Item — HN Reader

Supply and demand, supply and demand. It’s not that complicated.

I’m not sure how or why this article got published by an organization that should, given its very nature, understand economics. The article doesn’t paint them or their members as people I’d trust in either side of a major financial transaction.

3 comments

To the extent that an organization can understand anything, this one understands economics just enough to argue for policies that will get its members more money, and argue against policies that won't. Real estate is the quintessential stay-at-home-mom backup job so it's no surprise by and large they are not known for having a nuanced and academic understanding of economic theory.

They want wages to go up so that home prices go up even more, and their members make even more money for doing basically nothing most of the time.

> it's no surprise by and large they are not known for having a nuanced and academic understanding of economic theory

The folks I’ve worked with have been as dedicated to their career path as anyone, and while their expertise and skill varies that isn’t different than any job. I understand your point, but your (mis?)characterization hits me as a little biased and shallow.

It’s not “theory”; it’s literally what they do.

They're intentionally focusing on only one half of the equation because the other half is partly their fault, and addressing it hurts their members.

They either don't understand that addressing wages without supply simply increases prices, or they do understand and don't care because it's good for their pocketbook. Which one's worse?

The article does, agreed. But I don’t think it was written by actual realtors. It’s the product of an organization that is representing them poorly, or so it appears.

have you met a realtor?

They can be some great people but as a profession they are known more for their extroversion and soft skills than their high IQ understanding of economics lol

It also depends on how hot the housing market is at any given time. Often time a realtor is just someone who decided everything else was too much work. (My whole family has been in the business for almost 70 years, both commercial and residential.)

I'm sure some do more, but my personal experience on the sales side is that realtors do nothing except serve as gatekeepers to get your house listed in the local MLS. Then they show up at closing to collect their commission.

On the buying side, they do more such as drive prospective buyers around to look at houses, though it's been long enough since I bought a house that I don't know how much virtual tours have replaced this. Either way, it's not what I'd call difficult work.

It is "work" in the sense that you can be busy doing things. Nothing is difficult by any reasonable sense of the word. All the realtors I know who are actually successful are constantly busy, constantly taking phone calls or responding to texts, there's very little downtime. I'm sure there's some nuance to it, and it probably helps to be in the business for a long time, but it's a backup job for 99% of people for a reason.

I've bought and sold a handful of properties in a couple states through my life and have dealt with probably 2 dozen realtors in some professional capacity, and only 1 has been what I would call "good" and that was basically just him giving us insight into the market, being willing to tell us not to buy a house because it wouldn't fit our needs 5 years in the future, etc. Basically just willing to sacrifice a faster or larger commission to get us what we wanted rather than just closing a deal ASAP, which IMO should be the minimum and not the mark of a "good" realtor.

Yes, many.

The realtors I’ve met understand economics and markets very well. Not as academics but as practitioners.

> given its very nature, understand economics

I'd say being a realtor is more about dealing with the psychology of buyers and sellers than the economy. And yes, you are wise to not trust them. Their interests are not yours.

And as the saying goes, it's difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on him not understanding it. I bet most realtors would prefer housing prices to stay high and the average home owner to stay rich. They are not here to solve the housing problem. They are a part of the problem.