[pommysmommy]

Exactly. I feel bad because a local realtor recommended this realtor and I have to tell him that this person turned me off. He/She was of the opinion that he/she was doing me a favor. No thank you.

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by pommysmommy

Exactly. I feel bad because a local realtor recommended this realtor and I have to tell him that this person turned me off. He/She was of the opinion that he/she was doing me a favor. No thank you.

I hate to disillusion you but your local guy was going to get a referral fee. Generally 25% of what the Vegas agent collected.

If you were not told that I would get a new local agent. Nothing wrong with making a buck...but you always disclose it.

There is no particular problem going after a particular property. And you don't have to make repeated offers.

Then again you end up paying what you are willing to pay...rather than getting a deal.

So decide..want a deal? Or want a speciific property? Different strategies.

That is not suggeting you "buy" the property. You can still make an itelligent offer. It will not however be a strategy that leads to a minimal cost...

Old boss always pointed out that nobody told you life was fair.

[gregoo]

Originally Posted by olecapt

I hate to disillusion you but your local guy was going to get a referral fee. Generally 25% of what the Vegas agent collected.

If you were not told that I would get a new local agent. Nothing wrong with making a buck...but you always disclose it.

There is no particular problem going after a particular property. And you don't have to make repeated offers.

Then again you end up paying what you are willing to pay...rather than getting a deal.

So decide..want a deal? Or want a speciific property? Different strategies.

That is not suggeting you "buy" the property. You can still make an itelligent offer. It will not however be a strategy that leads to a minimal cost...

Old boss always pointed out that nobody told you life was fair.

Our realtor back home that sold our home lined us up with a realtor out here and at that point we didn't know that we had to sign a contract with them for 6 Months. Not a good thing.

[jjameson922]

Pommysmommy, I wished you had mentioned the above back when you were first talking about your unhappiness with this realtor. I was under the impression this realtor was someone you had prior ties with and who had invested a great deal of time with you. Yes, it is just as Olecapt said; someone you know locally who is in real estate notified their relo company they knew of someone moving to another city and the relo company notified an agent in that city. For that, they get some type of spiff and if you buy from that agent, they get a small percentage of the commission. Seriously, we looked in LV for almost 20 years before even meeting a realtor. If you are looking to buy a house that will be your personal home, I think it's absolutely necessary to get out and learn the lay of the land, see how the various geographical areas differ from each other and what each has to offer as far as views, shopping and ammenities. Once you know what feels "right" for you, you next have to decide on neighborhoods. Narrowing it down from there, we were then able to see the homes in that neighborhood just by doing open houses on the weekends and touring model homes. You have a wonderful advantage, as we have, in that this is not a decision you have to make in one quick trip out.

[007 license to sell]

One thing no one has pointed out is if your a buyer you don't pay any broker fees, your realtor/broker is paid by the seller. So even if your previous realtor had recommended another realtor it doesn't come out of your pocket. The referral fee is paid by the broker who ends up representing seller not you.

Also there is an exclusive buyers agent contract that some agents have a client sign and that is to protect the agent in respect if the buyer starts looking around without the agent they inititally used and lets say goes to an open house without that agent and they end up purchasing that home with out the original agent then they will get paid as well for all the work they did previously for the buyer.

If you don't understand what your signing always contact an attorney or just refuse to sign the contract until you fully understand what you are signing.
You don't have to sign such a contract in fact you should never sign an exclusive agency unless you plan on paying the original agent for all the work they did previously for you and the new agent you enlisted that found the property that you ended up purchasing.

Also there is multiple offers on properties from the very low prices up to the $300,000 it doesn't mean you wouldn't get a good deal. Right now cash is king and I have had clients that won the bid just because they were paying cash even if it their offer was lower than other offers than buyers with higher bids that had been pre-approved for a loan.
Your realtor should do a market analysis on anything you purchase just to give you an idea it the selling price is in the right ball park and then it's up to you what you wan to offer.

Also what it really comes down to is not only what your willing to pay, but what the property will appraise for and if it comes in lower than your offer you have the right to cancel or make a new offer stating you will purchase the property for the new appraised value.

This is a great time to purchase, and another thing to remember if your planning on renting if you live more than 60 miles from the property it is a Nevada law that you have to have a property manager. And also find out what the hoa rules are for renting your property, some hoa's have a cap on how many properties in a community can be rented.

Good luck I hope this info is helpful

[lasvegasexpert]

007 Excellent advice.

Find an agent you're comfortable with. If you like them, trust them, then work with them. As a buyer, it costs you nothing. The buyer's agent is the one who does all the work and doesn't get paid until you close the deal.

As far as our market, people much smarter than me believe Las Vegas will be in this sort of state until 2011. Are we at the bottom yet? My crystal ball is cloudy, some experts seem to think we are while others think we may drop a little more. How much more? Again, cloudy crystal ball.

Renting while you're deciding is not a bad idea. You get to know the areas you like and don't like, traffic, shopping, etc. Las Vegas has a lot of great communities to choose from. Let you're real estate agent help you by pointing you to places you can get the info you need about the areas you're considering.

Personally, I love Henderson. Close to Lake Mead and Lake Las Vegas, and a short drive to the Strip via the 215 fwy.

Hope this too is helpful.

[olecapt]

That the seller pays the commission is pretty much RE Agent sophistry. The buyer pays the commisison which is in fact built into the price.

In the state of Nevada I can and do rebate part of my commission to the buyer on certain situations. I have a couple of clients who are licensed RE brokers in other states. They could always hold me up for a referral. Instead I rebate to them a suitable amount. Note that such a rebates lowers the income for both participants.

BBAs are becoming the in thing. My broker is pushing them. In general a BBA is good for the agent and bad for the client. Imight use one on a deal that required a great deal of time and energy. Other than that my clients come and go as they see fit.

I would also consider proposing one to a scavenger investor. When you start doing a lot at the bottom I don't want to be catching 1.5% on 50K deals.

A 6 month BBA is really outrageous. Those things customarily were written for a maximum of 60 days. Any thing longer is unreasonable and the client should walk even if they love the agent.

[gregoo]

Originally Posted by olecapt

That the seller pays the commission is pretty much RE Agent sophistry. The buyer pays the commisison which is in fact built into the price.

In the state of Nevada I can and do rebate part of my commission to the buyer on certain situations. I have a couple of clients who are licensed RE brokers in other states. They could always hold me up for a referral. Instead I rebate to them a suitable amount. Note that such a rebates lowers the income for both participants.

BBAs are becoming the in thing. My broker is pushing them. In general a BBA is good for the agent and bad for the client. Imight use one on a deal that required a great deal of time and energy. Other than that my clients come and go as they see fit.

I would also consider proposing one to a scavenger investor. When you start doing a lot at the bottom I don't want to be catching 1.5% on 50K deals.

A 6 month BBA is really outrageous. Those things customarily were written for a maximum of 60 days. Any thing longer is unreasonable and the client should walk even if they love the agent.

If we walk away we have to pay them $3,000. That is why I'm staying. I have until Sept. I like the guy enough but hard to get ahold of him.

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by gregoo

If we walk away we have to pay them $3,000. That is why I'm staying. I have until Sept. I like the guy enough but hard to get ahold of him.

Is that in the BBA or some other arrangement?

I like the thought...but I can't think of a ethical way to do that.

[pommysmommy]

Thanks to all for some very helpful insight and information.