Seattle Bubble Forum Archive

I was laughing out loud at this, surely I'm not the only one that finds this to be hilarious... Straight from Craigslist (including the bold blue formatting), names secretly encoded to protect the... well, just as a courtesy.



I'm pretty interested in this magical over 100% commission...

Kickbacks? Weekend Spiffs? Desperation?

I have noticed a number of ads for agents and mortgage people. What I can't figure out is whether things are good in some areas, too many have quit, or they believe 12 X 0 is greater than 8 X 0, so more bodies equals more profit?

Some RE brokerages charge their agents several hundred dollars per month "desk fee", and then those agents get 100 percent of the 3 percent commission. If they also have a mortgage license, that's the "125" percent commission. If your RE agent sold mortgages, how likely is it that they'll refer you to someone who offers better deals?

Let's say you want to buy or sell a property, today, where are you going to get advice? Then even if you get advice what are you going to do about it?

There are so few resources in Real Estate that it's spooky how far the system has spun out of control. You can laugh at this ad, but agents will flock to this type of pandering.

The mortgage thing bothers me the most, but there are laws in place that will hopefully address some of that. More importantly this Broker is looking for leads for listings.

It took me a long time to figure this out because it's hard for me to see how simple this is. If you have a Real Estate license you don't know what to do. You are looking for some one to help you. A new agent is usually good for three our four listing from people they know. It's the sphere of influence.

That agent goes into a Brokerage who will keep them for a year or two. If you churn through twenty new agents a year that's maybe forty listings that will sell, or not, it makes no difference is a calculated risk.

Most people leave the Real Estate sales business after a year or two when the savings are depleted. The Broker retains the listings and contacts to pass on to the next batch of new agents.

Then over in the corner are the older more experienced people who have contacts and are waiting for the new agents to ask for help. That there would be a guy like me there Bob. We can share, because market share is the name of the game. One listing can become ten if you work geographically.

The more important part is knowing what to do with a property. This is where there are missed opportunities. Most agents and Brokerages want the home owner, or buyer to fend for themselves. This is a part that is near and dear to my heart, because there is also money in the improvement of the property. Most brokerages shun that as a dirty stinky thing that no one wants to talk about. No one wants to say a property needs $30K worth of work.

We do it all. I don't care how I make my money, it's all money to me. As a matter of fact I prefer the labor portion.

So this Brokerage is offering a full package and they may make some market share. Who knows, anything can happen.

Hi The_Tim,
I know that ad and that company. He's been running an ad like that for years.

The reason why is because the majority of people who get their real estate license sell a few homes and then leave the industry. They sell to friends and family and then when they realize it's actually a lot of work and more like being self employed than being in retail sales, they gradually self-select out of the industry.

The idea behind the ad is to be able to capitalize on those few "friends and family" sales that the new person will generate for that broker/owner.

It's one form of business model in real estate. There are others.

If you think about it, the big companies: Wind, CBBain, JLS do the same thing.

Regarding the awards handed down to that person, they were given to him decades ago.