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I'm treating it like an investment for myself. This will be my "retirement home." So, resale value isn't important at all. As to location, I've selected three zip codes where I know the areas well already. I live in, shop in, drive in these areas daily. What can a RE agent add?
These two, bolded sentences don't belong in the same paragraph. It's an oxymoron.
These two, bolded sentences don't belong in the same paragraph. It's an oxymoron.
I thought the same thing when I first read what she wrote. However, I think she meant that she was buying it for herself, and not as an investment. Still, it's always important to be concerned about resale value. If the resale value isn't there, the property could be overpriced in the first place.
Although I have had great buyers agents, I have never relied on one to find me my house -- I have always done my research and known exactly what I wanted, so I "stalked" the neighborhoods I was interested in and find my homes myself. What my realtor did was show me the homes and make me look like the well qualified buyer I am (sellers expect serious buyers to have agents). What I mainly relied on my realtors for was to do the work after I found the home: drafting up the offer, telling me what non-monetary terms were typical, advising me and advocating for me during the inspection process, putting me in contact with contractors, etc. I would never buy a house without one.
Most of the comments I made up thread pertained to service after deciding on the offer.
Right, finding the house and making the offer are nothing. You probably don't need an agent for that. The tough part of the job is the closing process. The agent is there to help with insight, problem solving, and protecting your interests through the deal. Sometimes, once in a while, everything goes perfectly and the agent doesn't have to do much other than make sure deadlines are met. But most of the time the agent is there to keep the closing from going off the rail, or if it does to get it back on track. You'll appreciate a good agent if it hits the fan at some point.
I would always use an agent as a buyer. My agent never finds houses for me. But she sets up appointments, pulls all the mls and county documents she can find, picks good inspectors, is a buffer in negotiations, and makes sure the seller does the closing properly. Plus she listens to me complain without passing judgement. And I pay nothing. Can’t beat it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brandon Hoffman
Right, finding the house and making the offer are nothing. You probably don't need an agent for that. The tough part of the job is the closing process. The agent is there to help with insight, problem solving, and protecting your interests through the deal. Sometimes, once in a while, everything goes perfectly and the agent doesn't have to do much other than make sure deadlines are met. But most of the time the agent is there to keep the closing from going off the rail, or if it does to get it back on track. You'll appreciate a good agent if it hits the fan at some point.
I agree with these, although I do think that you are potentially making a big mistake when you say you won't look at anything if you aren't willing to pay full price. Some buyers are stupid and greedy and what a house is listed for may bear little resemblance to what it's actually worth in a given market at a given time. While you can be a very educated real estate consumer, agents have access to info that you won't and can add value to making sure your offer is likely to be accepted but also isn't one where you are overpaying unnecessarily. And in some cases, that could actually be paying *over* the listing price, if it's a new listing in a desirable area and has perhaps been deliberately underpriced to try to trigger multiple offers. Or it could be an older listing, sitting for far too long because the price was too high, and the agent may be in a good position to advise that enough time has passed that it could be worth it to make an offer that reflects your value vs. the owner's overpriced valuation.
Not to mention that a good offer consists of a lot more than just a price, and an agent will be better equipped to help keep track of all of those moving pieces, such as the concessions on your side that you want but also finding out whether - as an example - whether a quick closing or a longer closing time would be more attractive to that seller.
And then you get into the mechanics of the sale itself, where your agent becomes your advocate to make sure the transaction goes through.
I'm not personally an agent, but I have relative who is, and I have seen how much time and effort some transactions can take. We can always hope our transaction won't be *that* transaction but it's good to have someone on your side when it turns out that it is.
Always buy with resale in mind. You never know if something will come up that requires you to move...you or a relative with a medical problem so you need to move, grabdchild needing to move in because parent gets ill/killed, or one of many other things.
Asking price doesnt reflect market value. A good agent can help you find homes that are good values or there may be homes that agent knows seller needs a quick sale and will take a much lower price.
you don’t know what you don’t know. Asking price is different than market value. Customizing the offer to win it and protect you is an art.
I got a text from a friend of a friend who said he’d use me when the time came this summer to buy a townhome. Very independent successful small business owner. He texted me two weeks ago he found a fsbo from an estate sale and thanks, but he won’t be needing me now. A voicemail today says the appraisal came in $35,000 low and he wants to hire me per hour to fix it.
I tell soon to be clients that i will let you know when it’s time to panic. I advocate my clients positions. I tell them what options they have. I am a partner in the process.
I'm treating it like an investment for myself. This will be my "retirement home." So, resale value isn't important at all.
It's not an investment if you don't care about resale.
You did the work that any home buyer should have done, and I'm sorry if you feel that was above and beyond what everyone else does. And at the end of the day, all you did was narrow down the zip codes you want to live in. Budget - it is what it is, you didn't really "do" anything there. Signing up for email alerts - congrats, great job.
At the end of the day, the most difficult thing you did was pick out zip codes and you're questioning if a real estate agent is "worth it" at this point. Is that correct?
I had an agent for when I was ready to buy but she wasn't actively looking because I told her I was waiting to buy in Summer/Fall 2019. The perfect house came on the market and I moved forward on it. The real estate agent had nothing to do with my choice in purchase. However, the agent who had ~20 years experience was able to guide me through the little things that I wouldn't have even thought of.
It's not an investment if you don't care about resale.
You did the work that any home buyer should have done, and I'm sorry if you feel that was above and beyond what everyone else does. And at the end of the day, all you did was narrow down the zip codes you want to live in. Budget - it is what it is, you didn't really "do" anything there. Signing up for email alerts - congrats, great job.
At the end of the day, the most difficult thing you did was pick out zip codes and you're questioning if a real estate agent is "worth it" at this point. Is that correct?
I had an agent for when I was ready to buy but she wasn't actively looking because I told her I was waiting to buy in Summer/Fall 2019. The perfect house came on the market and I moved forward on it. The real estate agent had nothing to do with my choice in purchase. However, the agent who had ~20 years experience was able to guide me through the little things that I wouldn't have even thought of.
???? I don't understand your tone? I'm going to hire an agent and I have no issue with their commission. I'm NOT ask if they are worth it.
I'm asking what help (BEFORE the offer) do RE agents provide that I may miss out on by using my approach.
I've read so many threads from folks complaining about customer service. I'm low maintenance and won't need much customer service or hand holding. After the offer, the RE agent can do the paperwork.
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