Just toying with the idea of buying a house/townhouse. How do you pick a real estate agent? Are they very helpful as opposed to looking around yourself? I mean there are some specifics that I'd like in a house that I was thinking they could help me with....

4/2/2006 6:45:15 PM

we have one and I love her! She answers all of my questions and points out important things (bad and good) about houses that we see. I think it is very helpful.
http://www.fmrealty.com/site/agents/company.asp?action=details&aID=R24897

that is our agent. good luck

4/2/2006 7:34:00 PM

I dont trust any of them, but I had a bad experience.

4/2/2006 7:53:43 PM

My bf, when he bought his house, used the same lady my grandfather used. her name is marge bish, and she's a buyer's agent who "specializes" (?) in first time buyers

http://www.connect2agent.com/viewprofile.asp?theagentid=P19407
the info on this page isn't the most up-to-date, as matt's house cost less then 127K

4/2/2006 7:55:27 PM

buyers agents really arent that bad. I mean, they cant really do too much to fuck you over.

They will probably be able to provide you with a little more information than you have access to, but to be honest, do the leg work yourself. You'll learn more about whats going on.

Another option might be to nix the buyers agent and work out some deal with the sellers agent to get a "rebate" on the date of the closing. By using the seller as a duel agent, they get the full commission. Just discuss it with them first.

You'd be surprised at all the shit you can pull of in real estate, that would otherwise be considered "shady"

4/2/2006 9:18:36 PM

^Its pretty shady to do that.

Buyers agents in our area are generally paid by the broker offering the listing. (listing agent, the one with the sign in the yard) It does not cost you anything to hire a buyer agent and you wont get a better deal on the house by firing your buyer agent once you make a decision.

Ask yourself if you have ever bought anything more expensive than your house. Chances are you havent. If this is your first home purchase I would strongly encourage you to talk to some experienced agents about it. They can give you some good advice.

I would however also add that getting a full time Realtor is the way to go. There are a lot of part-time or new agents in our market that don't have the experience and dedication to represent you best. Good agents make their living off or repeat clients and referrals, they will work very hard on your behalf because they will want to work with you, your friends, & family in the future.

4/3/2006 1:04:46 PM

^^Most real estate agents won't do the dual-agent thing due to ethics (although plenty of realtors have issues with a lack of ethics...)

4/3/2006 1:43:14 PM

I was not talking about dual agency. That is a conflict of interest and I dont particularly agree with it either. What I was saying is the buyer agent gets their comission from the firm that lists the property. In most instances whether or not there is a buyers agent does not affect the sellers bottom line. Having that said the buyer agent is not going to cost you anything and should not hurt your ability to negotiate on the property.

4/3/2006 1:46:29 PM

Quote :

"I dont trust any of them, but I had a bad experience."

they can be helpful if you don't know the area. and they can be helpful in the whole paperwork process. but honestly, with the internet, you can do most of the browsing yourself and at your own pace. i always had problems with agents trying to sell me stuff i didn't want.

definitely ask them about their number of years in the business, how many houses they successfully sell per year, average time it takes for their houses to sell, and ask for references. and don't ever think that they are helping you out because they like you. you are their livelyhood and they depend on you buying a house. also, double check important stuff. most don't intentionally lie, but sometimes if they don't know the answer, they will just tell you what they "think" the answer is.

4/3/2006 1:51:40 PM

Ive heard really good things bout MC Reality locally

4/3/2006 4:14:31 PM

EMCE realty?

[Edited on April 3, 2006 at 4:26 PM. Reason : ]

4/3/2006 4:25:50 PM

Go with a real estate agent-- Real estate agents can help in not only the housing selection process, but in the paper work, sealing the deal, walk-throughs, etc. An experienced agent has a trained eye, and can give valuable input when examining the building for cosmetic and structural flaws. And of course if you think he/she isn't doing a good job/has alterior motives, you have every right to switch to another one.

Here's a usefull tool:
http://www.hpw.com/SearchPages/
They've got some great townhouses in cary/morrisville-- i could give you more info.. since i just bought one last week

4/3/2006 4:31:28 PM

just bought a house last month, ended up that the person i bought from was an agent as well. Fortunately I had a buyers agent, and I didnt get fucked even though the seller tried.

I originally tried to purchase a different house with a different agent, who didnt know what the hell he was doing, and I just about got fucked on that too.

I highly recommend getting a buyers agent, the little money you could possibly save is not worth the hassel and potential problems that you will create without one. I would also pick a couple houses you know a lot about, and tell the agent you want to see them. Take a couple agents, look at the same houses, pick the agent you like best. Its interesting to see the differences in a real estate agent, and its easy to tell when you have already seen the house with a different one. Be up front, tell the agent you are just looking, and not ready to sign a buyers agent agreement. Do not sign this agreement unless you are satifisied with your agent.

4/3/2006 9:39:14 PM

Quote :

"Its pretty shady to do that"

It would only be considered shady if it were illeagal.

KNOWING what you can and cant do is completely different than doing what you are TOLD you can and cant do.

The real estate game is nothing more than networking, and knowing how to cut out all the bullshit and prevent everyone and their mother from getting a piece of the pie.

4/3/2006 10:53:01 PM

hey, I am a broker, IM me if you have some questions, cienmilpiedras

4/3/2006 10:56:28 PM

bttt

4/28/2011 6:01:04 PM

This is a really useful tool:

http://www.homegain.com/find_real_estate_agent/index

You post your price range, area, type of property, etc and then you get messages (not e-mails, all your info is kept private) from realtors who would like to work with you, and you pick the one you like best. My roommate used it and so have I (and I'm just looking for rental properties). Neither of us has had to pay anything (the home owners pay the realtor's fees) and we have both been extremely happy. I highly recommend it.

4/28/2011 6:04:51 PM

i trust them they are great but they charge too damn much. all of them. Call me when you can pay one like 35 dollars an hour and thats it. Fuck all this 3% talk.

4/28/2011 6:20:14 PM

Read Freakonomics, specifically the section about real estate agents. That is some of the best advice out there.

4/28/2011 6:38:34 PM

^^^ I don't see anything about renting on that site...

4/28/2011 6:49:28 PM

^If you choose "Buy Homes" you can select "Rentals" under property type and then mention it in your description. The guy we went with told us he doesn't normally do rentals, but since my girlfriend is getting an MD and I am getting a PhD (which we included in our description since we needed to be close to UNC and NCSU), he is helping us out in case we look to buy some day. I know there are other agents on there who will do rentals as well.

No fees at all for us though, it's a pretty sweet deal. My roommate, who is looking to buy also hasn't had to pay any fees. The home owners pay all of their fees.



[Edited on April 28, 2011 at 7:31 PM. Reason : ]

4/28/2011 7:29:40 PM

I'm closing in a week. I used an agent. Honestly man, as a first time home buyer.. I'd be FUCKED without an agent. I think if you really took the time and did the research yourself you could get by, but there's just SOOO MUCH to know and to look out for. I'd recommend an agent for at least your first and second buy and sell. Then.. go with your gut.

4/28/2011 11:01:23 PM

i didn't use an agent for my first house and it worked out fine...i found the paperwork online, as well as a great detailed description of what everything meant

i am NOT trying to say all agents are useless or a waste or unethetical or greedy or [insert derogatory term here]...especially when you're the buyer, since you don't have the burden of paying them

but unless it's a special circumstance (short sale, for example) or you're unfamiliar with the area (moving to a new place and looking at buying instead of renting), it simply isn't that hard

4/29/2011 6:43:20 AM

Did you buy from a agent listed property? Did you get any kickbacks for buying without an agent? Did you run into any blackballing by sellers agents?

I'm looking to buy around November and stopped at an open house on a whim the other weekend. Turns out the house was FSBO. After talking to the guy for awhile, I don't think I would want to sell without an agent, but it got me interested in why you couldn't buy without one.

It seems to me like if you know a good amount about the areas you're interested in, know how to use listing sites, and can find a real estate lawyer to draw up contracts for ~$500, then it's completely wasteful to have an agent soak up $7,500.

I completely buy into the theory that most buyers agents have little incentive to get you the best deal and our first experience with a real estate agent has been eerily similar to our failed experience with a travel agent. Basically just having the person send us the results of a search that can done on a bunch of sites...

4/29/2011 8:23:34 AM

Quote :

"Did you buy from a agent listed property?"

no, FSBO

Quote :

"Did you get any kickbacks for buying without an agent?"

yes, they advertised that they'd knock money off the asking price

Quote :

"Did you run into any blackballing by sellers agents?"

no, not really...but i bought the 4th house i looked at and only 2 of them had listing agents...so i don't suppose i really have experience to go on

i fully admit that my experience seems to be a best-case scenario if you're not using an agent...i certainly trusted that my dad (who is a contractor and does a lot of renovations) would point out anything glaring in the house when he walked through with me (on two separate occasions)...i also put a $2k repair walk-away clause in the offer so that i could get out if the inspector found anything of concern, but there wasn't anything big

i certainly see the value of agents in certain circumstances, but i knew the area and was confident in my ability to google and handle the basic legalese on my own (also, i watch too much HGTV )

4/29/2011 8:50:22 AM

If, if, if, and if.


They're like a plumber, or a mechanic. The work they do isn't particularly hard, as long as you know what to do. If you screw something up, you can cause yourself a headache. A house is a big enough purchase that the headache can be large.


And if you're buying a house, the agent isn't gonna soak up anything to you. Buyer's agents have the incentive to get you a good deal so you call them up when you sell that house, or tell your friends. They're not worried about the $300 of the commission they lose if they talk the price down by 10 grand.



Selling without an agent is how you'd save yourself money. But mostly when people find out you don't have an agent, they want half of the commission you.re not paying. So you do more work yourself, and potentially expose yourself to more risk, for what ends up being like 5 bucks a month on your mortgage payment.

4/29/2011 8:55:10 AM

to each their own...there is no part of me that believes an agent could have gotten me a better deal on my house than i got on my own

i'm quite aware that a buyer's agent cost the buyer nothing DIRECTLY and that alone is a good reason to have one...i looked for a house 2-3 years before i ended up buying the one i'm in now and i had an agent that i absolutely loved...when i went looking for houses at the time i bought this one, i tried to find her and i couldn't, so i just went on without her, with the idea that i'd make some calls later to find her...in the end, i just found this house and figured i could do it on my own (and i did, without trouble and without any trepidation)

i realize that real estate agents feel the need to defend their profession and i don't blame them...they get a lot of flak for contributing very little and getting paid well for it, though i realize that's not entirely true

that said, the internet has made their jobs easier and the average joe far more capable of doing it on their own...that's not my opinion, that's an obvious fact

4/29/2011 9:02:20 AM

the buyer's agent we had was a friend of the family, so we were very comfortable with her. it was nice to work with someone we knew as opposed to having to meet someone and decide how much i trusted them.

the seller's agent(s) were the most unprofessional people possible.

seriously, huge headache.

if anyone expresses interest i will share Our Story™

4/29/2011 9:24:26 AM

I think we're going to stick with an agent, but mostly because my wife's aunt gets some kind of kick back for referring us to an agency, and we don't want to piss off family. After reading around online on experiences, it also seem that there are still barriers to going without an agent. Mainly with seller agents hassling you.

^^^ Buyer agents have the same incentives as car dealerships. There is zero reason that the agent wouldn't want to persuade you to close quickly and at a high price other than you walking away.

In my mind their functions as negotiators, appraisers, property finders, and to some extent contract facilitators are obsolete for our internet savvy generation. Their functions as "program managers" are still valuable, but I figure it will tack on $50 a month over 20 years for their service.

4/29/2011 10:52:39 AM

Just to throw in my 2 cents, I bought a condo last summer without the help of an agent. I feel like I got a cheaper price because the seller did not go through an agent. I did have to do a little more leg work and research on my own but I think it was worth it.

4/29/2011 11:51:07 AM

If you want an awesome agent let me know. I've very good friends with one who is the teacher for a year round class to get new agents certified. She is awesome and I'm sure she can help you find exactly what you need.

4/29/2011 12:11:35 PM

Quote :

"Another option might be to nix the buyers agent and work out some deal with the sellers agent to get a "rebate" on the date of the closing. By using the seller as a duel agent, they get the full commission. Just discuss it with them first."

actually you are better off (and is more common) to work a deal with your buyers agent where he/she rebates you

i'm a part-time agent and this is what i do with my friends, the less work i do, the more i rebate them.....win-win

4/29/2011 1:21:23 PM

How common would that be amongst the buying agent community? I mean would the typical agent be familiar with that practice? Also, what processes are typically more work for you and what would that very roughly correlate to you in rebate?

That would completely change my mind on everything if you could negotiate services.

4/29/2011 1:29:34 PM

all agents know about rebates, how common? i would say maybe 20% of the agents give rebates
some will not give claiming they provide full service, some openly advertise that they will

more work - drive you around constantly, making appts for showings on existing homes
less work - showing you only new home communities
even less work - you found the house already, buyer agent negotiate the price and help with contracts, closing, etc
no work - you do everything, buyer agent signs name on contract

Remember, everything is negotiable. There are no set commission fees.

[Edited on April 29, 2011 at 1:54 PM. Reason : k]

4/29/2011 1:51:56 PM

Thank you for your responses, that is immensely useful information. I will bring up the topic of rebates and the fact that we plan on finding the houses we want to offer on and see what they say.

4/29/2011 2:19:24 PM

let me know what the agent says, i'm always curious as to how each agent treats rebates

4/29/2011 2:57:07 PM

Real estate agents are all sleazy salespeople out to make a fast commission. They do not know anything about negotiating sales price, inspections, or repairs. They do not have any helpful information about neighborhoods, the contract paperwork, or closing issues.

jk

I do rebates.

pm sent

4/29/2011 3:23:44 PM

Quote :

"Real estate agents are all sleazy salespeople out to make a fast commission. They do not know anything about negotiating sales price, inspections, or repairs. They do not have any helpful information about neighborhoods, the contract paperwork, or closing issues."

see, i know this isn't true...and had i:
- no experience with basic house issues/repairs,
- access to my dad as someone to check out the house prior to making an offer,
- no faith in my own ability to negotiate
- no faith in my own ability to google

then i'd WANT a buyers agent...i'd say most people don't fall into my category, though if i had to guess, TWW probably has a higher incidence of those that do

for some reason, i've always had the feeling that i could trust Str8BacardiL...which is weird, because i've never met him

4/29/2011 3:41:38 PM

I'm in a similar situation. I found a house I really like online. I even did a walkthrough with the seller's agent on Friday. I'm close to wanting to make an offer, but how do I go about it? I don't want to do everything myself and risk screwing up the contract. The selling agent would be happy to represent me but he won't be 100% on my side. Yes, buyer agents are free but they soak up 2.4% that could probably stay in my pocket.

So... should I go the krazedgirl/Str8BacardiL route of getting a buyer agent if they offer a rebate? Should I talk to the seller agent again and ask what the price would be if he represents me?

Also, I'm planning to ask for another walkthrough soon (check that toilets flush, etc.) Should I wait to get the above issue straightened out? If I get a buyer agent, should I have him/her with me? Would it be weird to say "here's so-and-so and he/she represents me now"?

5/10/2011 10:18:20 AM

PM Sent

5/10/2011 10:48:54 AM

pm responded

5/10/2011 5:38:50 PM

I've bought and sold homes with and without agents. I think they have their place but I'm not happy with the government granted pseudo-monopoly they have on the real estate markets via the MLS system.

5/10/2011 5:42:41 PM

I hate to break it to you but the government did not setup the MLS system. Real estate licensees are not required by the government to even participate in an MLS.

It used to be published in books that were kept at each real estate office, then later a bluescreen database you had to get in to via dial up, then finally a web based system agents could access from any internet connection. Eventually it was decided the data could be published to websites (for buyers to browse) via data exchange agreements (a decision not forced by the government) you were then able to search it.

Today you have access to almost all of the data that your agent does via various websites. That is a main reason why I do the buyer rebate and much cheaper listing commission rates.

5/10/2011 11:00:06 PM

Am I mistaken...part of the "rules" for having access to and being able to list a home via MLS requires you agree to the prevailing fee structure for agent fees, right?

Right up front on the second page of the Rules and Regulations

Quote :

"2. PURPOSE A Multiple Listing Service is a means by which authorized MLS broker participants establish legal relationships with other participants by making a blanket unilateral contractual offer of compensation and cooperation to other broker participants; "

Ok, so it isn't government granted, they are just a monopoly in general...which was the real point I was getting at

http://activerain.com/blogsview/1062246/mls-antitrust-lawsuit-settled-today-

That is, I used one of those flat fee seller services to list my home and because of the way MLS has structured the rules I couldn't engage in a business transaction with the folks that wanted to buy my house without paying their agent his "hard earned" fee (funneled through my "sell agent" who did nothing more than enter the info in MLS and throw a sign in the yard, otherwise she'd get booted from the system).

It's a really clever way to structure a business by not having people buying a home incur any real (real in that, they don't see it come out of their pocket directly) cost of using an agent. If they had to pay it out of their own pocket I'd imagine you'd see a thinning of the herd as people get REAL pissed when they pay for a service that doesn't deliver.

[Edited on May 11, 2011 at 6:30 AM. Reason : .]

5/11/2011 6:15:42 AM

There are no rules governing how much or how you pay a potential buyers agent dictated by the MLS. It's all negotiable, although it's going to be difficult to get agents to show your home if you aren't offering them the ability to get paid.

Most likely, the buyer had a signed contract with their agent that said if the seller doesn't pay the commission, then the buyer would be responsible for it. No buyer wants to shell out $3000+ cash so that's the first thing they ask for in the offer. You wanted to sell your house and so you paid it. None of that had anything to do with a so-called monopoly or any type of government regulations.

^The only rules that were changed in the antitrust suit were how some local realtor associations (they run the local MLSes) didn't allow flat fee or discount brokers to be members of the MLS. As a private trade association, they should be able to dictate with who and how they do business so long as they didn't exclude based on any of the protected classes (and they weren't). Consumers were welcome to continue using flat fee and discount brokers as they were still able to be licensed real estate agents. Unfortunately, through years of essentially dominating the industry, Realtor has become synonymous with real estate agent, and so the court decided that the public didn't have the information to make a decision and so the MLSes were required to allow these brokerages and agents to become members.



[Edited on May 11, 2011 at 8:37 AM. Reason : d]

5/11/2011 8:29:24 AM

^ Truth

5/11/2011 10:38:59 AM

Anyone have experience terminating a real estate agent? Originally, I was looking at houses in North Raleigh and got a random agent to show me some homes, etc. she seemed nice enough.

However, I've decided to buy a condo downtown and have four buildings in mind. My agent seems to have ZERO experience with downtown condos. She's reliable as far as getting the keys or whatever to show me properties, but she offers no advice on negotiations whatsoever. I'm the one asking what the HOAs are, what percent of asking the homes in the building have sold for recently, etc. and when I ask her what she thinks I could get a unit for she says "make an offer and we'll see!". Also, I have found every unit - she has found me nothing.

I'd like to drop her and go to the Glenwood Agency because they specialize in condos and the units in the buildings I'd like to buy in (Palladium Plaza, Park Devereaux, Martin St. Condos, Dawson, or Founders Row) seem to go with a quickness. Glenwood agency also rents these units and I think they'd have the inside track on getting an owner to sell one that's been a rental.

My contract with my current agent ends in mid-November, but I'd really like to find a place before then and she's been no help. I had originally thought you could terminate whenever with no obligation to them unless it was a house they had showed you in the past 30 days. I had a friend tell me that she should allow me out of the contract if "she is ethical".

Any thoughts?

8/15/2014 4:18:13 PM

Don't you think it would have been nice to figure out what you wanted before wasting a bunch of someones time/gas/resources and then dumping them before actually making a purchase? If you wanted to go with Glenwood Agency you could have done that before having your current agent show you a bunch of homes. Glenwood Agency is great, and really a great choice if you are looking at a downtown condo, but most of the info you could get about any of these condo communities your agent can obtain from the HOA or list agent.

Seems to me if you were "ethical" you would honor the agency agreement you are currently in, however your friend is right in the fact that many agents are not going to fight you on wanting out of the buyer agreement. Most agents do not want to continue working with a client that is going to try to cut them out at the last minute, there are more productive uses of their time.

8/15/2014 5:10:36 PM

^^ You signed a contract?!

8/15/2014 5:14:37 PM

Realtors, one of the last great monopolies.

Buying a house isn't that complicated and most of the big problems that you might run into are really up to other involved experts to catch (inspector, lawyer, etc). On those fronts spend the time and money to get the best people possible, as for the realtor just use the buyers agent who offers the best rebate. When we bought our house we used a discount broker that refunded us 1.5% out of her 3% cut.

If you ask a realtor about why they're needed they'll spin some story about how useful they are and how you'll get screwed without them but in reality they add little value to the transaction. Their main leverage comes from access to the MLS and the fact that sellers who list through MLS (pretty much everyone) have 5-6% commission built into the sellers agent contract. That's it, the little ground work they do could be worth a couple hundred bucks at most, and for the average $250k house you'll end up shelling out $15,000 to the worthless realtors.

Read that number again: $15,000. The lawyer who actually marks up your offer and handles the legal docs will walk away with around $700, so around 5% of what the realtors get. Is the realtor really adding 20x the value of the actual damn lawyer? Hell no! And you should have a lawyer, for instance in the standard NC realtor offer doc the purchase is not contingent on you getting financing, so if your mortgage app falls through the seller gets to keep your earnest money. You'll want to change that! Same with inspector, if you get a good one that can identify $20k structural issues before you buy the house they'll be well worth the $400 or so you spend on them, once again a fraction of the realtor cost.

And I'd be interested to see disclosure from the pro-realtor posters in this thread, how many are themselves realtors and talking their own book?


One more thing, for those who think buyers agents are "free". Who else is showing up to the closing table with money? No one. Everyone involved in the transaction is getting paid by you. If there were no realtor fees the seller would take the same net amount to sell the house and you'd be paying less.

[Edited on August 15, 2014 at 5:52 PM. Reason : .]

8/15/2014 5:50:10 PM