Despite peak earning years just pre-CoVid, essentially just updating circuit panel violations and replacing GFCIs [read: well-paid work without much mental strife], I hung up the towel.
Realtors are nice simple people, the masters of soft skills (which I lack) — but ultimately I realized that "when you're the only person that gives a shit, you're gonna have a bad time." For their efforts, I think total sale comp should be 1-3% (both sides), depending upon their accessibility.
>They are incentivized to move houses as fast as they can.
Being told to "not worry about other sub-contractor craftsmanship, especially don't POINT IT OUT TO CLIENTS" — I just couldn't be part of a team that cared so little as to hand over duds for [typically] seven-figure homes/investments. "We carry professional insurance FOR A REASON."
Of course they won't spend money on craftsmanship. I doubt they would even fix dangerous shit like bad circuit panels if it weren't for government inspections to certify habitability.
A retired NFL player was purchasing this house and multiple inspectors indicated that the entire main panel would require replacement [note: NOT in contract to update any branch circuits; panel only]. Any pre-existing branch circuits unable to be update "to code" were to be de-activated.
Previous homeowner had made all sorts of "specials" [i.e. crappy work] within this home, and many of the branch circuits were just hots with neutrals tapped off other shared circuits [not multibranch; it was hack-work]. One such disabled circuit —per our contract— was for a TV above the kitchen sink, which had its own 15A hot — but jaked off another neutral [melt/burn/fire hazard; not "to code"].
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What does one do on a multiple thousand $$$ contract for a multimillion dollar property, when your lifeblood brokerage is telling YOU [the EXPERT] that "no permits are required, just make that TV work!!!" ?
Or other such new-homeowner surprises as: "please disable the garage door safety sensors even though I have over ten young children that could be crushed by one of the most dangerous items in a typical home [garage door]" —okay, I added that latter half.
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Firms don't often care if your house fetches slightly less, because to them it isn't really reflected much differently in their [already bloated] commissions. Any future land purchases I make will be lawyer only, up-front flat-fee [where possible].