How to Buy w/out a Realtor?

[sdrealtor]

Matt
You are missing the point. You arent giving up anything. The listing contract is between the seller and the listing agent. The commission is a pre-agreed amount payable to the listing agent by the seller out of the proceeds. Legally it has nothing to do with your contract with the seller. The buyers agent gets paid by the listing agent through a contract/agreement via the local Board of Realtors/MLS. You have no legal right to any of that commission and the agent has no responsibility to share a penny with you. Sometimes they will do so to put a deal together and sometimes they wont. They can also tell you one thing and do another as you have no legal right to it. Will they try to pull that on you? Maybe…maybe not.

Thats just one of hundreds of risks that are out there. Every transaction is unique and rarely does one turn out exactly like another. Thats what I love about this business. Every day I get to use my knowledge and experience to deal with ever changing unique transactions. Its a wild ride out here. Jump in if you’d like to.

I say go for it Matt. Just be sure to stop back and let us know how it works out.

[XBoxBoy]

[quote=matt-waiting]
Someone please tell me of an example of where they would have lost $ if they didn’t have a buyer’s agent.[/quote]

Matt, I think these examples are many and varied, but all fall under the category of an unrepresented buyer not having the knowledge of some detail.

This is just a small example, but an example of what I think the risks are. I bought a house about twelve years ago. The house was priced attractively, and the market was heating up in the area I was looking, and because the seller’s were confident they could get another offer if mine feel through, when accepting my offer I was told, “feel free to do an inspection, but the seller’s aren’t going to fix much of anything.” (The house was in pretty good condition and had already been checked for termites) During the inspection it was found that the heater didn’t work.

Now, without an agent would you have known the repercussions of this? What would you have done?

Turns out a furnace not working is a big deal. You can’t get a loan on the house without a working furnace. My agent knew this, and was able to demand that the heater be replaced before I bought the house. After all, the heater was going to have to be replaced prior to a sale regardless of who the buyer was. (With the exception of an all cash buyer. Something that was not common in this neighborhood at the time)

Now, is that a big deal? It saved me a good bit of headache and maybe a grand or two. Not a huge deal, not some horrible risk. But this is a very real example that happened to me.

I’m not experienced enough to give you a really big loss that you might incur, although if there is something fishy with the title would you know?
As another example, suppose you wanted to build or remodel. Your buyer’s agent might be able to warn you about problems that would be unique to the property. (Whether they would or not if they knew or if they would even be educated enough to know would depend on the quality of the agent)

But the bottom line to this is you assume some risks representing yourself. In most cases those risks are small. In a very few cases, those risks are larger, maybe even very large. A buyer’s agent might help avoid some of those risks, and in worst case scenario it would at least give you someone to sue to try and recoup losses.

But for me, the real issue is that more than likely as an unrepresented buyer, one of two scenarios is going to hold true.
1) The listing agent isn’t going to get extra commission, but will get extra work, so they don’t want your offer to be accepted. They will discourage the seller from taking your offer.
2) The listing agent is going to get the extra commission, so will encourage your offer to be accepted. Fine, except you have gained nothing and lost the chance to have someone represent you.

Unfortunately, you won’t know which of the two scenarios is gonna be true until it’s too late.

But as sdrealtor says, best of luck to you.

XBoxBoy

[XBoxBoy]

[quote=matt-waiting]
Someone please tell me of an example of where they would have lost $ if they didn’t have a buyer’s agent.[/quote]

Matt, I think these examples are many and varied, but all fall under the category of an unrepresented buyer not having the knowledge of some detail.

This is just a small example, but an example of what I think the risks are. I bought a house about twelve years ago. The house was priced attractively, and the market was heating up in the area I was looking, and because the seller’s were confident they could get another offer if mine feel through, when accepting my offer I was told, “feel free to do an inspection, but the seller’s aren’t going to fix much of anything.” (The house was in pretty good condition and had already been checked for termites) During the inspection it was found that the heater didn’t work.

Now, without an agent would you have known the repercussions of this? What would you have done?

Turns out a furnace not working is a big deal. You can’t get a loan on the house without a working furnace. My agent knew this, and was able to demand that the heater be replaced before I bought the house. After all, the heater was going to have to be replaced prior to a sale regardless of who the buyer was. (With the exception of an all cash buyer. Something that was not common in this neighborhood at the time)

Now, is that a big deal? It saved me a good bit of headache and maybe a grand or two. Not a huge deal, not some horrible risk. But this is a very real example that happened to me.

I’m not experienced enough to give you a really big loss that you might incur, although if there is something fishy with the title would you know?
As another example, suppose you wanted to build or remodel. Your buyer’s agent might be able to warn you about problems that would be unique to the property. (Whether they would or not if they knew or if they would even be educated enough to know would depend on the quality of the agent)

But the bottom line to this is you assume some risks representing yourself. In most cases those risks are small. In a very few cases, those risks are larger, maybe even very large. A buyer’s agent might help avoid some of those risks, and in worst case scenario it would at least give you someone to sue to try and recoup losses.

But for me, the real issue is that more than likely as an unrepresented buyer, one of two scenarios is going to hold true.
1) The listing agent isn’t going to get extra commission, but will get extra work, so they don’t want your offer to be accepted. They will discourage the seller from taking your offer.
2) The listing agent is going to get the extra commission, so will encourage your offer to be accepted. Fine, except you have gained nothing and lost the chance to have someone represent you.

Unfortunately, you won’t know which of the two scenarios is gonna be true until it’s too late.

But as sdrealtor says, best of luck to you.

XBoxBoy

[XBoxBoy]

[quote=matt-waiting]
Someone please tell me of an example of where they would have lost $ if they didn’t have a buyer’s agent.[/quote]

Matt, I think these examples are many and varied, but all fall under the category of an unrepresented buyer not having the knowledge of some detail.

This is just a small example, but an example of what I think the risks are. I bought a house about twelve years ago. The house was priced attractively, and the market was heating up in the area I was looking, and because the seller’s were confident they could get another offer if mine feel through, when accepting my offer I was told, “feel free to do an inspection, but the seller’s aren’t going to fix much of anything.” (The house was in pretty good condition and had already been checked for termites) During the inspection it was found that the heater didn’t work.

Now, without an agent would you have known the repercussions of this? What would you have done?

Turns out a furnace not working is a big deal. You can’t get a loan on the house without a working furnace. My agent knew this, and was able to demand that the heater be replaced before I bought the house. After all, the heater was going to have to be replaced prior to a sale regardless of who the buyer was. (With the exception of an all cash buyer. Something that was not common in this neighborhood at the time)

Now, is that a big deal? It saved me a good bit of headache and maybe a grand or two. Not a huge deal, not some horrible risk. But this is a very real example that happened to me.

I’m not experienced enough to give you a really big loss that you might incur, although if there is something fishy with the title would you know?
As another example, suppose you wanted to build or remodel. Your buyer’s agent might be able to warn you about problems that would be unique to the property. (Whether they would or not if they knew or if they would even be educated enough to know would depend on the quality of the agent)

But the bottom line to this is you assume some risks representing yourself. In most cases those risks are small. In a very few cases, those risks are larger, maybe even very large. A buyer’s agent might help avoid some of those risks, and in worst case scenario it would at least give you someone to sue to try and recoup losses.

But for me, the real issue is that more than likely as an unrepresented buyer, one of two scenarios is going to hold true.
1) The listing agent isn’t going to get extra commission, but will get extra work, so they don’t want your offer to be accepted. They will discourage the seller from taking your offer.
2) The listing agent is going to get the extra commission, so will encourage your offer to be accepted. Fine, except you have gained nothing and lost the chance to have someone represent you.

Unfortunately, you won’t know which of the two scenarios is gonna be true until it’s too late.

But as sdrealtor says, best of luck to you.

XBoxBoy

[XBoxBoy]

[quote=matt-waiting]
Someone please tell me of an example of where they would have lost $ if they didn’t have a buyer’s agent.[/quote]

Matt, I think these examples are many and varied, but all fall under the category of an unrepresented buyer not having the knowledge of some detail.

This is just a small example, but an example of what I think the risks are. I bought a house about twelve years ago. The house was priced attractively, and the market was heating up in the area I was looking, and because the seller’s were confident they could get another offer if mine feel through, when accepting my offer I was told, “feel free to do an inspection, but the seller’s aren’t going to fix much of anything.” (The house was in pretty good condition and had already been checked for termites) During the inspection it was found that the heater didn’t work.

Now, without an agent would you have known the repercussions of this? What would you have done?

Turns out a furnace not working is a big deal. You can’t get a loan on the house without a working furnace. My agent knew this, and was able to demand that the heater be replaced before I bought the house. After all, the heater was going to have to be replaced prior to a sale regardless of who the buyer was. (With the exception of an all cash buyer. Something that was not common in this neighborhood at the time)

Now, is that a big deal? It saved me a good bit of headache and maybe a grand or two. Not a huge deal, not some horrible risk. But this is a very real example that happened to me.

I’m not experienced enough to give you a really big loss that you might incur, although if there is something fishy with the title would you know?
As another example, suppose you wanted to build or remodel. Your buyer’s agent might be able to warn you about problems that would be unique to the property. (Whether they would or not if they knew or if they would even be educated enough to know would depend on the quality of the agent)

But the bottom line to this is you assume some risks representing yourself. In most cases those risks are small. In a very few cases, those risks are larger, maybe even very large. A buyer’s agent might help avoid some of those risks, and in worst case scenario it would at least give you someone to sue to try and recoup losses.

But for me, the real issue is that more than likely as an unrepresented buyer, one of two scenarios is going to hold true.
1) The listing agent isn’t going to get extra commission, but will get extra work, so they don’t want your offer to be accepted. They will discourage the seller from taking your offer.
2) The listing agent is going to get the extra commission, so will encourage your offer to be accepted. Fine, except you have gained nothing and lost the chance to have someone represent you.

Unfortunately, you won’t know which of the two scenarios is gonna be true until it’s too late.

But as sdrealtor says, best of luck to you.

XBoxBoy

[XBoxBoy]

[quote=matt-waiting]
Someone please tell me of an example of where they would have lost $ if they didn’t have a buyer’s agent.[/quote]

Matt, I think these examples are many and varied, but all fall under the category of an unrepresented buyer not having the knowledge of some detail.

This is just a small example, but an example of what I think the risks are. I bought a house about twelve years ago. The house was priced attractively, and the market was heating up in the area I was looking, and because the seller’s were confident they could get another offer if mine feel through, when accepting my offer I was told, “feel free to do an inspection, but the seller’s aren’t going to fix much of anything.” (The house was in pretty good condition and had already been checked for termites) During the inspection it was found that the heater didn’t work.

Now, without an agent would you have known the repercussions of this? What would you have done?

Turns out a furnace not working is a big deal. You can’t get a loan on the house without a working furnace. My agent knew this, and was able to demand that the heater be replaced before I bought the house. After all, the heater was going to have to be replaced prior to a sale regardless of who the buyer was. (With the exception of an all cash buyer. Something that was not common in this neighborhood at the time)

Now, is that a big deal? It saved me a good bit of headache and maybe a grand or two. Not a huge deal, not some horrible risk. But this is a very real example that happened to me.

I’m not experienced enough to give you a really big loss that you might incur, although if there is something fishy with the title would you know?
As another example, suppose you wanted to build or remodel. Your buyer’s agent might be able to warn you about problems that would be unique to the property. (Whether they would or not if they knew or if they would even be educated enough to know would depend on the quality of the agent)

But the bottom line to this is you assume some risks representing yourself. In most cases those risks are small. In a very few cases, those risks are larger, maybe even very large. A buyer’s agent might help avoid some of those risks, and in worst case scenario it would at least give you someone to sue to try and recoup losses.

But for me, the real issue is that more than likely as an unrepresented buyer, one of two scenarios is going to hold true.
1) The listing agent isn’t going to get extra commission, but will get extra work, so they don’t want your offer to be accepted. They will discourage the seller from taking your offer.
2) The listing agent is going to get the extra commission, so will encourage your offer to be accepted. Fine, except you have gained nothing and lost the chance to have someone represent you.

Unfortunately, you won’t know which of the two scenarios is gonna be true until it’s too late.

But as sdrealtor says, best of luck to you.

XBoxBoy

[XBoxBoy]

Matt, one last comment.

Don’t take any of my comments as saying you have to have a realtor. I’m just saying that going without a realtor isn’t going to be as easy and productive as many people make it sound. It’s up to you to decide which route you are most comfortable with.

Heck when I started looking I even looked into getting my own RE license just so I could handle it myself.

Here’s the old thread.
http://piggington.com/getting_re_license_for_myself

[XBoxBoy]

Matt, one last comment.

Don’t take any of my comments as saying you have to have a realtor. I’m just saying that going without a realtor isn’t going to be as easy and productive as many people make it sound. It’s up to you to decide which route you are most comfortable with.

Heck when I started looking I even looked into getting my own RE license just so I could handle it myself.

Here’s the old thread.
http://piggington.com/getting_re_license_for_myself

[XBoxBoy]

Matt, one last comment.

Don’t take any of my comments as saying you have to have a realtor. I’m just saying that going without a realtor isn’t going to be as easy and productive as many people make it sound. It’s up to you to decide which route you are most comfortable with.

Heck when I started looking I even looked into getting my own RE license just so I could handle it myself.

Here’s the old thread.
http://piggington.com/getting_re_license_for_myself

[XBoxBoy]

Matt, one last comment.

Don’t take any of my comments as saying you have to have a realtor. I’m just saying that going without a realtor isn’t going to be as easy and productive as many people make it sound. It’s up to you to decide which route you are most comfortable with.

Heck when I started looking I even looked into getting my own RE license just so I could handle it myself.

Here’s the old thread.
http://piggington.com/getting_re_license_for_myself

[XBoxBoy]

Matt, one last comment.

Don’t take any of my comments as saying you have to have a realtor. I’m just saying that going without a realtor isn’t going to be as easy and productive as many people make it sound. It’s up to you to decide which route you are most comfortable with.

Heck when I started looking I even looked into getting my own RE license just so I could handle it myself.

Here’s the old thread.
http://piggington.com/getting_re_license_for_myself

[sdduuuude]

Some thoughts for you here.

First of all, you should know that I have purchased exactly 1 house w/ an agent, and exactly 1 house w/o an agent.

The purchase w/o an agent was from a neighbor who also did not have an agent. So, I didn’t have a seller’s agent to deal with. We made the offer very easy. The seller got a check of a certain size and we, the buyer, paid for everything else.

For the purposes of this discussion, when I say “agent,” I mean a good agent who does their job.

Keep in mind – not all of the reasons below will apply to you.

WHY USE AN AGENT? – 3 reasons
The first reason to use an agent is – they save time. A good buyers agent will look at 12 homes and show you 3 of them. If you have time and know how to legally get into the houses w/o an agent (maybe ask the sellers agent to do it), then this isn’t much value. But, most underestimate the pain.

Also, not all of the web sites have perfect MLS visibility. Sometimes agents see stuff you can’t, or see stuff earlier than you can.

Agents know to ask for and what they can get away with. I can’t even expound on this because I’m not an agent. But, at some point an agent will say “you should ask for this” and you will get something you never thought you could.

———–

As far as getting a portion of the commission for yourself, just put it in the offer. The seller’s agent is used to giving up some of the commission.

Perhaps you could sign a contract w/ a buyer’s agent who would work for 1% if you find the house on your own.

Lastly – if you don’t have an agent, find a superb escrow officer and make using that officer part of the offer. Escrow agents understand the process as well or better than most agents, I think, and can explain how contingencies work, ways you can lose your deposit, ways to get out of the deal, etc. as an impartial party to the transaction.

Use your loan, escrow, and title people to the fullest extent. Every time you learn something new, ask them if it impacts the process at all – XBoxBoy’s heater, for example.

[sdduuuude]

Some thoughts for you here.

First of all, you should know that I have purchased exactly 1 house w/ an agent, and exactly 1 house w/o an agent.

The purchase w/o an agent was from a neighbor who also did not have an agent. So, I didn’t have a seller’s agent to deal with. We made the offer very easy. The seller got a check of a certain size and we, the buyer, paid for everything else.

For the purposes of this discussion, when I say “agent,” I mean a good agent who does their job.

Keep in mind – not all of the reasons below will apply to you.

WHY USE AN AGENT? – 3 reasons
The first reason to use an agent is – they save time. A good buyers agent will look at 12 homes and show you 3 of them. If you have time and know how to legally get into the houses w/o an agent (maybe ask the sellers agent to do it), then this isn’t much value. But, most underestimate the pain.

Also, not all of the web sites have perfect MLS visibility. Sometimes agents see stuff you can’t, or see stuff earlier than you can.

Agents know to ask for and what they can get away with. I can’t even expound on this because I’m not an agent. But, at some point an agent will say “you should ask for this” and you will get something you never thought you could.

———–

As far as getting a portion of the commission for yourself, just put it in the offer. The seller’s agent is used to giving up some of the commission.

Perhaps you could sign a contract w/ a buyer’s agent who would work for 1% if you find the house on your own.

Lastly – if you don’t have an agent, find a superb escrow officer and make using that officer part of the offer. Escrow agents understand the process as well or better than most agents, I think, and can explain how contingencies work, ways you can lose your deposit, ways to get out of the deal, etc. as an impartial party to the transaction.

Use your loan, escrow, and title people to the fullest extent. Every time you learn something new, ask them if it impacts the process at all – XBoxBoy’s heater, for example.

[sdduuuude]

Some thoughts for you here.

First of all, you should know that I have purchased exactly 1 house w/ an agent, and exactly 1 house w/o an agent.

The purchase w/o an agent was from a neighbor who also did not have an agent. So, I didn’t have a seller’s agent to deal with. We made the offer very easy. The seller got a check of a certain size and we, the buyer, paid for everything else.

For the purposes of this discussion, when I say “agent,” I mean a good agent who does their job.

Keep in mind – not all of the reasons below will apply to you.

WHY USE AN AGENT? – 3 reasons
The first reason to use an agent is – they save time. A good buyers agent will look at 12 homes and show you 3 of them. If you have time and know how to legally get into the houses w/o an agent (maybe ask the sellers agent to do it), then this isn’t much value. But, most underestimate the pain.

Also, not all of the web sites have perfect MLS visibility. Sometimes agents see stuff you can’t, or see stuff earlier than you can.

Agents know to ask for and what they can get away with. I can’t even expound on this because I’m not an agent. But, at some point an agent will say “you should ask for this” and you will get something you never thought you could.

———–

As far as getting a portion of the commission for yourself, just put it in the offer. The seller’s agent is used to giving up some of the commission.

Perhaps you could sign a contract w/ a buyer’s agent who would work for 1% if you find the house on your own.

Lastly – if you don’t have an agent, find a superb escrow officer and make using that officer part of the offer. Escrow agents understand the process as well or better than most agents, I think, and can explain how contingencies work, ways you can lose your deposit, ways to get out of the deal, etc. as an impartial party to the transaction.

Use your loan, escrow, and title people to the fullest extent. Every time you learn something new, ask them if it impacts the process at all – XBoxBoy’s heater, for example.

[sdduuuude]

Some thoughts for you here.

First of all, you should know that I have purchased exactly 1 house w/ an agent, and exactly 1 house w/o an agent.

The purchase w/o an agent was from a neighbor who also did not have an agent. So, I didn’t have a seller’s agent to deal with. We made the offer very easy. The seller got a check of a certain size and we, the buyer, paid for everything else.

For the purposes of this discussion, when I say “agent,” I mean a good agent who does their job.

Keep in mind – not all of the reasons below will apply to you.

WHY USE AN AGENT? – 3 reasons
The first reason to use an agent is – they save time. A good buyers agent will look at 12 homes and show you 3 of them. If you have time and know how to legally get into the houses w/o an agent (maybe ask the sellers agent to do it), then this isn’t much value. But, most underestimate the pain.

Also, not all of the web sites have perfect MLS visibility. Sometimes agents see stuff you can’t, or see stuff earlier than you can.

Agents know to ask for and what they can get away with. I can’t even expound on this because I’m not an agent. But, at some point an agent will say “you should ask for this” and you will get something you never thought you could.

———–

As far as getting a portion of the commission for yourself, just put it in the offer. The seller’s agent is used to giving up some of the commission.

Perhaps you could sign a contract w/ a buyer’s agent who would work for 1% if you find the house on your own.

Lastly – if you don’t have an agent, find a superb escrow officer and make using that officer part of the offer. Escrow agents understand the process as well or better than most agents, I think, and can explain how contingencies work, ways you can lose your deposit, ways to get out of the deal, etc. as an impartial party to the transaction.

Use your loan, escrow, and title people to the fullest extent. Every time you learn something new, ask them if it impacts the process at all – XBoxBoy’s heater, for example.

[Author]

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