How to find out for how long a house has been in the market ? (for sale, foreclosure)

[Gaffer]

Originally Posted by S.I.B.

can you eleborate on this?

To start with the last time I purchased a home, the one I am still in, was 19 years ago. That said, first of all as I recall it does not cost anything for a buyers agent. Here's how I recall that working. The seller pays a 6% commission to their agent. If there is no buyers agent the seller agent retains the full 6%, However, if there is a buyers agent he shares in the 6%. In my cases my agents ended up with 3% and sellers agent kept only 3%. I suggest you call a realtor in your area to determine if that is how it works in your area.
I retained a buyers agents because they are involved in buying and selling homes on a regular basis and will point out things you may not look for and he was helpful with contract wording and financing. Also since there was no cost why not hire a professional and two eyes are always better than one.
If that does not fully elaborate for you then ask specific questions and I will answer what I can.

[zulu400]

What if we know that the seller's agent will get 6%..... so we ask the seller's agent to take only 4% in this market and pass on the 2% towards the reduction of the listing price....
If you are looking at a 300K house... then its 6K right there....
You know I have seen some cases where a lot of agents want to become the buyers agent, I think because its free money.... the seller pays for it anyway.... so this is one scenario where a buyers agent is a liability....

Gaffer,
What kind of things did the agent point out that you had overlooked.... can you give us any examples ? And how can the agent help in financing ? Do you think it was a nice perk in your case or is it the norm....

[I_Love_LI_but]

Originally Posted by zulu400

What if we know that the seller's agent will get 6%..... so we ask the seller's agent to take only 4% in this market and pass on the 2% towards the reduction of the listing price....

Have you ever actually had a listing broker do this? I think the contract is between the broker and the seller and the commission percentage is determined at the time of signing, so how can a prospective buyer influence it?

[TomMoser]

Originally Posted by zulu400

What if we know that the seller's agent will get 6%..... so we ask the seller's agent to take only 4% in this market and pass on the 2% towards the reduction of the listing price....
If you are looking at a 300K house... then its 6K right there....

Two issues here: 1) The % numbers that you are using are way too high, so there is not as much money to go around as you think. 2) Most agents work for brokers who have their own rules about agent commissions so the agent may not have the ability to agree to this.

[Huckleberry3911948]

ask the neighbors, everybody else will lie to you.

[Gaffer]

Gaffer,
What kind of things did the agent point out that you had overlooked.... can you give us any examples ? And how can the agent help in financing ? Do you think it was a nice perk in your case or is it the norm.

Zulu - Like I said the last house I purchased was 19 years ago. I can't remember the specifics as to what he may have pointed out.
Well, he brought the mortgage company to me rahter than vice versa and no I don't think it was a perk. I believe it is a standard for that agent, now retired, but not necessarily the standard for all firms.
I was only able to negotiate a lower fee and that was from 6% to 5%. He brought the offer to the sellers agent who must have brought it to his broker to reduce the seller price, but the difference was only $75.00 (years ago). I have no idea how the agents (or brokerage firms) worked out their split.

[modmondays]

Originally Posted by TomMoser

This is not information that MLS makes publicly available. You need to ask your agent. BTW - a seller's agent is not allowed to share this information without the permission of the seller. If you are using a Buyer's Agent he should readily disclose it to you.

No you don't. You dont need to ask anybody.

Simply to go to www.longislandbubble.com and look at their "bubble map". Go to the town you are interested in and voila -- most of the houses still on MLSLI are there showing all of their price discounts since they first started listing - -along with the dates they cut their prices and the percentages.....its called "The Desperation Bubble Map"......its pretty easy to smell the blood in the water surrounding the listing....

[Lisamel]

I am a former realtor so I know.

A house could be on the market for a long time. Sometimes the listing agents will take it off for a week and then relist as new with a new listing number.
Sometimes the house goes on and off using a different realtor, because the homeowner has changed.

The consumer has no way of finding this out, because you need to have access to MLS to find out. Unless you are very savvy and watch realtor. com all the time.

But, your agent may give you this information.

[TomMoser]

Originally Posted by modmondays

No you don't. You dont need to ask anybody.

Simply to go to www.longislandbubble.com and look at their "bubble map". Go to the town you are interested in and voila -- most of the houses still on MLSLI are there showing all of their price discounts since they first started listing - -along with the dates they cut their prices and the percentages.....its called "The Desperation Bubble Map"......its pretty easy to smell the blood in the water surrounding the listing....

One of the fiduciary duties owed to the client is confidentiality.

Not quite sure what you mean about the blood in the water thing.

[TomMoser]

Originally Posted by Lisamel

I am a former realtor so I know.

A house could be on the market for a long time. Sometimes the listing agents will take it off for a week and then relist as new with a new listing number.
Sometimes the house goes on and off using a different realtor, because the homeowner has changed.

The consumer has no way of finding this out, because you need to have access to MLS to find out. Unless you are very savvy and watch realtor. com all the time.

But, your agent may give you this information.

There has recently been a new LIBOR rule that adresses that situation. If the same brokerage relists a property soon after the expiration date they cannot record it as a new listing. But, there are many violations of this rule, so it's best to check the history.