Anger, Distrust, and Frustration from Eastern Mass Locals Towards Real Estate Agents and Housing Costs Sparks an Interesting Question: Who's To Blame?

The other day, I posted on Reddit a listing for a room for rent in a 3500 sq ft 5 bed 2.5 bath home in the suburbs right outside of Boston. The post gained tons of traction and debate ensued in the comments reflecting a charged populace that was sick and tired of housing costs, landlords, and real estate agents.

Post: Room for Rent with Private Bathroom in 3500 Sq Ft Home 5 bed 2.5 Bath

• $1600/month-all utilities included in rent

• Driveway parking space

• In-unit laundry

Common responses in the comments:

• "Asshole"

• "Greedy"

• "This is so offensive"

• "Preying on the weak"

• "Things are looking bad and will only get worse"

As the agent for this rental, I do acknowledge that the landlord has set the price too high for this suburb outside of the city, and paying this much for a room in a shared living situation is typically unheard of garnering inevitable frustration and debate. Nevertheless, from my three years working in this Eastern Mass Real Estate Market, I have never seen this much collective struggle for working professionals, students, families, those looking to save up some money to buy, secure an apartment. This has generated a climate of widespread anger and pressure for change.

Be that as it may, I contend that frustration is being wrongly directed towards real estate agents and local small-scale landlords, when it truly is a byproduct of larger political, economic, and social systematic failures in Eastern Mass.

Boston/Eastern Mass is one of the last places in the United States to ban broker fees paid for by the tenants instead of the owner to the real estate agent as commission on the deal. Standard practice for securing an apartment typically requires first month's rent, last month's rent, security deposit to the landlord and a broker fee of one months rent to the agent/broker. These four fees together coupled with rising rental prices has made it extremely difficult for a vast amount of residents to secure an apartment and upfront costs are approaching that of placing a down payment on a home (most can not afford to do).

Persons with inadequate savings or poor credit are forced to rent and miss out on the appreciation of the property and lose all the money that goes towards the landlord on a monthly basis. Regardless, there are some serious benefits to renting as opposed to owning:

1. Less risk

2. Don't have to pay property tax

3. Easily move -- no tie to the property outside the designated lease dates

4. Not responsible for the properties upkeep and maintenance

5. Housing programs for low-income individuals (section 8, HomeBase etc.)

   
   

Mass residents often opt for renting by choice due to these benefits but the vast majority do so by necessity.

On the other hand, real estate agents are ultimately responsible for facilitating the process of marketing a property, screening clients, securing applications and tenant info (ID, pay stubs, credit reports, cosigner information and documents if applicable), drafting the lease and answering any questions regarding the property and the terms of the rental period. The increasing difficulty in securing and affording a decent place to call home has generated a lot of anger towards the ones handling the process from start to finish and collecting a broker fee.

Most of the time, an intelligent/crafty person could easily go straight to the landlord and rent the place without having to pay any fees. However, most rental properties in Mass are owned by larger property management companies, investment groups, middle/upper-class working professionals with full time jobs outside of real estate, and overall older populations that want to avoid the process of finding good tenants, screening them, collecting documents, or answering any questions about their own properties.

Because of this, a lucrative market emerged for real estate agents capitalizing on rentals alongside or instead of sales. And due to the fact that there was no law in place against tenant paid broker fees, no landlord ever paid them because they collectively understood that apartments always got rented regardless of their condition or time of year due to the limited supply and lack of new permits being approved for development projects for affordable housing.

The spirit of small businesses on the East Coast has greatly diminished in recent decades with a surge in mom and pop shops closing their doors since 2020. Tech, internet, medical/pharmaceutical, insurance, food & beverage, transportation, energy, entertainment, and investment conglomerate power houses have absorbed much of the jobs that used to pay a living wage to automation and outsourcing/globalization. Universities have bought up all of the land in Boston and its neighboring areas, gentrified, and do not have to pay a cent in property tax. Political divisiveness, world events, natural disasters, disease, war and crisis have guided/forced people to look inwards because looking outside or through our devices has become unhealthy.

Through this look to self, many have identified a lack of fulfillment in their careers, education, path, and way of life. Plenty of careers seem monotonous, lacking ambition and purpose, and insufficiently compensated.

This feeling of ill-will towards working but excitement towards making money has led a lot of people to pursue a career in real estate since 08.

Benefits of being a real estate agent:

• flexible schedule/hours (be your own boss)

• exciting- drive around, meet new people, sales/negotiation

• challenging- opportunities to problem solve

• money to be made with right work ethic, personality, connections, persistence---I have seen agents make money with only one of these traits. The top dogs in the business possess at least 3/4

Challenges of being a real estate agent:

• commissions only (rarely salaried)

• no benefits

• cyclical industry--external factors (interest rates, time of year, supply/demand)

Ultimately, I am trying to bring an agent's first-hand impression of the current Eastern Mass housing market and local sentiment. This culmination of variables---there are certainly more at play as well (inadequate support systems for the vulnerable, declining mental health, inflation etc.)---has established a charged energy towards agents and will ultimately cripple this industry at some point in the near future for better or for worse until some major systematic, societal and social changes are implemented.

In closing, inability to afford basic home and shelter is a key indicator of a declining/sick society and a key moment for people to acknowledge that significant change needs to take place.

The issue in the end is that any time the Government, Companies, Charitable Organizations attempt to make meaningful change for the benefit of those in need, they always manage to make things worse