Chris Vigil: Realtors bring real value to home-buying process - San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Recently, I met a couple on my Sunday tour of homes that really liked the idea of my tour. See six homes within two hours without tying up your whole afternoon. Unfortunately, selling Real Estate is not an event, but rather a process, and at times a long, arduous one. I had been following up with this couple that I had met on my tour for a few weeks already and they would talk my ear off whenever I'd call but they were reluctant to meet with me. After pressing the issue, the wife relented and said that she and her husband don't need a Realtor and they are looking themselves using free websites online. They are really frustrated at the process and said that the real estate industry has changed from when they first purchased years ago. In the past our only competition was another Realtor. Nowadays it appears that we have another competitor vying for our clients' attention. Real estate websites such as Zillow, Trulia, and Redfin have made money commoditizing the real estate industry. Zillow and Trulia offer listings for free while Redfin offers to turn over the buyer's commission to the purchasers of the property after they have taken their split. There Advertisementare people who have researched online who dive into the whole transaction of buying and selling their homes themselves only to find that it would have been best if they had hired a real estate agent. Most sellers you ask are trying to avoid the Realtors' fees, or they do not think that they will need the Realtor's services to get the best deal in town. These are the primary reasons people give when asked why they don't seek the help of a Realtor. Buyers and sellers have a tendency to get caught up in how much the Realtor is making in the process of the sale. The focus should be on the value the experienced Realtor brings to the transaction. It is hard to get a website to advocate for you in the process of the sale. Information available online is extracted from the Multiple Listing Service and that information is maintained and updated by the licensed Realtor who has the listing. When we get calls from clients asking for information on homes they have seen online it is not uncommon for the listing to be sold already. This could be avoided if the client is working with an agent and receives updated information as soon as it occurs. Buying and selling real estate is a consuming process that should be treated with care. It's the largest single purchase transaction a family will make in their lifetime. Realtors