I thought they were the same thing except realtors were a specific group you had to pay to be in and have a good record.

You're absolutely right. You, the client, don't get to see what goes on the backend so it's often impossible to know up front who is going to represent your interests and who is going to be more interested in padding their own commission. Zillow reviews are basically useless because all it means is that the reviewer liked their realtor. That's great and all but "likeability" and quality of work are not the same thing.

There was a lot of media speculation that the recent court case and settlement with the National Association of Realtors would bring commissions down and make terms more favorable, especially for sellers.

I don't believe that has happened at all. In fact, it's just helped make an industry known for its opaqueness and underhanded tactics even more opaque and underhanded. As usual, it's the client who gets the shaft.

If you want to find a good realtor, or avoid a bad one, there are a few things you can do.

• Beware of realtors that aggressively push you toward certain vendors (banks, title companies, etc). If you're looking at your third house and they're now asking you for the fifth time if you've applied for a mortgage at a specific bank, that's a red flag. Kickbacks are illegal in both banking and real estate. But some people like to treat those pesky laws like suggestions.

• Beware of dual agency in general, but especially Realtors that are very persistent about it. With dual agency, the same realtor represents the buyer and the seller. It's not a guarantee that your realtor is going to do something unethical, but let's be real. Collecting commission from both sides in a real estate transaction is a very clear conflict of interest. But it's a conflict of interest that is considered acceptable as long as The buyer and seller both approve. You do not have to approve. But you may have to find another realtor depending on who your initial realtor was representing first.

• If a realtor has been in the business for a long time AND is willing to show you rentals, that's actually a positive sign. Rentals pay shit. Around here if you get $300 - $400, that's a good rental commission. As the agent you get to keep maybe half of that. Depends on what the split is with your broker. Agents who sell more can negotiate a better commission split. So the rental commission is dog shit and on top of that, landlords and property Management companies are notorious for trying to either weasel out paying the commission or they will drag their feet on it as long as possible.

As the agent, you could easily spend many many hours showing rentals and lose money doing it because rentals are not profitable for agents. Agents that are relatively new to the business will do rentals just to help build up their client portfolio. But if you get an agent who's been in the business for a while, doesn't try to pawn you off on another agent, and will take the time to actually show you rentals, they're not doing it strictly for the money even if they do hope that you'll remember them if If you ever need to buy a house.

• Call a few local title companies and see if you can get them to tell you what they think of the realtor that you're considering working with. Title agents spend all day working with real estate agents and they're the ones who know which agents are on their game and which ones are a shitshow. If you can get them to divulge anything, you may learn something valuable.

It's a less used option. Most realtors have fill in the blank contracts that are generally ok. Real estate lawyers tend to be more expensive up front as you are likely paying 300+/hr to write up a contract. A realtor ultimately takes more, but it's buried in the shuffle of buying a house.