What does this post have to do with Hamptons Real Estate? Yes, I know, we are so very extraordinary and no other market in the world is like ours. True, we are very special and unique. That being said, so are Manhattan, Santa Barbara, Key West and Nantucket. And they put their pants on one leg at a time, just like we do. All politics and real estate are local, but the 80/20 rule applies and 80% of real estate is done the same way everywhere, whether it is done with dollars or pounds, in English or in French. Property, sellers, agents, buyers. We need to be smart enough to enjoy our uniqueness, but see the leverage of using tools and practices that work the world over. md
Where Trulia Went Right…Trulia has built relationships with many of the most highly-respected figures in the real estate industry. Pete Flint, Trulia.com’s founder and CEO, is a true diplomat and politician. Also, he is clearly able to articulate his vision in a way that excites people and engages them.
TOP INDEPENDENT AND FRANCHISE BROKER EXECUTIVES TO JOIN TRULIA.COM REAL ESTATE ADVISORY BOARD RISMEDIA, April 11, 2007-Trulia.com, the national residential real estate search engine, announces the addition of four highly respected real estate industry executives to its Real Estate Advisory Board… Hanna, Phillips, Saunders and Therrien join fellow broker and industry leaders from across the country including: Anthony Azar, CEO, Realty Executives Southern Arizona; Sherry Chris, COO, Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corporation; Bill Plattos, COO and general manager, First Team Real Estate; Van Davis, consultant and Former CEO, Foxtons; Michael Koval, SVP and CIO, Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc.; Jonathan Miller, president/CEO, Miller Samuel Inc.; Robert Moles, chairman, Intero Real Estate Services; Steve Ozonian, chairman, Realty Information Systems Inc./Help-U-Sell Real Estate; Michael Pappas, president, The Keyes Company; Bob Peltier, president, Edina Realty, Inc; and Kaira Rouda, COO, Real Living, Inc. more here
…and where Zillow went wrong…Zillow has not followed Trulia’s example of relationship-building. They have tried to step over the largest group of independent business people in the US (Realtors) and form direct relationships with the consumer that supercede the Realtor. They wore on their chests as a medal the fact that they put tens of thousands of travel agents out of business with Expedia.com.
The idea behind Zillow is very clever indeed; however, the execution of the idea was not very clever at all. Arrogance has its price. See Chicken and Real Estate. md
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April 12, 2007 at 5:46 pm
Chewie
Real estate agents are inherantly biased. They need the deal to get done to get paid. They don’t need a good deal, just a closed deal.
Maybe Zillow avoided them for a reason.
April 12, 2007 at 8:39 pm
Michael Daly
So are website developers, doctors, lawyers and priests. Your point?
April 12, 2007 at 9:42 pm
Gary Volts
If you want to give independant data, you don’t partner with shills. The fact they bypassed the middle men puts them higher in in my view. RE agents are in the business of dis-information, its all about the deal and their rediculous commision. “Its a great time to buy AND sell real estate.” And this BS about everything is local- what about credit bubbles?
April 13, 2007 at 2:39 am
JP in Newport Beach
Michael, how much did Real Estate agents costs go up in the last 7 years? Why should they suck 6% of the profit out of the current homeseller when their commission on the same house 7 years ago would have been magnitudes of order lower. Why is it that on the largest transactions in people lives the masses pay 6%. Since your on the East Coast possibly you have heard of John Bogle of Vanguard mutual funds fame. Big time advocate of low cost investing. As any astute investor knows …home values over the long term basically track inflation ..yes there are anomalies. Why should a homebuyer pay 6% if you can buy ETF’s and mutual funds for a .18 expense ratio.
April 13, 2007 at 10:43 am
Andre
JP - interesting post.
The question of the value of our commission is always hysterical to me. First off, there is no industry standard for commission. Many brokers and agents take commissions as low as 1%, the average is NYC is probably more around 4.5-5% (people even pay 10%)…. commissions are always negotiable under NYS law.
that being said: to answer your question as per our “sucking 6%”
First off, for you it may be “profit” the typical homebuyer buys a home because they love it, they want to raise a family there, they want the area conveniences. An investor watches every dollar, and probably has the time to do the level of research, adn tactics to get top dollar or find a good cheap property - that is a FSBO.
But here are a few ways to think of why people pay a commission - any commission:
Because if you are a Doctor, Lawyer, Investment banker, even a school teacher, or cop - how valuable is YOUR time? With your family, kids, past times, etc.. or With work, rewriting contracts, negotiating deals…making $$ for yourself. Would you be doing yourself a service by scheduling showings for your house, running credit checks, waiting for people that don’t show up? telling a total stranger that you won’t be home today b/c you’re at work late….If you add up the hours of opportunity cost/risk - the fee you pay the broker for selling your home is actually nominal. Especially considering that the typical property sold by a broker sells for an average of thirteen percent more than homes sold by an inexperienced FSBO. It’s pretty much the same story every year this topic is studied. (source 2005 NAR seller/buyer report)
Ask yourself the following questions - Write the Answers down:
Where did you buy your last car? through a dealer or through the used car section of the paper/ebay or other website?
Then ask yourself - Why you chose the route you did? Was it cheaper? Did you trust it more, did you feel like you could haggle the best price? etc… convenient?
Then scratch out the word car - and put in house - for the reasons, and use broker/FSBO for the sources…. it should spell itself out if you are honest. With either answer.
April 13, 2007 at 8:07 pm
Seth Winkleman
Andre,
You hit the nail on the head! The funny thing about Real Estate is consaumers think that we do nothing! There is alot more to selling a house than just signing the papers. I spend hours each week working on one property trying to get it sold. I call my customers at least once a week to let them know the status and what I am doing to get it sold.
As for dis-information?? As a buyer’s agent you are ALWAYS looking out for their interests, not sure why you wouldn’t? As for a Seller’s agent, we are not supposed to tell the buyer’s everything. We MUST disclose defects to the property. I am not sure if disclosing to the buyer the lowest price my seller would take would be disinformation? I think it would be protecting my seller’s interests!
April 14, 2007 at 9:26 am
Michael Daly
Seth and Andre, thanks for stepping up!
You know, I resent those agents who spread disinformation and conduct their business in a disengenuious way as much as Chewie, Gary and JP. Good lawyers despise “ambulance chasers” as well. It’s tough to listen to over generalizations about our profession at times, but if we can’t stand the heat, then I suppose we should get out of the kitchen. I like it hot and I love my business.
I invite anyone who has had bad experiences with real estate agents to contact me at md@route27realty.com - I will do my best to find them an agent in their market that is professional, honest and ethical.
No one should have to deal with professionals in any line of work they don’t trust. md
May 1, 2007 at 1:58 pm
Long Island Blog » Which real estate search engine best for Long Island?
[...] the Hamptons Real Estate Blog posted a commentary on the leading real estate search engines, “Where Trulia Went Right…and where Zillow went wrong“. Only one main point was made - Trulia.com is better than Zillow.com because Trulia has [...]