[cabal]

[quote=Rustico]
Cabal, With the sale you are disappointed with, did you pay 4% total or just to the listing agent? There are a lot of ways to do things. I guess you don’t want to do a FSBO. [/quote]

On that sale, we paid a total of 4%. He was the listing and buyer agent. The entire process lasted 3 weeks, from initial contact to close of escrow. He did recommend new carpet throughout, painting, minor repairs, etc and we reluctantly agreed. In retrospect, it was probably unnecessary since it was a strong sellers market and the house would have sold as-is for the same price; a nice 10K lesson. Turned out the carpet guy and repair crews were his buddies and it wouldn’t surprise me if he got a kick back.

I have done a FSBO before in my younger days and the transaction went smoothly. I don’t want to do a FSBO now simply due to a lack of time resulting from the demands of my job.

As far defining a fair flat fee for the listing agent, I have no idea. I look to the Pigg experts for advice. If I can find an agent that I can trust 100%, I would hire him/her in a second and pay top commission. Unfortunately, my limited interactions with realtors have not been the best experiences, sometimes adversarial and cordial at best. In my experience with the buying/selling of 5 homes, I’ve found their only interest is self-interest in closing quickly and getting that commission check. Even the so called “high powered” agents with the polished presentation who seem to dominate a certain region offer no greater integrity. It’s amazing the unethical stories they will tell when you speak to them in a social function after a few drinks.

[cabal]

Thanks to all for their inputs. I’m thinking why not a commission as high as 3%-4% for the selling agents and a small, fixed fee to the listing agent just to get it in the MLS. No offense to listing agents, but how much persuasion (or negotiation power) can a listing agent provide with todays market conditions. My expectations are all offers will be lowballs anyways. Is this approach reasonable ?

[cabal]

Thanks to all for their inputs. I’m thinking why not a commission as high as 3%-4% for the selling agents and a small, fixed fee to the listing agent just to get it in the MLS. No offense to listing agents, but how much persuasion (or negotiation power) can a listing agent provide with todays market conditions. My expectations are all offers will be lowballs anyways. Is this approach reasonable ?

[cabal]

Thanks to all for their inputs. I’m thinking why not a commission as high as 3%-4% for the selling agents and a small, fixed fee to the listing agent just to get it in the MLS. No offense to listing agents, but how much persuasion (or negotiation power) can a listing agent provide with todays market conditions. My expectations are all offers will be lowballs anyways. Is this approach reasonable ?

[cabal]

Thanks to all for their inputs. I’m thinking why not a commission as high as 3%-4% for the selling agents and a small, fixed fee to the listing agent just to get it in the MLS. No offense to listing agents, but how much persuasion (or negotiation power) can a listing agent provide with todays market conditions. My expectations are all offers will be lowballs anyways. Is this approach reasonable ?

[cabal]

Thanks to all for their inputs. I’m thinking why not a commission as high as 3%-4% for the selling agents and a small, fixed fee to the listing agent just to get it in the MLS. No offense to listing agents, but how much persuasion (or negotiation power) can a listing agent provide with todays market conditions. My expectations are all offers will be lowballs anyways. Is this approach reasonable ?

[cabal]

My son attended La Jolla Country Day School for a few years. As a CV area resident, he currently attends CV schools. Sometimes I regret pulling him out of LJCDS.

With regards to parental involvement, I give CV schools a slight edge. Many LJCDS parents are busy and have nannies drop/pick up kids. There is little casual encounters among parents except at organized school events. For class size, LJCDS is smaller. I remember my sons K class had about 10 kids and 2 full time degreed teachers. For curriculum and overall enrichment, LJCDS wins hands down.

[cabal]

My son attended La Jolla Country Day School for a few years. As a CV area resident, he currently attends CV schools. Sometimes I regret pulling him out of LJCDS.

With regards to parental involvement, I give CV schools a slight edge. Many LJCDS parents are busy and have nannies drop/pick up kids. There is little casual encounters among parents except at organized school events. For class size, LJCDS is smaller. I remember my sons K class had about 10 kids and 2 full time degreed teachers. For curriculum and overall enrichment, LJCDS wins hands down.

[cabal]

My son attended La Jolla Country Day School for a few years. As a CV area resident, he currently attends CV schools. Sometimes I regret pulling him out of LJCDS.

With regards to parental involvement, I give CV schools a slight edge. Many LJCDS parents are busy and have nannies drop/pick up kids. There is little casual encounters among parents except at organized school events. For class size, LJCDS is smaller. I remember my sons K class had about 10 kids and 2 full time degreed teachers. For curriculum and overall enrichment, LJCDS wins hands down.

[cabal]

My son attended La Jolla Country Day School for a few years. As a CV area resident, he currently attends CV schools. Sometimes I regret pulling him out of LJCDS.

With regards to parental involvement, I give CV schools a slight edge. Many LJCDS parents are busy and have nannies drop/pick up kids. There is little casual encounters among parents except at organized school events. For class size, LJCDS is smaller. I remember my sons K class had about 10 kids and 2 full time degreed teachers. For curriculum and overall enrichment, LJCDS wins hands down.

[cabal]

My son attended La Jolla Country Day School for a few years. As a CV area resident, he currently attends CV schools. Sometimes I regret pulling him out of LJCDS.

With regards to parental involvement, I give CV schools a slight edge. Many LJCDS parents are busy and have nannies drop/pick up kids. There is little casual encounters among parents except at organized school events. For class size, LJCDS is smaller. I remember my sons K class had about 10 kids and 2 full time degreed teachers. For curriculum and overall enrichment, LJCDS wins hands down.

[cabal]

A borrower who got a 3/5/7 yr fixed loan say in 2005 probably has a rate around 5.5%. Most of these loans are tied to the 1 yr treasury, which is about 0.5% today. The typical margin is 2.5%. If their fix rate were to convert to a fully adjustable loan today, it would be a nice xmas present as their rate would actually adjust down from 5.5% to 3%. The same is true for option arm loans which are tied to the MTA index currently around 2% resulting in a rate of 4.5% assuming 2.5% margin. The option arm loans allow for 4 payment options each month. Option 1 is neg amortization with 7.5% annual cap. Most people I know with these loans pay option 2, or interest only in order to keep principal in check. Option 3 & 4 are traditional 15 and 30 yr fully amortized payments.

We are in a deflationary period for the forseeable future. My guess is that the feds are not going to raise the rate for at least 1 yr, and then very slowly. Therefore the 2nd wave of loan resets to start in 2010 will ironically result in less defaults.

[cabal]

A borrower who got a 3/5/7 yr fixed loan say in 2005 probably has a rate around 5.5%. Most of these loans are tied to the 1 yr treasury, which is about 0.5% today. The typical margin is 2.5%. If their fix rate were to convert to a fully adjustable loan today, it would be a nice xmas present as their rate would actually adjust down from 5.5% to 3%. The same is true for option arm loans which are tied to the MTA index currently around 2% resulting in a rate of 4.5% assuming 2.5% margin. The option arm loans allow for 4 payment options each month. Option 1 is neg amortization with 7.5% annual cap. Most people I know with these loans pay option 2, or interest only in order to keep principal in check. Option 3 & 4 are traditional 15 and 30 yr fully amortized payments.

We are in a deflationary period for the forseeable future. My guess is that the feds are not going to raise the rate for at least 1 yr, and then very slowly. Therefore the 2nd wave of loan resets to start in 2010 will ironically result in less defaults.

[cabal]

A borrower who got a 3/5/7 yr fixed loan say in 2005 probably has a rate around 5.5%. Most of these loans are tied to the 1 yr treasury, which is about 0.5% today. The typical margin is 2.5%. If their fix rate were to convert to a fully adjustable loan today, it would be a nice xmas present as their rate would actually adjust down from 5.5% to 3%. The same is true for option arm loans which are tied to the MTA index currently around 2% resulting in a rate of 4.5% assuming 2.5% margin. The option arm loans allow for 4 payment options each month. Option 1 is neg amortization with 7.5% annual cap. Most people I know with these loans pay option 2, or interest only in order to keep principal in check. Option 3 & 4 are traditional 15 and 30 yr fully amortized payments.

We are in a deflationary period for the forseeable future. My guess is that the feds are not going to raise the rate for at least 1 yr, and then very slowly. Therefore the 2nd wave of loan resets to start in 2010 will ironically result in less defaults.

[cabal]

A borrower who got a 3/5/7 yr fixed loan say in 2005 probably has a rate around 5.5%. Most of these loans are tied to the 1 yr treasury, which is about 0.5% today. The typical margin is 2.5%. If their fix rate were to convert to a fully adjustable loan today, it would be a nice xmas present as their rate would actually adjust down from 5.5% to 3%. The same is true for option arm loans which are tied to the MTA index currently around 2% resulting in a rate of 4.5% assuming 2.5% margin. The option arm loans allow for 4 payment options each month. Option 1 is neg amortization with 7.5% annual cap. Most people I know with these loans pay option 2, or interest only in order to keep principal in check. Option 3 & 4 are traditional 15 and 30 yr fully amortized payments.

We are in a deflationary period for the forseeable future. My guess is that the feds are not going to raise the rate for at least 1 yr, and then very slowly. Therefore the 2nd wave of loan resets to start in 2010 will ironically result in less defaults.

[Author]

Posts