[brightball]

It will be interesting to see if any of this goes anywhere. Real Estate is one of the tougher markets to really disrupt because of the amount of licensing, regulation and the fact that the local MLS is usually controlled by the local real estate group.

You have to pay a fee to join each one. I've heard a lot of tech people clamoring for a central MLS service but the local groups are well aware that controlling the listings protects the entire field.

There's so many hands in the pot from banks to inspectors to attorneys to insurance before you even get into the liability insurance that each one of them (and the realtors) have to carry for these transactions...since there are so many opportunities to get sued.

It's not going to be an easy nut to crack, but it should be fun to watch all this money try.

[imglorp]

I just sold a house by myself and the line of people with their hand out is infuriating. Even more frustrating, for providing their automated gesture or nod of a service, they want a PERCENTAGE.

For example, to just do all the paperwork, a realtor might offer a "transaction only" service for "only" 1%. Regardless of property value, it's the same paperwork and usually done by a clerk. I instead went to an honest (!) attorney, flat rate for his time, it was around $1500 to do the same task. He reviewed contracts, attended closing, gave advice. Easy, done.

I think there's so much monetary friction from these parasites that any automation and fair pricing will erase whole professions.

[arkades]

You don't need an "honest" attorney to get that number. It's normal for RE attorneys to get a flat-ish fee, and RE agents to pull a percentage.

And RE attorneys usually make <2k/deal, with a lot of that being add-ons from things like owning their own title company. You paid market rate, as best as I can tell.

And all paperwork and contracts are ultimately done by the lawyer. I have honest to goodness no idea why you involved a realtor at all if you were selling it by yourself. Their only job is to attract prospective buyers (read as: list your house on the MLS).

[imglorp]

I didn't involve a realtor, I used the attorney. I just mentioned the realtor's price as comparison.

As a side note, they buyer _did_ have a realtor, who was notably annoyed that they were not dealing with a professional, but grudgingly agreed to take _their_ percentage. So I saved on mine at least.

Several providers would not talk to me at all, for example the home warranty provider needed some BS realtor ID to sell their product to you. I whined loud enough and they finally agreed to take my money. I think their system is kickback based and they didn't know how to make a sale without sending someone the gratuity.

[emodendroket]

> And all paperwork and contracts are ultimately done by the lawyer. I have honest to goodness no idea why you involved a realtor at all if you were selling it by yourself. Their only job is to attract prospective buyers (read as: list your house on the MLS).

Also handle things like showings, no?

[arkades]

True. And showings.

[tootie]

There will be a lot of pushback but it's also really valuable. Just based on my experience in NYC, brokers are taking 6% fees on million dollar homes while most are just pushy and dishonest. The buying process is complicated and heavily regulated, but if I can do my taxes online then buying a house should be easy.

[emodendroket]

> if I can do my taxes online then buying a house should be easy.

Uh, should it? I doubt many people sell homes nearly as often as they file taxes.

[crispyambulance]

    > It's not going to be an easy nut to crack, but it should be fun to watch all this money try.

Yeah, I can imagine the pitches... "we're going to be the UBER of real estate..."

Or maybe they'll use "UBER" as a verb: "Let's 'UBER' the real estate market!"