Trulia, I am going to click on a few ads now and throw some pennies your way. I am sure thats more than a lot of Realtors give you for listing property. I can imagine the phone calls and expenses when their feeds go down.

I think Trulia secretly loves me. I can imagine the traffic stats on this one post alone.

It kind of defeats th purpose of the internet doesn't it?

Let me guess you never got a straight answer from the people here so you just went the old fashioned route and called brokers in you area. Why put up with the frustration of coming on here to give your listing to someone when you get more candid answers in real life. Right?

Joel, did you ever sell that upper west side studio and what did you pay your broker? Who did you finally list with?

I had 12 straight replies and no eager to jump in. Funny isnt it?

Your start talking about referrals and every one goes quiet when they were so eager to reply before. Thats says something about where the true interests lie.

Its easy to miss something when so many replies are deleted. I hope you can type fast.

Sheeesh! I don't check in for a couple of days and I miss all the excitement AGAIN!

Dunes your college internship is at that wrong place.

Now the watching public is starting to learn something.

Glenn thanks for the insight on Trump paying 5 and 6 on his properties. You price is a little too high, but maybe we'll talk one day too.

Tony, the original broker who kicked this all off. Do you take new construction listings? Elliman wont go below 5 and Corcoran insists on 6. Elliman does go lower on Long Island.

Catch up on Construction sales and see you in a month or two.

Can you tell who that is?

I say go for it. Disable the account on the computer two cubicles down.

It is a referral business, isnt it? Morons.

Builders especially have a deep interest in commissions.

You people really are fools in more ways than one.

Construction and real estate are deeply intertwined industries.

Hi Mark........ word travels fast in more ways than one.

If it is Trulia, thats a shame. I dont see what good checking IPs is because I work in a place where there are dozens of people if not more using the same IP. We often search Zillow, Trulia, local MLSes. Real estate is the most popular water cooler discussion.

Ask Trulia Consumer Dude they are the only one's who can freeze an account which is what they did to yours....

Perhaps they are checking your IP to see if you have posted using other accounts or decided you have...They usually only Freeze if they decide you've violated the Community Guidelines....

I think they also are part of the RE Industry Plot to silence your insights into whatever you've been babbling about...

And yes I'm a College intern paid to post positive comments for Realtors.....and I also work part-time for Banks justifying their use of TARP money....Both are sweet gigs

Dunes are you some college intern paid to post positive messages for one of these realtors?

How is someone going to make sense of this now when most replies are gone? I did make several attempts to start a fresh page without the previous mess below. O well thats very fair. Cut mine and make it look like I ran away. How nice.

Its me same name, want to explain why my other account is inactive? I didnt delete my posts.

Yea!!!! Consumer dude made a new Profile to post for Consumer Advocate stuff!!!!!

You showed that Trulia they can't censor the meanderings of self appointed Consumer Advocates....

Did ya bring the TV Crews?

Nope, not me I was not scared away. I tried to reply under the other account and could not and now I see my replies have been pulled.

Well, Im back at least temporarily.

Apparently we have scared away another one.

I think it was your badges Alan and Dunes. If I told you once I told you a million times: Badges? We Don't Need No Stinking Badges!!

And With That, I Bid You, Adieu.

Joe Greene
WEICHERT, REALTORS - House & Home
609 Kappock Street
Suite 1A
Bronx, NY 10463
(718) 432-5000 ext.601 (Office)
(718) 432-2091 (Fax)
(917) 974-2600 (Cell)
joegreene@weichert.com

It's really time for this thread to be shut down.

It serves no useful purpose, and has become a parody of what trulia is supposed to be about.
There is nothing to be gained by continuing this inane banter with someone who clearly only wants to continue to provoke and irritate, and has no interest in learning anything.

Josh - if you were trying to be a smart alec - congrats - you succeeded..........bet your Broker would be proud.

I am out of here - need to powder my nose in case the tv crew arrives.

To most of you.........have a pleasant evening..........see you on another thread!

HEY WHAT HAPPEN TO "MAIN CONSUMER ADVOCATE " DUDE?

I just put on a clean T-Shirt for the TV Crews.......

I guess Jf is having an honest conversation online with an agent who, I assume, unwittingly, honestly answered the question posted over a year ago even though there have been probably dozen of posts by us dishonest conspiring realtors(and our shills) trying to warn said honest(and apparently ignorant) agents that they might honestly be violating anti-trust laws.

Were you making some more of your deep and witty observations Consumer advocate dude?

Where's the TV CREW, go get the TV Crew.............I can tell them how I'm the #1 Mayor Program fan when I'm not shilling for the RE Industry

Let's see....., same argumenative attitude, same back to back posts, same talk of television crews. Hmmmmm... sounds very similar to another person who has posted here before.

I thought the purpose of this site was to answer questions and help in some way, not play games and waste time with nonsense posts. It's because of threads like this that make me wonder why bother.

We (professionals in the business) try to answer questions and then for some reason they go off track and we (the professionals) the ones who were trying to help, get accused of ganging up or not giving a straight answer or get comments like "maybe that's why you have such a bad rep."

Hopefully there are more than less that know how to be professional and can represent our industry in the best manner that we are capable of doing.

By the way Alan- pretty snazzy mayor badge - but with the star on it, you could almost be the Sheriff, too :)
~~~~~~~~~
Thanks Debbie... I made the star out of cool whip.

Hi Jfrelinghuysen,

Can I ask what your purpose is? I haven't really gotten what you are wanting from this conversation. Do you want Agents and Brokers to incriminate themselves like Josh just did (Josh please read the rest of this thread for the reason you really should pull down your post)? You don't seem to want to help. You don't seem to be acting as a devil's advocate. You just seem to be trying to get attention and if that is not the case, I would like you to explain what question or questions you would like answered. That way we can answer it and move on to the next person that has a question.

Also, I would like to say to Joel who started this thread on July 30, 2008 that I am Really, Really sorry that this has become what it has become. Your mailbox is probably overflowing with this ridiculousness.

And to Alan - How do you get a badge like that? I think I will send Pierre at trulia a little gifty and see if I can get one too :-P

And to everyone if I don't get a chance later: HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

Joe Greene
WEICHERT, REALTORS - House & Home
609 Kappock Street
Suite 1A
Bronx, NY 10463
(718) 432-5000 ext.601 (Office)
(718) 432-2091 (Fax)
(917) 974-2600 (Cell)
joegreene@weichert.com

TV Crews...OH NO NOT THE TV CREWS......

Yawn you always seem to make me yawn Mr. Consumer advocate.. Please just go get the TV Crews and get on with your uncovering of the Great Real Estate Plot already..........

I need a SHILL tag like the PRO tag....

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE,PLEASE,PLEASE tell me he's kidding!
Is this an on-line form of candid camera???

the rate is between 4%---6%

Debbie--I thought that if it was repeated enough it may sink in...I guess I was wrong.

Dunes--you can be my shill any day.

Joan--It seems like you are becoming a little cynical with your ansers. I like it!!!!!!

I honestly don't think I've heard the term shill. I feel so....inadequate.
Jfrelinghuysen, just wondering, have you bothered to read Dunes extensive postings? Even a fraction of them? Try it, you might learn something and eat your words at the same time.
You want an intelligent conversation,discussion, debate, bring it on. Haven't seen any evidence of it yet.

"Bring in the television crews" ???.................You've got to be kidding! For what? Is Tiger Woods here?

I just sit here shaking my head in amazement.
......................................................

By the way Alan- pretty snazzy mayor badge - but with the star on it, you could almost be the Sheriff, too :)

Rock - it is rather amusing - Dunes is now being accused of being a realtor LOVER & shill ! haha

His new title can be - -Anti-Pro Realtor Dude
....................................

Patrick - do you think if we all say it one more time - they will get it?..................unfortunately, part of the problem is - some agents don't get it either, so they jump in with answers to these kind of questions, when they SHOULD be saying : "Agents can't discuss commissions in an open forum - all commissions are negotiable"!

Rockinblu

I am requesting that Trulia give me a Realtor Shill Badge that is as pretty as the Mayor of Truliatown badge they gave to Alan..

Main Realtor Shill, Dunes

It's enough to have the same stale answers repeated by agents over and over.
___________________________

You will continue to get the same answers from agents (and their shills) because no matter how you ask the question, add a post, start a blog or however you want to do it, talking about commissions in an open forum like Trulia is NOT ALLOWED BY AGENTS, BROKERS OR AGENCIES TO DISCUSS IN A PUBLIC FORUM.

There is nothing shady about this on the part of agents, it simply is because IT'S NOT ALLOWED TO BE DISCUSSED IN AN OPEN FORUM BY AGENTS, BROKERS OR AGENCIES.

We are happy to disucss this privately with anyone who wishes to discuss it but NOT IN AN OPEN FORUM LIKE TRULIA BY AGENTS, BROKERS OR AGENICES.

No matter how many times we (agents, brokers and agencies) say that WE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DISCUSS COMMISSIONS IN AN OPEN FORUM, people still insist on asking the question and then insult us for answering the same way or accuse us of hiding the truth or sticking together and so on.

The simple honest answer is AGENTS, BROKERS AND AGENCIES ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DISCUSS COMMISIONS IN AN OPEN FORUM SUCH AS TRULIA.

If you want to know what an agent charges ask them directly, but NOT IN AN OPEN FORUM SUCH AS TRULIA.

"Do we have to listen to their shills too?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey Dunes. When are you going to get your agent shill badge? LOLOLOLOLOL!!!!

Man Oh Man! Of all the things that Mark and his aliases got wrong, that one takes the cake.

More wisdom from the Main Consumer Advocate....

ZzZZzzzzzzzZZZZzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZzzzzzzz.....Yawn

Yawn....Do you have anything to actually say "main consumer advocate" or are you just on a quest to prove how childish and ignorant you are.....

Please feel free to do your stale multiple posts on They out to get us, they out to get us but don't pretend or think for one moment you have anything at all to say that interests me or anyone else beyond your biggest fan..You

I think it's simple....While Alan or anyone is free to say I charge 6% it becomes another whole issue if he says in Evanston WE charge 6% or if you want a good Realtor pay 6% because those who charge less are blah blah....

Standard ect implies speaking for more than yourself.....that's the dangerous territory....

I charge is far different than saying we charge or the good ones charge........

An individual has the right to decide what they charge and not charge less but the bottom line is Commissions are negotiable by law so there cannot be nor is there a standard rate or one that guarantees you pay this and you will receive excellent service, human nature trumps that thought....

The fact that commissions are negotiable provides options to the consumer and any attempt to make it appear as if those options do not exist or that a consumer is ignorant for considering them only treads on the fine line of antitrust and the appearance of attempting to fix prices....

"Can a consumer like myself call agents in for example Boston or Chicago, get some quotes and post them online?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I would think posting the rates on a Trulia discussion forum would be in violation of their Community Guidelines ( http://www.trulia.com/guidelines/ ) item "n." However on Zillow jn their Good Neighbor Policy, I didn't see where this is addressed.

Alan, since you present yourself as an expert on the commission question. Can a consumer like myself call agents in for example Boston or Chicago, get some quotes and post them online?
~~~~~~~~~~~
I don't tout myself as an "expert on the commission question"... I simply know, and follow the law.

You are not a Realtor or agent, and are therefore not under the same constraints as we are. You can post any rates you want... you are not breaking fair housing rules, nor sherman anti-trust rules by doing so.

I would counsel you, though, that by calling around, you will not get real rates.... (and what I mean by that is... just as an example: If someone called me on the phone, cold, and asked "what do you charge to list a house?"... I might not quote you the same rate, as I'd quote to a client whose house I'm sitting in, having done a CMA for them... knowing that I actually stand to get a listing here... they might get quoted a different rate than a "cold call".)

(me personally... I probably wouldn't quote an unknown stranger, calling cold on the phone, any rate at all... but that's just me.)

HI All,

This is a great example of what a social network can be used for. Both good and bad. Let's be honest. MarkZ put himself in a Devil's Advocate position on a very public social network. If you don't realize that your life is on the internet, now you should. Is that right or wrong? I don't know. I do know that we all need to be very aware of how we conduct ourselves just as we would in any other social situation. What you say and do can bite you if you are not careful. MarkZ has now learned this lesson the hard way.

For those who are not in the Real Estate business, you are right that many agents should be more forthcoming with information that benefits you. The best way tomake things better is to complain to their managers, your local politicians and Real Estate boards. Make a big stink and this will change. There are thousands of agents out there that need better training. NYS still has some of the most lenient standards in terms of training in the country. I make it a point to train my agents to be as up front and honest with customers/clients as possible. I also train them in the law. They are not perfect and they are trying their best, but they won't make everyone happy. But they are trained well. They do not make the same mistakes twice.

To the agents out there who do not know the laws, but think they know it all (of course I know you are too self absorbed to realize I am talking to you) go take a course on agency, the code of ethics and possibly a primer on the sherman anti-trust act. It will do everyone some good. Better yet, get out of the industry. You give us all a bad name.

To those of you (I hesitate to say us for fear that I will be accused of self-aggrandizement) who have tried to be helpful to the agents, the clients/customers and even MarkZ (whose Identity has been exposed apparently) who was playing with people (be it for his own enjoyment, some idea that he was helping people or because he is a not nice person) I say kudos. Even though you might get yelled at for conversing with the enemy you are doing a great service to an industry that is all too often rightfully maligned. If enough people care to improve this business, maybe it will garner a reputation everyone can be proud of.

Joe Greene
WEICHERT, REALTORS - House & Home
609 Kappock Street
Suite 1A
Bronx, NY 10463
(718) 432-5000 ext.601 (Office)
(718) 432-2091 (Fax)
(917) 974-2600 (Cell)
joegreene@weichert.com