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Do you really need a real estate agent?

By Carla Dimond

Real Estate Agent with CATARRA CA BRE# 01871201

March 02, 2010 03:07 AM

I was chatting with one of the regulars at my gym the other day and the conversation turned to, "What do you do for a living?"

I said I was a real estate agent. She replied, "Does anyone really need a real estate agent with the internet?"

Well that was a question I did not have a well practiced script for! So I tried to answer as best I could. I told her the statistics show that over 70% of home buying starts on the internet and that the internet is a wonderful tool for getting a feel for homes. However, that a real estate agent lives and breathes real estate every day and can help a buyer understand what the right price strategy is for that home they might originally find on the internet.

I then later told my significant other about the conversation and he could see her point. He could see how real estate market today is in a similar position to where the stock market was when the internet changed how stock brokers worked with their clients.

Full service stock brokers still exist today but they are really providing value add or they do not survive. Is Redfin going to change real estate as much as eTrade changed the stock market?

All I know is that in order to best serve my clients I need to watch the market every day and understand what the market is doing today and understand where it is going or I will not be adding value to the information that my clients have access to already.

So yes you do need a real estate agent but only if they know more about the market than you do. We need to embrace the fact that our clients are doing their research before they find an agent to take them the rest of the way.

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Lori Bowers

La Quinta, CA

The Lori Bowers Group

Carla, with the internet buyers are now able to find so much info on their own. However as I tell my clients, time, experience and knowledge are huge! Not only is it finding a home, but the legal side of thigs as well..

Mar 02, 2010 03:10 AM

Steve and Jan Bachman

RE/MAX Gateway, Reston, Herndon, Ashburn, Sterling, Fairfax - Herndon, VA

Realtors - Northern Virginia

This is so true...not only do we have to give huge value added...we need to make sure that we get more and more referrals...since referred people are less likely to ask for commision give backs and are already pre-sold on your value by the referring party.

Mar 02, 2010 03:12 AM

Craig Rutman

Helping people in transition - Cary, NC

Raleigh, Cary, Apex area Realtor

While the internet has made it easier for a buyer to find a home, it's done very little for the legal aspects of a home purchase.

Real Estate agents have been around since there was Real Estate to buy and sell, and I don't think we're going away any time soon. Our jobs focus may change, but we'll still be here.

Mar 02, 2010 03:16 AM

Wanda Thomas

Montana Homestead Brokers, Broker, CRS, GRI, SFR, RN - Billings, MT

Billings Montana Real Estate

Hi Carla, I love the Internet for marketing, properties as well as info in general. If my job was just about Internet marketing, I would be like most of the Internet companies that advertise Real Estate Listings, with or without permission, and just call it a day.

But internet marketing is the least of my job, my job is in the details, the due diligence, the representation of clients. I have closing action plans that are more than 60 steps! I can imagine a buyer calling 10 home sellers and making appointments for showings, then how interesting it would be to have all 10 sellers working to sell their own properties to the looker! Yes it happens every day, but most homes sell with representation, and there's a good reason.

Realtors work with lots of other Realtors to follow guidelines and standards that promote fairness and result in closings.

As Realtors, we will continue to refine and adjust our practice to enhance the service we offer. The value may be in the fact that we work "in the market" and sell homes every week or month, not one home every 2 to 20 years.

Mar 02, 2010 03:21 AM

Carla Dimond

CATARRA - Mountain View, CA

(Silicon Valley)

Thanks for all the great comments!

I think many professions; not just real estate agents are learning to deal with more informed clients; it just requires due diligence in staying ahead of them and understanding all the information they have access to.

I know I risk a great deal of back lash on this next statement but I am going to make it any way...

The legal agreements associated with a real estate transaction are not that complicated. Most are boiler plate agreements with area specific preferences around length of contingencies, what the seller pays for and what the buyer pays for, etc.

If that is your only value add you may easily be replaced by a paralegal in another country's call center.

Don't sell yourself short. Give your client the reason for the contingencies, how they protect them. Help them understand how the common practices were developed around what the seller pays vs the buyer in your area. Know more than how to do a contract know why it is done the way it is in your market. That is something the call center paralegal will never be able to do.

Mar 02, 2010 06:17 AM

Do you really need a real estate agent?

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