How To Deal With A Real Estate Agent?
Q: My girlfriend and I are first time home buyers. The housing market in RI/S.E. Mass. is horrible right now. People are trying to unload junk, asking for top dollar simply because the blowhard down the street sold his house (which was better for a certain price). Anyway, we are using a buyer's agent, which came recommended by some close friends of ours. It so happens that she did not require a contract, which was fine with us. Anyway, we have been looking for about three months and so far have struck out. Two months into our search is when we got the agent. So far she has not been much help to us. We have only received a couple of emails with listings (most of which we had already seen online), that's it... At this point we are ready to blow her off and start using someone else since WE are doing ALL the legwork. Granted her help "could" be usefull when it comes time to dealing, but to throw 3% her way for not a lot of her time is not warranted in my book. It's a good thing we did not sign a contract with her... Another point I wanted to make about legal "loyalty"... Just because she is "working" for us, does not mean she has nothing to gain by the cost of the home, in fact she has 3% to gain... Of the two times I have asked for her opinion on a good offer, I was basically told the asking price was pretty fair. What is that??? Given the experience with the agent we're using now, we ARE not going to "sign" a contract with an agent. If we had signed a contract with this agent, we would be stuck with zero customer service and still be expected to allow her to get the commision for a house that WE found. Since WE are doing ALL the work yet are still roped into using an agent to go see a property by the seller's agent, we are pretty much forced into this. What I really feel like doing, is getting a real estate lawyer to represent us when it comes time to deal, since they do the paperwork anyway. Basically I feel like Real Estate agents in New England are putting a monopoly in place. Some won't show a home unless the buyer is accompanied by an agent. Some agents reluctantly give info to buyers directly... I've visited Texas, where house flyers are readily available on the yard signs with ALL the info, why not in New England? Oh, and for the information of the real estate agents reading this, we are preapproved for a mortgage through a bank, complete with a letter and everything and are serious buyers. Any thoughts? Any advice?
A: What's funny about home buyers is that they get pissed when the agent doesn't present new listings to view (sort of hard to do when there are no new listings to be viewed). I've spoken with people who get angry with their agent because all they are presented with are junk. Seems they want a 4 bed, 2.5 bath single family home for $125,000 (doesn't exist in this area) but the only thing in their price range is a 3 bed 1.5 bath townhouse. I think it's called champagne taste on a beer budget. It sucks but it's reality. When you're starting off, accept the unpolished jewel. It still will be your home, you'll be building equity and you can always make improvements to make it more marketable for when you sell in the future. What loyalty? You aren't willing to be loyal to her...in Virginia the agent always works for the seller if there is not a buyer/broker contract (by default)...even when the agent is shuttling potential buyers around, it is to sell the seller's home. I've had phone conversations with people who live out of state thinking they can come here and buy a $150,000 home for $70,000 (because they saw a listing on the internet they think it's readily