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Even IF the state where the OP wants to buy allows dual agency it is NOT a good idea to have a dual agent. Has nothing whatsoever to do with the commission. Has everything to do with not representing both buyer and seller. A good buyer's agent is valuable in properly representing the buyer. Ditto for the seller.
I have always written my own offers... in the early days I actually typed them.
Never had a single issue with dual agency... never thought the agent/broker was representing outside of presenting my offer.
Dual agency reduces the number of fingers in the pot... much easier to get a yes/no answer and a lot less stress overall.
Probably one of the best reasons is the Listing Agent actually has met me and knows at least something about me and can field questions a seller might have or even pick up the phone and give me a call.
Most of my transactions occur in California.
That said... about a third of my purchases have been without brokerage... just a seller and buyer reaching agreement.
Even IF the state where the OP wants to buy allows dual agency it is NOT a good idea to have a dual agent. Has nothing whatsoever to do with the commission. Has everything to do with not representing both buyer and seller. A good buyer's agent is valuable in properly representing the buyer. Ditto for the seller.
Calling all the local agents, let them know you would be happy to use them? You can't possibly keep track of all that nonsense. Guess what, no one will call you; your reputation will be out there in a heartbeat ... agents talk among themselves. Best to get a buyer's agent, be well qualified, and work out a good transaction.
All this depends on a person's local market. Where I'm shopping there is very little inventory. Mostly what is getting offers are distressed properties. About 75% of the homes that are getting offers have out of area brokers--often one shot deals. The in the area agents are often clueless about the history of the inventory that is available.
Most non-cash buyers (in my area) are shut out. Considering many of the properties really require extensive work, it makes the offerings slim pickings--or a person can spend twice as much money...
It is an ideal time to buy. The playing deck is not fair for someone financing.
I recently went up against an all cash buyer and the seller's agent definitely encouraged the seller to take my offer based on the added commission. It was with 20% down, but my offer was only 7k over the all cash offer.
I do agree the buyer needs someone to look out for their interests, that was why I suggested hiring a RE attorney. Much can be learned independently as well, and of course everyone should read the fine print of their contracts--which I'm convinced very few ever do.
Update. The other bidders won. We offered asking plus $100 but the other offer was putting down over $100,000. This was on a $350k home, so 20% wouldn't have made a difference.
Pulling our hat out of the market, I'm about to buy land and say screw it. However it's hard to find properties that can have city sewer and water hookups or even natural gas.
Update. The other bidders won. We offered asking plus $100 but the other offer was putting down over $100,000. This was on a $350k home, so 20% wouldn't have made a difference.
Pulling our hat out of the market, I'm about to buy land and say screw it. However it's hard to find properties that can have city sewer and water hookups or even natural gas.
Land is not without pitfalls either... zoning changes and cost rise.
Not trying to discourage you... I have friends that have done real well building spec homes in the Oakland Hills...
We have family who does Pre-fab which is the way we would go once the land is paid for. Two prospective lots we are going to look at this week. Only issue again is they require septic. I don't know why but I'm just very against it and prefer city sewer. The northeast is a rough place to find city sewer/water and natural gas all in one.
We have family who does Pre-fab which is the way we would go once the land is paid for. Two prospective lots we are going to look at this week. Only issue again is they require septic. I don't know why but I'm just very against it and prefer city sewer. The northeast is a rough place to find city sewer/water and natural gas all in one.
Chances are they require septic because there isn't a sewer main that services the neighborhood. Most people prefer it, because it's less work & hassle. To avoid it, simply find out what neighborhoods are serviced by sewer mains, and restrict your search to those areas.
It's not a good idea to let the seller shop your offer around. You need to put a time limit on your offer so that they'll lose you if they want to sit on your offer while waiting for other offers to come in. I'm not sure it's the best advice if their agent is telling them to delay on getting back to you with an answer until they have these additional showings. Waiting for additional showings is a never ending game. There'll always be more showings coming up. If they've decided on a list price and you've offered it, then game on.
I didn't read if you had an agent or not, or if the house you are trying to by is listed in the MLS. But if it is, and you put in a full price offer then I'd be threatening to sue for commission while the sellers take their time to jerk you around. If they list their house in the MLS and refuse to accept a full price offer while they shop yours around then you need to deal with them accordingly. In recent years there have been far too many novice agents enter the business who have no ethics and think that it's a free-for-all with buyers. A listing agreement is a contract and you can fulfill that contract by offering full price- at least your agent can sue for commission at that point.
It's not a good idea to let the seller shop your offer around. You need to put a time limit on your offer so that they'll lose you if they want to sit on your offer while waiting for other offers to come in. I'm not sure it's the best advice if their agent is telling them to delay on getting back to you with an answer until they have these additional showings. Waiting for additional showings is a never ending game. There'll always be more showings coming up. If they've decided on a list price and you've offered it, then game on.
While a time limit isn't a bad idea in general, in this particular case I think it would have been a waste. There was clearly a great deal of interest in the house. The OP put in an offer as soon as the property came back on the market, without even going to see it again. According the the OP, there were five showings scheduled within a couple of days. This offer didn't get shopped. It was simply a case where a great house became a vailable and everyone knew it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by yousah
I didn't read if you had an agent or not, or if the house you are trying to by is listed in the MLS. But if it is, and you put in a full price offer then I'd be threatening to sue for commission while the sellers take their time to jerk you around. If they list their house in the MLS and refuse to accept a full price offer while they shop yours around then you need to deal with them accordingly. In recent years there have been far too many novice agents enter the business who have no ethics and think that it's a free-for-all with buyers. A listing agreement is a contract and you can fulfill that contract by offering full price- at least your agent can sue for commission at that point.
A suit for the commission would be useless to this buyer for a couple of reasons. First, the generally accepted criteria for earning a commission were never met. There was no agreement, there was no meeting of the minds, there was no CONTRACT, let alone a closing. The OP offered a price that may have been acceptable to the seller, but included terms that were not acceptable. Second, even if there was a chance for the agent to win his commission, that doesn't help the buyer (in this case the OP) in his search for a house.
I thought the original poster said that they placed a full price offer. If so, they can't control the fact that the seller doesn't want to respond to it. That's the whole idea behind suing for commission- when the seller lists in the MLS at terms that they'll accept and then you draft an offer accordingly.
Their offer is being shopped around. In our Chicago market no one would let a seller get away with more than 5-6 hours of sitting on an offer. It's understandable if the seller's agent has been notified that other offers are being written up. The buyers can all be notified that they'll be in a multiple offer situation and everyone writes up their best offer.
But in the example given by the original poster there are no other offers at this time and the seller is trying to delay a response to the buyer in order to try and force a multiple offer situation. IF the buyer comes in at a full price offer and can prove that they are qualified then a suit for commission could be warranted unless the seller expressed some other terms in the MLS that have yet to be met.
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