Wait – what? The typical realtor only sells 1 house every 4-5 months???

Photo above – this "average" home at 336 Bowie Street, San Diego recently sold for $742,000. Buyer and seller commissions, plus miscellaneous closing costs will tack on another $85,000.

There are big changes coming to the real estate industry. Not here yet, but they're coming. The NAR (national association realtors) agreed to pay $400 million in damages, after admitting it overcharged homebuyers for decades. If the penalty had actually equaled the overcharges, it probably would have been more like $400 billion. But real estate agents will be allowed to continue overcharging until at least July. There must be some powerful magic at work here. Imagine a rapist being allowed to continue “business as usual” for 4 months while he adjusts his lifestyle to the reduced opportunities for intercourse.

So yes, I agree with the link below that the number of real estate agents will decrease. Last year the average realtor only sold 2-3 homes a year. But survived 12 months of the year on tricky, inflated commissions. Cut the commissions in half, and these fine green coated men and women are in serious financial trouble. Some may even have to get real jobs. 15% of them quit in 2023, before their NAR boys and girls clubs of America even pleaded guilty. Probably a LOT more will quit between July 31st and Thanksgiving.

In case anyone believes I'm shedding tears over this, you're wrong. Commission sales always inflate prices, not matter what's being sold. If you think home realtors the most egregious example, you aren't familiar with the math of commercial real estate brokers. They may only sell 1 big office building a year. But they have getaway condos in Miami, take European vacations, and drive fully optioned Range Rovers.

I dated a guy who “sold airplanes” once. Dated briefly, for like 2 weeks. He was a “manufacturer's representative” for Boeing. His commissions would make your head explode. His goal was to sell entire fleets of aircraft, to places like Qatar and Saudi Arabia. And to the US airlines too. Nobody is taking Boeing to court over commissions, however. Because they're also a pentagon supplier. Don't ask me what the commissions are on a C-15 Globemaster, or an F18 “super hornet”. There's always cost overruns on those things anyway, even if you get a "deal" at the time the contract is finalized.

So, it's probably NOT a good time to buy a house this month. Online pundits are suggesting that we should wait until July. In fact, home sales are already down a bit these past 2 months, and prices are only rising 1.5% on an annual basis. But most of that is due to 7.5% mortgage rates, I expect.

If you ARE thinking about buying a home, you might want to wait PAST July. September, October, November, perhaps? That will give various regulators time to identify and prosecute real estate offices which continue to cheat. You didn't expect them to all start behaving on day 1, did you? There will be ongoing legal chicanery over poorly worded regulatory subsections, and the invention of all new surcharges (“Would you like your home undercoated? Rust proofed? Ceramic clear coat?”) Look at how many years it took telemarketing calls to peter out after they were made illegal. I'm still getting calls, in fact. Geesus . . . I sure hope those unemployed Real Estate agents don't turn to telemarketing. Or become car salesmen.

I'm just sayin' . . .

~Real estate agents are fleeing the field. Is that good for homebuyers? (msn.com)~