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I am about to close my very first home, so just like most of other first time home buyers I have very mixed feeling about my first home purchase - exiting and happy but at the same time I am anxious and have many questions about if i made right choice.
One of the biggest question is about my buyers agent.
I am not sure if my agent was working for my interest or his interest. When i looked for buyers agents, i had no one to refer some agent for me since i am kinda young and i am the first one to buy a house among all my friends.
So i just choose someone on the Zillow advertising. I was hesitating to choose agent from internet advertising, but i didn't really have much choices. Also, that agent seems to have many positive review on zillow... I know that those reviews might be the fake ones but there were like over 30+ reviews.. will you really fake all that reviews? ? So I just chose my agent from zillow advertising.
After i started house hunting, my agent seems pretty nice. this is why i think my agent was good.
1. Being very honest and explaining what is good and also bad side of the property.
2. Good at responding my email, call, and text.
3. Work mostly weekend or weekday evening for me since i have a job
4. Do not try to sell hard some expensive properties
Then here is why i have mixed feeling about my agent.
1. I ended up buy a new construction home where my agent already sold like 3-4 units. Then, my agent was not really negotiating with builder at all. he kept saying "they have no negotiation room. I worked with them before so i know" Is it really no negotiation at all for new builders? Also Is it possible that buyers agents get some sort of prize(not commission) if they sell certain number of property from one builder? I paid full ask price and only offer the builder made for me is no closing costs if i use their preferred lender (and I am 100% sure this is for everyone who buy that property)
2. When i signed the contract, he didn't explain me contract at all. Basically, he just sent me email "hey they will send you contract via email soon. Sign it!" Then i opened contract and it's like 70 pages of all contract language i don't really understand. So i had to ask my agent to meet me and explain the contract. But my agent said he is busy so he can explain through the phone. So we talked on the phone but i was really nervous to sign this paper and put my money on deposit so I wish he'd meet me and explain things. Isn't explaining paper work is part of agent's job?
3. I found my home pretty early. I signed my deal only after 1 month I started looking for a house. Also, i probably see less than 20 houses. Mainly, it's because my agent kept telling me there is no other deals with this price in this area.
Well. now... things are done. I am about to close my first house purchase and even though it was mistake to have him as my agent it is done deal. However, i am planning to move to other city next 3-5 year so i will either sell or rent this house when i move. So i want to get some opinion about how to find agent and if you think i had a good agent. If he was good agent, i want to keep in touch with him and re-hire him in the future for renting or selling.
Thank you for reading such a long story and thank you in advance for your thought!
1. I ended up buy a new construction home where my agent already sold like 3-4 units. Then, my agent was not really negotiating with builder at all. he kept saying "they have no negotiation room. I worked with them before so i know" Is it really no negotiation at all for new builders? Also Is it possible that buyers agents get some sort of prize(not commission) if they sell certain number of property from one builder? I paid full ask price and only offer the builder made for me is no closing costs if i use their preferred lender (and I am 100% sure this is for everyone who buy that property)
Yes in my experience builders rarely negotiate down on new construction home prices. The reason is pretty simple. They typically have just a few floor plans in spec subdivisions. If they negotiate the price down it becomes the new comp home price for all of the other same floor plans in the subdivision. This impacts future appraisals. If they lower the price for you, they will have to lower the price for everyone as the home won't appraise in the future. As such, the negotiation happens on upgrades rather than on price.
Quote:
Originally Posted by katie723
2. When i signed the contract, he didn't explain me contract at all. Basically, he just sent me email "hey they will send you contract via email soon. Sign it!" Then i opened contract and it's like 70 pages of all contract language i don't really understand. So i had to ask my agent to meet me and explain the contract. But my agent said he is busy so he can explain through the phone. So we talked on the phone but i was really nervous to sign this paper and put my money on deposit so I wish he'd meet me and explain things. Isn't explaining paper work is part of agent's job?
Yes, but some companies handle things differently. At my company we go over it section by section. We are allowed to summarize it here. Some companies don't want their agents summarizing the contract because they don't train them well and they don't want their agents interpreting clauses for clients. That is what attorneys do. I don't think it is normal to not go over it since you are in town. I think that is bad customer service.
Quote:
Originally Posted by katie723
3. I found my home pretty early. I signed my deal only after 1 month I started looking for a house. Also, i probably see less than 20 houses. Mainly, it's because my agent kept telling me there is no other deals with this price in this area.
I like my first time buyers to see 10-15 minimum before they write an offer so you are right in my ballpark. You should have started to gain market sense around house 10 so you would know if you are getting the deal you want. I know my clients are getting it when I hear them start to say "This seems priced right" or "Am I right in thinking this is overpriced?"
Why in the world are you buying a home when you plan to move in 3-5 years?
I agree with everything Silverfall said, except possibly the moving aspect. There are some good reasons to buy a home even if it's short term and I just can't judge that for you with the information provided.
The builders sales agent should have been the one to explain the contract to you, because it's their 70 page contract. Also, it is unusual for a builder to email a contract to sign. I've never had that happen. They fill out the contract form while you are in their office and you sign it then and there.
In some states it may be illegal for a real estate agent to explain the builders contract to you. It could be practicing law without a license. In Arizona, agents are trained and able to write and explain contracts, but I would not attempt to explain the terms of a builders contract because much of their language is going to be written so that it's not easy to interpret. I would advise my client to have an attorney explain it to them if they were not happy with the way the builders agent explained it.
It sounds like your agent knew the process and did a good job for you.
In Texas, agents are not allowed to "explain" or "summarize" a builder's contract. We are allowed to summarize our Texas Promulgated forms, but not a third party's form. You should have gotten an attorney if you wanted full explanation, but the builder's rep should have told you what you were signing.
I have a running average for how many houses it takes my buyers to see before buying a house. In my last 38 buyers, the average is 5.87 houses. My buyers don't need to see 20+ houses before buying because I educate them about the market and they know what to expect, especially from narrowing things down from listings and pictures in the internet.
Again, 1 month doesn't mean a thing. Several times, I'll get a buyer one day of the week, we look at a few houses later in the week, and they're under contract within the next couple of days. Time frame is all about you and if you're quick to making decisions or always second guess yourself with decisions.
I don't know what area you're in, so I can't comment on the builder part, but there are many builders who sell at sticker price, period. They do not negotiate and they don't care. Other builders will negotiate. If there was "prize" or bonus , the agent would have to disclose to you the amount.
Sounds like you have delayed buyer's remorse and you're looking for fault outside yourself and you're putting it onto your agent. That's not fair to him. He answered your calls, answered them promptly, gave good advice and opinions, and now you're second guessing him? Look within yourself, not him.
The builders out here use our typical new construction contract. We don't have sales agents for builders out here. So, my summarizing is based on the assumption that you were using a standard real estate contract.
The builders out here use our typical new construction contract. We don't have sales agents for builders out here. So, my summarizing is based on the assumption that you were using a standard real estate contract.
Thank you so much for your opinion! you actually made me feel much better and confidence about my decision. I am buying house because my mom wants to move in with me because she got laid off and can't afford her rent(isn't usually daughter moves in mom's house haha jk). I am currently living in a rent too but if I move to 2 bedroom 2 baths apartment in this area, it's around 1400-1500. Then if i buy this 3 bedroom 2 bath townhome with 20% down payment, my mortgage payment with tax and HOA will be about 1400.
So I know i need to move to other city around next 3-5 years for relocation, I decided to buy this one. And maybe 3-5 years later i can sell or rent it out since my mom would stay around this area and take care of renting stuff if i rent it out.
Sounds like you have delayed buyer's remorse and you're looking for fault outside yourself and you're putting it onto your agent. That's not fair to him. He answered your calls, answered them promptly, gave good advice and opinions, and now you're second guessing him? Look within yourself, not him.
I am not looking for fault outside my self. As i mentioned i am even considering to re-hire him within next couple years because of 4 good reasons i listed above my concerns. It's my first time to work with real estate agent so i just genuinely wanted to know if i had a good realtor or not. Unfortunantly, i have no one around me to tell if this is good or not good. If it sounds like i wanted to blame my realtor, sorry! I wasn't
I am not looking for fault outside my self. As i mentioned i am even considering to re-hire him within next couple years because of 4 good reasons i listed above my concerns. It's my first time to work with real estate agent so i just genuinely wanted to know if i had a good realtor or not. Unfortunantly, i have no one around me to tell if this is good or not good. If it sounds like i wanted to blame my realtor, sorry! I wasn't
Reading words is harder than hearing words. I can't hear the tone in your "voice" with words, so I read it with a snotty attitude. I'm happy to "hear" that you're not looking for blame and just an opinion. My opinion is your agent did a good job.
Since no one addressed the "prize" aspect of your question, I can say that I have seen builders offer agents increasing commissions based on how many homes they sell. So, the first one might be at 2.4%, the second 3%, the 3rd 4%, etc. Builders also offer prizes like trips, gift cards and other things when an agent sells a certain number of their homes.
Ideally, none of this should make a difference to the agent. An agent should show you houses that best fit your criteria without any regards to their payout. I would not assume that your agent did anything dishonest, however, because you did see a number of houses and apparently this new construction best fit you.
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Also Is it possible that buyers agents get some sort of prize(not commission) if they sell certain number of property from one builder? I paid full ask price and only offer the builder made for me is no closing costs if i use their preferred lender (and I am 100% sure this is for everyone who buy that property)
and thank you in advance for your thought!
