2 Web Sites Push Further Into Services Real Estate Agents Offer

NYT ^ | Feb. 8, 2006 | DAMON DARLIN

[UB355]

I should have expanded to assesed not market value based on assesed value on record as of 2003, worthless

[babyface00]

IOW, there should be more choice in the process.

You can always start your own MLS ;).

Seriously, you do have choices, but none of them have the advantages of the realtor/mls system. Part of it is by design, but part of it is the nature of the overwhelming majority of the transactions in this industry. Its the worst possible system, except for all the others.

What I find interesting is that there is very little barrier to entry to becoming a real estate agent. There's a little bit more to becoming a broker, but none of it insurmountable.

So, its pretty much an open market internally. Yet plenty of people don't last a year in the industry and there isn't a significant amount of pressure pushing commissions down. You would think that new people coming in would be trying to undercut the bigger, more expensive brokerages by lowering their rates. Most MLSs are feeding their listings to Realtor.com, so there's less problem with selling exposure (so you're less worried about other agents/brokers not co-marketing your property at a lower commission rate). The major brokers (and a lot of minor ones) in my area are listing everyone's properties on their site, so even the smallest listing broker is getting the same exposure ad the largest brokerage firms.

Yet, for the most part, that isn't happening. Could be people get greedy once they get into the industry, or it could be that it takes a fair amount of work to facilitate the transaction in most cases. I'm not saying every realtor earns his/her commission on every transaction, but it would seem that if they consistently weren't, some brokers would take advantage of that situation.

Admittedly, a portion of the work involved for "professionals" is mandated by state laws and professional organization guidelines, as well as miscellany like insurance, legal represntation, etc. and those don't apply to private transactions.

I believe that commissions are a lot like insurance. Everyone gets about the same coverage for about the same price, but some people pay more than they get, and some people get a huge benefit. Commissions are set so the cost/transaction evens out with enough profit for the competent to stay in the business. For some people, the commission is too much, for others, its a bargain.

[My Favorite Headache]

People need to look at the tax assessment and then the actual estimate (if available for that home) they are 2 different things on the site.

If the true tax assessed value is $90,400, add $25,000 for the homestead and then add 25%...$155,000 approx would be the value (not counting anything else added to the property or home in the last 6 months which is what they will update...every 6 months).

The site has damn near dead on correct estimates of the actual price of the homes...but it doesn't take into consideration surrounding properties or amenities the house has.

I honestly don't think that zillow.com takes into consideration the condition of the houses NOR the surrounding properties and functional obsolescence.

No way...the general public (including zillow.com) cannot enter properties that are not theirs to check for damages,damages affect value...they can only use public information which is the tax records and the tax records are traditionally 6 months behind.

[zarf]

Zillow informs me that my house doesn't exist yet. It's empty farmland! THat was 2 years ago......nice work ZIlloW!!

[wouldntbprudent]

Thanks for the info!

[wouldntbprudent]

I'm not saying every realtor earns his/her commission on every transaction, but it would seem that if they consistently weren't, some brokers would take advantage of that situation.

At least in the areas where I've done real estate transactions, there's quite a bit of stigma (for lack of a better word) in going with discount/off-brand agencies. As you point out, none of the options presently have the advantages (such as they are) of the reator/MLS system.

I'm not going to be starting my own MLS, but I'm pretty sure someone else will! It's impossible that such an arcane system will continue indefinitely. It was one thing when no one in America had computers or internet access and realtors were the keepers of The Data.

[dfwgator]

Real estate agents have to go the way of travel agents.

There is no comparison between the two. Not even close.

[montag813]

Zillow says the house I used to live in in Draper, Utah is worth 2.5 million. What a laugh. The value is more like 250K. All the houses in that area are valued at 10 times what is real. I think they need to work on their math.

Zillow is just as useless in NYC. Prices WAY off the mark. Usually by several hundred thousand dollars.

[Katya]

zillow should NOT be used as an accurate picture...they're basing their stats on your state real property tax assessments, which everyone should take a look at because errors are not uncommon. The state assessments are usually lower than market value, because they are not looking at specific features rather using a formulaic expression of sq footage to equal market value. I looked up my house on zillow and the numbers quoted were exactly what the state just sent me as my "new" assessment. My parents house was undervalued by about $300,000 on zillow....probably because they have not been reassessed yet.