NYT: “Do I Really Need a Real Estate Agent?”

The NAR settlement may have been decided, but in the mind of millions in the US, the fate of the real estate agent is still very much up for consideration.

The New York Times published the same headline, and I immediately rolled my eyes – and then sighed. It still ain’t over. There’s more work to be done folks. The “war” may be over, but now it’s quite bitterly, the clean up effort.

This wasn’t a fight you wanted. The whole industry tried to avoid the outcome – and yet here we are. If you aren’t already, you ought to be prepared to deal with an objection like this example.

From the NYT article:

“Less than two months ago, Joanne Y. Cleaver sold her home in a suburb of Charlotte for $725,000 in an unusual way: Facebook Marketplace.

She did not hire a real estate agent, lining up a lawyer instead to do the closing, and she declined to pay a commission to the buyer’s agent — a standard practice of the industry which for decades has put the burden of commissions of around 5 or 6 percent of the home’s sales price on the seller, though the fees were split between agents for the buyer and the seller. Ms. Cleaver, 66, estimates that she saved $25,000 in real estate fees, money that she pocketed.”

According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), 89% of home sellers used a real estate agent in 2023. This is an increase from 87% the previous year. I believe that more people use an agent today, than any time in the last 30 years. It’s the dominant majority.

Now, while the headline is shocking, the article paints a much different view. There are multiple examples of why to work with an agent. Its mostly scare tactics / examples of what can go wrong. But they don’t make a strong case.

The Facebook seller Mrs Cleaver even jokes in the article that she wants her obituary to say that she saved $25,000 by not paying a real estate commission, but she is also the first to caution: “I would never recommend a very first-time buyer do it on their own.”