Report A Comment

So while the "most" good a realtor could do would be to steer all their clients to rougher neighborhoods in dire need of investment dollars, that isn't generally what is also good for the individual realtor looking to make a living.

While that's true for realtors as a class, it does not really matter that much for individual clients, because they come with a budget. And once the budget is set, the last couple thousand bucks don't matter that much once reduced to 3%.

When we were selecting a realtor, we promptly rejected a candidate that immediately tried to convince us that our budget was nonsense, that we were financially way to conservative and should not save for retirement but invest in our house/property. "Real estate always goes up in value!", she said, ignoring the last decade. We "found" her after she sold our neighboring house for top dollar - 8% more than we got a year later for ours. Very aggressive lady. But not listening to our budgetary needs. And, according to our "new" neighbor (who bought from her) a major pain in the behind to work with: slow, not responsive. So, we thanked her and went with someone else who did respect our budgetary wishes (and generally works with way more prosperous clients).

Getting a good realtor is a bit of work, but since they are probably the second or third most expensive thing you ever buy (after your house and about the same as your car), you should shop around. That 3% or 6% runs in the 5 digits in this area. People don't realize that and are too focused on their new home to also focus on their realtor.