Most of the real estate agents in the United States work for a commission- which means they do not get paid unless a property is sold. This of course can translate in endless hours of showing properties to clients who are not serious in purchasing a house. The work that real estate agents perform, in other industries can translate into $100 per hour or more. How do you think real estate industry would look if there was some sort of “hourly fee agreement” for using your services? People have no problem paying their doctors, accountants, lawyers and other professionals hourly fee. Why is real estate different?
I personally think an hourly fee agreement would accomplish two very important things:
- It would change the attitude of clients. People tend to value more the services they pay for.
- It would filter out serious buyers or sellers from those who are “just shopping around”.
What do you think? Feel free to leave comments as well as participating in the poll:
[poll=5]
If you are not an real estate agent, you are welcomed to participate in the above poll as well. It would be great to know your feedback.
I would be interested in finding out your results on this survey. There has been times when we have spent hours on a small sale and times we have spent very little time on a very large sale and vice versa in both cases. Hourly could benefit the client sometimes and the agent sometimes. Overall I guess I lean toward the current system. I like the fact everyone knows what they are getting into and out of each deal.
I am not sure how much interest will this poll generate. I am guessing after it moves from the front page no one will participate in it. The hourly fee does not mean there will be no commission at the sale though. I probably will ave to run another pool to make it clear.
I would be interested in finding out your results on this survey. There has been times when we have spent hours on a small sale and times we have spent very little time on a very large sale and vice versa in both cases. Hourly could benefit the client sometimes and the agent sometimes. Overall I guess I lean toward the current system. I like the fact everyone knows what they are getting into and out of each deal.
I am not sure how much interest will this poll generate. I am guessing after it moves from the front page no one will participate in it. The hourly fee does not mean there will be no commission at the sale though. I probably will ave to run another pool to make it clear.
I think it is time for hourly real estate fees. The real estate attorneys work that way, general contractors and handymen work that way. I think it will begin to change as customers see the continuing decline in the effectiveness of print advertising. As they no longer see realtors ads consumers will begin to question what it is exactly that is done for the money paid out. As this begins to happen, and people are more educated, and the offering of real estate services by the hour becomes known as an option, people will see that they are paying alot of money to have their agent available at 11:00 PM on Saturday to question why there were no showings all day.
I’m surprised that this didn’t get more comments. I think the idea has great merit. We’re trying it ourselves and I like it. People are more careful with how they use our time and we never end up working for free.