Quote:
Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda
We were in the exact same boat last year. I wouldn't be so quick to use your selling realtor as your buying realtor though, if you do all of your own house hunting through MLS you can save a lot of money by talking to the other selling realtor directly. We did that when we bought our house and saved a lot more than the couple thousand our realtor was offering if we used them for both sides
|
Sorry, but that's really bad advice.
The only person who benefits here is the listing agent who gets to "double end" the commission.
They get the full 7/3% instead of having to split it with your buyer's agent.
You think you saved money but how do you know a good buyer's agent couldn't have negotiated a way bigger discount than you saved on the commission you weren't even paying in the first place?
You don't have anyone looking out for issues in the property, strange zoning, stigmas that will effect the long term value of the home, bad construction techniques, poor electrical wiring, asbestos, mold, renovations done without appropriate permits....
The listing agent certainly doesn't care about you finding things, they may have a long term relationship with the seller, why would they care about you?
They certainly don't care about you getting a good deal, they want their seller to get as much as possible, you're just some random stranger.
You also don't have someone going through all comparable sales data for the area with you and explaining exactly what appropriate market value and a good deal is. Unless you relied on the listing agent for that, who again doesn't care about you, they care about their client.
Values can vary dramatically even on 2 streets right beside each other, there's intricacies most people don't even realize.
Maybe you're the exception, and your purchase worked out perfect but this goes wrong for buyers way more often than it goes right.
We're legally not even allowed to do this in BC anymore since so many clients were getting unethical treatment on double enders.
I'm surprised it's still allowed in Calgary, probably won't be for long.