[DesiLurker]

that is in addition to mortgage interest. one could argue that is justified because ultimately its the bank taking a risk on giving you a loan for the property. so they deserve a premium for that risk, how much premium is another question but the fact remains that they are one of the parties in the transaction.

My issue here is with these middleman who have nothing to do with property once the sale is made & exist to take a cut of the transaction because they have monopoly on the listing service. the calculation I've done only reflects the cut to the realtor simply because they've inserted themselves in the process.

just think about it, increasingly Americans dont have any other retirement saving besides equity in their homes. so its not a hyperbole to say that you've effectively sacrificed 25% of your retirement to these (really resisting the urge to name call) people.

[ralph84]

If you think the service isn't worth the cost that's fine, but it's nowhere near 25% of lifetime earnings. I'm 40 and have purchased three properties and sold one of them. The total commissions on all four of those transactions weren't even 25% of my earnings last year.

[DesiLurker]

Did you even read the calculation I did? please go back and read the comment and work it out yourself.

>>> I'm 40 and have purchased three properties and sold one of them...

well, based on what you said you are a real estate investor and are hardly representative of average joe. another way to think about it is the math is for the residential RE market as an aggregate and as an aggregate it takes a shelter buyer regular joe 30 years of earnings to fully own a house. if you have issues with that stat please take it up with Bob Shiller. the rest of math is self evident assuming 4 transactions throughout the lifetime 'on an aggregate'.