Well, I'm buying my first house....

GtPrOjEcTX

Lifer
Jul 3, 2001
10,784
6
81
Quite a day today... I get my diploma in the mail (finished college in Dec.), and the offer that we (my fiance and I) made on a house was accepted.

Quite excited at the moment....

:beer:s all around!


:beer::D
 

Yax

Platinum Member
Feb 11, 2003
2,866
0
0
Are you taking a loan to finance the house?

If so, a word of advice to screw the loan agent out of making extra commission:

1. You don't have to pay origination fees, ask the loan agent to drop that.
2. If he/she drops it, he/she may try to get you by charging you discount points. Tell them to drop that too. Discount points don't need to be paid.

Those fees just go directly into his pockets ;). Oh, do this after he gives you a good faith estimate.

That advice is my present to you for buying a new home.
 

alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
83,769
19
81
Originally posted by: cheapbidder01
Are you taking a loan to finance the house?

If so, a word of advice to screw the loan agent out of making extra commission:

1. You don't have to pay origination fees, ask the loan agent to drop that.
2. If he/she drops it, he/she may try to get you by charging you discount points. Tell them to drop that too. Discount points don't need to be paid.

Those fees just go directly into his pockets ;). Oh, do this after he gives you a good faith estimate.

That advice is my present to you for buying a new home.

Technically you don't have to pay the interest either...maybe they can drop that too
rolleye.gif


The #1 you can sometimes get out of, but #2 if you are paying discount points they should drop the rate of the loan (hence the discount)....if you don't want to pay, they usually won't discount the rate.

Many times the discount is not proportionate to the fee....it's a way lenders can trick a borrower with something they don't understand.

Å
 

Vic

Elite Member
Jun 12, 2001
50,422
14,337
136
Originally posted by: cheapbidder01
Are you taking a loan to finance the house?

If so, a word of advice to screw the loan agent out of making extra commission:

1. You don't have to pay origination fees, ask the loan agent to drop that.
2. If he/she drops it, he/she may try to get you by charging you discount points. Tell them to drop that too. Discount points don't need to be paid.

Those fees just go directly into his pockets ;). Oh, do this after he gives you a good faith estimate.

That advice is my present to you for buying a new home.
Do you work for free, asshole?
Heaven forbid the person who makes possible your ability to buy a house actually be able to make a living out of it!! :|:|:|
 

Good job! Go out and celebrate...but be sure to save some $$ for a downpayment! :)
 

Vic

Elite Member
Jun 12, 2001
50,422
14,337
136
Where are my manners? :eek:

Congrats and good luck! :beer::)
 

rh71

No Lifer
Aug 28, 2001
52,844
1,049
126
CONGRATS! Making a purchase like that while not yet married is quite ballsy (we did the same) :D
 

flxnimprtmscl

Diamond Member
Jan 30, 2003
7,962
2
0
Originally posted by: Vic
Originally posted by: cheapbidder01
Are you taking a loan to finance the house?

If so, a word of advice to screw the loan agent out of making extra commission:

1. You don't have to pay origination fees, ask the loan agent to drop that.
2. If he/she drops it, he/she may try to get you by charging you discount points. Tell them to drop that too. Discount points don't need to be paid.

Those fees just go directly into his pockets ;). Oh, do this after he gives you a good faith estimate.

That advice is my present to you for buying a new home.
Do you work for free, asshole?
Heaven forbid the person who makes possible your ability to buy a house actually be able to make a living out of it!! :|:|:|

No, the person buying the house makes it possible to buy a house with their job, bank account, and credit. The real estate agent is just a middle man. If tomorrow, there were suddenly no more real estate agents I doubt the housing market would grind to a complete halt until the end of time.

Don't pat yourself on the back too much. You're really not that important.

Edit: Congrats GtPrOjEcTX. Welcome to the wonderful world of home repairs :):beer:
 

GtPrOjEcTX

Lifer
Jul 3, 2001
10,784
6
81
Thanks for everyone's congrats!

I do have a question though. I'm working with a real estate agent. So is the seller. I know the seller's agent gets paid through a portion of the sell of the house but how does mine get paid? Do I cut a check for them after its all said and done or what?
 

Mill

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
28,558
3
81
Originally posted by: flxnimprtmscl
Originally posted by: Vic
Originally posted by: cheapbidder01
Are you taking a loan to finance the house?

If so, a word of advice to screw the loan agent out of making extra commission:

1. You don't have to pay origination fees, ask the loan agent to drop that.
2. If he/she drops it, he/she may try to get you by charging you discount points. Tell them to drop that too. Discount points don't need to be paid.

Those fees just go directly into his pockets ;). Oh, do this after he gives you a good faith estimate.

That advice is my present to you for buying a new home.
Do you work for free, asshole?
Heaven forbid the person who makes possible your ability to buy a house actually be able to make a living out of it!! :|:|:|

No, the person buying the house makes it possible to buy a house with their job, bank account, and credit. The real estate agent is just a middle man. If tomorrow, there were suddenly no more real estate agents I doubt the housing market would grind to a complete halt until the end of time.

Don't pat yourself on the back too much. You're really not that important.

Edit: Congrats GtPrOjEcTX. Welcome to the wonderful world of home repairs :):beer:

He's not a real estate agent...
 

flxnimprtmscl

Diamond Member
Jan 30, 2003
7,962
2
0
Originally posted by: Mill
Originally posted by: flxnimprtmscl
Originally posted by: Vic
Originally posted by: cheapbidder01
Are you taking a loan to finance the house?

If so, a word of advice to screw the loan agent out of making extra commission:

1. You don't have to pay origination fees, ask the loan agent to drop that.
2. If he/she drops it, he/she may try to get you by charging you discount points. Tell them to drop that too. Discount points don't need to be paid.

Those fees just go directly into his pockets ;). Oh, do this after he gives you a good faith estimate.

That advice is my present to you for buying a new home.
Do you work for free, asshole?
Heaven forbid the person who makes possible your ability to buy a house actually be able to make a living out of it!! :|:|:|

No, the person buying the house makes it possible to buy a house with their job, bank account, and credit. The real estate agent is just a middle man. If tomorrow, there were suddenly no more real estate agents I doubt the housing market would grind to a complete halt until the end of time.

Don't pat yourself on the back too much. You're really not that important.

Edit: Congrats GtPrOjEcTX. Welcome to the wonderful world of home repairs :):beer:

He's not a real estate agent...

My mistake. Should have read it a bit more thoroughly. I appreciate you catching that, however.
 

Vic

Elite Member
Jun 12, 2001
50,422
14,337
136
Originally posted by: GtPrOjEcTX
Thanks for everyone's congrats!

I do have a question though. I'm working with a real estate agent. So is the seller. I know the seller's agent gets paid through a portion of the sell of the house but how does mine get paid? Do I cut a check for them after its all said and done or what?
Same way. You don't pay him a dime. Typically, the 2 agents split 6% of the sales price as their commission (usually 50-50, but different in some areas -- like mine -- the listing agent gets 55% and the selling agent gets 45%). BTW, on this note, a few years back, the REALTORS got together and changed their titles to "sellers" agent and "buyers" agent. This is not true. Both realtors work for the seller -- he pays them, and their job is to sell the house. The real titles are "listing" agent and "selling" agent.

flxnimprtmscl, you're right -- just because I have to work with realtors doesn't mean I like them. I do believe they provide an important service though, as they grease the wheels of home buying and selling. While it's true we could live without them, home values wouldn't be where they are today without them IMO (that's a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you look at it). Does a realtor deserve to be paid 3+ times what I get paid for a single deal? Not IMO, but then again, no one seems to mind paying their realtor, but God forbid they pay a point to that friendly mortgage banker who got them the lowest rate and the best terms!
 

flot

Diamond Member
Feb 24, 2000
3,197
0
0
Just to start -

Real estate agents are PAID by the seller. However that does not in any way prevent you from having your OWN agent who is looking out for YOUR interests. That would be the "buyers" agent.

A lot of real estate agents have no idea what they are doing. Some however are well worth it. Either way, they do put up with unbelievable amounts of crap from both buyers and sellers. I do believe they are overpaid, and it isn't rocket science, but is still a useful service - and important to remember, basically free for the buyer. (both realtors will get a check for their services at your closing, which comes out of the seller's pocket. That does NOT mean your realtor is not working for you, and your realtor should (he has to) explain EXACTLY who he is working for when you first start dealing with him)

The only way you are asking to be "used" by the system is if you go straight to the listing agent when you see a house you like. (IE you call the # on the sign) In this case you may be inadvertantly paying the listing agent 6% for not doing much work. You may want to try to negotiate this down to 3-4%. Of course there is nothing WRONG with doing this and it is one of the perks of being a listing agent. But as a buyer doing this you are basically putting yourself at more risk since there is no professional who is specifically looking out for your interests.

In general, if you as a buyer have your own realtor, (which is as easy as walking into a RE office and saying "I want to look at some houses.") you are in reasonably good shape and they ARE there to help you, nothing else.

PS: My dad is a realtor, and you wouldn't believe some of the nonsense he's had to put up with... from the couple we invited to our thanksgiving dinner who a month later "tried to call but it was busy" and went and bought a $400,000 house 30 minutes later because the listing agent told them it could sell any day (lost my parents $8000 and lost themselves $4000+, not to mention that the house had been on the market for months), to the people selling a mobile home that insisted it be advertised as a "cozy villa", to those that look at 40 houses only to later "realize" that they didn't have the credit/resources to afford any of them... oh and the cozy villa folks? Listed their mobile home for 3 months with my parents, (which involves advertising, putting it in the MLS, holding open houses, checking the property occasionally) turned down offers of *$385,000* and then suddenly decided to take it off the market and "try to sell it themselves" and mysteriously someone bought it directly from them right away. Funny coincidence that happened to save them $20,000, eh?
 

alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
83,769
19
81
Originally posted by: flxnimprtmscl

No, the person buying the house makes it possible to buy a house with their job, bank account, and credit. The real estate agent is just a middle man. If tomorrow, there were suddenly no more real estate agents I doubt the housing market would grind to a complete halt until the end of time.

Don't pat yourself on the back too much. You're really not that important.

Edit: Congrats GtPrOjEcTX. Welcome to the wonderful world of home repairs :):beer:

You are a little delusional in that. Most people are terrified at buying a home...they want that agent there due to not knowing WTF to do right. There is paper work and legal stuff that most people are clueless on, it would make it pretty easy for educated buyers and sellers to screw people royally.

It's like saying you have a right to p!ss on store staff as if it wasn't for *just you* and your fat bankroll buying a $100 outfit the store would have to close down.

There was a reason agents came to be.

Å
 

alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
83,769
19
81
Originally posted by: GtPrOjEcTX
Thanks for everyone's congrats!

I do have a question though. I'm working with a real estate agent. So is the seller. I know the seller's agent gets paid through a portion of the sell of the house but how does mine get paid? Do I cut a check for them after its all said and done or what?

Just like any combination of agents selling a home, they split the commission. The buyer's agent likes to say you are not paying them, but technically you are.

Many agents do almost no selling of their own. They just get listings knowing someone else will sell the property.

Å
 

GtPrOjEcTX

Lifer
Jul 3, 2001
10,784
6
81
thanks for the responses. they've cleared stuff up a bit.

as for the inspections, taken care of (or will be tomorrow).

on my way...