Entries from Searchlight Crusade tagged with 'listing agent'
What Can A Real Estate Seller Do To Find Out if A Potential Buyer Is Qualified
A high percentage of buyers out there have no idea of how qualified they really are themselves. They have no clue as to any of the major factors in determining credit-worthiness. To be fair, there are dozens, if not hundreds,...
Online Real Estate Photographs - You Have Heard of Photoshop?
When Israel invaded southern Lebanon a few years ago, this picture from Reuters ran worldwide The problem was that it was heavily photoshopped by a Palestinian stringer trying to make it appear like the Israelis were setting the entire...
The Difference Between a Reliable and Unreliable Prequalification or Preapproval Letter
If you don't know, chances are your agent doesn't either. Even if you know, chances are that your agent is as clueless as a newborn about loans. I and my clients get asked for all kinds of nonsense (to put...
Lipstick on a Pig: Selling the Property You Should Never Have Bought
Lots of properties have some kind of problem with them. Maybe you bought in full recognizance because of something else about the property, but probably not. Mostly it's directly a result of not spending the effort to find a good...
Real Estate is More Local Than Most People Think
When I'm doing my initial automated search for properties for my buyer clients, I always pay close attention to listings represented by agents out of the immediate area. Why? Because an agent from fifteen or twenty miles away probably has...
Transaction Coordinator: For The Agent's Benefit, Not The Consumers
The last few years, real estate agents and brokerages have begun charging a transaction coordination fee in addition to whatever their share of the sales commission was. The purpose of this is to pay a transaction coordinator, so your...
Dual Agency and Sellers Wanting to Keep a Buyer's Deposit
What can a seller do to get the deposit when the buyer backed out after the time limit and just won't sign off on the money? My real estate agent is not helping at all. The real estate office...
The Best Way To Create Problems For Yourself In Real Estate
Have a "looking for cheap" attitude, especially on services meant to protect you. It's great to have a "looking for value" attitude. If I cost more than someone else, it is in your best interest to ask why, and ask...
Do I Need A Deposit With 100% Financing Offers?
The answer is yes. Mind you, the only generally available 100% financing left is the VA loan, but few sellers are going to be willing to consider any offer that doesn't have a significant deposit. Consider the situation from the...
What Type of Real Estate Listing Agent to Choose
On a regular basis, I see advertisements for real estate offices that say "discount broker - full service". This is nonsense. Actually, it is a calculated lie. A discount broker has consciously chosen a business model whose economics do not...
There's No Such Thing as Full Service Agency for a Discount Price
You might get what you pay for. You don't get what you don't pay for, despite the fact that the local dog target loves giving discounters free puffery. I'm not against discounters. I'm very happy to do a discounters work...
Termite Work, Wood Destroying Pest Agreements: Avoiding Fraud
Every purchase contract I write includes an addendum for Wood Destroying Pests. In California, this is accomplished via form WPA, a one page addendum that requires an inspection and details responsibility for who makes repairs. The work needed is separated...
Find An Agent With Enough Time To Devote To Selling YOUR Property
Not very long ago, the purchase market in many areas of San Diego went through a phase that could only be described as "piranha feeding frenzy". This sort of market reinforces several pieces of advice I have given here....
RESPA Forbids Steering - Even "Just For Prequalification"
Agents rationalize this in all sorts of interesting ways, so let's just start by quoting the cold hard federal law. It's pretty damned clear: RESPA no person shall give and no person shall accept any fee, kickback, or thing of...
Property Advertisements: Trolling for Clients and Not Very Truthful
The first thing you need to understand in reading any property advertisements is that agents write them to get people to call. They are trolling for clients, not sales. Except in the case of someone who doesn't accept dual agency...
Multiple Offers: Weak But Increasingly Common, And It's Your Listing Agent's Fault
Listing Agents say they hate it when prospective buyers (of their listings) make offers on multiple properties, but they keep doing things to encourage it. It is both legal and simple for buyers to make multiple offers. All I have...
Properties With Accepted Contracts Aren't Available
This is one of the hardest things to get across to many people - agents included. A property with a fully negotiated purchase contract is not one that someone else can buy. They have a legal agreement binding them to...
Buyer's Agents Presenting An Offer In Person
This is a right given to buyers agents by my local MLS, and it's a good one, that I like to take advantage of whenever it is practical. The actual property owner - not the listing agent - does have...
Cash to Close - A Basic Primer
Cash to close has always been an underwriting standard, but more people are running into it as a reason why they cannot buy that property, why their buyers cannot perform, and why they can't get that refinance approved. With...
Fake Agent Scams
I am selling my home to this couple and from day one I wanted this to be strictly a buy-owner sale and they knew this but they brought in a Realtor and wanted me to give her 1% for paperwork...
Feed Subscription
If you use an RSS reader, you can subscribe to a feed of all future entries tagged 'listing agent'. [What is this?]
