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First time homebuyer seeking information on obtaining buyers agent, how to find a good buyers agent, real estate attorney to draft purchase and sales agreement
I'm a first time homebuyer and need help finding a buyers agent. Couple questions:
1) I've only been living in my city for less than a year (Chicago), so I only have one good referral from a coworker thus far. I want to explore other agents also. What other approaches could I take to find someone? I checked out homefind.com and found some realtors, but it just feels so random. I don't think the realtors even read the information I send them in advance. I get canned, generic responses to all my interview questions.
2) Is there anywhere I can find out a seller's asking price to selling price ratio? Is that even information that realtors give out? The ones I talked to thus far couldn;t provide me that info???
3) I'm looking for condos in the $210,000-$230,000. Given that price range and the market in Chicago, I think the buyers agent's commission would be very small. Could that have any impact on my relationship with the realtor and his interest in helping me out?
4) How many condos could I tour and take a look at before my realtor would start to get pissed off?
5) My employer provides a legal services benefit. I'd like my program's lawyers to review my purchase and sales agreement and draft the offer related documents. From watching HGTV , I noticed that the realtor always drafted the offer letter and presented it to the seller. However, can I have a real estate attorney draft the offer letter and give it to my realtor for negotiations with the seller?
Sorry for all the questions, I've searched the forums but still have these open questions.
Good Realtors can be found in all kinds of places and personal referral is still among the very best. Since Chicago is so big it does make sense to find agents that have the SPECIFC knowledge of the submarket that you are interested in. One way to do is to make an effort to casually visit public open houses in the neighborhoods you are interesed in on weekends. While I don't recommend lying to anyone, it is not necessary to do much more than exchange basic info with the agents at the open house. Good ones should be able to impress you with their ability to grasp what is important to you. Don't "lock in" with one agent until you've talked to several good ones.
Most good real estate agents keep some MLS print outs with them to answer the kinds of time-on-market and list-to-sell ratios that do give a clue about appropriate pricing, a handful will email this info. More importantly EVERY agent should gladly show you this data when you meet with them in their office / home. Any agent that does not know how to get this out of MLS in front of you is going to have have difficulty using the system on a regular basis...
Don't tour ANY condos until you've read the listing information and online ads for several. Eliminate as many as you can as quickly as you can. Don't waste your time looking as properties that have unrealisitc prices or lack the "on paper" amenities that you want. When you eventually sell your place potential buyers will be even more harsh. A good agent should have no problem touring a half dozen units with a serious, qualified buyer that knows what they want. Even double that number MIGHT make sense if there is something special you are looking for. More than that ...
No reason AT ALL not to have YOUR AGENT write up your offer. The time to consult with attorney is BEFORE you decide on what sort of terms are acceptable and after the seller has made a counter offer. Not sure that the "legal service" teams really have much experience with that sort of back & forth that often goes into a residential sale -- real estate agents do this all the time and frankly that out weighs any thing else
Moderator cut: personal - off topic
1) Blogs. A great way to find local agents that match your personality are real estate blogs. Google "real estate blog Chicago (or a subset like Lincoln Park)." You can also head to Active Rain which is a real estate blogging network for real estate agents.
2) I am confused about question #2. Do you mean the listing price to sold price ratio? If you phrased your question that way, the agents may have been confused about what you were asking.
3) I don't think your price range will deter them too much.
4) Agents don't get pissed off with serious buyers. If you are not prequalified or are not sure you want to buy, then that is different. If you really want to buy and plan to when you find what you want, don't worry about it.
5) Illinois is an attorney review state. My understanding is that agents write letters of intent with the terms and then attorney's draft the contracts. In the west coast states we agents fill in the contracts ourselves without attorneys. Find a good agent and they will help you sort through that.
I agree with Silverfall. Check out the blogs on Active Rain and see who you can find in your area. You'll be able to find out more about the agent and how they think/work/whether they'll be compatible than any other way other than personal referral.
#2 confused me, too. An agent can have a list price to sold price ratio; not sure how a seller would have that (unless they were selling a LOT of properties).
Amber, are you talking about the Active Rain network or some other network? Do you expect to get a referral fee if you 'connect' someone on City-Data with someone in the network you are speaking of? If you are speaking of Active Rain many people on City-Data probably don't know that they can access Active Rain directly and review real estate agents in their own locality.
HMMMMMMMMMMM
Why would someone wanting to buy in Chicago need referrals in all 50 states?
Why is Canada left out? Is it too far from Chicago?
I think Hawaii is farther from Canada than Chicago is...
Mike Jaquish
169,007 ActiveRain points at last count.
Slacking off a little....
More on topic:
SXN,
Forget that list to sell price bunkum. It is nearly meaningless.
Unless you are obviously wasting time, no decent agent will get aggravated with showing you homes.
Get your preapproval. Express some reasonable goals and guidelines. Don't ask to see stuff outside your designated target area, or that you can't afford, just out of curiosity.
And it's off to the races. Have fun!
I think one thing that other posters didn't mention is contacting a state agency, and let me give an example of what I mean.
Here in Virginia we have the VA Housing Development Authority. They offer many first-time homebuyer programs (my first home purchase was a VHDA loan), offer seminars, and also keep a list of their top-producing lenders.
If you contact a lender to get pre-approved/qualified (as previously mentioned), that lender may be able to refer you to a realtor they have worked with in the past that works well with first-time homebuyers.
#2 confused me, too. An agent can have a list price to sold price ratio; not sure how a seller would have that (unless they were selling a LOT of properties).
Sorry for the confusion. I'm referring to point #2 "List-Price-Sales-Price" on this website: http://homebuying.about.com/od/reale....htm]Interview a Real Estate Agent - How to Interview a Real Estate Agent
I used the questions on the website to help me out with my interviews and queries. I'd be fairly interested in knowing how much lower the agents were able to negotiate the list price for the market at area I am looking.
Thanks for all the info everyone. I will check out Active Rain. I am pre-approved and ready to start searching.
Chet you mentioned attending open houses and speaking to the listing agent. I thought it would be more advantageous to work with my own exclusive buyers agent. As a buyer I thought you would not want to reveal your price range and what you are looking for to the listing agent as they work for the seller. You would discuss you finances and interests with your own realtor so he/she can conduct the negotiations. Please, correct me if I'm wrong. Or is there some benefit to working with a listing agent for my home search. I'm attending an open house this weekend and the listing agent provided me some info on her website. On paper it looks worth checking out.
Sorry for the confusion. I'm referring to point #2 "List-Price-Sales-Price" on this website: Interview]Home Buying / Selling, - TopPicks a Real Estate Agent - How to Interview a Real Estate Agent
I used the questions on the website to help me out with my interviews and queries. I'd be fairly interested in knowing how much lower the agents were able to negotiate the list price for the market at area I am looking.
Thanks for all the info everyone. I will check out Active Rain. I am pre-approved and ready to start searching.
Chet you mentioned attending open houses and speaking to the listing agent. I thought it would be more advantageous to work with my own exclusive buyers agent. As a buyer I thought you would not want to reveal your price range and what you are looking for to the listing agent as they work for the seller. You would discuss you finances and interests with your own realtor so he/she can conduct the negotiations. Please, correct me if I'm wrong. Or is there some benefit to working with a listing agent for my home search. I'm attending an open house this weekend and the listing agent provided me some info on her website. On paper it looks worth checking out.
SXN,
The reason I dissed the Sales Price vs. List Price question is because I think it is a "Puff question" that plays into an agent's ability to boast without providing any real supporting data.
Before the answer has any meaning, you have to confirm how well the property was priced, whether there had been price reductions, what an independent appraisal would have said accurate pricing would be, whether the transactions were truly "arm's length."
It is just about impossible to do this for one agent's transactions with any credible level of accuracy.
Agents will make claims of selling listings at 98% of list price, of negotiating prices down x% for clients, etc. What proof will you require that the claims have any merit?
Some Sellers price a property aggressively to sell quickly. Some Sellers demand a cushion in the price, to have negotiating room.
If two homes, nearly identical in condition, location, and features go on the market, one overpriced at $300,000 and one realistically priced at $290,000, and both sell at a realistic $285,000, which Buyers' Agent was a better negotiator?
Commonly, the Buyers' agent for the $300,000 unit will claim to have negotiated 5% off listing price, when the other agent may have helped set the market by struggling with a tough seller to arrive at the $285,000 sales figure.
The $290,000 property may have been originally listed at $310,000, and reduced when the successful Buyers' Agent hammered it as overpriced in feedback from a prior showing. It happens, and is a form of negotiation.
If the Buyers' Agent on the $290,000 listing negotiated a $280,000 purchase, but was able to have $5,000 in closing costs included with a price increased to $285,000, and the Buyers' Agent for the $300,000 listing negotiated a flat $285,000 purchase...
Well... You get my drift, by now, I think.
There is a ton of junk consumer science out there to help confuse folks about how to work with agents. Some of it is generated by self-serving Realtors, but some by third parties who need to have content for ad supported websites.
The "sales price vs. list price question" has been around a long while, but has very little credibility in application, IMO.
There are just too many variables to bother with the question of Sales price vs. List price as a data-gathering tool.
Open Houses?
They are a great place to meet an agent for conversation, to get to know the agent a little. Yes, you should engage a Buyers' Agent, but one way to do that is to meet them at an open house.
Actually, I think most open houses are held with more focus on meeting buyer clients rather than actually selling the home. It is a well-known springboard for new agents to get started in the business. They hold open another agent's listing to meet people.
I agree with Mike but wanted to add something. Many agents don't work with buyers at all. You may want to call or visit the Brokerage that is in the neighborhood's you are looking in. They would most likely know a lot about what is going on in their area. The information you seek about the list price vs the sales price is less important than the value of the property being sold. One of the best ways to determine FMV is the look at the comps that are active and the ones that have sold. See how much they sold for per sq ft. that will give you a base. Your agent can provide this information.
Do not forget to look at the HUD foreclosures. I have seen some that are in very good condition.
I agree with Mike, there is WAY more information that you need than an answer to that question (which is one that I've never heard asked or even mentioned before, by the way).
As for using the listing agent, well, you can, but then you're likely to run into a dual agent or intermediary situation or, worse, not be represented at all while the seller is. You really need your own agent. Now, you can find a buyer's agent at an open house - if you want to buy the house, you'll run into dual agency/intermediary right off the bat, but if you don't want to buy that house, the agent holding the open could become your buyer's agent and find you a house that you do want, while representing you.
Bottom line is, you need someone whose responsibility, because you've hired them (usually via a signed buyer's rep agreement so that all parties are on the same page), is to your interests, not someone else's.
As said above, there are some brokerages that are exclusively buyer's rep brokers, and some that are exclusively listing, but the vast majority will do both - sometimes one agent can do both (I do), sometimes there will be listing specialists and buyer's specialists within the same brokerage. However, if you purchase a house that is listed by one agent in the brokerage and your buyer's agent is another agent in the same brokerage, both parties will be being represented by the broker (in Texas, and in most states, the agreements are with the broker, not the individual agent).
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, I noticed that the realtor always drafted the offer letter and presented it to the seller. However, can I have a real estate attorney draft the offer letter and give it to my realtor for negotiations with the seller?
