To see or not to see...a house (Dallas, San Antonio: sales, real estate)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I have been following another thread regarding showing properties, a realtor's ethical dilemas and what is the proper way of getting into and looking at homes and it leads me to ask the following questions. I honestly don't know how to accomplish actually looking at a few homes when I travel to Austin to research whether or not to move there and not step on some realtor's toes. Your advise would be greatly appreciated.
Ok, what about folks who travel to Austin with a limited amount of time in order to research the area? I feel that I NEED to view a few homes to get an idea of what is out there in that part of the world, but at this point, having just started my research, I cannot totally be certain I will definitely make the choice to move until our trip is completed and we can go home and talk over what we have found, therefore, how can I feel comfortable retaining a buyer’s agent just so we can look at a few homes and make our decision? What if I do retain a buyer’s agent, come back to my state to sell my house, then decide this buyer’s agent is not the one for us? Can I just fire them and start all over? I think that when a person is looking at moving to another state, they may need to look in a number of areas in which to live and how can one realtor be knoweldgeable of all areas north, south or west of Austin?
How can we research and make an informed decision if no one will show us any houses unless we retain them? Of course if I buy a house I want someone looking out for my best interests, but what if we have not made the final decision to move? There are a lot of factors into making that decision, jobs, salaries, taxes, mortgage, insurance premiums, commute, etc. And actually looking at a few houses is necessary to make the final decision to move or not to move.
As far as a pre-approval letter, I would expect to do that after I move, not before. I don’t want to put the cart before the horse. Should I decide to move, after my research trip and giving great consideration to everything I have found, then my FIRST step is to put my house up on the market. Obviously if my home doesn’t sell, then I cannot move and buy another home. Once an offer is forthcoming, then I can fly back to Austin, get a job and seriously start looking for a home or land on which to build a home. To me that is when I should engage a buyer’s agent. I do plan to have my home appraised prior to our trip, can’t we just show that to a real estate agent as proof that we have a current mortgage in a certain price range and, therefore, we will most certainly be approved in Texas for a home loan when the time comes?
I understand the need for realtors to be safe and I’m more than willing for them to run my credit, but from my perspective, I do not feel it is necessary for me to be pre-approved prior to coming to Austin to research whether we can make a living in Austin and afford a home based on the salaries offered in and around Austin. At this stage of our research, there are too many unknowns to make a qualified decision. We could very well find that we can’t afford to live in Austin and come back home with out tails tucked under our legs.
So, when I get to Texas, I just want to see a few homes and need to know how to go about doing that and not step on anyone's toes. By the way, I also want to meet with a builder to discuss building a house to suit our needs, do I need to retain a buyer's agent just to talk to a builder?
Last edited by Trainwreck20; 07-27-2009 at 11:00 AM..
There are a number of good, experience realtors that will be quite willing to show you around without a pre-approval and without a signed commitment of any sort (at least, I personally know of a couple, so I assume it is not that uncommon). Anyway, I am sure that it goes into the 'marketing' or 'prospecting' bucket of realtors time. Just be very upfront with your realtor what the situation is, and don't expect your realtor to do a bunch of comp work or anything for what is not going to be a deal in the immediate future. Either the realtor is too busy to spend the time on such a low probability prospect (which is fine) or else they will spend the time to show you around and expect (rightfully so) that you will contact them if you get 'serious' (e.g. have specific dates in mind). It all kind of come down to availability, really - some of the best realtors will have important/immediate priorities and kind take the time, others may have the time available and be perfectly willing.
Personally, I find it a turn-off when a realtor wants to sit down and get a pre-qual and a contract signed right off the bat. While I understand their point of view, I do get an uneasy feeling about it. A passable analogy would be waiting tables and adding a gratuity to the check - I never, ever added one unless it was requested. The customer more often than not gets slightly miffed at the implication that they are viewed as someone who is likely to not tip well, and the gratuity is always reversible if you tell mgmt. In the long run, I did much better on average not grat'ing - the over tips far off set the occasionaly stiff.
Unless Texas realtors operate differently from every other realtor in every other state, you don't "have to retain" one to do anything. I'm sure some Texas person could set me straight if Texas has passed some strange new laws!
Basically, you can go to open houses by yourself, call up FSBOs to look at properties, go to builder's sales offices by yourself, or simply tell some agent that you're thinking of moving to the area and would like to get a feel for it and would they be willing to show you a couple of houses and give you some information. Most will jump at the chance and at the prospect of some future sale, but you are under no obligation to sign anything with anybody and I would advise that you don't.
Obviously, once you make up your mind that you are interested in moving and buying some property, then you might wish to retain a buyer's agent if you don't feel comfortable representing yourself.
I work with a lot of relocating people and probably only 50% end up moving here, so half the time, I am showing people around so they can make an informed decision. It is just the cost of doing business. In that case, I don't ask for a pre-approval, but I'd want to have a detailed conversation prior to going out to try to ascertain their price range. I usually send them a TON of information before they come - cost of living comparisons, info about different areas, neighborhoods based on their wants and needs, make some suggestions and go from there. Austin is a HUGE area, so I try to have the target area narrowed down before we go out. I have had people call and want to see everything from Bastrop to Georgetown - in that case, I suggest they do some driving the first day, then go see some houses the second day. If it's just a fact finding mission, I usually just pick a few homes in each area in the target price range so the client can get a feel for what they can get for the money.
The PP is right, you don't need to "retain" an agent, but most will have you sign a buyer's rep form because it details everyone's responsibilities and fiduciary relationships. I don't believe in "forcing" anyone to work with me (although amazingly lots of Realtors do...), so I put whatever dates the client feels comfortable with - it they're in town for the weekend, we can just put those dates on the form. I've never had anyone fire me. I'm confident enough in the caliber of my service, I don't feel the need to force people to sign a lengthy agreement to ensure a commission. If someone tells you they won't take you out unless you sign a 3 month agreement (or something to that affect), run!
Last summer, my husband and I came to Texas thinking that we would buy some land and build in the area of Wimberly. We contacted a realtor just because I liked her website. She took us out to several places that seemed interesting on her site, both empty property and a few houses that we went through. Over the next month or two, we decided that we just didn't want to go that route, that we don't want to live in that area, but more up on the west side of Austin, and that we don't want to build. We had not signed anything with that realtor. And upon making our decision, we just said, "Thanks, but we're going to go another direction." I don't know if she was upset, but she didn't act that way. I think she understood. She invested almost a day with us, and it was an investment that didn't work out on her end, but I think that's just how the business goes. I think if you are honest and grateful for their help, that's all you can do. Within a few months, we will be trying to find a realtor that is more specialized in the area we are interested in. And since we are more sure now of what we want, we will probably sign with someone, if we can find a person that seems right. That's my story - just in case it helps in your situation.
and Grasshopper - Now that you live in Austin, if you met someone who mentioned that they wanted to build/buy out in Wimberley, you'd probably refer them to that agent, right? That's the way it works. If you a do a good job and have a good attitude, things come back around.
I am looking at Kyle. My father lives with us and he wants to use his military benefits so the closer to San Antonio we can get with me working in Austin, the better we will be. Plus, I don't want to be in an HOA development. That makes looking even harder. Does anyone have any idea of how much it cost to build per sq. foot? My Dad has Parkinson's and will be in a wheelchair before too long, so we really need to build if at all possible.
There are a number of good, experience realtors that will be quite willing to show you around without a pre-approval and without a signed commitment of any sort (at least, I personally know of a couple, so I assume it is not that uncommon). Anyway, I am sure that it goes into the 'marketing' or 'prospecting' bucket of realtors time. Just be very upfront with your realtor what the situation is, and don't expect your realtor to do a bunch of comp work or anything for what is not going to be a deal in the immediate future. Either the realtor is too busy to spend the time on such a low probability prospect (which is fine) or else they will spend the time to show you around and expect (rightfully so) that you will contact them if you get 'serious' (e.g. have specific dates in mind). It all kind of come down to availability, really - some of the best realtors will have important/immediate priorities and kind take the time, others may have the time available and be perfectly willing.
Personally, I find it a turn-off when a realtor wants to sit down and get a pre-qual and a contract signed right off the bat. While I understand their point of view, I do get an uneasy feeling about it. A passable analogy would be waiting tables and adding a gratuity to the check - I never, ever added one unless it was requested. The customer more often than not gets slightly miffed at the implication that they are viewed as someone who is likely to not tip well, and the gratuity is always reversible if you tell mgmt. In the long run, I did much better on average not grat'ing - the over tips far off set the occasionaly stiff.
I was about to say the same thing, In fact any really good realtor is more than willing to take time to show you around. I would never consider one that wanted me to sign a pre-agreement. The only thing I would be careful about is taking up too much of his/her time. I think that can be unfair to them, but they understand. The gal we used here showed us around a year prior to our decision to re-locate. The realtor we had in NM showed us property 3 times before we dicided on the move for sure and our realtor in Dallas did the same. She took a few hours one afternoon but we did not decide to move until the following year.
In todays market, when you are ready to commit to a move and a realtor being pre-qualified can help with nogotiations, but that is down the road a bit.
and Grasshopper - Now that you live in Austin, if you met someone who mentioned that they wanted to build/buy out in Wimberley, you'd probably refer them to that agent, right? That's the way it works. If you a do a good job and have a good attitude, things come back around.
Well, we don't live in Austin yet, but when we do, yes, I will certainly recommend the person in Wimberly. I have to say that I still use her website (which lists more than just Wimberly homes) because it is open to everyone without registration and gives us a lot of information. I figure that when we do actually get there, I will send her flowers and a note, just to let her know that she was a positive person in our lives.
It's a good question and there is no right or wrong way for a Realtor to conduct their business, so I won't presume to tell others how they should do it.
That said, I don't put anyone in my car or show anything unless they are pre-approved and sign a buyer rep agreement. My wife is the same way. We are in the minority, by a long shot, but that's how we run our business and we sell a lot more houses than the average Austin agent.
We just don't have enough free time to be out driving around with people unwilling to commit. That doesn't make them bad people, or us bad agents, it's just a business decision based on many years of observing which people actually end up buying and which don't. We have a really high purchase rate with the buyers who do get us out to see homes, and that can be directly attributed to adhering to an order of operation that ready, willing and able buyers don't quibble about.
The NAR 2009 survey just came out. The average reported income in 2008 for agents with less than 2 years experience was $8,600. That's not a typo. Eight thousand six hundred dollars.
Not coincidentally, you'll have no trouble finding one of these newbie agents to drive you from one end of town to the other showing you homes, all without having a clue whether or not you're serious, qualified, or ready, and requiring no commitment at all from you. They have nothing better to do and it's good practice for them, so you shouldn't feel guilty about it if they've agreed. They may not know a lot either though, so it's a catch 22.
On the occasions when I do take people out on "scouting" trips, I'll sign a 1 day buyer rep agreement and provide a fairly thorough 4 hour tour that includes 8 to 10 sample houses plus a lot of neighborhood drive-thrus where we don't actually go inside, but the buyer can get a pretty good feel for the areas nevertheless. But I still require the lender letter, or it ain't happening. Lender letters are SO easy to obtain, one has to wonder how serious a buyer is who can't/won't get one.
Steve
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
