LETTER: Realtors often serve a useful purpose for homebuyers
In response to a recent letter to the editor that criticized real estate agents:
Since 2010, we’ve bought three homes in different parts of the country and sold two, and we’re getting ready to sell our third. As a seller, I have never had a problem paying the 6 percent commision. Yes, there are bad Realtors out there. Just like there are bad mechanics, doctors, lawyers, teachers, plumbers, barristas, etc. But I’ve been fortunate enough to have the good ones.
If you’re lucky, everything goes well. But when it doesn’t (which is often) your Realtor does a lot of work you never see.
The first house we bought ended up having a probate issue. Our agent, the broker’s lawyer and others on their team spent hours working to resolve that issue. When the offer on the last house we sold fell through, our agent worked the phones to put together an offer from a different buyer before he even called with the bad news about the first offer.
If people really want to go after shady real estate fees how about taking a look at the closing costs. We had to pay almost $19,000 when we bought our second house (for about $300,000). We hardly ever understand what we’re paying for. Like almost $1,000 for “paperwork origination.” Seriously?
