Weird, having bought/sold a number of houses in the last ten years (our family moved several times), I can't say I've ever run into a real estate agent that seemed like a "high pressure" salesman. Perhaps its just the market so they don't really need to try, but IME the best real estate agents -- on the buyers side, at least -- were the ones that listened carefully and did a good job of finding houses that matched our needs. Definitely requires soft skills/empathy, but not really a sales role.
Do such things exist? Are there real estate agents who are like "and if you buy today, we'll throw in this grill!"? Genuinely curious.
On the general utility of real estate agents...
Really knowing a market and understanding construction/houses/permitting, etc... is a pretty important knowledge/skill set. I had one excellent agent figuratively drag me away from a condo that she understood to have serious foundation/construction defects. The good ones will help you understand what's good/bad about a house, problems to be alert for, etc...
Like a lot of middle men, I think they do provide some service of value. Now, is that worth 3%/6% of a houses value? In many cases, undoubtedly not. We sold a house in Austin when the market was so hot that we got an eye popping offer the day after the agent put a "pending" sign in the yard. I think he did like 4 hrs total work. So afaict, the profession as a whole acts as sort of a rentier over the MLS listings.
A year ago when our market was much hotter, I listed a property that I knew would sell quickly. Where I added value though was in knowing exactly when to list it, the price to list it, how to build pre-market interest, how to bring it to market in a way that would force buyers to compete only on price, and ultimately, I got the price up another $200k (and other concessions) for my sellers because of how I negotiated once offers were on the table. So even in a hot market, your agent’s skill does matter in yielding an optimal rather than just a “good” outcome.
Do such things exist? Are there real estate agents who are like "and if you buy today, we'll throw in this grill!"? Genuinely curious.
On the general utility of real estate agents... Really knowing a market and understanding construction/houses/permitting, etc... is a pretty important knowledge/skill set. I had one excellent agent figuratively drag me away from a condo that she understood to have serious foundation/construction defects. The good ones will help you understand what's good/bad about a house, problems to be alert for, etc...
Like a lot of middle men, I think they do provide some service of value. Now, is that worth 3%/6% of a houses value? In many cases, undoubtedly not. We sold a house in Austin when the market was so hot that we got an eye popping offer the day after the agent put a "pending" sign in the yard. I think he did like 4 hrs total work. So afaict, the profession as a whole acts as sort of a rentier over the MLS listings.