" Thanks, all. Do you think it is justified for the realtors to make
that much? Don't they just do some paperworks? I know it is all about

supply and demand. Still 6% is a lot. Can realtors take advantage of
you financially in some other ways? Or am I just too paranoic?

John "

It depends on many things. I've bought and sold homes with and without
brokers. The first thing you have to ask yourself is how much you know
about engaging with sellers, marketing a home, doing open houses,
knowing what simple things to fix that could make it sell quicker, how
to negotiate and qualify buyers, having an idea of what to put in a
contract, etc. If you're comfortable with at least most of that and
its a hot market, IMO, you can do a FSBO and save money. How much
depends on a lot of things. IMO, it's hard to justify paying a $36K
commission on a $600K house in a hot market like the northeast of the
past few years. On the other hand, if you don't know what you;re
doing, paying someone $9K to move a $150K house quickly in a tough
market may be money well spent. The one big advantage to going with a
realtor is that you will be listed in the MLS, which only they have
access to and is used by all the brokers to find homes.