I guess.

is the 'added value' a realtor brings to the table?

Realtors add very little value and it's basically a racket to perpetuate themselves. The main demand for realtors is the infestation of realtors in the housing market.

As a culture we've created far too many of these professions for people who are basically entitled but lazy. They're our Soviet Tractor Factories: a self perpetuating drain on society.

They don't have the brains to do an intellectual job, nor the muscle to labor, nor the creativity to make art, nor the humility to do a common service.

what makes you think you deserve something that only the rich and well-connected have? thinking above you station, there.

Real estate agents create unreal estate markets. The commissions they recieve only siphon off from what should be more to the seller and a possible lower price to the buyer. In bad times the seller is hurt more by commissions.

Agents sell sizzle, not steak. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth thinking about it.

Unemployment, anyone? Maybe even COBRA?

Maximum unemployment benefit: $320/week (before taxes)

Cost of COBRA plan: $1035/month

Do the math.

If you've been buying the right-wing line about people living high on the dole, I'm here to tell you it's complete and utter horseshit.

Sad. Really. Most of us are really good at making money when everybody is making a lot of money.

And in Hell, where you are certainly going, you will be greeted by the shades of the buyers you overcharged, and the sellers you underpaid. And the families disposessed from the overpriced McMansions and crap houses that sold for too much money, for which they couldn't make the payments.

Oh, you'll get breaks for rest between this punishment, every year or so. You'll get to spend a day in your own house in Hell, one of the refrigerator boxes that your clients were forced to die in after they were disposessed. Ever hear the phrase "cold as Hell?" You'll experience it.

You made your living off the backs of common people, just like the CEO's of auto companies. You weren't as big a crook, though. That's why you'll get one day off a year. Oh, and those contributions to your church won't help. You were paying the living expenses for the local pedophile.

btw, I really hate the term "bubble" though I sometimes use it out of habit. It's such an empty term.

A more appropriate term is "mania" as in the "Dutch Tulip Mania" of seventeenth century. As in "manic behavior" a kind of mental disorder.

A "bubble" didn't just inflate itself. We had a "mania" i.e. we went crazy as a culture.

Individual realtors, along with the real estate lobby in Washington, the lending institutions, and Wall Street, were all happy to contribute to the mania, like so many crack dealers.

The pay models for realtors should be drastically changed. Licencing requirements and ethical guidelines should also be greatly improved.

It's simply not that difficult or prestigious a job. A fast talker with a HS diploma and a little training can do it.

There's no reason a realtor, even the best selling homes worth several million, should be making much over $100K/yr. An average realtor should make considerably less. Luring too many low skilled people into the industry with a promise of easy money will inevitably distort prices to sustain their commissions, becoming a racket.

I asked a real estate agent the other day what she thought about these absurd mortgages that tanked our economy. She pointed out an important fact. These mortgages were not illegal. In other words, our true and deepest anger should be squarely centered on the system that the banks, investment businesses, and politicians created. How many of you knew these mortgages were being bundled, sliced up, and sold around the world? It's common knowledge now, but it wasn't back then. The only thing regular people knew was that houses were grossly over priced. We didn't know why. It's silly to say those prices were driven up by real estate agents. They were driven up by the financial people who created the damn system.

If 20 people want the same house, a bidding war starts. Price is determined by demand. It turns out the demand was created by a radically short sighted get rich scheme designed by people with way too much financial power in a system with far too little over sight. How is that the real estate agent's fault? You may as well blame the guy who laid down carpet in a new but unnecessary house.

Really, I have no idea why the author of the article wants to make herself a target. These are angry people with pitchforks, I'd be a lot more careful if I were you.

For all of you taking shots ... I'm sure someone could say the same about your pay scale, your workload, your skill set.

But, just to make sure at least part of the story gets told, a) there is no pay scale for realtors. Antitrust legislation makes it illegal for there to be any kind of standardization in commission structure. In other words, no one is ever forced to pay anything they don't want to pay. b)if the house doesn't sell, the Realtor makes nothing. Not a penny. And in most cases, they've spent money advertising the house, cleaning the house, listing the house. As for buyers, no matter how much you drive them, no matter how many houses you show, you don't get paid until/unless they close, with you listed as buyers' agent. c) no agent ever made anyone buy a damn thing. Agents helped people buy homes, but blaming them is no more accurate than blaming the Starbuck's manager for the $4 hot chocolate.

"Realtors add very little value and it's basically a racket to perpetuate themselves. The main demand for realtors is the infestation of realtors in the housing market."

You're perfectly free to sell your home yourself, Mr. Marketing Genius. So how did that work out for you?