What do you think?

http://www.smh.com.au/business/mark...e-on-the-endangered-list-20150911-gjkj9n.html

 

Every year, a new idea comes along that threatens to create a paradigm shift. People talk it up, some become arrogantly certain, while others cry the sky is falling. On the rare occasion these are genuine paradigm shifts like Uber, most of the time it's just noise. I'm tempted to say this falls in the latter category. A GOOD agent earns every cent they get. They are an important impartial intermediary. They have their fingers on the pulse. They are expert negotiators. If anything, I would say tools to better help with weeding out bad agents are more likely to succeed (e.g. feedback sites) rather than tools designed to eliminate them altogether. Long story short - no, not happening. Agents will be around for the foreseeable future.

I remember in the early dot-com days everyone was proclaiming the death of retail. Why would you need retailers when manufacturers can ship products directly to consumers? Well retailers exist because they add value. Manufacturers are not good at marketing, at customer service. You can't cut out an intermediary unless you can substitute the value proposition with something equal to or better. Real estate agents are exactly the same.

 

I don't know what it is like in the Eastern States but I know in Perth buyers are very reluctant to purchase from a private seller. There have been a number of houses listed for private sale in my area and they haven't done well. I have seen idiot agents blow deals and get into shouting matches in public in front of a crowd. In my experience though, those agents are rare. Almost all the agents in my area are really great. They earn their commissions and work very hard to make sure the seller gets as much as they can. Don't forget that vendors can be unrealistic too. Sometimes the fact a property is overpriced is better coming from an Agent than a purchaser. I'm pretty sure some of my negotiations would have ended badly if there wasn't a good agent in between me and the seller.

 

Whilst we're at it let's remove the requirements for the licensing of agents, ristrictions on the establishment & use of RE trust accounts and dump the PABA Act and Strata/Community Titles Act.

If selling real estate was a spur of the moment or impulsive transaction then let it be a free for all but whilst it remains the single biggest transaction for most people then consider the risks of underselling the property or ballsing up the sale altogether.

 

Underselling is certainly a real risk. When I sold my Mandurah unit, I sold because I was annoyed at the strata manager, I had a much better investment to put the cash into and it was a perfect time to sell. I set my bottom line and hired an agent. Agent got me more than my bottom line + his commission. Win-win for me. Plus it was an hours drive away so I would have wasted about half a day for every home open.