@Susie: You’re question about how many “good” agents out of 100, is a short answer. It depends. We know that 20% of agents make 80% of the money. However, most of the “difficult agents” that I’ve encountered have been the high producing agents. I don’t think personal income is a good indicator of being a “good agent.” Using my definition (concentrating on personal knowledge and putting their clients first) I would that there are only about 15% of those who are licensed; that I would allow to work with me. However, I think that closer to 80% of those licensed could be worth working with, IF they make education a higher priority, treat it like a full time career and worked for the right broker (or were the right broker.)

@Mark: We agree – MLS is no longer a notebook under the desk. It is NOT (and never should have been) the most marketable skillset, but yet here we are. So, geez…now we’ll need to use knowledge and make it the most valuable skill set.

@Matt: I am indifferent as of yet, about what an agent calls themselves. I think some of the funny looks from other agents is that there is no legally definable representation as consultant, in our state. To me it would make you a limited service represented, but definition in Virginia, if you aren’t an “agent”. You’re right about why the consumer would look for you… to decipher information. Unfortunately not all agents spend as much time as you do learning about these things and being prepared to decipher.

@Steve: Thanks for laying out the options, that may be available to consumers.

@Russell: The reason I left the discussion to others, is that I haven’t figured out all the angles. I have represented buyers, who paid my company directly, as the Unrepresented Seller refused. It was not difficult to illustrate why nor to do the transaction. I have encountered several Sellers who wanted to know why they have to pay the buyer’s agent as well. It’s a tough call, but I have a hard time seeing most buyers having sufficient income to pay the agent, and the down payment and the closing costs, etc… However, I do see a day where we’re all doing fee-for-service and only for one consumer at one time. It’s impossible to see the future – but I think that following the current early trends, we can see these changes evolving, unless someone comes up with better options.

1) Go without full representation (only for the well experienced and the brave);

2) Trust in limited form of representation (which I believe results in a blurred result at best);

3) Hire a buyer’s agent (the source of compensation left for other discussions or to defend my comments here);

4) Opt for a complete level of overkill use the attorney;

I think that if the real estate industry would like to create a new proper foundation for the future they will move towards absolute single agency. If they don’t, you will see the public starting to move towards #4. You can get a very savvy attorney to write the contractual offer and counter-offers, handle the negotiation, and even attend the closing for under a couple of thousand dollars.
The industry will either change or you will see order clerks with real estate licenses and lawyers for both the seller and buyer (as you already do in a lot of places).
Just my thoughts:)

Mark, kudos for bringing up the term consultant in your comment. I maybe ahead of hte curve by running a real estate consulting firm and being a real estate consultant (I still get blank stares from local colleagues) but I see the future and hopefully I will be ahead of the curve in my local market.

The thought is that website MLS access is now a utility, and not a service. The perception is therefore, that the buyer’s feel deserving of the material and are offended if it’s not openly available.

it’s unfortunate but so many agents view MLS as their most marketable “service” or as their primary method of lead-generation online. these same agents wonder why they struggle against being perceived as a commodity (while everyone markets the same MLS/IDX) and rely on “we’re your home team” taglines for differentiation.

online is the land of quick-cut attention spans. if you want more people, then you’ve gotta figure out how to give more – a lot more – first (and not something everyone else has.)

let’s face it, we all know MLS/IDX is not consumer-centric. there’s not a lot of control of how they get their results. my dream home is not limited to checkboxes for bedrooms and baths. this is why google owns the online search market – they figured out how to provide more of what the searcher actually wanted. they cared about serving the end-user more than the webmasters of the sites being listed.

someone will figure this out (Zillow? Trulia? Roost?) and i guarantee it won’t be designed as a tool for agents but for the consumer. where does that leave those realtors we discussed above? struggling for an identity and a business.

People, for the most part will always need a highly trained and knowledgeable consultant

two things this quote provoked:

one: you probably view “consultant” the same way i do – as someone who takes a client under their wing and protects and guides them through choices. if that’s the case, then where is their room for dual agency?

two: there are still those realtors out there trained and conducting business as order-takers (fries? soda? jumbo-sized?), not as consultants.

I don’t know about you, but I find it fascinating to be on the cusp of evolution.

hells yeah.