Goodbye Buyer Agents & Seller Agents - Hello Agent

Just another effect of the internet.... Steven Levitt, a University of Chicago economist, and author of "Freakonomics," predicts that there will be two types of real estate brokers: Those that offer information and those that offer labor.

From: Can the Net cut your real estate fees?

The reason why the real-estate model has remained intact is because there are still two agents, said Levitt. There should only be one intermediary, he said.

The problem is that buyers don't perceive hiring an agent as a cost to them. Yet it is a cost. "When all the buyers have agents, it becomes hard for the seller's agent to give any discounts," Levitt said.

Solution: Potential home buyers need to use the Web as a way to go directly to the selling agent to negotiate down the fees. Indeed, if a potential home buyer goes directly to the seller's agent, he or she can potentially negotiate 2% off the typical 5% to 6% fee.

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