US home sale fees set to fall after real estate group settles lawsuits

https://www.ft.com/content/7fe917b8-5507-4791-aa78-abf4d76bb00a

30 15 2 years ago

jkic47• 2 years ago

The number of nickel-and-dime fees I was charged was crazy. And that title search thing has got to go too. Can't read the paywalled article, but hope the settlement is huge.

ericd2• 2 years ago

Title search is incredibly important, though...

DANmode2• 2 years ago

Will it be when the only recognized title, legally, is a digital token?

Motor vehicle departments are already moving to this.

No reason it can't work for more expensive assets - especially with centralized authorities doing the signing.

maxerickson• 2 years ago

My lender required me to do a title search on the house I bought from my brothers after my mom died. My parents paid for a title search when they bought the house. I wonder what happened in the meantime to require one for my loan.

It's a fraction of the interest I will pay on a relatively small loan, so I can't say I was real animated about it, but you are just asserting that there is a lot of risk in the average transaction.

wsgolfer• 2 years ago

Non paywall link : https://archive.is/2pcJz

2four2• 2 years ago

Realty is a good example of automation not resulting in lower costs for the consumer. For the longest time, a realtor had to, in person, establish relationships and trust with inspectors, sellers, buyers, financial institutions, and information was obtained through experience. They had to take their own photos and develop them, put up signs, and publish catalogs for people to find homes. Keeping up with meetings, phone numbers, and all the tasks in between was beyond a full-time job.

Today, websites, digital photos, AI, zoom meetings, and the Internet in general have made many of these tasks obsolete. You can connect with buyers, find inspectors, and get approved for financing on your phone. I can search for a house with a few clicks and instantly be connected to a realtor for the seller. It's incredible, the throughout for a realtor can be immense.

That's not to say it's easy. It's still competitive and difficult to step up in that industry. But all these efficiency gains in automation certainly aren't reflected in realty fees somehow.

ericd2• 2 years ago

As it's become easier and more lucrative, you see more people crowding in to becoming a realtor, and they spend more of their time competing for clients rather than doing productive work for those clients.

joshstrange2• 2 years ago

They had to take their own photos and develop them, put up signs, and publish catalogs for people to find homes. Keeping up with meetings, phone numbers, and all the tasks in between was beyond a full-time job.

Uh, houses still need pictures taken, virtual tours and drone shots are a thing now, house needs to be staged, signs are still put up, publishing to the MLS isn’t instant (or no effort), you still meet clients in person, open houses need to be advertised and staffed, you’re at the closing, and you negotiate with other agents/clients.

I don’t see automation as making anything above obsolete.

Finding a house is a little easier but you still have to take your clients on showings and negotiate with the other agent/client. I’ve seen clients buy the first house they see and some see close to a hundred and never buy.

And for both sides you have to deal with emotional parties, who have either never gone through this process or do it once a decade at best if not longer, and know nothing about the industry on the whole. The _general public_. Even if you are in a HCOL area specializing in more expensive houses you will still deal with lunatics.

And I’ll agree there are good and bad agents. If your agent isn’t doing everything and/or more of what I listed above then you have a bad agent.

I don’t understand why some people pick a realtor at random (or through a sponsored ad) then go on to say “all realtors suck”, yeah and if you go on upwork and hire the cheapest or first result you’ll have a bad time as well.

Can some people do it all themselves? Sure, if your time is worth nothing or you’re ok with doing a subpar job. Will prices come down? For some people, largely the same people who sell their house to websites for under market value and think they got a deal. I predict we have agents that charge more than now in some cases and represent a more premium end of service. Giving up an extra percent doesn’t matter if the agent is able to make you more than that with the knowledge and system they have.

On a million dollar house, 3% is 30K. That’s a rounding error to offers/counters. Even on a 200K house 3% is 9K. A staged house with good pictures. priced correctly, and can swing a house value for more than 9K easy. Even doubling those numbers (as it’s done now) is far from crazy for the value a good agent provides.

prdonahue• 2 years ago

The problem is, like with financial advisors, it’s nearly impossible to reliably discern the good agents from the bad. And most are bad as the market is flooded with charlatans who market themselves relentlessly.

If you disagree, what’s a reliable way to identify the great agents?

ChrisArchitect• 2 years ago

[dupe]

Some more discussion:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39715511

US home sale fees set to fall after real estate group settles lawsuits

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