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Comment by dgudkov | Hacker News Reader

>But was it worth $12k for less than 40 hours of total work?

That's $300/hr. Similar to what lawyers ask.

Although, I suspect that a lot more education is required to become a lawyer than a real estate agent.

Note they said "less than 40 hours", so that's "at least $300/hour". I feel like my buyers agent, who I really liked, worked more like 10-20 hours for $9K, for $450-$900/hour.

Don't get me wrong, I really liked her and she did a great job, but I'm not sure she did $9K great...

I feel you. I just bout a $715k house largely because I found it online, and went through an agent to show me the house and, I guess, do some paperwork for me? Her company made $21k off of the seller, and I'm sure she took at least half of it.

Probably 10-20 hours of work in total.

It’s at least that figure for engagements that result in a transaction. That doesn’t take into account the people they spend 40 hours with and don’t end in a transaction.

1. Lawyers are also a cartel 2. Realtors don't do much complicated stuff. If you take a "becoming a real estate agent" seminar they will probably walk you through the entire buy and sell side process for 90+% of transactions in a few hours.

> That's $300/hr. Similar to what lawyers ask.

Do agents carry the same (legal) responsibility as lawyers / doctors though?

Yes. They’re fiduciaries.

Hahahahahaha. Everyone hires a Realtor(tm), once.

My experience: the one time she actually had to facilitate a showing of the house, the alarm system got set off. And when the buyers asked to change the closing date (after plane tickets were bought), she agreed and told us we had no choice. The attorney set them all straight.

A realtor's primary skill seems to be getting you to sign the listing contract.

I thought that was just Real Estate Brokers and not Agents?

AFAIK all licensees are fiduciaries and in any event the broker is responsible for the agent.

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