Scottsdale, AZ –
Local Real Estate agent, “Big” Bob DuPree is fed up with his paycheck going down.
Originally licensed in 1982, DuPree has seen just about everything there is to see in the Scottsdale Real Estate market. From the double digit inflation of the late 80s to the Great Recession of 2008-2009, he has managed to carve out a comfortable living in an ever-shifting industry.
Until now, that is.
The steady rise in home prices over the past decade, coupled with the explosion in Real Estate licensees, has resulted in downward pressure on commission rates.
“I used to charge seven percent to list a home, and people didn’t bat an eye,” DuPree lamented. “I didn’t have to worry about my competitors undercutting my fee because we all charged the same amount. That was before all of these bottom feeding newbies started grabbing their ankles and listing houses for free.”
Asked whether he felt the public was better served by an industry of yesteryear that was steeped in anti-trust practices, price-fixing, and collusion, DuPree responded, “Hogwash.”
DuPree contends that the level of professionalism in the housing industry has diminished in direct correlation to its growth.
“You’d go to a cocktail party back in the day and be the only agent there. People would want to talk to you. Ask how much their home was worth. Gossip about their neighbor’s hideous remodeling. Now they treat me like a leper in a kissing booth. Everyone has a brother in law or cousin with a license as a side hustle. They charge a seller like five hundred bucks to list a house because it’s more money than they have ever seen in their Whataburger paycheck.”
DuPree holds the new online world in the same contempt.
“Everything is available to everyone twenty four seven now,” he said. “Everything. Times were a buyer had no idea what was for sale. The multiple listing service was a weekly pamphlet that only we agents received. John Q Public wanted to know what houses were for sale in Scottsdale? He couldn’t go to Twiddledy Doo dot com to find out. He had to call me.”
Asked to clarify whether he viewed his value more as a service provider or as a hoarder of secret information, DuPree answered, “Yes.”
While several competing agents who did not want to go on record for this piece indicated that the Internet has added value to their businesses and made it easier to reach prospective clients, DuPree argues that the readily available information of today actually makes his job harder. He contends that the additional time and energy spent educating a demographic that isn’t sold on his value in the first place is not worth the brain damage.
“They all want to play Realtor,” he noted. “Like their fifteen minutes looking at bogus data trumps my forty two years in the business. And then they want to say they only need me to open a door or write the offer so they can jam me down on commission. Cut my fee for the pleasure of working for a goddamn knowitall? I don’t think so, chief.”
The owner of two Bentleys and a vacation home in La Jolla, DuPree insists his cause is just and in defense of the little guy getting crushed in a high inflation world.
“All I’m saying is that you can’t make a living on two and a half percent per sales side,” DuPree added. “Hell, even three or three and a half is a stretch. Have you seen the price of milk? Gas? My paycheck keeps getting smaller while my bills keep getting bigger. Welcome to Joe Biden’s America.”
When this reporter pointed out that home prices had effectively doubled over the last five years, leading to larger total commissions despite the lower average percentages being charged, DuPree was succinct.
“Fuck you, socialist.”
– Daryl Eckshund, REBIZ NEWS
