Realtor Advice

[JoiseyMom]

DS and FDIL are looking at a house tonight. They don't have a realtor and are wondering do they just use the listing realtor or bring their own. Now I said to use the listing, since there should be more negotiating room since the 6% comm is all hers and the one company.

Now my brother suggested a friend of his, who is a realtor..but then they have to split the comm. and my sil (who is licsensed but not working) gets a piece of the comm since it will be a referral for her (don't get me started on this..she got a piece of my house when we bought it).

So, is he better off using listing agent or bringing another one into it?

 

[ajk912]

I think once you have *whatever* realtor take the time out of their schedule to show you the house, you are kind of obligated to use that realtor to buy the house, if you decide to.

In general though, I would find a realtor who is familiar with the area you are looking to buy in. And I am not sure how to go about asking this..of course you just have to hope for the best..but preferably someone who has childcare, because it was ok once or twice when it happened to us, but it really ticked me off after a while that our realtor always brought her kid to showings. I understand that we are asking for showings at inconvienient times (evenings and weekends) but duh..isn't that the business? Most people work "house hunting" around their normal schedules?

 

[minnie1928]

DS and FDIL are looking at a house tonight. They don't have a realtor and are wondering do they just use the listing realtor or bring their own. Now I said to use the listing, since there should be more negotiating room since the 6% comm is all hers and the one company.

Now my brother suggested a friend of his, who is a realtor..but then they have to split the comm. and my sil (who is licsensed but not working) gets a piece of the comm since it will be a referral for her (don't get me started on this..she got a piece of my house when we bought it).

So, is he better off using listing agent or bringing another one into it?

I'd bring my own realtor. I'd want my realtor to have my interests come first without any conflicts. The commission, and who earns it, is irrelevant. It's paid by the seller. The negotiating room is with the seller and what they are willing to sell the home for. Get a good realtor, have them research comparables to help with the negotiation process.

 

[ajk912]

A bad thing about using the listing agent is you don't know WHOSE best interest they have at heart. I don't think they get the full 6%, because they have to pay this person and that person..whatever. But they would get double whatever ONE agent would get, I assume.

The reason I would be cautious using the listing agent is let's say the owner really wants to get 250,000 for the house. The agent knows this. She knows that you are prequalified for 270,000. She could be feeding you stories, Oh, they won't go below 250,000, better offer high. When really, she knows they WANT 250,000 but would go as low as 230,000. Also, she gets more commission the higher the sale...yeah, I don't know. I think I would prefer someone who I know has my best interests at heart. We are talking a lot of money here.

 

[msmayor]

I'd bring my own realtor. I'd want my realtor to have my interests come first without any conflicts. The commission, and who earns it, is irrelevant. It's paid by the seller. The negotiating room is with the seller and what they are willing to sell the home for. Get a good realtor, have them research comparables to help with the negotiation process.

This will only work if you hire a BUYER'S realtor, with a specific agreement to keep the buyer's interests first.

Any regular realtor is ALWAYS working for the seller, since that's essentially who pays them.

 

[minnie1928]

This will only work if you hire a BUYER'S realtor, with a specific agreement to keep the buyer's interests first.

Any regular realtor is ALWAYS working for the seller, since that's essentially who pays them.

That's true (the buyer's agent would be the best way to go). I commented on the commission part simply because of the OPs original comments on various people getting referrals and such.

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

I'd bring my own realtor. I'd want my realtor to have my interests come first without any conflicts. The commission, and who earns it, is irrelevant. It's paid by the seller. The negotiating room is with the seller and what they are willing to sell the home for. Get a good realtor, have them research comparables to help with the negotiation process.

Yep, but as Msmayor said, they need a buyer's realtor. The listing agent is only working for the seller and has no more incentive to negotiate (except that they would want the sale since they would get both sides of the commission).

It is common for the SIL to get a referral fee if she matches a realtor with a prospective buyer or seller. Nothing shady about that. If you don't want her to get the referral fee, DS and FDIL can find their own realtor. Either way, the buyers pay the agreed price and the seller pays out all commissions and referral fees - it doesn't make a difference to your DS's bottom line if he was referred or not.

 

[Doodlebug939]

I am in the process of buying a home right now. We had our bank find us a realtor and in return we get a little money back after closing.

However, I was under an agreement for another house and the deal fell through. My agent at the time and the sellers agent were in the same office. It is called dual agency. It is basically the sellers agent tries to make the seller happy with the best price and my realtor does her best to get me the best price. I felt that the deal fell apart because the sellers agent knew to much about us. She could look in the file and see that we were approved for $250,000 but we only offered $180,000. It didnt matter what the bank said because we knew what we were comfortable with. But because the sellers agent knew our situation then they tried to nickle and dime us.

It doesnt cost your son anything to have their own BUYERS agent. That means that it is their job to get your son the best deal and negotiate. We did that this time around and it has made a great deal of difference.

I would ask friends and family for referrals or look for someone who has experience in their area. They need to interview this person. You get a feeling really quick whether or not it will work out.