A bubblehead lets his hair down.
Ripped from the pages of a leading bubble blog:
“I really dislike Realtors/RE’s (sic). Possibly buyers agents make sense, but they should be more 'bonded', there should be ethical censures that root out the clear collaboration that goes on between buyers, sellers, false bidding (sock puppeting), collaboration with appraisers and others in the RE sales process.
Realtors are illegally organized. They help to fix prices and lie about the status of a market. Because of real estates (sic) lack of liquidity it gives them a lot of time to create the lies and illusions they need to keep making commissions.
While I have met RE’s I felt were honest, particularly sole-buyers agents, I do feel they contribute to dangerous run ups in housing prices without regard for the future.
In more fascist times, say like in 1939 Germany, these would be people that would be easy to have shot for treason against the people - there is a general dislike and total distrust of these people who wield a lot of power with little barrier to entry.
So generally, I really dislike leased Mercedes, navigation systems, false airs and pretenses, lies about appreciation and school districts. I think of Realtors as a group as leeching creeps sucking society dry. Similar to other bloodsuckers that wallow in the fruits of unnecessary bureaucracy."
Well now. This guy is smokin'. But what he says has a kernel of truth—that's what makes demagoguery so dangerous. So let’s review and respond to this diatribe.
· “Agents should be more ‘bonded’”: Many are. It’s called “Errors & Omissions insurance”. Obviously you've never asked your agent if he or she has it, perhaps because you've never had an agent. Good idea: keeping your distance from the real estate market is keeping you objective.
· “Clear collaboration…between buyers, sellers, false bidding (sock puppeting), collaboration with appraisers and others in the RE sales process”: Collaboration between buyers and sellers? Now I know you're not in the real estate market. Good idea: keeping your distance is keeping you objective. False bidding? If I show up to present an offer and four other agents are waiting to present their offers, I’m sure we’ve got competition; if I have to fax the offer, I’m not sure. Got any suggestions for fixing this? Didn't think so. Appraisers? Their job is to protect the lender, not you; but yes, an appraiser will “make the price” if s/he wants to keep working. On the other hand, I'm convinced that real buyers know value better than appraisers or even agents. And if appraisers are so easily pressured, who or what are they protecting these days, aside from their jobs?
· “Realtors are illegally organized”: You mean like a monopoly? You probably have hundreds of agents in your town, all self-employed, all fiercely competing for business. You call that a monopoly? I'd hate to know what your idea of competition is. Does it involve handguns?
· “They help to fix prices…” A favorite bogeyman of the bubbleheads and one of the easiest to disprove. If you think agents manipulate home prices, then why do we let them drop? Because our ju-ju wears off? Were you the guy sleeping in the back of my Economics class?
· “…and lie about the status of a market”: There’s a certain amount of deception and/or self-deception on both sides. You’re at an open house. You tell the agent the market is lousy because you think it just has to be lousy. The agent knows better, because she’s in the market, working with real buyers (not bubbleheads). She disagrees. So now she’s a liar. On the other hand, if you made your living selling widgets and demand for widgets was soft, you might soft-pedal this too. But nobody important is fooled, because real buyers (not bubbleheads) know where the market is. In fact, they know before their agents do. That's because real buyers (not bubbleheads) are the market, something people not in the market (bubbleheads) will never understand.
· "Because of real estates (sic) lack of liquidity it gives them a lot of time to create the lies and illusions they need to keep making commissions. Huh? You'll need to explain this. Apparently you're saying that the longer a home is on the market, the more we agents love it. Not only does this lack logic, even by bubblehead standards, but it contradicts your fellow conspiracy theorists' old saw that we unload our listings too quickly, before they've been properly exposed to the market. I wish you guys would get together on this.
· “These would be people that would be easy to have shot for treason against the people”: Hey, what a great way to deal with people you don't like: line them up and shoot them! (I thought Franco was still dead.) Unless the people who don't like you beat you to it.
· “There is a general dislike and total distrust of these people who wield a lot of power with little barrier to entry”: Individual agents have a huge and usually positive impact on the lives of their clients; that’s one of the gratifying things about this business. But individual agents have little power, unless you think that we can make clients do what they don’t want to do—and if you think that, you haven’t done much selling. As a group, agents have tremendous power through their state and national organizations. And you’re right, it is too easy to get into the business. The California Association of Realtors thinks so too, and in 2006 it persuaded the Department of Real Estate to tighten its licensing requirements. But don't expect the barrier to ever get much higher. Maybe I'm wrong but I sense an unspoken official belief that real estate is one of the last doors to the American Dream open to the little guy whose sole qualifications are a thick skin and a willingness to impale himself on the sword of ambition. Like the blogs, the real estate profession is a social safety valve. Besides, four years of law school doesn't seem to have kept the legal profession chaste. In any case, some would say that consumers benefit from an oversupply of agents competing for business. I wouldn’t, and if you've ever dealt with one of these surplus agents, you wouldn't either.
· “I really dislike leased Mercedes…”: So do I, and I have one. I drive a luxury car because you judge me on appearance. Only you can free me from my lease.
· “…navigation systems…”: Right on. Any agent who needs nav or even a map immediately disqualifies himself as a “neighborhood expert”.
· “…false airs and pretenses…”: Sure, some of us are phonies, but you’ll find them in other fields too—even on bubble blogs. Don’t like a confident air? Well, in the immortal words of Philip Marlowe, “maybe I should learn to stutter.”
· “…lies about appreciation and school districts”: All this information is on the Internet. Knowing it is part of your due diligence. You should be able to tell if your agent is kidding you. In fact, it’s a great way to test her.
· “Leeching creeps sucking society dry”: Thanks to litigation and legislation, selling or buying a home is a complex process. I call this gradual accretion of duties and disclosures "The Real Estate Agent Full-Employment Act", because legislators and lawyers seem determined to make the agent ever more essential to the transaction. Almost every agent understands the transaction better than her clients. Good agents take this a step further, adding value throughout the transaction and beyond.
· “Similar to other bloodsuckers that wallow in the fruits of unnecessary bureaucracy”: Do I detect a Libertarian bent? That “unnecessary bureaucracy” you’re bitching about is there to protect you the consumer, if you should ever decide to become a consumer of real estate. I think that’s a good thing. Maybe you think we should go back to the good old days of caveat emptor?
· “I have met RE’s (sic) I felt were honest”: Gee, thanks. I guess. But what did you base this warm expansive feeling on? Your vast insight into real estate? Or did these “RE’s” just stand out by knowing better than to argue with someone like you?