No issues with the thread what so ever. As a matter of fact, those are all very legitimate questions that are raised often.
Keep in mind that no 2 purchases are the same. There are often problems that arise throughout the process that your real estate agent has seen before. If you were not working with an agent then chances are you would end up paying more to your real estate lawyer for advice.
By calling the list agent directly you are not avoiding commissions on the buying side. You are giving both commissions to the list agent.
If you call a list agent for the property on 17th ave we have discussed as being a hidden train wreck then he can have you sign off as a customer (instead of client) and owe you no fiduciary duties. It is now 100% your responsibility to do all the homework. This can take hours of your time for something that would have taken me 3 minutes.
Some recent examples of how a Realtor makes things easier:
- Client just had their property go C/S. Monday i drove across town to drop off condo documents in Midnapore. We realized that many were missing and we had to have everything in within 24 hours. I ordered the documents and drove to the other end of town to pick them up. Now I had to drive back out to Midnapore to deliver the remaining documents completing the package.
There is obviously way more to this deal however that was a un foreseen circumstance that my client would have had to take the day from work to accomplish had I not been working for them.
- A friend/buyer just purchased a foreclosure downtown. Its a remarkable place and was had for under 200k. The process to buy a foreclosure is significantly different and designed to protect the bank and not the buyer. I ensured all efforts were taken so that my friend was protected and that he got the place well below market value. By viewing places in advance I was able to save him the time viewing 30 places and narrow it down to a handful based on his criteria.
- Right now I am working with a buyer looking to purchase another foreclosure. This involves me going to the court house on a specific day and waiting around from 9am to 12pm until the specific property is addressed. Throughout the process there are a number of things this buyer is/was not sure of. I think it would be fair to say he would not even be in contention for this property had he not been working with a Realtor/myself.
I think the easiest way to look at it is that the seller is paying the list agent the full commission's. The list agent then determines what of his offered commission will go towards someone who brings him a buyer.(should always be equal or greater IMO)
If you look at it this way then you will have to see if you are happy with the service being provided by the list agent. If you are a solo buyer then you need to accept the fact that the seller has paid that agent to sell their property and this is not something you can use as a negotiating tactic.
I understand those who try to sell on their own (although a very high percentage end up switching to a Realtor after exhausting time and money) as they see the potential to save however I really think that it should be a no brainer to use a Realtor when buying a property.
PS: I am not a writer so lets not discuss the flow or lack of in this post lol.
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