that doesn't mean anybody needs Ice for their Icebox delivered.

E-man says

He recently brought me an REO deal. I told him to cut his asking price buy 25% and we got a deal. Basically I want early 2009 price. Never heard from him again :o)

Do realwhores set the prices of REO's?

Conejo Valley Agent says

Just like any other profession, there are several uninformed, unethical agents out there. I however, would like to make a case for those of us who work our butts off to serve our clients. I am constantly watching the market and updating my community at...

Wow. You're, like, so awesome & stuff. Are you trolling here because you want to help each & every one of us to see that you're a glowing example of a good realwhore - or are you here to siphon some of the patnet readers to your facebook page?

Your $51k reduction example would have been more impressive if...
Conejo Valley Agent says

Just last week I posted an REO in Oak Park, CA which had a price reduction of $51k. Although none of my clients were looking in this area, the house did sell in 5 days after having been sitting on the market for 5 months. Obviously, I am not the only one that thought this was a great deal and had any of my client ended up buying, I think a $51k savings definitely deserves some credit. All I’m saying is that there are some of us out here who do take our jobs seriously and I think deserve some slack.

...it made any sense.

Did it sell because of your post? Did you have anything to do with the price reduction? Did any of your clients buy it? How is it "obvious that you aren't the only one that thought it was a great deal?"

I'm yet to see how you are deserving of some slack...

I'll agree that in any field, there are some outstanding professionals who go above and beyond, some dirt-bags that would sell their mothers cow for a hill of magic beans, while the majority are somewhere in between.

The real estate agents finds him or herself in a changing industry that is also undergoing a massive deleveraging.

By changing I am referring to the fact that information that historically was only readily accessible to Realtor in years past (price history, sales history, comps, ect.) is now becoming part of the electronic public record as more and more counties and localities enter the digital age. For my county, with only a street name (not even a full address) I can usually find the section block and lot, tax history, owner history, sale history, etc. on a property in about 15 minutes.

It has gotten to the point that more and more I find myself with MORE information than my agent when I go to see a property. Other than getting me in the door, and writing up an offer on his letterhead - what service has he provided? Not as much as ten years ago - when public records and information were harder to come by.

Also, it has always amazed me that, for a field that helps many make the biggest purchase of their lives, a relatively minimal amount of education is required. Don't get me wrong - I know that becoming a broker of your own firm takes time and experience and there are continuing ed requirements. But to get your basic license to become an entry level sales person - generally 48 hours of course work are needed. Compared to other license professions, the barrier to entry into the field is surprisingly low.

Just my two cents.

EastCoastBubbleBoy says

Just my two cents.

Question, with inflation two cents is pretty much worthless now. So does that mean your comment is worthless? :)

E-man says

How did the talk with your agent go? I hope it went well. Tough it out man, sounds like it’s a bad time to be selling in your neck of the woods. Very nice lot size you got there. My goal is to own one of those homes with a nice size lot in the Bay Area one of these days :o)

The Wife changes her mind more often than a schizophrenic. Despite nothing but crap in our price range she now thinks it might be better to get out if we can, rent, pay off our credit cards and save for a house as the market continues to deteriorate. On the one hand I really like the house we have and would like to keep it, on the other hand, there isn't an easy way out of our current money situation in the near future. Without the house it will take 18 months to be free and clear of Credit card bills, with the house probably somewhere around 5 years, and I need to replace my car sometime soon within the next few years.

I'll just keep my fingers crossed that no one is going to pay list price for the house.

From what I can tell, the lenders, banks, and RE agents are perpetuating "extend and pretend" to forestall a day of reckoning, in hopes that the government or a rebounding economy will bail them out of their huge distressed shadow inventory. However, this is becoming increasingly unlikely, and I think it is in their own best interests to be the first to sell-off, and sell-off big, before a larger collapse hits. The key is to be the "biggest loser" in terms of unloading non-performing assets. I think some people in the banks know this, and are postponing the sell-off only until the end of the fiscal year so their bonuses will not get thrashed. Once the bonuses are decided, the dogs will be unleashed for a race to unload all the properties ahead of the price-crash avalanche. Then, they can sail off into the sunset with their last big payday, or if they were relatively successful, stay on and take credit for their prescience.

E-man says

@ TechGromit,
Your situation is not very dire in my opinion. Your situation is one of the easiest problems I’ve seen when it comes to creative financing for a while.

I agree with you, your right, my situation isn't very dire. We are both still employed and will likely remain that way. The main cause my current financial headache is my wife. I showed her the numbers before we purchased the house, told her how tight things would be for while, but there something with women and numbers that don't add up. So after we brought the house and reality of not having money to eat out as often or shop as much, she sees the reality of the situation. Marriage was the worst financial decision I ever made. Before I was married I had a little house with a $750 a month mortgage (including taxes and insurance), zero credit card debt and a modest savings. After marriage, despite earning 3 times combined salary, we have a $2,800 mortgage, 30k in Credit card / loan debt and almost no saving to speak of. I even stopped putting into my 401k trying to get caught up. She father was all gong-ho on the stock market before, well he got wiped out, he's even in worse financial shape then us. Now she finally sees that debt is a bad thing and is a lot more careful with money, I only wish she didn't have to get hit by a bus to know that walking in front of speeding bus is bad.

I'm not in such a dire situation where I have to ask my parents for a loan. I never have before and don't plan on starting. I'm slowly gaining ground, in 5 years we will be in pretty good shape, that is if I don't kill my wife first :).

Good Agents? Sure there are.......

I had one Realtor who told me that she likes helping people and that is the reason she is a Realtor. What a load of crap.

Bankers and brokers also like to "help" people.

Next time you run into any of these good Samaritans. run like hell.

Patrick, can this entire thread be deleted? Basically the original post is a spam advertisement for this Realwhoreâ„¢'s Facebook page so that it can tell everyone, "It's a great time to buy!" I mean really, how much more transparent can it be than this. It's just another Realwhoreâ„¢ trying to get more business by promoting itself on a real estate blog.

Begone with you Con-a-ho Valley Agent! Go back to the abyss that has been prepared for you!

Did someone fart in this thread? I could have sworn that there is a familiar rank smell all of a sudden in this thread.