patrick.net

HEY !!

What's with starting up a thread that has been dead since 2009 !?

Admittedly it was a good one, but now I feel embarrassed about going around clicking "like" om postings from 2009. And I'm not even up late because of drinking or some such.

I have a friend who last year did just that. In Boca Raton Florida of all places. He's done pretty well, he's made enough money to hire me do work on some software projects he has.

FormerAptBroker says

If you want to actually buy a piece pf property you should work with the listing agent and pay them a fee. A listing agent will work with you th beat up the seller and you can almost always buy a home for less when you work with a listing agent and let them "double end" the deal.

I tried that a few times in the last 6 months.

Firstly, most properties (that I'm interested in - urban areas) in the Bay Area are 100 years old and will have hundreds of pages of disclosures. I've approached listing agents and, surprisingly, they are unwilling to represent both sides of the deal because of all the existing problems with the house. They don't want to risk having legal problems after the sale.

They do, however, refer me to another agent in their brokerage. But, as housing is so hot right now, this doesn't really provide any advantage except for maybe some extra info about how high the bids are going. With so many buyers and so little inventory there is no using agent's greed to get a better price. Those days are gone (though hoping they'll be back soon).