To the editor: I have been a real estate agent for 24 years. I work hard at that. I don't make millions of dollars or drive a Bentley. My work has allowed me to live well and greatly enjoy a professional career. (“Real estate agent rules just changed dramatically. Here's what buyers and sellers can expect,” March 19)
Like any business, real estate is constantly changing. Forms, laws and rules are always being added or updated. We keep up, we change, we grow.
With the changes to the commission's rules, we are entering a new world and we will make it work. However, I am offended by the idea of agents directing their clients to houses with higher commissions.
I have never done this and never would. In fact, I have shown properties with extremely low split commissions when they are the homes my clients want.
Furthermore, commissions have always been negotiable. I have never met an agent who has not helped a buyer using their own compensation. We don't get paid unless we close a sale, which can take months or even years.
Most real estate agents I know care about their clients and really try to get them into homes they love. But many articles about commission changes make us sound like snake oil salesmen, and I'm opposed to that.
Cindy Nexon, Agoura Hills
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To the editor: Under the new rules (pending court approval), publicly traded brokers cannot publish commissions offered to selling brokers. This could supposedly reduce sales costs and sellers would offer their homes at lower prices.
But with housing affordability a major national issue, is a house that previously cost $1 million and cost $975,000 under the new rules actually become affordable?
Little attention has been paid to one downside of the proposed measure: Large brokerages that already have a pool of buyers and sellers could hoard their listings and, in some cases, arrange a sale to a bottom-tier provider, who could promise a future change in their list. brokerage. Small, independent brokers who review available listings daily and work hard to find the best buyer and the highest price for the seller could be virtually locked out of an offer if they don't know what (if anything) they will get for their work. .
I hope the court can understand that the game is better when more players are encouraged to try it.
Ken Hense, Los Angeles
