As a buyer, how can I leverage new Realtor commission rules for my benefit?

[Anonymous]

I'm going to let everyone in on a secret. It's the secret that agents don't want you to know. It will help you win any house. Agents charge tens of thousands for this secret but for this limited time, I'm going to let all of you in on the secret. You ready? Get excited, because here it is. The secret to winning any house is as follows:

Waive all contingencies and bid higher than everyone else.

Using this valuable, proprietary secret, you'll now be in a position to win any house that you're interested in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want the lowest fee, just don't use a buyer's agent at all. It's not that complicated.

+1 Just contact the listing agent. Tell them you're an unrepresented buyer and you want to see the property. Refuse to sign any agreement for them or anyone else to represent you.

Wrote two contracts for unrepresented buyers on Tuesday and played them off each other. I even made one drop the VA financing even though the interest rate was better. After I squeezed them dry, the sellers did about $73,000 more than the best comp from June This is going to be a lot better for sellers because the buyers are easy to manipulate. I will take unrepresented buyers any day.

You mean, because there were no buyers agents there to advise their clients to offer above asking, with escalation clauses, and to waive inspection and all other contingencies? That kind of expert advice?

They were unrepresented and I gave them no advice. For their offer to be considered they had to waive all contingencies. That's why one buyer had to change from VA to conventional financing because he could not waive the appraisal contingency. No escalation clauses. I did several rounds of best and final offers until both reached top of the loan for which they qualified.

It sounds like you did advise them. You advised them to waive all contingencies for their offers to be considered.

[Anonymous]

I have some agents agreeing to write a contract for $500 because it is only for one property and it was site unseen

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you sign a buyers contract, don't set the terms for 60 or 90 days. Do two week intervals. You may not like your realtor so you can exit the contract. Also, don't agree to a percentage of the homes selling price, rather do a flat fee.

Very good advice

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you sign a buyers contract, don't set the terms for 60 or 90 days. Do two week intervals. You may not like your realtor so you can exit the contract. Also, don't agree to a percentage of the homes selling price, rather do a flat fee.

Very good advice

If you do a flat fee, expect to pay out of pocket as you go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ Sure you did.

Check it on Zillow the week of September 23 and see the $73,000 delta between listing price and selling price.

This has got to be a troll - no way they just doxxed themselves??

Real estate agents want to be known

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you sign a buyers contract, don't set the terms for 60 or 90 days. Do two week intervals. You may not like your realtor so you can exit the contract. Also, don't agree to a percentage of the homes selling price, rather do a flat fee.

Very good advice

If you do a flat fee, expect to pay out of pocket as you go.

What? Why pat at all? Just don't use a buyer's agent!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want the lowest fee, just don't use a buyer's agent at all. It's not that complicated.

+1 Just contact the listing agent. Tell them you're an unrepresented buyer and you want to see the property. Refuse to sign any agreement for them or anyone else to represent you.

Wrote two contracts for unrepresented buyers on Tuesday and played them off each other. I even made one drop the VA financing even though the interest rate was better. After I squeezed them dry, the sellers did about $73,000 more than the best comp from June This is going to be a lot better for sellers because the buyers are easy to manipulate. I will take unrepresented buyers any day.

You mean, because there were no buyers agents there to advise their clients to offer above asking, with escalation clauses, and to waive inspection and all other contingencies? That kind of expert advice?

They were unrepresented and I gave them no advice. For their offer to be considered they had to waive all contingencies. That's why one buyer had to change from VA to conventional financing because he could not waive the appraisal contingency. No escalation clauses. I did several rounds of best and final offers until both reached top of the loan for which they qualified.

This is how I know no buyer agent was involved.

There should be no such thing as “several rounds” of a “final” offer. The whole point of “best and final” is “speak now or forever hold your piece.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you sign a buyers contract, don't set the terms for 60 or 90 days. Do two week intervals. You may not like your realtor so you can exit the contract. Also, don't agree to a percentage of the homes selling price, rather do a flat fee.

Very good advice

If you do a flat fee, expect to pay out of pocket as you go.

What? Why pat at all? Just don't use a buyer's agent!

You have fun trying to do that. Especially since you sound like the type who is usually wrong but rarely in doubt about everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm going to let everyone in on a secret. It's the secret that agents don't want you to know. It will help you win any house. Agents charge tens of thousands for this secret but for this limited time, I'm going to let all of you in on the secret. You ready? Get excited, because here it is. The secret to winning any house is as follows:

Waive all contingencies and bid higher than everyone else.

Using this valuable, proprietary secret, you'll now be in a position to win any house that you're interested in.

LOL this is the truth. DH and I have sold 3 homes. We're looking at price and contingencies, like every other seller. There's no other secret way to "get buyers into houses" although realtors want you to believe there is and only they can deliver this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want the lowest fee, just don't use a buyer's agent at all. It's not that complicated.

+1 Just contact the listing agent. Tell them you're an unrepresented buyer and you want to see the property. Refuse to sign any agreement for them or anyone else to represent you.

Wrote two contracts for unrepresented buyers on Tuesday and played them off each other. I even made one drop the VA financing even though the interest rate was better. After I squeezed them dry, the sellers did about $73,000 more than the best comp from June This is going to be a lot better for sellers because the buyers are easy to manipulate. I will take unrepresented buyers any day.

You mean, because there were no buyers agents there to advise their clients to offer above asking, with escalation clauses, and to waive inspection and all other contingencies? That kind of expert advice?

They were unrepresented and I gave them no advice. For their offer to be considered they had to waive all contingencies. That's why one buyer had to change from VA to conventional financing because he could not waive the appraisal contingency. No escalation clauses. I did several rounds of best and final offers until both reached top of the loan for which they qualified.

Right, the point is the buyers would get fleeced either way. At least your seller wasn’t also paying for a parasitic buyer’s agent to be cut in on the deal.

+1 It's better for either the buyer or the seller to keep the money, not just hand it over to a second, unnecessary realtor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want the lowest fee, just don't use a buyer's agent at all. It's not that complicated.

+1 Just contact the listing agent. Tell them you're an unrepresented buyer and you want to see the property. Refuse to sign any agreement for them or anyone else to represent you.

Wrote two contracts for unrepresented buyers on Tuesday and played them off each other. I even made one drop the VA financing even though the interest rate was better. After I squeezed them dry, the sellers did about $73,000 more than the best comp from June This is going to be a lot better for sellers because the buyers are easy to manipulate. I will take unrepresented buyers any day.

You mean, because there were no buyers agents there to advise their clients to offer above asking, with escalation clauses, and to waive inspection and all other contingencies? That kind of expert advice?

They were unrepresented and I gave them no advice. For their offer to be considered they had to waive all contingencies. That's why one buyer had to change from VA to conventional financing because he could not waive the appraisal contingency. No escalation clauses. I did several rounds of best and final offers until both reached top of the loan for which they qualified.

Right, the point is the buyers would get fleeced either way. At least your seller wasn’t also paying for a parasitic buyer’s agent to be cut in on the deal.

+1 It's better for either the buyer or the seller to keep the money, not just hand it over to a second, unnecessary realtor.

Well, the Real Estate Agent is obviously not unnecessary because the original poster herself is utilizing one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want the lowest fee, just don't use a buyer's agent at all. It's not that complicated.

+1 Just contact the listing agent. Tell them you're an unrepresented buyer and you want to see the property. Refuse to sign any agreement for them or anyone else to represent you.

Wrote two contracts for unrepresented buyers on Tuesday and played them off each other. I even made one drop the VA financing even though the interest rate was better. After I squeezed them dry, the sellers did about $73,000 more than the best comp from June This is going to be a lot better for sellers because the buyers are easy to manipulate. I will take unrepresented buyers any day.

You mean, because there were no buyers agents there to advise their clients to offer above asking, with escalation clauses, and to waive inspection and all other contingencies? That kind of expert advice?

They were unrepresented and I gave them no advice. For their offer to be considered they had to waive all contingencies. That's why one buyer had to change from VA to conventional financing because he could not waive the appraisal contingency. No escalation clauses. I did several rounds of best and final offers until both reached top of the loan for which they qualified.

Right, the point is the buyers would get fleeced either way. At least your seller wasn’t also paying for a parasitic buyer’s agent to be cut in on the deal.

+1 It's better for either the buyer or the seller to keep the money, not just hand it over to a second, unnecessary realtor.

Well, the Real Estate Agent is obviously not unnecessary because the original poster herself is utilizing one.

Sure, use a listing agent, but using two agents for each deal is unnecessary. The ppp had it correct with not needing a parasitic buyer's agent trying to get cut in on the deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want the lowest fee, just don't use a buyer's agent at all. It's not that complicated.

+1 Just contact the listing agent. Tell them you're an unrepresented buyer and you want to see the property. Refuse to sign any agreement for them or anyone else to represent you.

Wrote two contracts for unrepresented buyers on Tuesday and played them off each other. I even made one drop the VA financing even though the interest rate was better. After I squeezed them dry, the sellers did about $73,000 more than the best comp from June This is going to be a lot better for sellers because the buyers are easy to manipulate. I will take unrepresented buyers any day.

This. Unrepresented buyers (I don't care how smart they think they are, or if they have a real estate attorney who can read a contract) are at a huge disadvantage. Period. I am a listing agent primarily, and I can tell you an unrepresented buyer, is rarely getting a better deal than if you had representation and often is not winning the contract if you are in a multiple-offer situation, No matter what all these anonymous posters say. I have seen it time and time again. I have seen highly skilled and hard working buyers agents literally make the difference in getting clients into a home. I'm sure there will be people on here who SWEAR otherwise or say I am biased, but I live this everyday and know how transactions play out. I can tell you going unrepresented without a *skilled realtor* (not just anyone) puts you at a disadvantage in many ways. If you think buying a home is like buying a car, you are wrong.

That's because buyers' agents pressure buyers to bid above what the comps support. Once the buyers' agents are removed from the picture, buyers act rationally and don't overpay. So yeah, if you want to pay 2.5% for the privilege of having someone tell you to overpay and put in a crazy escalation clause, by all means go for it.

You're a real expert on all buyers' agents huh? How many times have you worked with a buyer's agent? Bought 1-4 houses maybe and you think you can make generalizations about all buyers' agents?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm going to let everyone in on a secret. It's the secret that agents don't want you to know. It will help you win any house. Agents charge tens of thousands for this secret but for this limited time, I'm going to let all of you in on the secret. You ready? Get excited, because here it is. The secret to winning any house is as follows:

Waive all contingencies and bid higher than everyone else.

Using this valuable, proprietary secret, you'll now be in a position to win any house that you're interested in.

You remind me of the saying...That the problem in the world is that stupid people are
so confident and the intelligent ones are filled with doubt. No shit, waive contingencies and bid high but if you think that is all there is to it, you will definitely learn that lesson when you lose in multiple offer situations again and again.