Anyone know where I could find a buyer's agent for a peice of land? (Sheridan: for sale by owner)

[Kristynwy]

My husband and I would like to purchase the piece or property we saw on Cook Rd. and went to meet with a realtor in Buffalo, that was very rude to us and basically made us feel like white trash. We drove all the way to Buffalo and had a hard time finding her office because no sign was up and it is a new building being built. As soon as we walked through the door I was very appologetic and felt awful, the first words out of her mouth was I thought you were coming at 1:30 glared at us and said I was getting ready to leave and go home. That immediately set my hubby off, and he said we won't be going back. She told us to go to a bank and get financing and didn't offer any help of where to go or what kind of loans to get ect.


What we want to do is buy this piece of land. It is 2.51 acres and eventually drill the well and septic and put a singlewide on it. Until then we are going to stay at our rental until we can arrange for the home to be shipped. Our inlaws are giving us a singlewide that they no longer will need because of building their home in Oregon. It will have to be shipped over here as I mentioned, which will probably cost a pretty penny, but they are pretty well off financially and offered to cover those costs and help. anyways...

I am nervous about realtors, I have found one in Sheridan that is pretty nice. But I am pretty sure I need to get financing before she can help ect.

Well my sister's boyfriend got a "buyers agent" and he suggested we try to find one. They help you find the right financing and will show you all different kinds of loans and companies and they can make the offers for you and you bypass a realtor or mortgage broker, cause buyers agents do it all basically...

So my question is, does anyone know where I can find one in Buffalo or Sheridan? or if there are any in WY?

Thanks so much in advance for any help and advice...

[sunsprit]

I think you need more than a buyer's agent to resolve all the issues with this possible purchase.

First and foremost, before you do anything further to buy this property would be to get in touch with the local county zoning office and state engineer office and see if it even qualifies for well and septic permits. If there are any doubts about this, pass on the land. You simply cannot build a residence without water and sanitary facilities.

Your real estate agent experience here was not uncommon. You will need to keep talking to other agencies in the area until you find an agent you are comfortable with and who will represent you as a buyer's agent. Any licensed agent in the state can make that arrangement with you ... it's just a matter of if they want to do so. Interview as many as it takes until you find someone you'd like to do business with; remember, you're paying them a handsome fee for services, so find someone who is genuinely professionally interested in your needs.

You will be best served by locating/shopping your own financing. Visit with your bank, credit union, mortgage broker, or other lending sources to find out what their lending guidelines are and what you must do to qualify for a loan. Ideally, get a letter of loan pre-qualification and you're on your way to visit with a real estate agent to write a deal.

A buyer's agent doesn't go around a realtor or a lender. They're there to guide you through the process of buying a property, but they still look to the seller for their fees, as well as any other part of the deal they assist you with. Don't think that they work for free ... if the agent brings you to a lender, they're looking for a fee back from the lender, which will be paid out of the loan fees you will pay.

[StealthRabbit]

Definitely do you Due Diligence on any property purchases, and have some "walk clauses", that allow you to get out of the deal at the end of your research period. (like, "this sale is based upon the buyers full and unconditional approval of parcel and related boundaries, regulations, easements, and utilities, to be determined during the 30 (or 60) days following the signing of this agreement")

A good agent will explain all of that to you, and you need to shop for a good agent. They certainly have an incentive, as their fees are not too representative of their service if you've found your own prop. Typically like justify their $$ by the amount of time they've invested in finding you a place. The title company typically does the work, and the benefit of a realtor is just advertising, (most are TERRIBLE at negotiating to your advantage) they seldom offer much representation, as they are motivated by closing your sale, whether it is good for you or not. If I have any serious questions I hire an attorney ~ $250-$500. (do this BEFORE you sign anything, or have a contingency in the contract "subject to approval of Buyer's attorney")

Get to know the county regulations and the people who make decisions on water / sewer / power / road access / building...They can offer some insight as to the 'Buildability' of the parcel. I like to have a survey or see designated and marked corners, as well as a good title report to verify easements or other issues.

On the single wide, you might want to check the options as you might find it less expensive to,

1) build a shop with an apartment (makes a nice guest quarters / office when you get the house built. + taxes might be beneficial, and you can do this very quick.

2) you can get mobile home 'repos' / miss orders pretty cheap, and likely plentiful in MT and WY

3) build a 'basement', with future option of adding an upper floor.

The 1000 mile trip won't do the single wide too much good, depending on how old it is, but often the cost / hassle of setting up a temporary structure is not worth the trouble. They can be difficult to heat, and to get rid of when it wears out.

[Kristynwy]

Thank you very much for all your help... For some reason I was thinking a buyers agent isn't a "realtor" but I guess they are, just a different kind. Thank you for clarifying that for me.

As far as the land, We drove out there last weekend, and talked to the neighbors and they answered more questions for us than the realtor we talked to. There is a small community of people living right next to the land so we asked a couple people what their experience were. There are no zoning and no covenants on the properties for sale. We discussed how it was to drill a well also, cause that was a major concern of mine, cause of some of the posts I have read about people having difficulty. This lady's well was only about 283 down which isn't too bad at all, and she said they had no problems with that or with her septic.

We would probably eventually either add on or get a modular on the property. Not much is in our price range cause of the inflated prices so this would be a great opportunity for us to at least have a start that is why we want to purchase the land, even if we have to do things piece by piece, and this land is a reasonable price.

As far as hauling the mobile home, I have no idea what that all involves. Is it impossible to haul one that far? From Oregon to Wyoming? What exactly would be damaged and fall apart if it is moved?

It is in good condition, it is a 1980's model and the bathroom has been remodeled in it and we would do more work to it to upgrade it. We lived in it when we were in Oregon. And now hubby's parents are staying in it. But they are going back to Louisiana to fix up their home there and possibly sell it and then start construction on their home in Oregon. So they offered to having the home in Oregon hauled to us if we wanted it.

But, if it would fall apart, that makes me question it?

Originally we were just going to buy the land, and then at a later time get a septic and well put in and buy a manufactured home to put on there. Which we may still do. But when we got offered the place we lived in in Oregon, free is a price hard to not consider. We may just be better off getting a double wide manufactured home though.

Thank you again for your help..

[sunsprit]

A couple of concerns ...

1) now that you know that water appears to be available by drilling in the area, contact the local zoning authorities and be sure that your 2 acre parcel will qualify for a well permit. Those wells on your neighbor's properties may have been permitted under other rules, or they may have larger parcels which allow an automatic approval.

2) a 1980 mobile home ... no matter what condition ... is virtually worthless, fully depreciated out. It's highly unlikely that you could transport it for a reasonable cost to Wyoming and not have damage to the structure. "free" is unlikely to be free by the time it gets here and is repaired. You'd do better to get a newer manufactured home built to standard codes rather than a mobile home, especially in Wyoming's climate extremes. You will find it very costly to have the old mobile torn down and taken to the dump, unless there's a real scrounger in the area who'd be moving up to have it.

3) water quality is still a concern. If at all possible, spend the money to have a water sample from one of the close by wells tested for the normal contaminants and also ask around about fertilizers, mining activity, CBM, grazing,or any other sources of possible pollution in the water table there. Then have the water tested for it. Many folks aren't aware of these problems, don't test for them ... and don't know they've got a problem.

[imbobbbb]

i agree with sunsprit on the 1980's mobile home,it isnt worth moving from oregon.there are plenty of cheap,sometimes free older mobile homes all over northeast wyoming which would be much cheaper then trying to get a 'free' one delivered from oregon.some places also dont allow mobiles over a certain age.raw land can be hard to finance through a bank,you wont get terms like you would with a mortgage.sunsprit and others can probaly explain this better than me but you want to be in a position where you can get a 'conventional mortgage' fairly quickly to keep your monthly costs down.to do this you will need something that is considered a house rather than a trailer,has a n approved foundation,septic,etc.a friend of mine made a house by stacking 2 2car garage kits one on top of the other,and built the whole deal on credit cards but just about went bankrupt paying the bills until it was all done,approved for occupancy by the county,and was able to get a regular mortgage.im not sure in the end he saved any money either over just buying a prefab built to standard codes.

[chad Straight]

Sorry for the bad experience. Buyers agents are usually compensated by the Seller if Its a listed Property or by thye Buyer if thtas what is agreed upon. its not fixed by law so its negotiable. A Buyers agent is a agent that is working for you by contract. A Sellers agent works for the Seller if they are not a For Sale By Owner. I replied to you earlier and told you who owned the property. I live out by this area. Geneeally he has owner financing and did have community well for everyone. But I havent been by there for awhile. Wells in the area are generally 300-350 feet and its a 25-35 dollar a foot to drill a well if you can. Let me know if I can help
Good luck