Feeling Violated?

Are you outraged about your equity being ravished?

Last Friday a gentleman by the name of Mark Fox wrote a provocative blog post entitled Death Of The Realtor. Mark is a very interesting person. Now a corporate trainer and author he has an impressive resume including rocket scientist. A person not to be misdirected by fluff.

I first learned about the post when I saw it on twitter. What makes it so provocative? Mark likens paying 6% commission in a real estate transaction to rape; loss of control specifically. The use of this feeling of violation is an interesting one. It stirs up an emotion, one that could conjure up guilt in the most ethical of real estate agents. The ones that are lacking scruples won't even bat an eye. Let me give you an example.

I met with a friend of mine this week to discuss the listing of his house. He and his wife got a call from a local agent that wanted to show them a great little fixer-upper. They fell in love with the potential of this house and decided to put in an offer. Knowing the agent they felt comfortable having him work both sides of the deal. They put in a strong offer conditional on the sale of their property. This friend of mine is no rookie in the housing market. Having sold his two previous homes privately he was excited to get it on the market once the offer was accepted.

Knowing the way some real estate agents manipulate clients with trust I gave him a warning. Although some agents have strong ethics and want the best for their clients we have experienced many local agents that thought more of their own pocket books then the financial concerns of the client. Sure enough the offer that was presented was not just conditional on the sale of their property. It was dependent on them listing their property on MLS. That's when it was explained to the agent that they were going to sell privately. The real estate agent said he would take this "new offer" back to the seller to see what they thought. Here is where the real depredation of trust happens. Why would the seller care how the buyer chose to sell their house? Price it properly and get it on the market!

When the agent came back with the news the seller would not accept the offer unless they listed on MLS it became obvious that this agent was not out for the best interest of his clients but only for his own personal financial gain. If he was looking after the clients' best interest why would he force the buyer to have to add an additional $8,000 to the selling price of their house? How is this in the best interest of either buyer OR seller?

Realtors might argue that the agent is working in best interest of the seller because for a home to sell it needs to be listed on the MLS. I beg to differ. Stats for the last 6 months in Waterloo Wellington show that only 43% of homes sold with the high profile marketing of realtors and the MLS while the clients of PropertyGuys.com bettered the agents by selling 46% of homes in the same time period.

Why is that? Why would homes listed privately have a better chance of selling over those listed on MLS?

Private home sellers are in control. No one ravishes their pocket book. They are able to flaunt their lower price out to the market without fear of someone pillaging what is rightfully theirs.



M