評論
打印
Business
商業
American property
美國房市
The great realtor rip-off
房地產經紀人大敲竹杠
Why is it so expensive to buy or sell a house in America?
在美國，買賣房子怎么就這么貴？
IN BRITAIN, if you want to sell your home, an estate agent will list the property, find a buyer, help you negotiate a deal and guide you through the transaction, all for a commission of 2-3% of the sale price. In America, realtors provide the same services for roughly double the fee.
在英國，如果你想賣掉自己的房子，房地產中介就會列好財產清單，找買家，幫你達成協議并指引你完成交易，做這么多只為賺取房屋售價2-3%的傭金。而在美國，房地產經紀人提供同樣的服務，卻要兩倍的價格。
Are they worth it? The shouty realtors in David Mamet's film Glengarry Glen Ross (pictured) certainly think so. ("[My] watch costs more than your car…that's who I am.") Others disagree. Chang-Tai Hsieh of the University of Chicago finds that American property brokers cause "social waste" of $8 billion a year via overcharging and inefficiency.
這個高價真有所值嗎？David Mamet的電影《拜金一族》中大吵大鬧的房地產中介（見圖片）肯定認為值。（"[我]的表比你的車都貴，這就證明了我的身價。"）他人卻不這么認為。芝加哥大學的謝長泰發現，美國房地產經紀人的高收費和低效率引發的一年80億美元的"社會浪費"。
Economists are baffled. The internet has squelched inefficient middlemen in other industries, from insurance brokers to travel agents. Why not American realtors? Although scores of discount brokers and for-sale-by-owner websites have sprouted up, traditional full-service realtors have somehow maintained their market share of 80% without reducing fees.
經濟學家有些摸不著頭腦。互聯網已經消除了從保險業到旅行業等其他行業的混日子的中介。可是為什么這些行業中沒有美國的房地產界？雖然貼現經紀人人數和for-sale-by-owner網站的點擊率不斷躥升，傳統的全包式服務中介在不減少傭金的情況下仍保持了80%的市場份額。
The business used to operate like a series of local cartels. In a typical area, a handful of brokers controlled a shared database of available homes, and limited their cheaper rivals' access to those listings. In 2008 in the United States and 2010 in Canada, regulators struck deals with realtors to open up these databases. Yet since then the average commission has actually risen, from 5.0% in 2005 to 5.4% in 2011, according to REAL Trends, a research firm.
該行業以前的經營模式就像當地壟斷聯盟組織。在典型的地區，一群中介控制了閑置住房的數據庫，并避免出低價的對手得到這些數據。在2008年的美國和2010年的加拿大，監管人士沒能和中介們達成一致公開他們的數據庫。而從那以后，平均傭金就從2005年的5%漲到2011年的5.4%，研究機構REAL Trends表示。
Why are high fees so persistent? One counterintuitive theory is that America's housing bust has buoyed them. Selling a home is easy when prices are rising. But when financing dries up and volumes dip, sellers may need an agent's expertise and energetic marketing to find a buyer.
為什么手續費高居不下？一個反常理的理論是美國的房屋業的低迷反倒振奮了房地產中介。房價上漲的時候是賣房的好時期。但是由于資金短缺，待售房數量減少，賣家可能需要中介的經驗和充滿活力的營銷手段來找到買家。
Never give a sucker an even break
絕不能輕易放過一個傻瓜
Another theory is that clients are suckers. Agents routinely tell buyers not to worry about the fat commission because "the seller pays it." Meanwhile, they tell sellers not to worry because they will jack up the price of the home to cover it. According to Steve Murray of REAL Trends, two-thirds of clients choose an agent because of a prior personal relationship or referral. They may be reluctant to haggle with realtors to whom they have social ties.
另一個理論是客戶都是傻瓜。中介經常告訴買家不要擔心高昂的傭金，因為"賣家付這些錢"。同時，他們告訴賣家不用擔心，因為他們會把傭金加在房屋售價里。據REAL Trends的Steve Murray稱，三分之二的客戶選擇中介是因為有私交或是受人推薦。他們可能也不愿意和與他們有人際交往的中介討價還價。
A third theory is that the industry is less competitive than it looks. In most areas a few big brokers handle most transactions. They set high fees, which lure ever more people into the profession: between 1998 and 2005 the number of members of America's National Association of Realtors grew by 67%. These agents waste time competing with each other for the exclusive right to sell each home, sapping productivity. According to Norm Miller of the University of San Diego, an average agent in Britain closes 40-50 deals a year, compared with just seven in America.
第三種理論是房地產行業并不像想象的那樣競爭激烈。在大部分地區，少數大型的經紀商掌控大部分交易。他們定高手續費，引誘更多的人進入該行業：在1998年到2005年之間，美國房產經紀人協會的成員數上漲了67%。這些中介機構浪費時間，彼此競爭賣掉每個房屋的經手權使行業生產力走向衰竭。根據圣迭戈大型的Norm Miller稱，英國一所普通的房屋中介一年經手40-50個交易，而美國的一年平均只有7個。
Cynics say the industry has captured its regulators. The property commissions of American states are usually made up of brokers. Perhaps this is why many states have banned commission rebates-a form of discounting-or set up "minimum-service" standards that stop brokers offering fewer services for less money.
憤世嫉俗的人稱該行業俘獲了它的監管者。美國房地產業傭金一般是給中介經紀人的。也許這就是為什么許多州禁止了傭金回扣——一種折扣形式——或是設立"最低限服務"標準以阻止經紀人少服務少掙錢的原因。
The biggest cause, however, is probably the interdependent nature of the business. Since both the buyer and seller are represented by agents in most transactions, brokers must collaborate to close deals at the same time as they compete for listings. Buyers' agents have an incentive only to show their clients homes whose sellers offer them a standard 3% commission.
然而，最主要的原因大概是該行業相互依賴的本性。由于在大多數交易中買方和賣方都有經紀人，而經紀人必須在互相競爭得到房屋資產數據的同時協作達成交易。當房屋賣家給他們提供3%的傭金時，買方的經紀人才向他們客戶展示代售房屋。
To solve this problem, many sellers' agents offer to cut their own fee while still offering the full price to the buyer's agent. Alas, word soon spreads that they are giving rebates. That makes many buyers' agents steer their clients elsewhere-either in solidarity with full-service brokers or because they fear a discounter will leave them with the lion's share of the work.
為解決這一問題，許多賣家的代理商削減自己的傭金同時仍向買方中介報全價。這樣的話，馬上就有謠言傳他們給了回扣。這就使許多的買方中介把客戶帶到其他的地方看房子——或是與提供全包服務的中介團結一致，或是因為他們害怕貼現會給他們惹上大部分的交易工作。
Such stealth discrimination is hard to prove: buyers' agents can always say they ignored a listing because it did not meet their client's needs. But Colby Sambrotto, the founder of ForSaleByOwner.com and USRealty.com, a discount broker, says that after trying to sell his own home in New York by himself, he was forced to hire an agent to get it shown to potential buyers.
現在還很難證明這種隱形歧視的存在：買家的代理商可以永遠稱他們忽略財產清單是因為其并沒有滿足客戶的需求。但是ForSaleByOwner.com和USRealty.com網站的創始人Colby Sambrotto稱，在自己嘗試賣掉位于紐約的房產后，他不得不雇一個中介向潛在買家展示房子。
Such retaliation is hardly universal: Mr Sambrotto says it was a "regular exception rather than the rule" for his firm's clients in most markets. But because discounters need to make up for lower commissions with higher volumes, even a small amount of discrimination is often enough to drive them out of business. The demise of the 6% commission may still be inevitable. But for now, it seems a long way off.
這樣的報復心理并不是普遍的：Sambrotto稱對于他公司的各個市場的客戶來說，與其說是規則，不如說是"正規的例外"。但是由于折現需要用更高的數額彌補較低的傭金，就算是小丁點的歧視都足以把他們趕出這個行業。6%傭金時代的終結可能仍是不可避免的。但是就現在來說，仍是長路漫漫。
