Do Realtors Owe Anything To Those Hit By Housing?

Brian, You wonder if we should be paid for doing our job? Are you for real? Think about this. Realtors did not make this mess. Period. As professionals we are required to perform in any given market - good or bad. The fact that a Realtor may have sold a home to John Doe in 2004 who lost his job in 2007 and subsequently lost his home in 2008 ... that has nothing to do with the fact that we performed our jobs. To imply that Realtors caused this mess is unconscionable and irresponsible. Want to point the finger of blame? Look at the lawmakers that were in power at the time this all started the downhill slide. The same ones that demanded that anybody with a pulse and good intentions should be afforded the opportunity to purchase a home - whether they could afford it or not. Who approved the programs that permitted this to happen? Who used the premise of homeownership as a campaign platform? Wasn't me. Wasn't you. We're the ones left to clean up the mess. To deal with the anger, frustration, fear and humiliation that many consumers are dealing with. Yep - call me guilty. Guilty of remaining professional in the face of irresponsible political decisions. Thanks, Fox News. You're really doing your part. Just not sure it's a responsible part.

I was qualified for a refi loan with Washington Mutual / Chase Bank & met all categories,then upon ready for signing final docs 90 days later; I was denied the loan because Chase changed their lending parameters. I paid $600- in fees and they caused me to reduce my equity line of credit by $100,000- to reduce my available credit line. Now they backed out & I am on a limb with my interest rate lock to expire April 7th Credit score of 805 Can any legal advice be achieved through Fox brains ??? Georgeo 760 / 805 - 2965

I know a woman who "married" into a very lucrative real estate business. She told me, "there are good and bad agents, I know the good and honest ones." She also said, "everyone should not buy a house, it's not a right...but an earned privilege." She knows every angle of the game, a lot of funny business went on during the "bubble". Brian - keep up the good work!

Realtors are generally worthless. If you have some common sense, a good home inspector and closing attorney, you don't need the "housewife turned realtor" to help you out. Most of the time they're just focused on their commission, not what's in your best interest as a buyer or seller. There are a few good ones out there, but it's like walking through a minefield trying to find them. They're substantially overpaid for what they actually do.

Realtors will always claim ignorance or state they lack control over the market. Who established the price to market? The realtor does based on other realtors opinions. I have worked as a mortgage broker, consultant, and underwriter. My family has been in the business as real-estate agents and appraisers. The first call 80% of agents made when the house didn't appraise in a "sellers market" was to the appraiser to threaten their career for returning an unfavorable value. The next call was to the mortgage broker or loan officer to threaten to take all their business elsewhere if the value wasn't fixed or the loan didn't get approved. When everybody works on commission in an environment that has an average home price of over $500k the pressure becomes high to deliver. The interest of the customer gets tossed out the window in the name of pulling $10k to $35k commissions. Lack of true professionals is to blame in this industry. Realtors cannot just make their claim of ignorance or lack of control over the market and expect to walk away. For the agent in the video to claim that a short sale is beneficial to the customer is ludicrous at best. A short sale still leaves a deficient balance to the borrower and counts on the credit file the same as a foreclosure. Only one person benefits from short sale, the broker.

Brian: Any agent or broker that says they have no responsibility for how much a customer spends needs to read the Ethics section of their license and the National Association of Realtors. I think they will be suprised what they are committed to. Article 1: ..."Realtors pledge themselves to protect and promote the interests of their client." Is brokering a sale that the buyer cannot afford protecting their interests? Is helping a client pay too much for a home protecting their interest? Real estate agents should accept some of the blame. I was a home builder during the boom and I accept that my industry deserves a share of the blame. Wall Street isn't the only street where people chase that now dirty word "PROFIT".

I don't think real estate agents/brokers have received enough blame in this financial mess. I believe realtors pushed buyers into houses they couldn't afford. A lot were in bed with the lenders. Many big real estate companies opened up mortgage companies to take advantage of home buyers. I can't believe agents can still charge a 6% commission with today's technology. I was in real estate for a couple of years as a side project (originally got in to have access to the MLS so I could sell my house and avoid paying a commission and then sold some houses for relatives and friends). It only cost $600 to get my license and I was able to get my brokers license in less than 2 months. That saved me over $5,000 in commission. I don't think the general public knows how little knowledge, training, or work goes into selling a house. The agents secret is the MLS. The training and test required to be a realtor is embarrassing easy. A lot of the questions were related to calculating your half of a 6% commission. Seriously? And they gave you a calculator to figure it out. I have to believe the current real estate agents pay structure (a percentage of sale price) is long overdue to go away. If the public had access to the MLS you wouldn't need an overpriced agent.

Brian, I think it is the wrong question. The right question is "What are agents doing for those hit hard by housing?" We didn't cause the problem, talk to the lenders and corporations who sent jobs overseas and the banks - but we sure are helping clean it up. We are doing short sales to save people's credit. We are helping owners find solutions when they are upside down. We are helping buyers who can't get traditional loans. We are sifting through the properties destroyed by angry homeowners to help young families find a bargain. Selling the same house again and not getting paid or taking a cut? As I mentioned in my email, you are reporting about the same stock market, but each day is different. You get paid everyday for "just" showing up. But it's the same place with different news! If I sell the same house, I have to do twice the work - why shouldn't I get paid twice? Because the owner lost his job? Brian, when we work, many times we do not get paid when the deal falls through. We take risks others won't and we are rewarded accordingly WHEN and IF we get paid. You don't take that risk! Our pay is reduced/adjusted by the price of property, the negotiated commission, and concessions we have to make. Do you show up on payday and your boss says, hey too many people griped about your reporting, so now you only get 2-3 days of pay? Of course not! But I will show up at a closing and have a seller ask me to give up 20-30% of my pay. Ask a better question.

As far as whether realtors owe anything to anyone due to the housing crisis, I don't think you can limit the liability to just the realtor. The buyer bought it stating he made $20K a month with a 540 fico and no money down, the realtor sold it to him earning a 6% commission, the mortgage broker gave him a neg am loan because the actual lender enticed the mortgage broker with better pricing on neg am product then a 30 yr fixed - fannie mae insured it, and Wall Street traded it. As much as I can understand the need for blame, and someone taking responsability, who do you pick? I for one am tired of looking for these answers. The whole mortgage melt-down is a big mess, and the only thing that I can do is make sure it doesn't happen again. When that seller decides to modify instead of short sell, good for him. No, I dont' get paid when they don't sell, but that is one less homeless seller on the street, and maybe that is what is really important. It's called Customer Service - DOING WHAT'S BEST FOR THE CUSTOMER. That is an agents job, as well as mine. Again, perhaps it isn't necessary to place blame, perhaps it's necessary to remind everyone of what their job actually is.

I do agree that Real Estate Agents are necessary in a real estate transaction. However, as an Escrow Officer for 20 years, I have seen some realtors push buyers into buying things they can't afford. Just like with any profession, there are good agents, and bad agents. I think a Real Estate agent's job needs to be better defined. I always thought it was to help the buyer's and seller's. When a seller makes a very hard decision to short sale his home, and asks an agent for assistance, I believe that it is the agents job to help him/her through the short sale process. If during that short sale process, the lender decides to modify the seller's loan instead, I see agents getting very upset that they lost a sale, to the point where they will actually tell the seller's to go ahead and sell, and not stay in their home, and deny the modification. Is that agent trying to do what's best for his or her client, or are they trying to keep their commission? I'm not sure what's worse, greed, or desparation. When people are desparate for money, they will do just about anything to get it, whether it's good for the customer or not. And if that means an agent pushing someone into a short sale to earn a commission, then that is exactly what they will do. It isn't about the customer anymore, it's about the agents paycheck, and that agents mortgage payment.