We purchased our current home through what Zillow calls a "Make Me Move" listing. The sellers did not have an agent and the home was not on the MLS.
We worked with a couple of Realtors over the course of our most recent home search. We had very specific wants and looked on and off for a couple years.
We never seriously looked at a house that a realtor found for us. Anytime a realtor took us to a home, it wouldn't meet at least a couple of our criteria. I'm really disillusioned by the real-estate process. I feel like more open access to the MLS system and some clever third-party entrepreneurs could really turn the system around. Photographers to handle the pictures, a service to handle the showings, and someone to fill out the paperwork shouldn't cost 7%.
I worked with a realtor when I purchased my previous home. Like you, I had a detailed list of criteria. I had looked for a year, and this realtor found the property in only two weeks. It wasn't an easy transaction, as there were IRS leans against the house, and the property was distressed, but he worked with me to come up with a realistic offer that reflected the home's condition and that was still well below market value. He handled issues with the seller, arranged for title search, and eventually closed the deal. Clear and responsive communication between he and I at every step was key to making this happen.
When I sold that home in '10, the same realtor helped me set a price that was slightly below market which actually caused a bidding war in what was supposed to be a buyer's market. As a result the selling price was far enough above market value to pay for his commission. I was no longer living in the same area at the time, and he handled all of the pre-sale details, including arranging for a final cleaning before the open houses. This realtor always returned phone calls within a half day, usually within a few minutes, if he didn't just answer the phone after a ring or two. He also answered emails with clear and concise information.
I searched for a new home in '12 & '13, and had bad experiences with both the new realtors I worked with. I pre-screened each house against my criteria prior to arranging to see the home with the realtor, but I, not the realtor, found the homes as we were both working off the same MLS listings. I was disappointed that there were so few homes on the market, and that the realtors didn't have access to some "secret squirrel" list of homes that weren't on the MLS. I was never called with a "fresh" listing that hadn't come through their agency before it hit the MLS. I had trouble with the inspection and repair services they recommended, and found many inaccuracies in their information when I did my due diligence.
I never really appreciated how good that first realtor was until the trials and tribulations over the '12-'13 time frame. Those realtors were really bad, and failed in many of the same ways that are warned about in the latest (March '15) issue of Consumer Reports. Some of that was probably due to the market, some due to the area, but I put most of the blame on the realtors (I switched mid way to try to find someone better).
Maybe things have changed drastically in '14 and '15, but not once did I find any listings in Zillow that were helpful. But the real point I'm making here is that there is a lot more to a real estate transaction than taking pictures, publishing a listing, and filling out paperwork.
Perhaps we've wandered so far off the Assessed Value subject of this thread that another covering this topic should be started?
