I AM YOUR ADVANTAGE

Are Realtors overpaid?

“Another day and another person who says Realtors are overpaid and an unnecessary part of a transaction...I’m assuming that those who think this have either been watching too much Million Dollar Listing or think they know how to do it on their own. A few things to consider:

Yes, we did choose to sell real estate. It’s a career which allows virtually uncapped growth and income potential. But we also have to be available at any time of the day when needed. Whether it’s showing homes at 7pm, writing offers at 11 pm or doing final walk-through at 8am. We’re there when we’re needed.

So before you tell another one of us we make too much money and aren’t really needed anymore, I encourage you to do this. Get your real estate license, start lead generating, and find clients who trust you. Make sure you know not only what goes in the blanks of the contracts, but also what the promulgated parts of them say. Learn what happens once you write a contract, and what vendor partners are a good fit and who’s a scam. Try and keep deals together when they’re about to go south with critical thinking skills while staying within legal parameters. Educate the clients about what’s gonna happen after they close and what to expect in the couple years to come. Realize there is real risk in driving all those miles, giving up all that time, spending money on your clients, only for them to change their minds and there is no paycheck at all. Then listen as others tell you the money you’ve been paid is too much and they could do what you’ve done.”

-unknown

WITH A PROFESSIONAL COMES EXPERTISE

“I work for both buyers and sellers. I tell my buyers that I don't find them a home. With Zillow and other IDX sites, more often than not any serious buyer will see a property nearly as soon as I do. I may come across an off market home in my market, but we have very low inventory so that is a small likelihood when coupled with a buyer's preferences. What I offer is expertise. Without giving a full sales pitch, the reality is that it's a complicated process unless you've done it a few times. When you add in market expertise, and it's a valuable service. I help prep a reasonable offer, I work with the other agent to make sure our offer is viewed in a favorable light (within reason), and I make sure that the other agent gives me the info we need to make a winning offer. Starting off on the right foot even before we make an offer can help a lot. We can also provide a smooth transition into escrow and inspections. And, last but not least, we're on top of market issues for our area.

I often liken it to doing your own brake job. Yeah, you can do it yourself. You can get or rent the tools, look up the details online, and spend a full day doing it after buying (hopefully) the right parts. But if something goes wrong, you could have a really bad day. So, in my experience, it's worth paying a professional even though I've done it myself. Saves you time, trouble, and you don't have to worry about trying to fit under a car.”

-unknown

BUYERS AGENTS ARE UNNECESSARY?

“Most of what buyers agents do are put fires out. Make sure things are going as they should, find problems before they become issues and know how to fix them before they do. The buyers agent is the one that navigates and controls the deal from offer to closing pretty much exclusively. Once a contract is signed the entirety of the deal is in the buyers agents hands to make it happen. This all happens outside of the pervue of the buyer. Good ones know the ins and outs of negotiating and how to get the best deal possible on any particular house. Which is very rarely cost or money. They know how to structure an offer in a way that gets the foot in the door and know how to navigate the conversation of money with their buyer in a way where the buyer feels they're understood and getting what they want even when getting the offer accepted is very rarely about money. They have good relationships with other agents, attorneys, inspectors, mortgage companies, and appraisers which many times comes in handy on an otherwise no sale situation. They control the flow of information between all parties relevant to the deal and disseminate that to buyers and sellers agents in a timely manner in order to get the deal done. They listen to and care about their buyers needs and know how to help them achieve it. Finding a house and putting an offer in on it is like stretching before a workout. The hard part hasn't even started yet.”

-unknown

Some insight into the job…

“The value of what we do is not always tangible and a lot of the work goes on behind the scenes that buyers are completely oblivious to. Everyone thinks that everyone else's job is easier than it actually is, but most other occupations don't have their salaries discussed publicly or reality shows that make it look like we all get filthy rich for doing nothing I'll be the first to admit that there are plenty of really awful agents that give the rest of us a bad name—I think many of those will be weeded out here soon. This is long but hopefully it helps people understand some of what we actually do.

1. Finding listings is only a small fraction of what we do and not where our value really comes into play. Technology has made it to where any consumer can easily see every new listing on the MLS on a free app. You don't need a buyer's agent to find listings. The flip side is that buyers can feel overwhelmed with the choices, so I help point out red flags before they waste their time driving out to a property that isn't a good investment for them. And when we are looking at 5+ properties in a day, I have tools that help me schedule around the availability of the various listings and plan an efficient route. Not a huge deal, but it can actually be super frustrating to figure out the chess game of appointments when there are limited appointment times.

2. Driving around and opening doors is easy, obviously. But being able to scrutinize a house and notice details and red flags that most people overlook only comes with experience and training. I know infinitely more about what to look for after reading tons of inspection reports and seeing thousands of homes at various price points. Sometimes it's pointing out red flags. Sometimes it's pointing out an extra efficient or expensive system/appliance that looks the same as others (like a Mitsubishi ducted heat pump can handle frigid temps, whereas some others will require a backup gas furnace to use during extreme cold). Sometimes it's pointing things out that the seller likely won't be willing to negotiate for, but that the buyer should be aware of so they can take that into consideration with their offer. Sometimes it's pointing out things that will require an expense down the road (for example, can the electric panel handle adding A/C? Is the amp service proficient? If not, you're looking at an extra $6K to upgrade the service and switch out the panel on top of adding the A/C).

3. Writing an offer is easy - just fill in the blanks. Knowing how to word things in a way that protects your buyer is different. If I'm a listing agent writing contracts for an unrepresented buyer, I'm going going to write exactly what they tell me to because I'm not paid to advise them against my seller. Offers and addendums throughout the transaction are time sensitive, so I have to be available around the clock. I've written contracts on boats, in line at Disneyland when I'm on vacation, or on the side of the road. I love camping, but rarely go on camping trips anymore because I can't get cell signal to keep in touch with my clients. Most of the action happens on evenings and weekend by the nature of real estate. So if you're paying a lawyer to write contracts for you and something comes up outside of their office hours or when they are unavailable, it can mean losing out on your dream home. Or in extreme circumstances, missing a deadline that has dire financial consequences.

4. Finding a lender is easy, they are everywhere. But knowing which lenders have programs for different situations that will benefit my buyers comes with experience and networking. I had a self-employed buyer who was struggling to get pre-approved because her income varied so much. She spent months talking to different lenders and could only get approved for $350K (which will only get you a fixer on the outskirts of town). I knew a lender that specialized in self-employed individuals who got her approved and fully underwritten (meaning the loan is almost certain to go through) for $100K more. Got her into a super cute move-in ready house 2 weeks later, just before the interest rates spiked. I know a lender who has access to a special program with rates .5% lower than anything I've seen elsewhere. That alone saves those clients a bunch of money every month.

5. There is an art to getting offers accepted. During the pandemic buying frenzy, it was common to hear about buyers offering on 10+ homes before they got an offer accepted. Even at the hottest point in the market, I never had a buyer have to write more than 2 offers. I put in a LOT of extra time communicating with the listing agent and creating offer packets with additional material that makes us look like the most reliable choice. I know the right things to say/not to say depending on the circumstances and I'm good at picking up on nuances in tone, which helps me know what we need to do. Over the past 2 years since I started keeping this stat, just over 30% of the offers I got accepted were not the highest initial amount. Some of the reasons we got ours accepted over others include: working with a more reputable lender, being the only agent who saw the house in person and educated my buyers on some of the "old house quirks" that they should expect, being more pleasant and responsive than the agent with the highest offer, the letter I write on behalf of my buyers. There was a point in time where the interest rates rose every day and prices increased weekly, so losing out on 5 houses meant that you were paying significantly more per month than you would have had you gotten into contract a few weeks prior.

6. Finding an inspector is easy, but I know the good ones. My favorite inspector is brilliant and super thorough, so she catches things that others would overlook. She's helped me explain issues to clients that were about to buy a total dud that I'd tried to convince them not to offer on, but they insisted. My inspector and I were finally able to talk her out of moving forward. That house would have ruined my client's life, but she was so emotionally attached to it that she wasn't seeing clearly. We got her into another house a week later in the same area that was SO MUCH better and cost less money.

7. Getting contractors and specialists in to look at a house and provide a bid with a quick turn around is tough. Many refuse to deal with houses under contract because they know it's just for negotiation, but I have my network of folks who will do me a solid because I send them a lot of actual business. I know which companies to call based on what is most strategic for negotiation purposes. Negotiating is a delicate dance. You have to build a case to justify repairs vs what can be considered an upgrade, why the purchase price is too high based on the repair needs, and why the seller would be better off accepting our requests instead of going back on the market. You need to know which items flagged in the inspection report are typical for a house of that age and price point versus which ones are valid requests that won't make you look absurd. You have to know how to do all of this without offending the seller, because they might just stop wanting to compromise at all if they get frustrated enough.

8. The escrow process involves a lot of moving parts and pieces. The deadlines are important. I have guides and automated emails that go out at various points in the transaction so that my buyers know what's going on and give them additional resources to help them understand it all - they are never left in the dark. I'm having frequent conversations with their lender and the title company. Sometimes there's some problem solving to be done behind the scenes, but I deal with that to take the stress off my buyer's plate. They usually don't even realize a lot of what's happening on the back end unless there's a major problem where action on their part is needed.

9. Back to my contractor network - my past clients can always reach out to me after they close when they need recommendations. Last month, I saved two of my clients $14K and $16K, respectively, because they'd gotten a bogus plumbing bid for work that wasn't necessary. They had no idea, but I looked the bids over and knew it wasn't right. Connected them with my favorite plumber (who is highly skilled but doesn't advertise) who came out immediately and fixed each of their problems for a few hundred bucks. A couple months ago I had a client who was told by an HVAC company that their heat exchanger was cracked and that they needed to replace their furnace for $8K. I thought it sounded sketchy so I had my favorite HVAC specialist come out and they confirmed that there was no issue with the heat exchanger and that the "crack" was a tiny rust spot. I had the scam company refund the money they paid for the visit and my client continues to have a perfectly functional furnace. I get trade discounts with a lot of vendors that I pass onto my past clients as well. I'm available to consult them with renovations if they want to know what will help their house value most. My service doesn't end at the closing table for my clients and they continue to benefit for years to come.
   
   

To be honest, it makes me pretty sad to read all the anti-Realtor rhetoric out there because I work tirelessly for my clients and sacrifice a lot in my personal life to make sure they are taken care of. I've worked with some really lazy agents and ones that don't know what they are doing, but my market in Portland is full of really excellent agents who provide so much value.”

-unknown

TO THE ATTORNEY THAT SAID REALTORS ARE OVERPAID…

“I can’t wait until people start getting invoices from their attorney for writing up an offer on a Sunday night at 7 pm and then having a call with buyer at 10 pm because that’s the only time they can talk after their kids are in bed and offers are due at 9 am Monday morning.”

-unknown

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

“Before you go and ask for a discount on your commission from a Realtor, please understand what you're truly asking for them to do...and ask yourself this question: If your boss came to you and asked you to work overtime, but wasn't going to compensate you for doing so, would you do it?”

-unknown