Vancouver's Real Estate Market

[DA9ve]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

had someone come in my open house and leave a red stain on my toilet seat

[Mr.HappySilp]

Originally Posted by Rallydrv

big news.

NZ formally bans foreign home buyers

AU might follow soon follow by Europe lol. I mean The Chinese have been buying NZ AU and England and France like crazy. Not just resident homes but also farmlands, winery, fishery and other business. Just image if one day some Chinese company bought enough fishery company and decide to ship all the seafood out to China instead of selling it locally. But there is nothing the locals can do about it.

[Hondaracer]

Originally Posted by DA9ve

had someone come in my open house and leave a red stain on my toilet seat

A buddy of mine sold his place across from metro town, most likely a heavy contingent of mainlanders coming through due to building etc.

He came home after the open house and there was shit all over the toilet seat with the lid closed lolol

[quasi]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

A buddy of mine sold his place across from metro town, most likely a heavy contingent of mainlanders coming through due to building etc.

He came home after the open house and there was shit all over the toilet seat with the lid closed lolol

The fuck, I'd be calling my realtor up and say you need to get back here and earn your commission bring gloves.

[Traum]

Originally Posted by Mr.HappySilp

AU might follow soon follow by Europe lol. I mean The Chinese have been buying NZ AU and England and France like crazy. Not just resident homes but also farmlands, winery, fishery and other business. Just image if one day some Chinese company bought enough fishery company and decide to ship all the seafood out to China instead of selling it locally. But there is nothing the locals can do about it.

The RoW is finally waking up to the possibility that Chinese money is buying up their stuff, and are taking action to slow / stop that. Unfortunately, our government -- esp under Pretty Boy's watch -- continues to remain blissfully ignorant of the consequences...

[quasi]

I have a commission question to those who have sold recently if you don't mind sharing, what did you pay commission wise to sell your home? Did you negotiate the rate at all? Were you happy with your realtor?

I've spoken to a few realtors the commission ranges, I'd like to be fair but at the same time I don't want to overpay. I thought about using someone in the family but I used someone I knew before on my last place and I didn't think they did a good job for me on either end of the deal so I want to keep it strictly business this time around.

[68style]

Did anyone read the article? 3% of buyers are foreigners. NZ law does fuck all.

The problem is permanent residency being handed out like candy to foreigners who have no intention of actually living in the country.

[Rallydrv]

^ thats just june numbers

In June, about 82% of houses were bought by New Zealand's citizens or residents, with fewer than 3% of homes going to foreigners.

[Traum]

I think the typical charges are 7% on the first $100k, and then 2.5% on the balance of the sale price. This excludes any commission rebate you may or may not be able to negotiate, but should include whatever costs your realtor bears to complete the sale -- ie. any document searches / request charges, photography and other promition-related fees, etc.

I've seen some charging as much as 3.5% though.

Originally Posted by quasi

I have a commission question to those who have sold recently if you don't mind sharing, what did you pay commission wise to sell your home? Did you negotiate the rate at all? Were you happy with your realtor?

I've spoken to a few realtors the commission ranges, I'd like to be fair but at the same time I don't want to overpay. I thought about using someone in the family but I used someone I knew before on my last place and I didn't think they did a good job for me on either end of the deal so I want to keep it strictly business this time around.

[Nabatron]

more people that stop by the better. For the people interested I guess they will see that it as more competition and hopefully bid against each other! obviously all hoping stars and moons align.

[quasi]

Originally Posted by Traum

I think the typical charges are 7% on the first $100k, and then 2.5% on the balance of the sale price. This excludes any commission rebate you may or may not be able to negotiate, but should include whatever costs your realtor bears to complete the sale -- ie. any document searches / request charges, photography and other promition-related fees, etc.

I've seen some charging as much as 3.5% though.

Yeah, I've spoken with a few and it varies. In the grand scheme of the lower mainland real estate market my house is dirt cheap but I'm still not paying anyone 7 + 3.5.

My home for example around 900ish, 7 + 28 = $35,000 + GST. I realize that commission is split with the buying agent and I also realize that they selling agent has costs.

I work with numbers and costs for a living, that's my job. If I billed out one of our red sealed journeyman for $75.00 an hour which is fairly standard in our industry and I charged someone $35,000 that's 466 hours of work or just over 11.5 weeks of working full time on a project.

I'm pretty sure I'm not going to get 466 hours worth of work towards my sale, I'm not going to get half that, 233 of dedicated hours either. I know what realtors are going to say, yeah but we have costs advertising, photo's, overhead ect..... Guess what so do we, of that $75.00 we charge a good chunk goes to the employee, tools, the government ect. the rest is used to pay me, my boss our secretary, our accounting department, keep our lights on, advertising and so on with a tiny little bit left on the end we call our profit.

Realtors have been raping people way to long, they are grossly overpaid for the task they have to complete. The education required doesn't warrant the better then Surgeon or lawyer rates they charge.

It's almost at the point where I'm reconsidering moving because I can't justify paying someone that much commission to do a job that's worth way less IMO and since I'm paying it's the only opinion that matters really.

[Energy]

My understanding is that the realtor has to pay their brokerage a percentage then they have to pay overhead for their office and their support staff. But yes, it seems like realtors are grossly overpaid. Perhaps there are realtors here who can enlighten us as to how they are paid?

[Bonka]

There are over 10,000 realtors in the Lower Mainland alone, you're not going to be short finding someone who'll knock their commission down, and I'm not talking about discount brokers like 1% either. It's well known within our industry that even top producing realtors lower their commissions, but it is discouraged to freely acknowledge that fact to the public.

The only caveat is that there is risk in offering a buyer's realtor a lower than "typically" expected commission - they may avoid showing your home but if you've got a good home in a good location, it shouldn't matter even in a buyer's market. Just pay what you're comfortable with.

If you're going to use the same realtor on the buy side, and you're straight forward to deal with, I don't think you'll have any problem finding someone to work for you.

[Sw0op]

Originally Posted by quasi

Yeah, I've spoken with a few and it varies. In the grand scheme of the lower mainland real estate market my house is dirt cheap but I'm still not paying anyone 7 + 3.5.

My home for example around 900ish, 7 + 28 = $35,000 + GST. I realize that commission is split with the buying agent and I also realize that they selling agent has costs.

I work with numbers and costs for a living, that's my job. If I billed out one of our red sealed journeyman for $75.00 an hour which is fairly standard in our industry and I charged someone $35,000 that's 466 hours of work or just over 11.5 weeks of working full time on a project.

I'm pretty sure I'm not going to get 466 hours worth of work towards my sale, I'm not going to get half that, 233 of dedicated hours either. I know what realtors are going to say, yeah but we have costs advertising, photo's, overhead ect..... Guess what so do we, of that $75.00 we charge a good chunk goes to the employee, tools, the government ect. the rest is used to pay me, my boss our secretary, our accounting department, keep our lights on, advertising and so on with a tiny little bit left on the end we call our profit.

Realtors have been raping people way to long, they are grossly overpaid for the task they have to complete. The education required doesn't warrant the better then Surgeon or lawyer rates they charge.

It's almost at the point where I'm reconsidering moving because I can't justify paying someone that much commission to do a job that's worth way less IMO and since I'm paying it's the only opinion that matters really.

why dont you go take the course and sell the house yourself then...you'll save a lot of money that way or go with the 1% brokers and watch it sit for 6 months then

yes realtors are overpaid...but in the end its a sales job and most sales job are overpaid..you get paid to talk/negotiate and get the job done....if ya dont like it..DIY

[lowside67]

Originally Posted by Sw0op

why dont you go take the course and sell the house yourself then...you'll save a lot of money that way or go with the 1% brokers and watch it sit for 6 months then

That's the whole point... if you went with 1% realty and had a decent house priced well in the past few years, it sold just as well as somebody who paid 4x as much. It's not like your listing realtor is out pounding the pavement looking for people to buy your place... they are holding an open house and answering the phone.

I'd happily pay a substantial commission for a realtor to help me sell a specialty piece of real estate such as a vacation property or water access lot which requires specialized knowledge and ideally a pool of potential buyers. On the other hand, to sell a condo in Brentwood? F that.

-Mark

[DoughBoy]

Chinese people should be required to obtain a minimum score of 5 on the language proficiency index test in order to purchase vancouver real estate

[Manic!]

Originally Posted by DoughBoy

Chinese people should be required to obtain a minimum score of 5 on the language proficiency index test in order to purchase vancouver real estate

What about people from Quebec?

[Traum]

Originally Posted by lowside67

That's the whole point... if you went with 1% realty and had a decent house priced well in the past few years, it sold just as well as somebody who paid 4x as much. It's not like your listing realtor is out pounding the pavement looking for people to buy your place... they are holding an open house and answering the phone.

I'd happily pay a substantial commission for a realtor to help me sell a specialty piece of real estate such as a vacation property or water access lot which requires specialized knowledge and ideally a pool of potential buyers. On the other hand, to sell a condo in Brentwood? F that.

-Mark

I'd have to disagree with the first part of Mark's remarks here. I've seen enough property listings where the realtor didn't even bother to arrange for proper photography to help with the sale that quite frankly it surprises me. At the same time, I've also seen a lot of listings where proper professional photogrpahy was used, and the photos actually looked better than seeing the property in person. The difference is staggering, because I've been tricked by good photogrpahy into thinking that a place looks nice, and as a result, I went in for the open house or arranged a viewing. At the same time, I've also been turned off by crappy photography (in the listing) and didn't put too much value into viewing that place, only to later find out that it wasn't actually as bad as the photography has made it to look.

Esp for a house, I'm also surprised by the number of realtors who don't bother taking the time to do a layout of the property.

And then there is pricing strategy, regardless of whether you're buying or selling. Esp when it comes to selling, I am very surprised by how some realtors lack the sense of how much a property is worth (ie. the appropriximate transaction price). Especially given the recent market conditions, I am not surprised that certain home owners continue to harbour unrealistic expectations of how much their property is worth. But as the realtor working for the home owner, it is really their job to offer good, realistic advice on pricing.

Essentially, while the listing realtor is not out pounding the pavement looking for people to buy your place, they still need to deliver a certain level of service to help you sell it. In particular, they need to provide a professional level of insights, and that is where I think a good realtor really shines, and is therefore worth the money. Unfortunately, it seems to me that far too many agents are not like that.

[Ch28]

We've been looking at listings for the past several months and haven't come up with something that we're in love with, so the search continues for us. However, the byproduct of seeing so many listings is coming to the realization that there are some fucking shitty realtors and some really good ones. You can generally get an idea of which one you're going to encounter when you look at a listing online and all they have are stock photos of the outside and lobby. We've also come across some listings where the RE agent obviously put a lot of though and effort into it with professional photos, 360 degree video, and a walk through. Stuff like that obviously takes time, money, and effort, so agents like that are worth their price.

[Mr.HappySilp]

Originally Posted by quasi

I have a commission question to those who have sold recently if you don't mind sharing, what did you pay commission wise to sell your home? Did you negotiate the rate at all? Were you happy with your realtor?

I've spoken to a few realtors the commission ranges, I'd like to be fair but at the same time I don't want to overpay. I thought about using someone in the family but I used someone I knew before on my last place and I didn't think they did a good job for me on either end of the deal so I want to keep it strictly business this time around.

My realtor give me 50% back of her commission but as far as the buyer's commission there are no discount. I guess she was saying a lot of buyer realtor would avoid showing clients when they don't get full commission from the sales. Most will give you a discount these days.

But I she is piss off at me lol coz I didn't use her to buy (which I kinda of said I would) but her ability is so bad is not really my fault. She lacks a lot of skills and can't give me any advice in deciding a home, what to look for or even know the location where the place we are going.

[Sw0op]

Originally Posted by Mr.HappySilp

My realtor give me 50% back of her commission but as far as the buyer's commission there are no discount. I guess she was saying a lot of buyer realtor would avoid showing clients when they don't get full commission from the sales. Most will give you a discount these days.

But I she is piss off at me lol coz I didn't use her to buy (which I kinda of said I would) but her ability is so bad is not really my fault. She lacks a lot of skills and can't give me any advice in deciding a home, what to look for or even know the location where the place we are going.

And think on the flip side she probably didn’t give a rats ass trying to maximize your sale price figuring she should half ass it since she was giving you a cut on commission but it’s okay as long as you’re saving on the sale commission right?

Everyone can sell a good place in a good location...but how would you feel to sell this $100 bill for $95 just so you can save a bit on commission

[Ch28]

Originally Posted by Sw0op

why dont you go take the course and sell the house yourself then...you'll save a lot of money that way or go with the 1% brokers and watch it sit for 6 months then

yes realtors are overpaid...but in the end its a sales job and most sales job are overpaid..you get paid to talk/negotiate and get the job done....if ya dont like it..DIY

Originally Posted by Sw0op

And think on the flip side she probably didn’t give a rats ass trying to maximize your sale price figuring she should half ass it since she was giving you a cut on commission but it’s okay as long as you’re saving on the sale commission right?

Everyone can sell a good place in a good location...but how would you feel to sell this $100 bill for $95 just so you can save a bit on commission

Is there a reason why you're being so confrontational about all of this?

[westopher]

I'd bet because he's a Realtor.
Most of the time I'd be foaming at the mouth to tell a realtor what a crook they are, but on the second point, he's totally right. He's probably one that isn't.

[yray]

#REcartel

house ain't a car, its the biggest purchase in one's life

If CPA and CFA have such strict guidelines and training, why not RE.

[Nabatron]

my RE agent got a professional photographer to snap pictures of our place and it looks amazing. Very happy with the pictures and hope all goes well on saturday.