Hacked by parasitic greedhead scam

There are some jobs that I don't think need to exist at all. These include, among countless others:

• Baby-seal pulverizer
• TSA crotchprober/deathray technician
• Telephone scamvertiser
• Realtor^(R)

That little ^(R) is there so that no one else can say they do what a realtor does, so if all the realtors demand outrageous fees, what can you do but accept it?

an·ti·trust
adj.
Opposing or intended to regulate business monopolies, such as trusts or cartels, especially in the interest of promoting competition

-- http://www.thefreedictionary.com/antitrust

A cartel is a formal (explicit) agreement among competing firms. It is a formal organization of producers and manufacturers that agree to fix prices, marketing, and production.

-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartel

REALTOR® members [...] are the only ones who have the right to list your property on the MLS® Systems of their local real estate boards.
[...]
MLS® and the corresponding web site www.REALTOR.ca have changed the way people search for homes, and it's hard to court buyers without it.

-- http://www.howrealtorshelp.ca/faq.php

---

Let us consider the economics of realtor fees. For a $400,000 house, the standard realtor fee will run you 4% of the house value (it's higher for less expensive houses). If you move houses several times in your life, you're skimming one 25th of your house value every time, and giving it to someone who has "earned" that much of your property by helping you sell it.

What does that number mean in conceptual terms? Suppose you have a 25-year mortgage on your house. Every year you pay off one 25th of the house. Pick one of those years, and say "This one's for my Realtor." Then go to work every workday that year, and start the day thinking "I do this for my Realtor." Put a smiling picture of them on your cubicle wall for motivation, if it's getting you down.

To be fair, you don't devote all your time to work, and you don't devote all your income to your mortgage. So maybe think "Here's some for my Realtor, here's some to feed my kids.*"

And remember, it's only one year of your life you'd need to do this for! One... for each time you move, I mean.

But perhaps it's worth it. Perhaps your Realtor will devote a year of work to selling your house.


* If you do choose to think of it in terms of food, you may wish to calculate how much is going to your kids and how much to your Realtor. If you spend $300 per month on food for the kids, it will take 4.44 years, not one, to add up to our example realtor fees. So you may choose to spend 4.44 years devoting equal time to your realtor and to feeding your kids, or you may wish to for example dedicate the first hour of work to your kids, and the next 4.44 to your realtor. Again, that's only for one tiny insignificant year of your life.