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First time homebuyer. Possible to make do without an agent?

J

jtvang125

Diamond Member
Is it possible to work with just the listing agent? I'm quite new to the area so I know of no reliable agent. If one is needed it'll probably come down to looking for one in the phone book. I would think many of them won't work in your best interest though.
 
Buying agent? Why in the world wouldnt you want one of those? You dont pay them a thing.

Also you probably dont know about RE contracts, so you could end up losing a deposit if you arent careful.
 
OCGuy said:
Buying agent? Why in the world wouldnt you want one of those? You dont pay them a thing.

Also you probably dont know about RE contracts, so you could end up losing a deposit if you arent careful.
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Exactly. They are "free". It would be pretty foolish not to use one.
 
Also if you walk into say an open house without an agent, the listing agent is going to act as your agent and "double end" the transaction, if it is allowed in your state.

Then you are going to have the listing agent as your agent as well, which is a conflict of interest.
 
It is possible, but make sure you have a good real estate attorney. I actually started looking in my current town by going with the listing agent of the first house we looked at. We didn't really have any interest in that house, but the agent seemed very knowledgeable about the town/neighborhoods, and tried to sell the town, and not just the house (showed us nearby parks, golf courses, community centers, libraries, shops, etc. He didn't pressure us, was very patient, and let us know whenever something new came on the market that was close to what we were looking for. We ended using him as our agent, and we did find a place a few months later.
 
Don't listen to OCGuy or Spidey, it's actually to your advantage to NOT have a buying agent (as long as you know the area).

I just moved into a house that's worth about 500K but i paid 360K on via short sale. Literally every selling agent i came across worked their ass off to try to get my business when they found out i wasn't represented.

I'm going to post up pics once we're done moving in and fix a few cosmetic things.
 
If you have nothing to sell, you don't have to pay an agent any commission
 
I hate to break this to you Phokus...your house isnt worth that much LOL. Banks do NOT short sale that much below the BPO.

Your house is not worth 500K.

In fact, your house is now a comparable sale for all your nieghbors too, even though it was a distressed sale.

Edit: Unless the few "cosmetic" things you need to fix up actually make it a house that was not in good condition, making the bank want to dump it.
 
Phokus said:
Don't listen to OCGuy or Spidey, it's actually to your advantage to NOT have a buying agent (as long as you know the area).

I just moved into a house that's worth about 500K but i paid 360K on via short sale. Literally every selling agent i came across worked their ass off to try to get my business when they found out i wasn't represented.

I'm going to post up pics once we're done moving in and fix a few cosmetic things.
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That's the stupidest thing I've ever read from you...and that's saying something. The money saved from not having to pay a buyer's commission...well, I'm sure the agent bent you over in some other way.
 
RagingBITCH said:
That's the stupidest thing I've ever read from you...and that's saying something. The money saved from not having to pay a buyer's commission...well, I'm sure the agent bent you over in some other way.
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i bet they put a permanent statue of GWB on his front lawn.
 
OCGuy said:
I hate to break this to you Phokus...your house isnt worth that much LOL. Banks do NOT short sale that much below the BPO.

Your house is not worth 500K.

In fact, your house is now a comparable sale for all your nieghbors too, even though it was a distressed sale.
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i've visited 40 to 50 houses on sale near the house we bought and i've kept track of the houses that sold. Comparable houses have sold way higher than ours did and they don't even have the amenities that our house has (jacuzzi, ceiling speakers, central vacuum, cathedral ceilings, etc.).

Also, zillow lists our house higher than 500K. I know zillow isn't always accurate, but from what i understand, in our area, it's usually within 5%.
 
Phokus said:
Don't listen to OCGuy or Spidey, it's actually to your advantage to NOT have a buying agent (as long as you know the area).

I just moved into a house that's worth about 500K but i paid 360K on via short sale. Literally every selling agent i came across worked their ass off to try to get my business when they found out i wasn't represented.

I'm going to post up pics once we're done moving in and fix a few cosmetic things.
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I'm not sure what you thought you gained by not using a buyers agent...
 
No. Get your own agent. You would be surprised how much haggling goes on between the selling agent and the buyers agent. I saved one of my clients $3500 on arguing over the carpet. Another $500 for a light fixture. The lady took it but it was supposed to be included. It was only worth $200 but I got them back $500 because I argued install. Get your own agent.
 
RagingBITCH said:
That's the stupidest thing I've ever read from you...and that's saying something. The money saved from not having to pay a buyer's commission...well, I'm sure the agent bent you over in some other way.
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Heh, you're dumb as hell, we put down an offer on the house the day the house was listed. The agent told me she got around 20 offers that day. We offered what she listed. I have a big feeling that were were not the first person to put down an offer since we made the offer in the evening (but i'm not asking questions).

There is a big incentive when you aren't represented.
 
Phokus said:
Heh, you're dumb as hell, we put down an offer on the house the day the house was listed. The agent told me she got around 20 offers that day. We offered what she listed. I have a big feeling that were were not the first person to put down an offer since we made the offer in the evening (but i'm not asking questions).

There is a big incentive when you aren't represented.
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which is?
 
MikeMike said:
which is?
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Lets just say RE agents aren't exactly the most moral people on the planet and you can use that to your advantage.

There's this one RE company here that specializes in short sale/foreclosures. Last year i was interested in a foreclosure and i was represented by a buyer's agent. He couldn't get in contact with that RE company for shit until the very last second. I also called the company myself and they wouldn't return my phone calls.

My contract with the agent expired and i went house hunting by myself. The SAME company had another foreclosure listed and i called again. This time i left a msg saying that i was a buyer and i was unrepresented. I got a callback within half an hour.

I decided to go with another house though because it was a better deal and i woudl have still had to compete against other buyers on the foreclosure.

When RE agents know they're going to get the full commission, they act way different. It's night and day.
 
Ummm....why would you not? It's a free service to you? If anything, your rep will do all possible to make the deal happen and that includes persuading the seller's agent to sell at below what the seller wants.

The only advantage not having a agent will do is that the seller's agent will recognize that they get all the commission to himself. But when you are going against other people, highest bidder wins unless someone can persuade the buyer not to pick the highest bid. I doubt that you, an unrepresented buyer, will have the balls or know how to do that.
 
do not listen to phokus. he is off on this.

not having a agent is NOT going to save you money. in fact it can cost you.
 
waggy said:
do not listen to phokus. he is off on this.

not having a agent is NOT going to save you money. in fact it can cost you.
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Not when you're doing short sales and foreclosures. I was under contract with a RE agent last year (who even speicalized in short sales and foreclosures) and he does a ton of business. He couldn't do SHIT for us.

I went on my own this year and got a killer fucking deal by myself.
 
Phokus said:
Not when you're doing short sales and foreclosures. I was under contract with a RE agent last year (who even speicalized in short sales and foreclosures) and he does a ton of business. He couldn't do SHIT for us.

I went on my own this year and got a killer fucking deal by myself.
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that's just because of Obama...

i'm surprised you somehow haven't thanked Obama for your steal on the property...
 
Phokus said:
Not when you're doing short sales and foreclosures. I was under contract with a RE agent last year (who even speicalized in short sales and foreclosures) and he does a ton of business. He couldn't do SHIT for us.

I went on my own this year and got a killer fucking deal by myself.
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And that helps the OP how? i don't see where he said he is doing a short sale or forclosure.

so my advice still stands. GET A AGENT. also get a attorney.

you don't pay for the agent.
 
as a buyer, your agent gets his commission from the selling agent. if there is no selling agent, you can probably make a deal with the seller since they are saving 6%. However, you will need some lawyer time which is additional cash upfront you will need. FSBO's are the minority of offerings as well so might be harder to find.

DO get an agent to: arrange checking out houses, communicate with selling agent/sellers, draft offers etc.
DONT rely on an agent to: help you get financing or FIND the house. once you start working with an agent they many will provide you with a portal to do home searches. do your own research. we picked a couple houses WE wanted to see, and let our agent pick comps to see. all of his SUCKED ASS. anecdotal, but honestly YOU are the only one that knows what YOU are looking for.

Certain buyers agencies will give back a portion of their commission to you as cash at closing. We used zip realty, and i think they gave us back 20% of their cut, so 1/5 of 1/2 of 6%. Seems like a small amount, but it adds up when the house is $$$$. And its free money, just for using them. Thats just one example.
 
waggy said:
And that helps the OP how? i don't see where he said he is doing a short sale or forclosure.

so my advice still stands. GET A AGENT. also get a attorney.

you don't pay for the agent.
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Well, i guess i have to amend that and say what i typed out might not work in all circumstances, but for short sales/foreclosures it works beautifully because the 'seller' is a bank and they're much less emotionally attached to the transaction than a normal buyer would be.

Although... i could see how not having an agent would also work in a normal transaction if the house has been sitting unsold for, say, >90 days.
 
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