I have a Toyota Prius with a GPS built in. It also connects to my phone over Bluetooth. When I am in an area that I don't know, I let the GPS guide me. I can talk hands-free on my phone while driving.

However, I TRY not to use the phone when I am with a client because I don't want them to think that they are not important to me. Sometimes that is not possible, but I do my best.

I apologize for my lack of subject and verb agreements. That's what happens when one hits submit too quickly.

No, but I doubt you're interested in conceptualizing all a real estate agent's commission really does entail. I already stated some of the expenses in my previous post. Your one-liner indicates that you're not interested in a discussion, but rather taking swipes at real estate agents who explain the real estate process because you don't like what is said.

Would YOU counsel someone who thinks he or she needs a lawyer that, "no, you don't need a lawyer"? Would you tell someone that he or she should not bother with an appraisal if he or she thinks it is necessary? Not if you're a real estate professional you wouldn't.

If you don't want to pay that commission to sell your property, then you have to do it yourself including advertising, marketing, showing, meeting people when it is convenient for the customer, negotiating a sale, and be sure that you're not breaking any federal, state, or local laws in the process).

Finally, if you're going FSBO (for sale by owner), don't expect a real estate agent to show the property to his customer if you're not willing to pay us a commission for our efforts.

Finally, commissions are not fixed and are negotiable and vary everywhere.

Also, what real estate agents give is a CMA (comparative marketing analysis), and that is not an appraisal and in the state of Florida it is illegal to call it one.

"Trusting a realestate agent to give you honest adivce is the same as trusting a Best Buy salesman to give you an honest answer about what you're buying. Yep. They are the same."

I resent that you think all real estate agents are dishonest. You do not know that the real estate agent from the story is dishonest and I am certainly not dishonest.

"I just put in a contract on a FSBO house. It's worth it since we're getting it for basically $25K under list price but it's a pain in the ass. There is so much running around and dealing with the sellers. If the sellers are fair people it's fine, if they aren't it's a bigger headache. I have a somewhat new appreciation for realtors."

Some real estate agents are very good and work very hard for their money. Real estate agents often keep the seller and buyer at arm's length, as it should be and agents sometimes give up part of our commission to make a deal work (I am doing that in a current transaction preparing to close). Since we are independent contractors, we have pay for our car, our insurance, our phones, our dues (which cover insertion fees into MLS), but also mailings, advertising, and marketing efforts of a property and if it doesn't sell, we get nothing. I am not complaining about that, but I would like people to remember that we don't get paychecks week over week whether we do something or not. We only earn money when we work...and most of us do a fair bit of it...and honestly.

As I stated in my previous post, if an agent makes a material statement and the buyer or seller relies on that statement as fact, then the agent can and should be held accountable for it, but to blame a real estate agent for buyer remorse and falling values is ridiculous.

I am a licensed real estate agent in Florida. Many consider it the job of the "buyer's agent" to counsel the customer. However, real estate agents are not real estate appraisers (unless we are licensed as such and most of us are not) and our purpose is to facilitate the transaction of selling a property to a buyer.

Quite frankly, I am sure I will get loaded on for this, but the lady could have done at least two things including not making the deal in the first place and having a contigent appraisal.

A REALTOR's answer to the following questions are simple:

Customer: Should I have this property appraised?
REALTOR: Yes.

Customer: Do I need a lawyer?
REALTOR: Yes.

Customer: Should I buy this property?
REALTOR: Let's review your needs and desires to allow YOU to determine if this property fits the bill.

Why isn't she responsible for signing as closing? It seems to be everyone else's fault.

Like people screaming about their bad mortgages now, they like to say it is everyone else's fault except theirs.

Now, if a real estate agent makes a statement and the customer relies on it to make a decision, then that is another matter altogether and worth consideration. However, I suspect that she's lashing out because of the declining market.

As the poster states, the library is completely underutilized. I have so many books and my spouse said I was not allowed to buy any more books or DVDs, so now I order them from the library and return them. However, I suffer from the same symptoms as another commenter: sometimes I get a book from the library and then I just don't feel like reading. Libraries and librarians totally rock.