Don't Panic! I'm not buying just yet! I'm just watching the market. We've been going to open houses a couple times a month. We've been talking to anyone who will tell us their story. I'm just thinking a little more seriously about buying in a year or so and taking it slow.
There are so many cool web tools out there, but they suck in Texas. In Texas, the Realtors(R) have locked down the sale values. That's right, it's their own little pseudo-private secret how much everyone paid for their houses.
I don't have much respect for Realtors(R). In a digital world, I think they're grossly overpaid. They are like overpaid salespeople and underqualified lawyers, really the worst combination in a huge deal. No matter what agent I use/don't use, I'm still consulting a real estate lawyer who actually went to big boy law school.
My mom's friend is a realtor in another city, and like most realtors I have met, she's moron. I hope she's dumber than most, but I have yet to meet a real estate agent I respect and trust. That's really saying something as I have met intelligent, upstanding people in most every other field, including selling cars and insurance and quite a few lawyers. But realtors, ugh.
I really wish the Texas realtors didn't have a lock on the comps data. With that one missing piece of information, I would be the scariest, most informed, most cut-throught consumer ever. And that, I suppose, is why they lock it down. To force me to (yuck!) talk to, or more accurately give money to, them.
What kind of logic supports locking this information from the public? Who is this serving? I'm generally a fan of Texas policy (no income taxes, for example). But this one is beyond silly, it's collusive and oppressive and resisting the inevitable obsolescence of the traditional role of the realtor.
11 comments:
Real estate activity is public information. You may have to go to another place to find it. It's not the realtors responsibility to provide that information to people that they aren't working with. You may have to go to your county courthouse and actually look at real estate document to find what you are looking for. Instead, you want these overpaid morons to provide you with the information free of charge. BTW, I'm not a realtor.
In most states, sales info is public. You can log on to sites like Zillow and see what homes sold for.
In Texas, the property records can show you mortgages. We also have tax appraisals. But the actual sales numbers, the comps, are locked down by the realtors.
I don't expect realtors to give me anything. I would rather have none in the deal at all. But it's WHACK for a private trade organization to use the state to lock down information like that ---- just so they can force the public to pay for it.
Sale prices of homes in the Milwaukee area are printed in the real estate section of the Sunday paper every week. Are you sure they aren't listed in your paper as well?
Unfortunately, Texas is a nondisclosure state. I am betting that even the deeds do not reflect the actual sales price.
However, most realtors are paid by the seller, not the buyer so you shouldn't have to pay them, unless it is different in Texas. I also wanted to say that I actually don't think they are overpaid. Most agents get about 3% of the sales price, but if they work for a company the company gets 1.5% and the realtor gets 1.5%. But typically the realtor pays for the advertising and other things associated with selling a property.
I do agree though that most realtors are not that intelligent. Try to find someone that is recommended from someone else. I have a great real estate agent that I use when buying and selling houses.
Kristy
I'm sorry you've had a bad experiences with realtors. We had a house we were selling in Maine and by chance happened upon a great realtor who was ethical and knowledgeable. We were happy with here. There's no insurance you'll find someone great, but maybe recommendations might give you better odds.
Jerry
www.leads4insurance.com
I think there are good realtors out there. You just have to look for them, ask for recommendations, and find one that sits right with you. The important thing is to get on their good side so that they will go out of their way for you, and remember you as soon as they have a good property for sale. You'll probably get all the information you want out of them if you are nice and pleasant and form a relationship. Having the attitude that they are all morons probably won't get you very far but a smile will!
I wish we were friends; maybe you could call my mom a moron, too. . .
I don't think realtors are neccesary in most cases either. My boyfriend didn't use them - we did our own market appraisal based on comps. That sucks the information is not public in Texas. I think you can purchase a subscription to a service that shows comps though. I know I came across more than a few when we were looking. They market it to independent realtors.
"My mom's friend is a realtor in another city, and like most realtors I have met, she's moron."
Oh, the irony of you making fun of someone's intelligence with that sentence.
I absolutely love this blog, but not for reasons you'd probably want me to. Don't ever stop.
Check out Senator Wentworth's bill SB444. Texas may yet become a disclosure state.
http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup/Text.aspx?LegSess=81R&Bill=SB444
http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/81R/billtext/pdf/SB00444I.pdf
More about Senator Wentworth:
http://www.wentworth.senate.state.tx.us/
FYI: I am a real estate agent not a Realtor. I'm for everyone having access to sales prices.
Sam Trevino
Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Westbank Summit
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