Timeline for When buying a property, is your agent's incentive contrary to yours?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
24 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2, 2021 at 11:32 | answer | added | gnasher729 | timeline score: 0 | |
| Sep 29, 2021 at 21:45 | answer | added | blankip | timeline score: 3 | |
| Sep 29, 2021 at 21:33 | comment | added | blankip | @MarkRogers - not really true. Agents understand there is a window and if client doesn't find something they may move onto another agent and get nothing. There is almost no safety net for a buyer's agent. | |
| Sep 29, 2021 at 21:03 | comment | added | Dai | @alephzero Counter-example: agents have a rating/score on Zillow, and major property developer companies (Toll Brothers, Quadrant Homes, etc) are the original sellers ("merchants" in your words) who, while still working with independent agents, presumably want to maintain positive long-term, working relationships with those agents (and vice-versa) so it's not like they're entirely unaccountable - but I agree the system needs reform (and as a Brit expat in the US who bought a home in Seattle, I can say it's downright weird compared to the rest of the world). | |
| Sep 29, 2021 at 16:12 | answer | added | Phil | timeline score: 0 | |
| Sep 29, 2021 at 6:23 | answer | added | Don Hunt | timeline score: -1 | |
| Sep 29, 2021 at 0:55 | comment | added | alephzero | The only motivation of the agents is to maximize their own earnings. The real estate market is fundamentally different from many commercial activities, in that the merchants (a.k.a. the agents) gain no advantage from building "reputation" in order to get "repeat business." If your supermarket screws you financially over your weekly grocery shop, you simply go to a different supermarket next week. If you have just bought a house, you are unlikely to buy another one for several years, and most likely your next purchase will be in a different location using different agents in any case. | |
| Sep 28, 2021 at 20:45 | vote | accept | Alexander | ||
| Sep 28, 2021 at 19:22 | comment | added | Eric Duminil | @user84207: There's nothing to see, it's an empty list. Where I live, agents cannot be held responsible for anything, unlike notaries, for example. | |
| Sep 28, 2021 at 18:56 | comment | added | IMSoP | It's worth noting that this varies a lot from country to country - in the UK, there is generally no such thing as a "buyer's agent", the buyer approaches a selling agent directly. The selling agent is incentivised to get the highest price possible, but also to close the sale so that the seller doesn't re-list with a different agent. | |
| Sep 28, 2021 at 18:54 | comment | added | Kat | I'm pretty sure this is a duplicate, but I'm on mobile and it's hard to mark questions as dupes through the app. | |
| Sep 28, 2021 at 18:50 | comment | added | user84207 | @EricDuminil where is the "comprehensive list of lies they're not allowed to tell" that you referenced? I don't see it in your comment | |
| Sep 28, 2021 at 15:50 | comment | added | jez | The conflict is potentially present with a lot of service providers (I have felt the same about lawyers in some circumstances) but it is held in check by their need to maintain a good professional reputation by encouraging word-of-mouth recommendations and positive reviews—to say nothing of repeat business, which is significant for realtors in some markets. | |
| Sep 28, 2021 at 13:55 | comment | added | Mark Rogers | I believe that agents typically want a higher commission and a fast one. So getting you to pay quickly and highly serves them. Of course, if you balk at the price, then it also doesn't serve them. So I think ideally they want a sale to be fast. They would prefer if they can get their commission with a limited investment of time. If I was an agent I would value speed over price, because then I could start focusing on another client. Of course if your their only customer then they want a high commission. | |
| Sep 28, 2021 at 7:29 | comment | added | Eric Duminil | Where I live, agents get 3.57% from both sides, so it's hard to guess who they are actually working for, except themselves. Their job is basically "sell 14 properties, get one for free". Finally, here's a comprehensive list of lies they're not allowed to tell, as well as a list of everything they will be held responsible for if there's a problem with the transaction : . | |
| Sep 28, 2021 at 5:24 | comment | added | user12515 | Not an answer, but in my (limited) experience, the listing (selling) agent will often offer the buyer's agent (via a "who brings a buyer") a larger percentage of the split, for instance if they charge 5% they might advertise they will only keep 2% leaving 3% for the buyer's agent. This might offset the effect you are worried about. | |
| Sep 27, 2021 at 13:47 | answer | added | R. Hamilton | timeline score: 6 | |
| Sep 27, 2021 at 13:14 | answer | added | Dmitry Grigoryev | timeline score: 0 | |
| Sep 27, 2021 at 12:42 | answer | added | R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE | timeline score: 4 | |
| Sep 27, 2021 at 9:00 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/StackFinance/status/1442413724803948544 | ||
| Sep 27, 2021 at 7:39 | history | became hot network question | |||
| Sep 27, 2021 at 2:49 | answer | added | Hart CO | timeline score: 72 | |
| Sep 27, 2021 at 2:48 | answer | added | minou | timeline score: 11 | |
| Sep 26, 2021 at 23:37 | history | asked | Alexander | CC BY-SA 4.0 |