Buying & Selling A Home Is EXPENSIVE!!!

I was running some calculations on how much it is going to cost me to sell our home in Alexandria and buy a new home (in the price range we are shopping).   The Realtor market is going to get almost $200,000 from me for doing very little, but it is a cost of doing business these days.

Though I believe the market will adjust and fix the problem where realtors are not compensated correctly, it is going to take a long time for this to happen.   The reason it is going to take a long time is partially because the market is locked up and there is no way the real estate companies are going to give up any of their market share.   In a perfect competitive market you would see these crazy rates that realtors are being paid change, but the problem is the realtors that own the market are never going to let it change.

The only way something is going to fix this obviously broken market is for a major disruption to occur.  I am not talking about a market shift or even a change in the laws.  The only way the market changes is through some paradigm shift in the ways people buy and sell their homes.   Maybe the internet will help fix this problem, but until the sellers or buyers actually feel the pain when they have to pay 6% of their total home price to sell it, with zero performance incentives or guarantees, the problem will never go away.

The only way to fix this is to have the contracts written where the realtor is paid when the house is sold above the appraised (or market) price.   There should be accelerated payments where the realtor can make up to 40% of the incremental amount on the deal after the floor is hit.   For example, if our house is appraised by the city at around $1MM, the realtor will make $2,500 for being the realtor, and then for every $1 over the $1MM they make .25 cents.  For every $1 over $1.2MM they make .50 cents on the dollar.

- If we sell our house for $1MM, the realtor makes $2,500.
- If we sell the house for $1.1MM the realtor makes $27,500
- If we sell the house for $1.3MM the realtor makes $102,500
- If we sell the house for $2MM the realtor makes $452,500

This is a simple way to make the sellers agent work.  The buyer agent needs to work in a different way, but should also be tied to finding a home and getting the best deal. 

This video says it all!

The best living room table of the year!

This is a really great (and nerdy) coffee table.  I think this table didn't make it into Kramer's coffee table book about coffee tables.  

I think old gamers really are fanatics, and this proves it.  I don't think Jennifer would want this in our living room.

 

 

Images via mattcyborgelt

Coming Home...

I travel a lot for my job, and enjoy meeting with people in NY, Atlanta, LA, and San Francisco. Given what I do for a living the travel comes with the territory, and with all the pains of having to wake up at 3am to catch an early flight to LA or grab an early train to NY, there are plenty of good times.

The best times are coming home after being on the road for awhile. I have lately been coming home late at night and not been able to see Jennifer and the kids until they wake up the next morning, but when I do get a chance to get home early enough to surprise them it is a blast.

Dryver always runs up and gives me hugs, while Stryde sorta just looks and tells me something he is working on or whatever is top of mind. I realize I do miss some of the fun things during the week, but try and make sure to catch-up with everyone and get as much time together as possible when I am home. I also have realized that when we spend time on the weekends or vacations, though I have work to do, it is a good time to spend with the family.

It is great having kids, and one fo the best parts is coming home to see them and hearing about everything they did during the day...