Pete

I said you are an idiot if you've never learned the lesson of "price it right the first time". So, obviously, you never learned that lesson based on your comments. Stick with the old "fixed commission" model, JR mystery man. I guarantee you and your business won't be around much longer anyway with your dated thinking.

Its time to wake up and realize its not 1985 any more; its a consumer market---you can bid on everything from baseball cards and cars to hotels and plane reservations. Real Estate will be no different and the internet will drive the change.

Like it or not, the RE business is changing rapidly despite the efforts of Realtor orgs who lobby for anti-competitive fixed commissions. (Thank God for the Sherman Act).

Average commission rate is somewhere btw 4.5-5% and falling and will soon be a fixed rate.

So its time to put down your can of New Coke, turn off your Duran, Duran CD and step into the modern society, JR.

This poor woman and her parents are obviously victims of yet another incompetent real estate agent. Offering more of the same nonsensical advice is, well, idiotic. - Wed Aug 13 2008, 16:53

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Pete, that's why you're a "buyer and seller" and we are "real estate pros". It's ALWAYS about price. Price overcomes presentation, neighborhood, condition, etc etc. At the correct price anything sells. That the seller doesn't LIKE what the correct price is doesn't matter. Like this seller in the question. Stuck on what the price was in 2005, they will be for sale for a long time if they don't drop their expectations.

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Laughable, JR. You're obviously not a pro at anything, particularly real estate. Sorry I don't have my "title" correct on Trulia. I guess I'm too busy brokering, buying, selling, speculating...

THE NUMBER ONE REAL ESTATE RULE: PRICE IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME. You are an idiot, JR, if you've never learned that principle. Idiotic advice, that you and many agents are offering (I can't stop laughing at the progressive markdown approach), is what got this person into trouble in he first place. Wake up, it's not 2005 anymore. - Wed Aug 13 2008, 09:05

Sandy:

If your parents received wrongheaded advice like the one below, its no wonder your parents can't sell their home and continue to be frustrated.

"Reduce the sales price until you hit a pricing 'sweet spot'?" I'm not sure which real estate school you went to, Thom, but you aren't selling peas. Ridiculous advice. Talk about devaluing a property. (I'll be sure and look for your listings, Thome make sure I never buy the first week.lol. )

What is THE NUMBER ONE WAY TO SELL REAL ESTATE QUICKLY?

Price the property correctly the first time.

Reduce the price to a reasonable value and the property will move. Avoid the grocery store markdown approach at all costs. - Mon Aug 11 2008, 18:16

JR:

Wake up, JR. You're really in the dark (or maybe naive).

Not only am I a real estate attorney, but a broker as well. I've seen the foolishness that agents created AND continue to create for all but selfish reasons: COMMISSION. You must not operate in the real world, or you're too close to your own, to admit that agents WERE complicit in the bubble. I've brokered, bought and sold real estate around the world and EVERYONE knows what went into the most recent bubble creation: agents colluding with one another and agents colluding with appraisers and banks to create the phoney prices we've had 2003 to the present. Yes, agents do "get into neighborhoods" in the attempt to preserve commissions...


The current real estate model is BROKEN and there are too many agents who operate by old business models of fixed commissions and lack of true fiduciary responsibility. Most are looking to make their commission (usually for little or no work) at all costs and little else. - Mon Aug 11 2008, 17:28

If this is the first time you've heard of it, then you obviously haven't been in real estate very long.

Realtors try to elevate or preserve prices in neighborhoods ALL THE TIME. Ask any realtor about "getting into a neighborhood"--its about locking in sales and preserving higher commissions. Your foolish to think it doesn't happen EVERYWHERE. It does. And its one of the many contributing factors of the phoney increases in value that created the RE bubble in the first place. Its especially true in PA and other rust belt states where there are more people and jobs leaving the states than coming in. Price appreciate is back to normal levels, and the price of your parents house should be as well.

It isn't 2005 anymore. Its time to drop the price (unless you paid too much in the first place and get out from under), cut your losses and move forward. You're other choice is to sit and wait, but chances are your parents don't have another 20 years to wait if they're set in moving. - Sun Aug 3 2008, 17:47

Typical of Realtors to price fix a neighborhood so that they may preserve their collective commissions. The house price is highly inflated for the area. Reprice the house in the 5's and it should move. It sounds like your realtor isn't living up to h/her fiduciary responsibility to advise you honestly. The harsh reality is that your parents aren't going to get 1.1mm in Bryn Mawr now or in the forseeable future. There are more people leaving Pennsylvania than just about any other state in the U.S. Additionally, the RE market hysteria has subsided and the realtors, the appraisers and the banks who are mostly responsible for the bubble creation are now paying the price as it slowly lost air and now is popping. The market is nearing equillibrium and your parents should expect 3-7% appreciation over the next few years if they are lucky. - Tue Jul 1 2008, 17:36

John:

Innovative idea. The commission system is flawed beyond belief and many (not all) real estate agents do little for the money. Many don't even show up at closings...

Many of the agent responses below are not unexpected, given they still operate as if its 1985 and are active in lobbying efforts to "fix" commission rates. Most don't know how to think beyond a flat commission, so the acidic reactions aren't surprising.

Redfin in Seattle is leading the charge in fixed cost approach and I am hopeful we will see more progressive sales models in the future. - Wed Aug 13 2008, 16:37