“One notable company implemented the requirement of actually being added onto E&O policies a couple of years ago. This same company has recently started a bidding war between Realtors in regards to fees. Instead of an order being broadcast out to Realtors in a given area at say, $50, and the first one to accept, gets it. Now, Realtors can bid down or up in $0.50 increments, lowering their fee by $7.00, or raising it by a whopping $2.00 from the base price. There’s nothing like whoring oneself out in the name of getting business, right? Not when many of these companies are tightening their search parameters – try finding comps for a somewhat normal house, let alone an obscure one, within a third of a mile when it’s an urban area, on mile when suburban, or three miles in a rural area… seriously.
Additionally, some companies now require driving by all comps and original comp photos to boot. Another company wants Realtors to upload a copy of tax records as part of the order. Let’s not forget my favorite new requirement of all- a complete sales history not only of the subject, but of all the comparables to boot. We also enjoy the companies who charge us for using whatever jacked up flavor of the month online platform they are so inclined to use, none of which are exactly user friendly. The fees go from one to two percent to a flat fee of $5 or $10… per ORDER.”
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