All Forum Posts by: Steve K.

Good luck to you sir. 

Something similar to your example with stock brokers actually already happened in real estate, when the regulatory agencies cracked down on commission fixing. There was a big, very famous lawsuit that ended price fixing in real estate. Prior to that lawsuit, Realtors all charged the same commission. It was actually considered a violation of the Realtor code of ethics to charge anything other than the standard, "fixed" commission rate. That lawsuit was US vs. NAREB and the year might surprise you because it was 1950. 75 years of negotiating commissions later, there are more real estate agents than ever before, so clearly real estate brokering is different than stock brokering. 

 Cheap a la carte solutions already exist for everything you mentioned. You can pay a flat fee listing service a few hundred bucks to upload a listing (you'll have to answer calls, schedule showings, set up a lockbox, get a sign, vet potential buyers, avoid scammers and people trying to sell you stuff, negotiate and manage the sale yourself). You can take photos with your iPhone (they won't be nearly as good as professional photos, 3D matterport tour, drone shot, sunset shot, layout drawings, etc.). AI can write a listing description for you for free (it won't be good). You can set pricing using the "zestimate" (it may be off by $300k like it is for neighbor's house right now). In many states, approved sales contracts are available for free online (you'll have to learn how to fill them out or pay a lawyer to do it, recommended to at least have a lawyer review). You can hire a transaction coordinator to handle the paperwork (they can't legally create contracts, just chase signatures).

 Where a good (operative word) agent's expertise comes in is doing all of these things and doing them all well, and not missing anything important, and also a million other things behind the scenes that protect their clients from being ripped off or sued or just wasting their time learning all the ins and outs of real estate transactions when there are experts they can easily hire to handle it all for them. Plus most retail buyers and sellers like having an expert on their team to ask questions and make sure they aren't making beginner mistakes on what is often the biggest financial transaction of their lives. 

It's not booking travel (travel agents are actually making a comeback now I hear btw) and it's not trading stocks, or driving a taxi, or ordering food, or scanning groceries (self-scan checkouts are also being removed from stores now I hear). 

Yikes, very different experience than what I've had with the judges in my area. Where is this, Illinois? Judges seem to have a lot of time on their hands there. This should have been over in 5 minutes or less.  

Have you ever been there? There are some active Jackson locals on here, I'd connect with them and ask them about this property. 

In my (non lawyer) experience John is correct here. It’s considered an act of god if a strong wind blows down a healthy tree that nobody expected to fall, but if a dead tree has been looking like it’s about to fall for awhile and the owner has been notified of the hazard it causes, then their inaction can cause them to be negligent in addressing the hazard, and they may be found to be liable. A certified letter is good because they sign for it, acknowledging receipt, any other forms of written communication you can get to document that they were notified of the hazard probably also helps. 

However if it’s a really big hazard and they fail to take care of it quickly, I might just take care of it myself rather than taking any legal action, personally. You can say it had to be cut urgently and try to get them to reimburse you after (may not be successful but at least the danger to your tenant will be gone and you won’t be sued by the tenant). These laws are state specific so check yours. 

Right, I mean people use the companies with IDX feeds off the MLS now to schedule showings easily when they don't want to bug their agent, but then have their agent actually write the contract and handle the transaction. They don't trust the door-opener agent to handle the transaction because they aren't experienced agents, they usually just got their license recently or are part-timers without experience and closing skills. Funny how people will say agents are going the way of travel agents/the dodo because all of the listings are available online. Where do people think those online listings come from? Agents upload them.

 The equivalent tools to Priceline have been in place for the transition you describe to have occurred 20 years ago. People have been saying what you're saying for at least 20 years, probably longer also. Many people in tech with tons of smarts and funding have also tried to do what you are trying to do. 

Yet there are now more actively licensed real estate agents than ever before. Top real estate agents are still some of the highest paid sales professionals in the world. Why? My take as an insider is that it's because it's actually a much harder job than many might realize, and a consultative/ interpersonal/ hands on one that simply cannot be replaced easily with technology. 

For example at a typical showing, buyers like to have an expert with them who can help really evaluate a property, not just a door-opener as you seem to think will work. This may be what a small percentage of experienced investors or introverts want, but it is not what most buyers want and it is certainly not in the best interest of the public. The majority of buyers appreciate the expertise that a good agent provides (local market knowledge that can only be gained by being active in the market buying and selling all the time, looking at most of the new listings in person or at least online daily, a background in or at least understanding of building construction, relationships within the network of professionals in the industry doing deals, vendor referrals, legal protection through E&O insurance and keeping up with constant changes in approved contracts and required disclosures and forms, negotiating skills (the average person is terrible at negotiating directly and has no desire to, I find Americans are uniquely averse to negotiating and prefer to outsource it but I digress), etc.). No app or website or discount brokerage or whatever can replace the value that a good, experienced agent brings to the table for the average consumer home buyer. It's a lot more complicated than booking a flight, a hotel and a rental car for a vacation, and the stakes are so much higher.

You can spend many millions on building yet another discount brokerage to compete with all the others under the impression that real estate is the same as the travel industry if you want, or just take our word for it now that it's not. Honestly it sounds like you're trying to reinvent the round wheel with a square wheel here.

I think if you work in the field for a bit you'll have a better understanding. You'll need your broker's license prior to starting a brokerage anyway, so perhaps just focus on working towards that for now, and gain knowledge from that experience.