

Is The Real Estate Industry Ripe For Disruption? - wbracken
http://www.bird-dog.co/blog/2014/5/13/using-a-realtor-makes-buying-selling-real-estate-a-drag

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drchiu
Having bought/sold a few properties, the value proposition that real estate
agents try to offer are in terms of providing advice regarding the
transaction.

Most agents can't really give you good advice whether this is a good financial
investment, and -- in my experience -- may not even have a good enough
judgement to tell you whether the area is good, the market timing is
appropriate, etc.

Given that all they do -- in my eyes -- is provide advice on the contract,
they're overpaid. Mind you, a lawyer needs to review everything anyway.

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zwieback
Yes, it is. The only house I bought was an owner-to-owner before the days of
the web and even then I couldn't see what value the realtors would have
brought to the game. Now they seem totally useless parasites, at least for
residential sales.

