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Comment by judge2020 | Hacker News Reader

judge2020

> Why use a Realtor?

Just to inquire, do you mean Realtor® or just a salesperson/agent? Any salesperson/agent can get their license by taking a short training course, and can then subscribe to lead websites like Zillow etc. But becoming a Realtor is at least a bit more commitment to knowing how real estate actually works and advising your client on good decisions, in addition to being bound by the Realtor code of ethics. https://www.nar.realtor/about-nar/when-is-a-real-estate-agen...

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Many real estate salesperson agents who are not brokers can become Realtors. The broker license requires more hours of study and some states require a salesperson to complete a certain number of hours or transaction before they can become a broker. All salespersons must hang their license with a broker so there are no salespersons wandering around if they are practicing. If they are between brokers or inactive they may not need a broker in some state. According to ARELLO [1] there are over 3 million real estate brokers and salespersons in the US. About half are Realtors. I hope this information helps.[1] https://www.arello.org/

I'm sorry but the Realtor code of ethics is BS. I've read what Realtors are bound by and I've found those folks doing shady things. Like a common practice is for a Realtor to not mark a property as pending before it goes contingent. This allows the Realtor to pretend to potential clients that the property is still for sale and can drag it out in case something like an inspection causes the pending buyers to back out. I found one Realtor in my area that never issued a Pending update to any of his properties and submitted it to the Realtors Association as abuse. In their own language an agent has to update the status within, last I checked, 48 hours. They completely ignored me. When I brought up sharing this with local news outlets as a common, and shady, practice they said they would "look into it". They never responded beyond that. Being a Realtor doesn't mean you know anything about legal contracts or are able to inspect a home properly. It's a self serving organization that's sole focus is on revenue. Not the buyer and not the seller. There's very little, if any good that organization brings to market - that is unless you're a fan of monopolistic organizations that will do anything to keep out competition.

Your comments and your experience are one of the reasons we do not use multiple listing services. The other reason is that they are very inefficient and time consuming. The methods and operations originated over one hundred years ago. I have written a column [1]that better explains how agents work. It is a generalization as not all agents work like this. The real estate organizations are trade organizations. Their members are agents. They protect the folks that are paying good money to be members. [1}https://dearmonty.com/is-your-buyer-agent-legitimate/

I really hope you disrupt the industry. Even if, as you say, your target market is mostly FSBO. Taking anything away from the Realtor organization is only making things better. Good luck!

Thank you for your comment. We are not trying to disrupt necessarily. We are offer a third choice. Until yesterday's launch you had two choices: For-sale-by-owner (FSBO) or some type of real estate agent. We believe either choice has numerous pain points or friction. Now PropBox is the alternate third choice. It is designed to eliminate all the pain points. It is accurate, fast, efficient, and cheap. PropBox is a Tech Advertising Company not a real estate company. We use technology , standardization, and simplicity built into our Service As A Software (SaaS)product. Many don't pay enough attention to their largest single investment so they will be the last to realize and adapt. In my opinion that will take years.

Also, in the US, if you are the buyer, "your" Realtor is typically being paid by the seller, so it's hard to say who their customer is. After I found the listing for my current house, I had to practically force my Realtor to find out about it. I later found out from the seller's Realtor (for the whole development) that they were forcing lower commissions on the buyer's Realtor, so a lot of Realtors were not showing their customers the house.

there is an existing organization many people are unaware of; The National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents [1]. In my opinion, this is because they gave up the listing commissions in favor of the buyer. They cannot work in a real estate office that takes listings. It appears to me that these folks are the closest thing to perfection for a buyer. Their stance is the conflict of interests in representing both side is not acceptable. There problem is very few agents have that dedication, so they are hard to find. If I were buying a home and didn't know about PropBox an exclusive buyer agent would be my choice. [1]https://naeba.org/

You also need to pass a test (and find a broker to oversee your license) to become a real estate salesperson.

Correct. Thanks for pitching in.

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