patrick.net

It's pretty simple. Just find a realtor that will only work one side of any deal. If they will represent both sides (buyer and seller) they are self serving crooks and have no integrity regardless of what they say. Good Luck with that search!

It is not sufficient to get an agent that will only work one side of the deal. In fact, it can be counterproductive.

It is still the case that the agent will be more interested in getting a deal done, any deal, than whether it is a good deal for you.

This is the nature of agency. The only way to get around it is to use no agent. This is difficult if the seller already has a contract (a.k.a. listing) with an agent. In that case, you may in fact be better off using that agent also as your own. As long as you do not offer more than you ought to, and you are able to work around the problem of whether the agent is withholding crucial information from you, this may be the best way to go.

Are you looking in OC,Socal?

The only honest real estate agent is one that will work by the hour. But most people don't want to pay them by the hour, no matter how much cheaper it is.

Anyone know of a good site to check on real estate agent reviews? I swear, I haven’t met one honest real estate agent yet in my area.

The whole process of buying is broken, and needs to be fixed. So looking up a website to find an 'honest realtor" is useless. Fix the process you fix the behavior of realtors.

TW, couldn't agree more. It is the structure of the whole market that is wrong.

Same story as in many other aspects of society.

Obligatory:

The only honest realtor is a dead realtor.

OCMonitor, if I were seriously buying I would use Redfin. I have checked them out - registered with them and had them show me one house recently. I asked the agent a lot of questions about the company and the key point for me was this: They DO NOT work on commission. They take the buyer side commission and pay you back half of it. Then, they use the other half to fund corporate operations, NOT to pay a commission to the agent. The agents are employees, salaried. And FWIW, the agent sent me all the disclosures, even though I was clearly not that interested.

They seem to be buyer focused. If Redfin is in your area, I would check them out. There may be a downside where some agents won't want to work with them.

Though Redfin claims the agents do not get paid on commission, I'm presuming their salary is quite high and some sort of quota may be in place. I've seen some turn over of agents. But we will never know whether they were booted for low performance, or if he found another commission based opportunity.

Vain says

Though Redfin claims the agents do not get paid on commission, I’m presuming their salary is quite high and some sort of quota may be in place. I’ve seen some turn over of agents. But we will never know whether they were booted for low performance, or if he found another commission based opportunity.

I would actually guess the opposite, or let's say a modest salary. As someone who has done (technology) sales in the past, you either make a lower 'set' salary without the big potential and get more security/stability or you live on commissions, where your potential for income is much higher (think sales engineers v. 'account execs'). I had the impression they are more like sales engineers. The turnover may have to do with lower earning potential.

Only the Redfin people know for sure.

Vain says

Though Redfin claims the agents do not get paid on commission, I’m presuming their salary is quite high and some sort of quota may be in place. I’ve seen some turn over of agents. But we will never know whether they were booted for low performance, or if he found another commission based opportunity.

Same model as Charles Schwab... maximize IT assets/systems and thus lower human labor costs (commissions) providing lower costs to buyer/seller but providing a reason income to your account reps.

Nomograph says

What would be a reasonable hourly wage for a RE agent?

Leave that to the market to handle. Many of the RE agents call themself free agents so
let them compete for clients.

I really don't have a problem with a sell-side realwhore pulling a commission. Then you know that they are going to do everything in their power to maximize the value and visibility of the listing. Buyer be damned, I say let them pull out all the stops and get everything they can for the house, thus everything they can for their commission. I agree that buy-side realtors should work by the hour, or with some other agreement, but definitely not on commission. It is an out and out conflict of interest and should be Illegal like it is in many other countries.