1. I'm MOSTLY pissed at real estate agents and the industry in general.
Don't get me started. There are simply far too many lazy, ignorant, greedy idiot agents. There are some amazing professionals who are evolving, but they are vastly outnumbered by the others. It completely sucks when you can actually help a consumer, but you have to start by convincing them that you're not the stereotypical idiot agent which is all they've ever encountered. It sucks to make the legitimate arguments I made in point 2, only to have some piss-poor schmuck of an agent fall down on the job and prove you wrong. If you get a bad agent, and you're on your toes, then you probably could have done everything yourself and saved money. Except that the industry is structured in such a way that you'll usually pay out the money you would have spent on an agent anyway. The moral of the story is that you should spend the effort to research the process enough so that you can find a good agent AND protect yourself if things go wrong. But pay a fair price for the agent.
And if you're ever cheated or mistreated by a real estate professional, you should report them to their state board so that they get driven out of the industry. Don't just gripe and paint all other agents with the same brush. Reward the agents who are doing things correctly, and punish those who are not. Reward those companies that are doing things the way you think they should be done, and ignore those that are not. The industry will eventually evolve because of consumer action, not just technology.
Comments
1. I'm MOSTLY pissed at real estate agents and the industry in general.
Don't get me started. There are simply far too many lazy, ignorant, greedy idiot agents. There are some amazing professionals who are evolving, but they are vastly outnumbered by the others. It completely sucks when you can actually help a consumer, but you have to start by convincing them that you're not the stereotypical idiot agent which is all they've ever encountered. It sucks to make the legitimate arguments I made in point 2, only to have some piss-poor schmuck of an agent fall down on the job and prove you wrong. If you get a bad agent, and you're on your toes, then you probably could have done everything yourself and saved money. Except that the industry is structured in such a way that you'll usually pay out the money you would have spent on an agent anyway. The moral of the story is that you should spend the effort to research the process enough so that you can find a good agent AND protect yourself if things go wrong. But pay a fair price for the agent.
And if you're ever cheated or mistreated by a real estate professional, you should report them to their state board so that they get driven out of the industry. Don't just gripe and paint all other agents with the same brush. Reward the agents who are doing things correctly, and punish those who are not. Reward those companies that are doing things the way you think they should be done, and ignore those that are not. The industry will eventually evolve because of consumer action, not just technology.