I got into real estate originally because my agents sucked and cost me tens of thousands of dollars with bad decisions, negotiating, etc. Like all of the “experts” on Reddit who said that using realtors was for suckers, I had a low opinion of using one.
Then when I got a license and went thru a bunch of deals I realized there are a thousand tiny little details that can screw up deals and leave buyers or sellers financially exposed big time, sometimes to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
I just was using bad agents. I needed to find the 10-15% that knew what they were doing. With a good agent, they will pay for most if not all their fee, but more importantly keep you out of a severe, frightening financial disaster. It’s a low probability, but if it happens to you it’s a 100% probability.
This year, rather than do deals directly I’m just referring people to other agents. I can look at their specific situation and help them find a competent agent in the Austin metro area.