Reply to Buying without a realtor

Forum Index » Real Estate

Reply to "Buying without a realtor"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP, you asked what people thought and they gave you their opinions. It sounds like you are looking for someone to tell you to go ahead without an agent. You can, you just might not get the best deal. We have bought and sold 4 houses, both in DC and less hot markets. In 2 cases (one dc, one outside) the realtors have closed the deal using their commission - in one case the sellers realtor wrote us a $500 check bc a stove knob didn’t work during the final walkthrough, in the other, our agent gave the sellers $5k to make up the difference in sales price and close the deal.

Particularly for a first time buyer, realtors will help you with the process. If you don’t get your 1-2% worth that means you chose a crappy agent. Good agents should have intel on the neighborhood/street issue, common house issues, particularly if the house is sitting empty, and pricing, not just based on area but the basic features of the house, lot characteristics, etc. They should be able to help you strategize the components of your offer to make it competitive. The purpose is also bc both buyers and sellers are emotional about houses and realtors are not so they can smooth the deal. You will probably be fine without a realtor, assuming the sellers agent is competent and assuming (since. Sounds like you have been talking to them?) that you dint have any obligations to the sellers agent, and that there are no hiccups in the sale. And assuming you can identify why this house, in a desirable area, is sitting. It’s either mispriced or has a problem. [/quote]

I am OP. You are right that part of me is looking for assurance to go ahead without a realtor, but part of me is also looking to see where the value of a realtor comes into play. For example, some of advantages of a realtor you mentioned are not really advantages to me. I know the neighborhood extremely well, we have been tracking sales of comparables for a few years and we have a very good idea of sale prices versus house condition. We are going in for a second viewing and bringing a reputable remodeler with us, who will also help identify any issues we might not have noticed. We have cost sheets set up to strategize various offers. I can see a realtor helping us with the negotations but the seller is an estate looking to offload a sitting house sooner rather than later. Part of me thinks we've stumbled into a lucky situation as it's a lovely neighborhood we've always wanted to live in - which may be the emotional part, but we're also dispassionate people in a sluggish market (so we think!). I'm not saying I don't want a realtor but I'm asking this question to find out what advantages a realtor brings to the deal based on our situation, especially if we can use the absence of a realtor to negotiate a lower price or closing cost contributions in lieu of their fees.

But I will say the one thing I've learned is that the realtor commission is a separate topic from the offer on the house and the realtor split/pay back needs to be handled separately. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics