Questions for/about Realtors....

[redsfann]

Looking to buy a new house. Wife and I stopped by a few open houses on Sunday and at every stop the Realtor asked if we were working with anyone yet, and we answered no. So then I got hit with the business card and the please call me, etc, etc...

My question is this: Shouldn't I get my OWN realtor? If I like a house and I want to make an offer on it and I have the same realtor that is representing the sellers, why would he/she work hard for me, the buyer?

If thats the correct way of approaching this, then how do I go about getting a realtor that will work for my interests?

I do also have a house to sell, but I want to hang onto it until after I've moved into the new place so that I can do all the cosmetic things I need to do in this house when its empty. It would make it so much easier, painting..etc etc.
Is this possible?

Thanks for the help in advance...

 

[StevieD]

Looking to buy a new house. Wife and I stopped by a few open houses on Sunday and at every stop the Realtor asked if we were working with anyone yet, and we answered no. So then I got hit with the business card and the please call me, etc, etc...

My question is this: Shouldn't I get my OWN realtor? If I like a house and I want to make an offer on it and I have the same realtor that is representing the sellers, why would he/she work hard for me, the buyer?

If thats the correct way of approaching this, then how do I go about getting a realtor that will work for my interests?

I do also have a house to sell, but I want to hang onto it until after I've moved into the new place so that I can do all the cosmetic things I need to do in this house when its empty. It would make it so much easier, painting..etc etc.
Is this possible?

Thanks for the help in advance...

When I bought my house I had a Real Estate guy who was supposed to be working for me. Everytime I saw a house I called him and he looked at it with us, as well as the sellers agent. This guy split the commision with the sellers agent.
I can't really say he was of any use but that could just be because he was not a good agent. :shrug:

 

[AR182]

based on my experience picking an agent to work with is more important as a seller than a buyer.

 

[MadJack]

those agents at the open houses work for the seller and their first responsibility is working for the seller. if you make an offer through the seller's agent/broker they have to get a consent form signed by you and the seller just so both parties understand that they are working for the seller's best interest, not yours.

 

[Old School]

bought my house w/ no agent involved on either side..

http://www.carnancolandtransfer.com/HomeBuyingwithoutanAgent.pdf

some good info in here..

look here as well..

http://www.fool.com/homecenter/find/find01.htm


best of luck..web is full of info..

 

[hawkeye]

Check with friends, realtives, neighbors etc to see if they have used anyone recently lately they liked--get your own. Also I have found realtors will work for less than the commission if you work with/bargain with them. GL--We just brought a new house 4 months ago and I had a friend be my realtor--only charged me 1% when he sold ours because he got a bigger commision by us buying a place thru him. GL. Maybe yu cna buy Steve Alford's house when he moves?

 

[eman]

Hawkeye has it right. The last time we sold/purchase we went the the same realtor and he charged us next to nothing. It is nice that we have become friends as well.

Best of luck to you...

 

[Franky Wright]

My question is this: Shouldn't I get my OWN realtor?

YES:com:

If I like a house and I want to make an offer on it and I have the same realtor that is representing the sellers, why would he/she work hard for me, the buyer?

THEY WONT:com:

If thats the correct way of approaching this, then how do I go about getting a realtor that will work for my interests?

Will get back to you on this.........

I do also have a house to sell, but I want to hang onto it until after I've moved into the new place so that I can do all the cosmetic things I need to do in this house when its empty. It would make it so much easier, painting..etc etc.
Is this possible?

ABSOLUTELY! YOU WILL BE MAKING TWO MTG PAYMENTS:SIB

Thanks for the help in Advance...

YOUR WELCOME:142smilie

Seriously, those are the quick answers, had a few minutes to read, and less to reply at this time, but I will get back to you later on how to find a good one! Or get my email from Jack....

Franky

 

[blgstocks]

Most of those realtors that are working at the open houses are generally more concerned with picking up clients that are looking to buy a house, than they are in selling the open house they are sitting at.
As a realtor in California, you are allowed to represent both the seller and the buyer in a transaction but I am pretty sure it is illegal in some states. But regardless, I would not advise you to work with a dual agent (one who represents the buyer and seller in the transaction) just because you are not sure where their best interest lies.

Like AR said, a good agent is more important as a seller than a buyer.

My advise would be to ask the agent that you liked the best to take you around and show you properties that match your description. It is usually much faster than finding open houses and you have no obligation to the agent if he does not show you the houses you are looking for. If he shows you a house you are interested in, ask him who the listing agent is. Just so you know there is no conflict of interest if you decide it is the house for you.

Feel free to shoot me an email if you have any other questions

 

[MadJack]

YOUR WELCOME:142smilie

:mj07:

 

[SixFive]

have your own person working with you in the selling and buying process. I wouldn't want to have bought my new house without first selling my own house. That's 2 mortgage payments. If your market is flooded like it is here, it's hard to sell a house right now.

 

[redsfann]

Thanks, Gang. Knew the Madjack's crew would be helpful.

SixFive--

I thought about that fact(the 2 mortgages) but we have lived here for 7 years and since we have been here our incomes have risen greatly. In addition, this was the 1st house we bought, so we went small and in an inexpensive neighborhood. With our current combined incomes, carrying this mortgage and a new one for a few months will not hurt at all. While I know the housing markets in many places are tough, I don't know about our area. That would be my biggest concern about not selling/buying at the same time.

Hawkeye--

I'd love to be able to afford Alford's house and to buy it from out from under him and send him packing....:mj07:
They are horrible once again; just hope the new AD doesn't give him ANOTHER extention and we can run his a$$ outta here in a year or two..

Old School--

Just finished reading those links you provided. Good stuff there. Might just give it a go as to buying without a broker.

Anyone ever sold their house themselves? Seems like a huge headache, but if I can't negotiate the commission rate down, I might try that, too.

 

[SixFive]

Thanks, Gang. Knew the Madjack's crew would be helpful.

SixFive--

I thought about that fact(the 2 mortgages) but we have lived here for 7 years and since we have been here our incomes have risen greatly. In addition, this was the 1st house we bought, so we went small and in an inexpensive neighborhood. With our current combined incomes, carrying this mortgage and a new one for a few months will not hurt at all. While I know the housing markets in many places are tough, I don't know about our area. That would be my biggest concern about not selling/buying at the same time.

Hawkeye--

I'd love to be able to afford Alford's house and to buy it from out from under him and send him packing....:mj07:
They are horrible once again; just hope the new AD doesn't give him ANOTHER extention and we can run his a$$ outta here in a year or two..

Old School--

Just finished reading those links you provided. Good stuff there. Might just give it a go as to buying without a broker.

Anyone ever sold their house themselves? Seems like a huge headache, but if I can't negotiate the commission rate down, I might try that, too.

good deal!! If you can afford it, then no problem waiting to sell.

My brother sold his own house after he read this book "Sell It By Owner and Save". I think I have a copy of it on a PDF file. If you want, I'll try to dig it up and email it to you.

 

[Sun Tzu]

As a lawyer in Texas I automatically become a licensed real estate agent so I could represent myself and had 3% taken off the purchase price - so about $25k. Paid a guy I know a few hundred bucks for the forms and a little homework to make sure I didnt get screwed up.

I would think if you do your own legwork on picking the hosue and all you can cut a good deal with an agent just to process things and make sure you dont get shafted on the home you pick.

 

[SixFive]

I found that book on PDF file, so if you want it, get my email.

 

[redsfann]

SixFive-

that would be great if you still have it around and could e-mail it to me. If not, I'll see if I can scare up a copy of it around these parts...

 

[redsfann]

great timing, e-mail to follow...

 

[SoCalYo]

I do also have a house to sell, but I want to hang onto it until after I've moved into the new place so that I can do all the cosmetic things I need to do in this house when its empty. It would make it so much easier, painting..etc etc.
Is this possible?

Thanks for the help in advance...

Another reason why you may want to put it on the market now while you are looking for the new home is it will sell better with furniture in it as opposed to it being empty as the home looks much smaller without any furniture. Additionally, most buyers looking at empty used homes think that the seller has to sell ASAP and may not offer as much as you want.

Good Luck.

 

[taoist]

...couple of things about buying the old one before selling the new one....

1.) you can put a contingency in the contract that buying the new one is contingent upon selling the old one.... should buy you time....

2.) the folks I bought my home from, bought before they sold...house was on the market for over 1 year...and i got a steal because they were living in another state and paying 2 mortgages and just ready to be done....


...knowing your market will serve you well...even if you just "make friends" with a realtor in the know....

...as for the search for a new house, surely you have, as we do here, a "public" website with new home listings.... Here, I use realtracs.com...but never tried it for other states....

Lastly, I never liked (or really understood) the "dual" realtor concept.... My profession absolutely prevents me from representing 2 parties with conflicting interests and I don't understand how a realtor is any different.... As a seller (and agent, by correlation), my objective is to get as much as I can from this property.... As a buyer, I want to pay as little as possible (reducing agent's commission in the process)....

I had a buyer's agent once and found myself in this position.... I found a home I liked on the net, called her to set up a walk-thru... We made an offer, they counter-offered...then I get the agent on the phone (who was NOT a dual agent, mind you) and she's telling me all of the "great things" about this house, I said, "Who in the hell do you work for?!?!?! You better be getting on the phone with the other agent and telling them all of the possible things that you can find wrong with this place and getting that price lowered!!!"

...see, it's just not in the "buyer's agent's" best interest to get a lower price...although a lower commission is better than no commission.... Anyway, enough of my rant.... I have a problem with buyer's agents, unless I know them personally and know that their business is not dependent upon making a killing from my sale....

I don't do the work myself (setting up appointments to see the house and meeting potential buyers, etc.), but I really would have to have much more trust in a buyer's agent than a seller's agent because of the "conflict of interest" which is inherient in the transaction....

...that's my 2 cents. :SIB

 

[taoist]

I do also have a house to sell, but I want to hang onto it until after I've moved into the new place so that I can do all the cosmetic things I need to do in this house when its empty. It would make it so much easier, painting..etc etc.
Is this possible?

Thanks for the help in advance...

...also, you can do both at the same time.... Start doing what you need to do to your old home NOW.... one room at a time.... If you know that you need to repaint the spare bedroom, move the furniture out of it and repaint, then use it as storage when you get ready to do the next one.... (After typing all of that, I realized that may not work for some folks....but it's a thought.)

:shrug: