I know I know. I would have to wait another 30 days to use another realtor, but I want to buy this one because I know its a good value for the area.
Drew - You finally found a house you like? I know we had chatted a bit a month or so ago. Me and the wife found a new place on the west side and are closing on it in 2 weeks. Where is this place at you're looking at?
Research, research, research. The Internet is your best friend. Drive around to different locations, talk w/ the builder reps, and be a strong negotiator. Be firm w/ a price. That's how I got my house and got it at a very good deal.
I found a decent bungalow in the Heights that looks pretty cool. Its small but I dont need much space. Its surrounded by sh!tty houses, but the land value is what I am looking for. A long-term investment opportunity that I can just sit on for a while and build up some equity. Now its just a matter of whether or not I can make an offer on it because of my realtor situation. Where did you guys finally decide on living?
find a real estate lawyer. I don't trust any realtors anyway but I'd never buy a house without a lawyer.
Drew, In reality, a Real Estate agent does very little aside from matching a buyer and seller. If you already know the property you want there is really no point in using one. As i've built and sold some townhomes in the inner loop, we have predominantly sold them directly to individuals. We actually have more price flexibility when there are no agents involved and if there is an agent on the seller's side, you can usually get them to lower their commission percentage to get the deal done.
Unless you are an attorney or have purchased a home before, I'd wait the 30 days so you don't get screwed. You can also look for a real estate attorney to handle the contract part of it. Your Buyer Rep agreement shouldn't preclude you from using someone in that fashion.
That sounds great. The Heights is definitely a good area to invest in. Our new house is in the April Village subdivision. It's right near Briar Forest and Kirkwood.
Well i have a real estate attorney...and he handles it for a lot less than the 3%/6% scenarios. What they do is not even close to that amount. IMHO
A buyer never pays 6%, 3% or even .000001 % regardless. As I mentioned before, hiring a real estate attorney is an excellent substitute if you are in Drewdog's situation. However, anyone that has worked with a good realtor, will vouch for their services and will testify that "all they do is match buyers and sellers" is far from the truth.
But this will be factored into the purchase price for the buyer. So indirectly, the buyer will be paying a premium if they use a realtor.
Thats not true at all. 1) One of a realtor's duties is to make sure their buyer is paying no more than FMV (and hopefully under). If a realtor encourages their seller to encompass their 6% fee into the price of their home, then they are giving them bad advice because then the home will be over-priced, and hence, overlooked by other realtors when researching that particular neighborhood. And if a buyer realtor encourages their buyer to pay over FMV due to the seller trying to encompass that comm into the price, then they are also doing a dis-service. 2) Bank's don't pay above premium on loans, but rather, based on appraisal. Appraisals never encompass premiums over FMV. So a buyer and seller can agree on a premium over FMV all day long, the banks won't pay it.
No. Closing costs usually consist of the following: Prepays (taxes, HOA transfer fees, HO insurance, etc.) Title company fees Loan original fees Appraisal fees There are a few others, but those are the big ones. Inspection fees are paid out of your own pocket usually. Rule of thumb is usually anywhere from 2-4% depending on the deal.
Yeah, closing costs suck. Something that is very common these days is asking the seller to contribute towards the closing costs. This allows you to get into the house without having to come up with as much money up front. On our current house the seller paid the full amount they are allowed to, which was just over 3% of the cost of the house. On the house we just bought, the seller said they would only pay half of what we asked, so the remaning we rolled into our loan. So our monthly payments went up some, but it kept us from having to come up with another couple of grand up front.
Codell, What if the situation was like what FDKhan mentioned and no selling agent is used? Wouldn't the seller take the commission into consideration? When I sold my house, I took the lower offer from a buyer without an agent versus taking a higher offer from a buyer with an agent. The difference in this case was $10,000 savings for the buyer. FMV in a hot real esatate market = paying premium Even though the seller is the one paying the realtor commission, the purchase price will reflect this.
