Come on now. I have seen a lot of things go wrong in Real Estate, and this one really burns me. Just tried searching Foreclosures in Trulia and guess what????? They send you to another web site and want to charge a fee to look at foreclosed listings. This is nothing short of crazy, insane, and smells of more government control of Real Estate.
Lets review what has been happening here since the government has gotten into the Real Estate business. Does anyone have any idea of the government entities created to sell a home? I don’t? Can anyone give you a price estimate on what the government spends on selling a home? All I know is the government is taking billions of tax payer dollars and distributing it to a few choice companies with little or no Real Estate experience and serve no real purpose but to impose rules and regulations which slow down the whole process and waste millions of hours of time for Real Estate Agents across the country.
Lets take a look at some of the changes. First we saw a minor charge of $150 on a cash deal to buy a home. This was a mysterious charge collected by the title company. A few months ago that charge escalated to $400. Today it is at $640. A hidden tax on small investors? These fees are also being charged to home owners, but are not as evident as cash deals.
In the past few months I have seen listings showing up on web sites which are not listed with the local MLS. This confuses the market. I suspect this may be the brainstorm of some government committee making it look like they are saving money. It seems a large number of foreclosed properties are being handled by one major clearing house, added to a popular web site and sold without a listing agent. Is the government in the process of eliminating listing agents? What is that doing to our local economy? What is that going to do to the Real Estate Industry? Lets think this thing trough.
The government handles only a small portion of foreclosed properties. There are over 100 asset companies dealing with foreclosed properties. If these other asset companies begin bypassing listing agents, who currently list on the MLS, buyers will have to search every web site to find what they are looking for. It may sound like the government is saving money, but in fact will loose money. By not listing on the local MLS, they will only attract a portion of potential buyers, running the risk of selling at a lower price. In the mean time they are taking money out of the local economy and doing what the government does best, distributing the wealth to a chosen few. What the government looses in sale prices, they make up for with tax dollars.
Real Estate Agents used to belong to one of the largest lobby groups in the United States. Today lobby groups for big business spend more money entertaining elected officials on a weekend than the National Association of Realtors spends in a year. The sad fact of the matter is, the NAR has been silent in this matter, as we see more and more government control and higher taxes in Real Estate. When is the NAR going to start representing us and the American public?
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