Lottttt of hate for realtors here. Sheesh.
I’m a Realtor and I just worked 2 12-hour days on Sat/Sun preparing for the offer I’m going to present on my clients’ behalf. And it’ll like be a few more days of intense focus to get this deal done for my client.
Scope of what I did: - Analyzed macro and micro pricing for product (q bed 1 bath), paying close attention to current economic trends, price per sqft trends. - Spoke to several agent colleagues and lender colleagues of mine to get real time feedback on what they are seeing in the market so we know what to expect come offer deadline - Reviewed disclosure package (prelim, termite, home, HOA documents — this adds up to hundreds of pages sometimes, and I look at EVERY detail THOROUGHLY). I provide a full written disclosure summary of everything important that I find. - Negotiated with listing agent to gauge competition so I can give meaningful feedback to my buyer (these phone calls did not amount to a lot of TIME, but I guarantee my negotiation skills are better than 90% of the buyers I work with. I know what questions to ask, how to respond to questions asked of me and what red flags to look out for). - Spoke to my brokers (who have 20+ years of experiencing selling RE) to get feedback on next steps and further strategize - Listened, counseled and UNDERSTOOD my buyer and his motivations so I can make sure buying this home is truly what he wants to do, given all of this information - Provided offer strategy ideas to my client based on his needs and the current negotiations - Advised on contingencies, contract risks / obligations and potential red flags - Connected with lender to ensure offer price makes sense financially for my client, giving him different pricing scenarios so he knows what to expect at different purchase prices if accepted
(And that’s just getting into contract. I negotiate throughout escrow and beyond for my clients. I help them with their move in / out and anything else they have questions with, after I get paid.)
I understand everyone’s frustrations. I really do, and I’m SORRY there are so many shitty realtors out there. It truly breaks my heart and I fight every day to bring this industry up to a better standard.
At the end of the day, this is a HUMAN business and I care about the people that work with me. They are my friends. The client I’m writing this offer for isn’t from here but moved to my state with an open heart and has given himself to this community. I want to fight to bring this person into a home and not some investor who doesn’t give 2 shits about San Francisco.
So I’m sorry, but I just don’t understand many of you here who think a good realtor isn’t worth valuable and all this shit is something you can just find online. Try doing that with your full-time job and vacations. Do you really want to spend all that time figuring this stuff out?
And yes, maybe the commission is too high, or maybe the structure should change. I don’t have the answers to that. But I’ll tell you this: I’m studying my craft every. single. day. so I can provide the most value to the people I help. And at the end of all that work, I truly don’t care if someone buys or sells. I only want what’s best for them; I’m just here to help them make the best decisions possible by giving them my experience.
And you can’t Google that.