What should we expect from a buyer's agent? (incentive, appraiser, commissions)

[Marc Paolella]

Originally Posted by Silverfall

I'm not at all offended. I'm good at what I do and you are entitled to your opinion about the profession.

I think it says something about your approach to the world when you condemn an entire profession based on .0008% of that profession. I know there are dolts in every profession and it is my responsibility to myself to weed them out. If I don't like someone, I just move on to the next one until I find someone that works for me. I'm on my third primary care physician because I didn't like my first two. Doesn't mean I think 2/3 of physicians are bad. I guess the difference between you and me, is that I expect there to be some doltage in each profession so I have no issues moving on because I truly believe all professions have exceptional people in them. It is my responsibility to find those people and not settle.

I have to agree with this. And if you are going to condemn an entire profession in English, make sure you can express yourself in English. I had to read the post a few times to pull the meaning out of it. Grammatically, it reminded me of the twisted wreckage they put in the high school parking lot to scare the kids.

[EngGirl]

Originally Posted by MikeJaquish

I've known people who were married and divorced 4 and 5 times, and used their experience to make assumptions about all billions of members of the entire other gender.

Good for you!

[EngGirl]

All realtors are so smart on this forum Smarter than my 4 last realtors. I guess bad realtors don't chat online Or maybe my 4 realtors are also on this forum and trying to prove there are good and bad ones out there

I am wondering if I can determine how good the realtor is based on how much time he spends on this forum

[MikeJaquish]

Originally Posted by EngGirl

All realtors are so smart on this forum Smarter than my 4 last realtors. I guess bad realtors don't chat online Or maybe my 4 realtors are also on this forum and trying to prove there are good and bad ones out there

I am wondering if I can determine how good the realtor is based on how much time he spends on this forum

When they make as much sense as Silverfall, Brandon, Rakin, rjrcm, FalconheadWest, MikePRU, several others, and I do, you would do well to read the posts rather than to look at the clock.
Lots of kids flunk out of school because they stare at the clock instead of paying attention.

Quiz:
Of you and the four agents, who was the One Common Participant in all the failed relationships?
It's OK to tell, we all know...

[Zymer]

A buyer's agent should *listen* and *understand* what the buyer wants and/or needs, and cull through the listings to find properties to show that *meet* those wants and needs...not just drag the buyer around showing random properties. That's what mine did- after looking at over a hundred properties on our own, we contracted an agent and explained just what it was that we were looking for. She showed us two properties that met our specifications, the second one was just about as perfectly matched as one could hope for and we bought it.

[Brandon Hoffman]

OP, you need to have a conversation and let the agent know your expectations. If he can work like you want him to that is great and if not you can get one that's a better fit.

Eglishgirl, I'm sorry you picked bad agents. If you elect to try one again I suggest interviewing many different ones to ensure you don't select a dud. There are some great threads on here with some suggested questions.

[Marc Paolella]

Originally Posted by EngGirl

All realtors are so smart on this forum Smarter than my 4 last realtors. I guess bad realtors don't chat online Or maybe my 4 realtors are also on this forum and trying to prove there are good and bad ones out there

I am wondering if I can determine how good the realtor is based on how much time he spends on this forum

So when did you fail as a Realtor?. And are you better at what are you doing these days?

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by texan2yankee

We are looking for a home in Texas. We are looking in three main areas of the city. Our buyer's broker, who made us sign a contract to use him exclusively for four months, has been showing us homes for two months. He isn't sharing anything about the positives/negatives of the neighborhoods, how well/poorly priced the homes we are seeing are, etc. He just says "this is a great house" or "I would love to live here". All the homes we are seeing we've found on our own, too, through multiple listing agencies.

Our broker did not offer direction for bidding when we asked. We did offered full price for one house and were outbid.

Is the job of the broker just to drive buyers around, open lockboxes and comment on how pretty the house is? We've bought houses before through a regular broker and knew we were dealing with a broker who really represented the seller, but, I thought buyer's brokers would be representing us.

What should we expect from a buyer's broker?

Honestly, this is why a lot of people obtain their own real estate license. No one is going to guard your own interests better than you. You can walk a way from a deal but a realtor who represents you can't do so as easily since they've put a lot of time into a potential deal and will not walk away from it so easily. I have several friends who obtained their own real estate license to buy and sell their own homes not to do it for a living. I've never been satisfied with any of the buyers agents we've used. I feel most of the time they just want to close a deal and often favor the seller just so a deal can be brokered. They will even use shady home inspectors who will gloss over most things so that the house will sell. I don't like it when you are with your buyers agent and he or she will step out of the room when the sellers agent calls. I've always found that act to be a little shady, after all what would they have to hide.

My experience echoes what many others have said. I did most of the work finding my home. I searched through many listings and drove around exploring neighbhorhoods to find what I liked. I basically picked out the homes and had the realtor open the lock box for me.

For the record, I didn't think these realtors were bad people. I didn't think they were unethical or unprofessional. I think they genuinely thought they were doing the right thing. My problem isn't with realtors but with the way realtors are paid. It's a conflict of interest. Realtors are paid on contingency not by the hour. Unlike other consultants, realtors don't get paid for their time or advice. They only get paid in the event that a deal is brokered. This leads to realtors not giving as much time to one buyer since their time is valuable (they need to close multiple deals in order to make a living). This also means they will prioritize a deal being brokered rather than doing what is in the client's best interest. I think they need to change the way realtors are compensated. Like any professional, realtors should be paid by the hour and given bonuses for closing deals rather than paying them only if a house is sold. Most experienced and successful realtors can command higher wages due to demand just like in any other industry.

[MikeJaquish]

The perceived issue:

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

... It's a conflict of interest. Realtors are paid on contingency not by the hour. Unlike other consultants, realtors don't get paid for their time or advice. They only get paid in the event that a deal is brokered.

...

The proposed fix to the perceived issue:

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

... I think they need to change the way realtors are compensated. Like any professional, realtors should be paid by the hour and given bonuses for closing deals rather than paying them only if a house is sold. Most experienced and successful realtors can command higher wages due to demand just like in any other industry.

What would that fix change, other than to cost the consumer money if the deal doesn't close? Money that most consumers don't lose now if they terminate?

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by Silverfall

Here is what my clients get from me as a buyer's agent.

A sit down consult to talk about what they want, home plans (ie short term and turn to rental, retirement home, etc), and we discuss the process.

We both look for homes because sometimes I might pull something out that they really want to see. I send them homes and they send me homes. I look for FSBO's too. In fact, I have two buyers under contract with FSBO's right now.

Then house hunting. We go home by home and talk about the pros and cons. I tell my clients that it is their job to be enamored with a home and it is my job to not be enamored. They count on me to be the objective eye. I want my buyers to walk into their purchase eyes wide open. I educate them about siding, roofing, water issues, et al, anything that pertains to home buying in my area. We are rainy here in the PNW so water management is really, really important.

After they find a house, I do a due diligence packet for my buyers. I pull permits, surveys, CMA, etc and pull it into one big packet for them. If that looks good, we write an offer. This part sometimes gets pulled into the inspection period if we are bidding on a great deal that just popped up on the market.

They have a CMA already at that point so we talk negotiating strategy, things to include, etc and how we want to approach that part. Then we write the offer and take it from there.

The reason I do it this way is because in my 9 years as an agent only two clients have terminated over home inspections. If we can see an issue, they have already planned for it, they ask for it upfront as part of the offer, or have decided they don't want to deal with it so we don't write. $400 a pop for inspections to back out over things that are observable doesn't make sense to me.

You sound like an awesome realtor. I wish you were in my area. I wish all realtors approached it like you. For example, I felt like most consumers have the objective eye while the realtors are enamored with each house. Unfortunately, in my experience, I've never worked with a realtor who was as thorough and organized as you are describing your process.