Told Not To Use An Agent

Recently a lawyer wrote an opinion piece about how you should not use a real estate agent to help you buy a home. It is a bad idea to argue with lawyers, I don't like doing it. Sometimes it is necessary. While I am in opposition to the message, the article had at least one insightful moment. I discussed with some other agents nationwide and some said the article may be appropriate for the market where the incident occured. However, the article addresses the nationwide public, which is why I take exception and in this context there are several places where this person is incorrect and they are misleading the public.

I will go through the incorrect assertions I see later, and I will give praise to the author where it is due. First, let's start with the premise that he proposes, "Do you have an internet connection? Do you have at least a seventh-grade reading level? Do you like saving money? If you answer yes to all three, you're in fantastic shape to be your own agent."

Here are my answers to all three:

1)The internet will help your search in a less-than-complete fashion.

2)A 7th grade reading level will not entirely comprehend all the contract and disclosure documents involved in a purchase, at least not in the areas where I typically sell real estate.

3)A competent real estate agent will save you time, money and liability.

Lets revisit these points as we go through the article and deal with the issues as they are presented. (Besides the implication a settlement that is as of this writing yet to be finalized was fully agreed to in March when it was not) the first mistake I saw, and I admit this will seem like nit picking, was the author saying they bought an "apartment." An apartment is rented. To the owner it is something else, that might be a condominium, that might be a fractional ownership arrangement such as a Coop or TIC, or none of the above since they might own the building and rent out the individual homes as apartments. When they rent that owned property to another person, renting makes it an apartment. The same exact property could cost much more as a condominium than as a TIC and be treated differently for tax purposes among other things. In other words, this seems like nit picking but it is often an expensive detail - one among many.

Let us next note that the author themself began their search without an agent, and after months without success found they needed help: months on their own without an agent. Months - were they renting during that time and would a faster search resulted in saving months of rent expense and investing money in their own home? They got recommended an agent they clearly did not get along with, got some direction from them, got rid of them without paying and based on that one experienced stereotyped the other 3 million or so of us. Imagine going to the doctor, finding out there was nothing wrong with you getting a bill and then writing an article about how no one needs to use a doctor (Do you have the internet? Do you like to save money! ....Dead.)

The author supplies very interesting information about a 2005 antitrust lawsuit and 2008 settlement, although considering their treatment of the 2024 proposed settlement the reader should beware and verify the accuracy of these claims - in fact there are still situations where listings are not seen by or available to the public even if they are on the internet. Note the author's use of the word "largely." Still I think this is an interesting point for background, fair and worthy of giving the author credit.

The bidding war.

The main issue I have with this section was the assertion that discovery would occur "after the sale had been negotiated, after my agent had done his part."

At least where I operate and in circumstances where I referred deals, that is not true for a few reasons, and this is a very problematic assertion. I have negotiated concessions on several occasions after the sale and before the close of deals, although this is not an ideal situation or one buyers should casually assume will occur. Rather, I would merely suggest it illustrates why a key assertion of this article is inappropriate.

New information and developments can possibly defeat a sale, and typically agents are not paid at time of sale but when the deal closes. Therefore, discovery does not occur after the agent has done his part.

The bidding documents were a third of a page? That's interesting, and not the case in California where contracts are several pages long and we have several pages of disclosures. I've seen shorter contracts used in other states that were still several pages, as well as inferior contracts people attempt to use in California that competent agents across the table will raise alarms with their clients about and typically reject the use of.

The author quote NAR, " "The real estate industry is saddled with a large number of part-time, untrained, unethical, and/or incompetent agents." " and I am forced to agree. These agents do not often last, but they certainly do their damage to our reputation.

One thing the author missed is that when a Buyer does not use an agent, the Listing agent does more work, and often makes more money. Typically they end up being the agent that writes the offer with the Buyer and guides them through the process. That is called "Dual Agency" and while it can be tricky to do this ethically it is legal. It can be awkward though if issues arise that lead to a court battle. So I wonder about the price they got on the home they got, even though the Seller's agent was nice enough to confirm they got a good price because they were not armed with their own agent (wink wink).

I can't entirely blame this author this is the business climate the industry faces due to poor performance on the part of agents that match the description in his article and poor custodianship on the part of NAR. The good agents that save our clients money, keep them out of court, help them reconcile discovery even renegotiating terms during escrow after the sale and before closing? We are forgotten. I have done all these things. In one deal my client was ready to offer a price 60% higher than the one we got - on an inferior condominium down the hall from the one they closed on. I spent a lot of time convincing her the other side was wrong and wanted too much. I am not alone there. That client referred me more than one other client over the years some of those referrals resulted in more than one deal: that is how good agents survive in this competitive industry.

"Experts" that think buyers will save up to $30 billion a year that this author references - who could they possibly be? Expert at what? How do you determine this nice round number? One of the best managers I had earlier in my career said that the number one job of an agent is to keep their client out of court. Keep them from being sued. That is an opinion, a valid one -but it is also an important point. You can not reasonably assert buyers will save that money without a comprehensive study that reconciles at least the prices paid to date by represented and unrepresented buyers, and lawsuits related to unsatisfied buyers including the proceeds from judgements. It would be nice to include "surprise" costs each group of buyers face as home owners. Even nicer to reference the ongoing care we provide buyers which includes recommendations of professionals from plumbers to roofers, and lawyers of various specialties as those issues arise as we maintain our relationships with those clients. Relationships that often but do not always result in one day helping them to sell the homes we helped them buy.

There are many articles disparaging real estate agents these days. Let's note the author of the article I responded to has bought and may next be across the table from buyers as a seller. The person across the table from you might rather you did not have your own agent. In a court case, the other side might rather you did not have your own lawyer. New York and California are very different, but there must be a reason, the person that referred the author their agent used them for multiple deals rather than coming to the conclusion the author did about their utility.

Uche Nchekwube is a full service real estate broker active throughout the Bay Area. Text or call (415)322-0774 or send an email to [email protected] to get help to buy/sell real estate or more information on affordable housing. Information here is not legal advice, for information purposes only, deemed reliable at time of posting subject to errors, omissions and change at any time.

#realestate #california #sanfrancisco #oakland #sanjose #berkeley #bayarea #realtor #realestateagent

dre# 01750107www.uche.realtor