patrick.net

FSBO?

The unfortunate reality is most people do not have the time, energy and confidence to execute a SFH purchase while holding down a job and trying to raise a family. especially in a new area.
Sites like this are helping though.

info is power.

Buyer/Seller agents really have in a way been replaced with the internet mls system. Just society hasn't really realized that yet. All an agent will do for you now is simply do a search on a site like that and sign you up for email notification with certain parameters.

One can do that without the agent by simply paying something like $20/month. On many you can lookup the owner directly, and if not often that information is on the county assessor website anyway.

The biggest lie here is that one needs a buyer agent, when in reality one isn't needed there. Seller shouldn't be paying out 6% commission for 2 agents, when he can get away with only one agent (3%) or none even.

bubblesitter says

FSBO?

I wish, but the FSBO market is practically non-existent where I live.

StoutFiles says

buy why have one when buying property?

It's a cartel. The cartel tries to hide data and knowledge. They have their proprietary database (MLS). You don't actually need a realtor to buy property, but used house salesmen have a good lobby. If you have a good realtor, they may have some expertise about pricing in the local market, but most realtors are not worth the fee they are paid -- it doesn't make sense to pay a percentage fee in all cases.

You would be better off paying a lawyer to get advice on paperwork, disclosures, etc. or other things that realtors claim they are helpful for. The lawyer would both know more and be cheaper (possibly even a flat fee could be negotiated).

EMan says

The biggest lie here is that one needs a buyer agent, when in reality one isn't needed there. Seller shouldn't be paying out 6% commission for 2 agents, when he can get away with only one agent (3%) or none even.

Eman also makes a good point here. When a selling agent knows you have no agent, they take the buying agent's commission too. This is despite the fact that dual agenting isn't ethical, although realtors don't really have true ethical obligations like other professionals. Anyone who thinks the seller's agent represents your interests is a chump.

I tried to negotiate the Buyer-agent commission with the seller agent to no avail. They would rather lose the entire 3% Buyer-agent commission than reduce it by 1%-2% and receive 4% or 5% instead of 3%. I wanted to apply the savings toward the selling price thereby making the transaction more palatable to the seller, buyer, and selling agent.

I need no/little support from an agent as I am a cash buyer, research and propose properties for viewing, know contract law, research title history, plats/surveys, covenants, comps, easements, etc. Their only service is to arrange the showing date/time, open the door, place my terms & conditions in the standard real estate contract, and present the offer to the seller.

There is no need for one size fits all real estate services but with the current model, you are forced to pay an shameful percentage fee based on the properties price, regardless of the amount of the agent’s time involved.

I found it amusing when a seller agent told me what a great negotiator she was but indicated the full commission for dual-agency was not negotiable.

The brokerage companies are looking for more and new ways to salvage their outrageous fees. Nextage has entered the Arizona market with the slogan “the power of we”. If you research their business model, the “we” is not the buyer or seller but a pyramid scheme in which Nextage agents get kickbacks for other agents’ sales who they recruit into their business group.

There is no easy solution to the problem. Although the MLS data is readily available elsewhere, the “lock-box” concept (secure house entry) remains the biggest nut to crack.

Actually using a realtor that really knows the area can work to your benefit. Still, I ALWAYS recommend doing a lot of research yourself. Case in point, I have been watching the San Diego market for years and waiting for it to crash.

I was going to use Redfin to get a rebate but I didn't have ANY problem finding realtors that agreed to rebate the same % as Redfin if I used them. I found a really great realtor to buy and at closing she rebated back the same % I would have had rebated by Redfin.

I closed and 24 hours later the Escrow company wired me my commission/rebate. (And this was on a $1 million property). I recommend in this kind of environment to ALWAYS ask your realtor to rebate back the commission. Contrary to popular belief on this board....not all realtors are bad or crooks. There are some hardworking, honest and ethical realtors out there. You just have to research and seek them out.