Entries from Searchlight Crusade tagged with 'buyer's agent'
How to Effectively Shop for a Buyer's Agent
This is easy. Much easier than effectively shopping for a loan or a listing agent. So easy that a congresscritter can do it. So easy that congressional leadership can do it. The only thing possibly moderately difficult to understand is...
Listings from Non-MLS Websites
About once a week, I get an email from a client or prospect asking about a property they found on a site not sourced from MLS. These properties are pretty universally non-existent, at least as far as being for...
"You've Got Something I'm Interested In, But I Don't Want to Pay You"
One of the things I have to deal with on a continuing basis is people calling me because they like something they saw on one of my websites, but they have no intention of doing business with me. Most common...
The Are No Schools That Teach What A Good Agent Needs to Know
I find it fascinating the number of people who will claim that because no college degree is required to become a real estate agent, that agents can't possibly be worth any significant amount of money. The reason no college...
The Basics of What Should A Buyer Offer (and Should You Even Make An Offer)?
Dan, Okay, so now I'm in the process of just making an offer on a house and it's already getting confusing despite all my reading. It would have been worse has I not spent all this time reading but just...
Negotiations After the Purchase Contract: Seller's Allowances and Fixing Problems
I had made a request to repair that included $3700 credit for closing costs. I wanted to get things done like safety issues and more critical maintenance issues done. Our estimate said that it would be about $4900 to...
When to Get A Buyer's Agent and Start Looking at Property
Once we figure out when we are going to be ready to buy, how early is too soon to get a buyer's agent and start looking. You are ready for a Buyer's Agent when you are ready to act...
What Buyers Need: What Sellers Should Want to Supply When Selling
(This is a companion article to What Sellers Need: What Buyers Should Want to Supply) Quite often, I hear people talking about the real estate market as if it's all some amorphous blob, and buyers and sellers are no more...
What Sellers Need: What Buyers Should Want to Supply When Making An Offer
(This is a companion article to What Buyers Need: What Sellers Should Want to Supply) Quite often, I hear people talking about the real estate market as if it's all some amorphous blob, and buyers and sellers are no more...
Exclusive versus Non-Exclusive Buyer's Agent Agreement
From an email: I was in the process of buying and selling the house when we saw a FSBO house we liked was for sale. But sale fell through, which is a good thing anyway because of contigency on our...
Real Estate: General Education versus Specific Expertise
Hi Dan, Your blogsite is great; I stumbled on it and find you very credible and knowledgeable. I have two questions for you, if you are looking for things to write about: 1) What are your views on the...
What Can You Do If You've Bought A Vampire Property?
Dear Mr. Melson, I was wondering if you could offer some insight re: the other side of the equation: what to do *after* you've bought a vampire property. We bought one, quite by accident, despite a house inspection by...
Procuring Cause and Multiple Agents
Dear Mr. Melson, If you sign two or more non-exclusive buyer's agent agreements in your search for a home to buy, how do you avoid putting yourself at risk for a procuring cause situation from either agent, or even the...
If You Don't Think Agents Are Valuable, Do It Yourself
And I mean that literally. Do it all yourself with no begging for free property advice, free help, free negotiations help, free real estate location services, free answers to "how do I deal with this problem?" and not least of...
Vampire Properties
I just went out doing some general market scouting. Looked at ten properties, and at least three were of a sort that I've started calling "vampire properties." Vampire properties are one more reason you want a good buyer's agent, and...
How To Buy Bargain Real Estate
There are two main sources of bargain properties. The obvious one that everyone knows about is properties fresh on the market where the owner doesn't realize what they've got. This is the largest single reason why potential buyers obsess over...
California's Home Equity Sales Contract Act
A while ago a reader gave me a heads up that Illinois HB 4050 was hurting residents of certain poverty stricken Illinois Zip Codes. Now I have to pick on my own state: California law generally requires special handling of...
Top Ten Reasons You Bought The Wrong House
A while ago, I wrote Top Ten Reasons Your Home Isn't Selling. It was well received so I thought I'd take it from the buyer's perspective. Once again, I'll try to inject as much humor as I can. And...
Trying to Buy Real Estate Below Market
This question: What real estate office can I trust to help buy below market house in (location) California? brought someone to the site and I have not previously written a real answer to the question. The short answer is "nobody."...
Protecting My Buyer Clients Good Faith Deposit
The buyer's deposit is always at risk. This is just a fact of real estate transactions. I could pretend it's not so, but that wouldn't keep the deposit from being at risk - it would just make me a...
Is The Good Faith Deposit At Risk?
Many agents seem to answer this question differently depending upon whether their client is the prospective buyer or seller, according to what they think will make the client most comfortable. When their client is making an offer, "No, your...
Choosing Buyer's Agents By Commission Rebate: Penny Wise, Dollar Foolish
I got this email the other day, responding to one of my Hot Bargain Properties posts on my other site: I am currently working with a coworker with no agreement. However, she has offered to rebate 50% of her...
Top Ten Reasons Your House Isn't Selling
No, I'm not a David Letterman watcher, for reasons having to do with turning into a pumpkin before his show starts. I'm going to treat it a little more seriously than he does, as this is a serious subject,...
How to Use Internet Based Real Estate and House Hunting Sites
As with anything you find on the internet, the critical thing to keep in mind with internet real estate is that it is subject to input control. In plain English, you only see what they want you to see....
Ill-Considered Real Estate Offers and Contracts
There's an old literary tradition that cautions the reader to "Be careful what you ask for. You may get it." Many real estate purchase offers are good illustrations of that principle. The rule followed by good agents is, "Never...
What Happens When You Over-Price Real Estate?
Short answer: It almost certainly won't sell! The first thing that happens is that when it goes onto the Multiple Listing Service, all the agents who see it know that it's overpriced. Even on the public part of MLS, the...
Writing Real Estate Purchase Offers to Beat Higher Competing Offers
This article was inspired by closing one of many transactions where my clients did not make the high bid (or even close), but did get the fully negotiated purchase contract and the property. By building an airtight case that...
Consult a Loan Officer Before You Make a Purchase Offer
I don't know how many people have told me the story of the Purchase Offer That Was Accepted But Couldn't Be Done. They come to me because they lost their deposit or are about to and they want some way...
Why Buyers Should Avoid Short Sales
I've been saying this for a long time: Short sales are poison for buyers. I don't know why people encourage buyers to look at short sales, because there is no advantage for buyers that I am aware of. In...
Real Estate: Giving Someone a Monopoly Does Not Encourage Top Performance
From an e-mail I've been talking to agents lately and I ask them about the things I've learned about from your site. I thought I would say things like "I want to apply for a backup loan" and they would...
Pretending the Service Equation is Simpler Than It Is
Way back when I was just out of high school, I was doing a lot of things with my time. Working, dating, competing on the fencing team, gaming of various sorts. But every once in a while, I dropped...
Real Estate: Know What Can Be Fixed and What Can't, What's Profitable and What Isn't
It's a well known fact that not all factors in real estate are equally important, and not all property investments perform equally well. A critical part of successfully choosing the right property, whether it's for investment or personal use, lies...
My Sixty Second Public Service Announcement about Buying Real Estate
Here was an idea I had: Pack a list of the most important things consumers need to know about buying real estate, as packed into the words I can say in sixty seconds without sounding like an over-clocked squirrel. Here...
Listing Agents Who Want Both Halves of The Commission
I went out previewing properties a couple days ago. That particular client's situation being what it is, I was concentrating on vacant properties. But over half the vacant properties in that area had restricted showing instructions. "Call agent first," or...
Steering: The Most Violated Law In Real Estate
I just picked a random ZIP code in my local MLS, and out of the first twenty listings I came to, ten had explicit violations of one or more of the sections of RESPA regarding steering right there in the...
Non-Exclusive Buyer's Agency Contract - A Bet Consumers Can't Lose
There are two sorts of buyer's agency contracts, exclusive and non-exclusive. Note that this has nothing to do with Exclusive Buyer's Agents, who do not accept property for listing. I disagree with their reasoning on the virtues of doing...
When Should A Buyer's Agent Ask You To Sign a Contract?
The answer depends upon what they're doing for you. If you contact them because they're the listing agent for a property, they shouldn't ask you to sign an agreement at all. They have a fiduciary duty to that seller...
Finding Bargain Real Estate: Work With the Buyer's Agent Who Actually Finds The Bargain!
Several times a month I get calls and emails. Sometimes, it's even people stopping in. "I've heard you're good at finding bargains." Well, yes I am. "Please tell me the addresses of some bargains so I can drive by."...
Real Estate and the Four Levels of Competence
People who talk about learning skills tend to discuss a model for learning called the conscious competence learning model. It starts with unconscious incompetence. You not only don't know how to do something, you don't realize that it is...
The Mortgage Loan Market Controls the Real Estate Market
One of the things I keep telling folks about the real estate market, whatever area you live in, is that it is controlled by the loan market. If you want to understand where real estate in general is headed, look...
Buyers Who Don't Want A Buyer's Agent
You see it all the time at open houses and elsewhere. People who desperately need buyer's agents, but think of Buyer's Agents in the same way they think of automobile sales folk, and that's the complete opposite of the way...
The Best Way To Solve Problems in Real Estate
The same as in every other area of life: Get out in front and stop it from becoming a problem. I do not understand why many people approach real estate transactions like a casual outing. Go window shopping, decide...
Buyer's Agency, Due Diligence, and the Illusion of Comity
Somebody sent me this story via e-mail: Feeling Misled on Home Price, Buyers Sue Agent Marty Ummel feels she paid too much for her house. So do millions of other people who bought at the peak of the housing...
How Can Buyers Get the Lowest Possible Price on the Best Possible Property?
The first piece of advice I have for buyers who want to get a fantastic bargain is to find a good buyer's agent (this guy is one of the best in San Diego County). Nothing else will make as...
Buyer's Markets: Time for Listing Agents To Earn Their Money
One of the most common things I'm seeing as I roam about the East County looking for bargains: Agents not doing their jobs. Even when there were 40-plus sellers per buyer, single family detached homes that are priced appropriately were...
The Future of Real Estate Agency is Expert Consultants, Not Controlling Market Access
Expertise and attitude, not control of an informational chokepoint, is the way that things are going. Let's analyze this from both sides of the problem. The current owner looking to sell really needs a marketer. For better or worse, most...
Full Service Agent For Discount Price? Demand Specifics!
There is no such thing as a free lunch, but lots of people will pretend there is. It seems to me that many people consider compensation earned by real estate agents as paying some kind of toll. They think of...
Dual Agency: Using the Seller's Agent as Your Buyer's Agent
Is it unwise to use the listing realtor as your purchase realtor? A house I'm interested in purchasing is being sold by the realtor selling my house. Although she's done a decent job selling my house, I fear she...
Which Makes More Difference To Your Future - Buyer's Agent or Listing Agent?
Having done both, there's no question in my mind. For the average person and the average transaction, the buyer's agent makes a lot more difference. In the aggregate, a good buyer's agent has the opportunity to make a lot more...
Buying Without An Agent - My Own Experience
I had the idea for this article some time ago. It took me a long time to decide to share it publicly, because quite frankly, knowing what I know now, I was an idiot. I was still young enough to...
Asking Price Versus Sales Price
Hard as it may be to believe, I've never done an article comparing asking price to sales price. It's way past time. Asking price is quite simply, a written representation of an offer the seller would be willing to...
"Contractor's Specials"
I was looking through some real estate listings and saw one property described as: "Contractor's special, first time buyers and investors. House needs TLC." Does contractor's special mean u better be a contractor if you wanna buy this place? It...
The Era of Make Believe Loans and The Law of Unintended Consequences
One of the things I've heard and read other agents complaining about is that they can't find qualified buyers to represent. Welcome to Unintended Consequences 101. The way that the market had been working is this: Young, often unmarried, buyers...
Some Offers Are More Equal Than Others (Even If They Are For Less Money)
The phrasing in parallel with Animal Farm is intentional. Sellers need to understand this, and so do buyers, especially in a hot real estate market. Some offers are more equal than others, and knowing how to choose between competing...
Working with Multiple Agents While Searching for a Purchase
If you have three real estate companies sending you emails with multi-listings, if you want to see one of the properties, who gets the commission? There five properties that I want to see the inside of the houses. Company A,...
Short Sale Negotiators and the Interests of Potential Buyers
I am seeing a very disturbing trend these past few months. Rather than do the work they should be doing, listing agents are treating the entire short sale process as a kind of "Black Box", delegating the negotiations with the...
Why Sellers Should Counter All Reasonable Offers
I just got off the phone with an agent who claims to have three offers on the property, but he doesn't want to counter the offer. He just wants my client to voluntarily throw more money (or more something)...
Real Estate and "Priced for Perfection"
The stock market has a phenomenon where a company's stock is "Priced for perfection." It may sound nice, but "priced for perfection" is emphatically not a good thing. It's where the stock price of a company has been bid...
Failure to Disclose a Known Material Fact to Buyers
My husband and I bought a golf course-view house in DELETED. We closed 5 days ago; moved-in 4 days ago; and 2 days ago found out that the golf course is scheduled to close. It was announced by the golf...
The Tollbooth Model of Real Estate Agency
Over the last couple of decades, there's been a rising movement, mostly on the part of those who want a piece of real estate agents business, to sell agents as a toll booth. Tollbooths sit there, guarding the entry to...
"I'm Working With Someone Else, But Could You Just Help Me With..."
I recently got an email from a reader that was coming into a property as I left. I dropped my card and we did the lockbox shuffle thing, then there was an email when I got back to the...
The Sperm Donor Theory of Buyer's Agents
Some fathers, sad to say, are not involved in their children's life beyond conception. Maybe it was just a one night stand and they have no idea they even have a child, maybe they were involved with the mother on...
Some Secrets to Good Transactions
Be prepared for trouble before it happens, know how strong your position is or isn't, and don't ever overplay your hand. Real estate transactions are the largest transactions most folks get involved in. Even small percentages of $500,000 or more...
Don't Rely On Reputation - There Are No Silver Bullets
On a regular basis, I get emails that ask me what I think of a particular company. When I check out public forums, I see questions about particular companies every time. "What do you think of X Realty, or Y...
I'm Competing Against Multiple Offers. How Do I Proceed?
The first thing to consider is that maybe you shouldn't. You never want to get involved in a bidding war. There's a classic riddle I ask every single one of my buyer clients at least once. "How often does...
The Seller Always Knows More About the Property Than the Buyer
Real Estate information is asymmetrical. One of the central facts of real estate transactions is that the seller always knows more than the buyer. They've lived in the property for years, and had to deal with any defects first hand....
Buying Real Estate Isn't Simple
And I don't know why people expect it to be. Cancel that. I do know why. Popular media. It's not all that common in popular media, but on those occasions I see someone buying a house in the movies...
Why the Real Estate Buyers Agent's Commission is Paid by the Seller
I have to admit I'm uncomfortable with it and don't like it. As a buyer's agent, here I am getting paid by someone who not only is not my client, but whose interests are aligned, in most issues, opposite to...
You Want an Agency That Can Pay ENOUGH Attention to YOU
A lot of advice gets given to choose a "top producing" agent. These highly corporate offices may have the name of an individual agent attached to them, but they are in fact transaction mills. They have done pretty well for...
Will Agents List My Property if I Owe More Than It's Worth?
The answer is yes. This situation is called a short sale. As with everything else pertaining to real estate, there are potential upsides and downsides. First of all, lenders in short sale situations often demand agents reduce their commission, so...
Realtor and Loan Officer Responsibility: Can the Client Afford The Property?
Every so often, I write about professional responsibility. Every month I get a couple of magazines because I'm a Realtor. There was a letter from someone who was proud of the fact that he had never asked someone if they...
What Do Buyer's Agents Do?
Got this search: "should I get a buyer's agent if I've already found a house" The answer is almost certainly yes, but I am going to examine both the pros and cons. Full disclosure: This is what I do for...
Listing Agents Claiming There Are Multiple Offers
Once upon a time, this was a good way to get more money for your listing. This led to a classic tragedy of the commons. Because it didn't take hardly any extra time, and there was no reason not to...
There's Nothing Sacred About Asking Price in Real Estate - Variable Range or Regular
A few days ago, I had an agent get angry at me about an offer below a range asking price. I had submitted the offer with extensive justification as to why it was an appropriate offer. Basically, this clown had...
Competing Offers From The Same Agent For The Same Property
I wouldn't have believed this one if I hadn't been there when it happened. Another agent in my office had a listing where the property went into default. We just happened to find out about it; the seller tried to...
How Agents Should Respond To An Appraisal Below Purchase Price
It really helps my perspective in a lot of ways to be both a Realtor and a loan officer. Just the other day, I had a loan only client where they were already under contract to buy a property...
Buyers: Stretching Your Budget Means Compromise
As a good buyer's agent, I love a challenge. When someone comes to me trying to make a budget stretch just a little bit further than it would usually go, that's the kind of client I love to have....
Why You Want A Buyers Agent To Deal With Developers
Not too long ago I got an email from an ex-prospect who decided to buy a developer's property without a buyer's agent. They persuaded her that she would get a better deal without them having to pay a buyer's agent...
Top Twelve Things That Help You Buy Property At A Bargain Price
Quite a while ago, I wrote Top Ten Reasons You Bought The Wrong House and Top Ten Reasons Your Home Isn't Selling. In that vein, I'm going to write a list of the most important things when you're shopping for...
Loan Fall-Out And The Effects Upon Consumers
This is going to be a long article and somewhat technical in places, but it needs to be covered and everyone who is thinking about getting a real estate loan needs to read it. "Fall-Out" is very simple: The...
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...
Finding a Good Buyer's Agent (And Eliminating Bad Ones)
I hear people complain that they've never had a good buyer's agent, that they can't find one, or that they one they had hosed them (Sometimes, they're wrong about that, by the way). I also regularly get email from people...
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...
Reasons Why You Want A Buyer's Agent
There's an awful lot of nonsense out there that advises people to do without an agent. Quite often, first time buyers of real estate get seduced into not having an agent by this stuff before they get into the market,...
The Division of Labor Between Buyers and Their Agents
During the initial interview with prospects, I like to cover the division of the labor that goes into a purchase that makes the buyers happy. I have to know what's important to the buyers, how important it is, and what...
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...
Agents Refusing to Make an Offer on Real Estate
"buyers agent refuses to make offer" was a search hit I got recently. This is yet another reason not to sign exclusive buyer's agent agreements. My hypothesis - and based upon experience it's pretty strong - is that the CBB...
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...
Be Careful Not To Commit Fraud With Rebates
With many people pushing various "cash back to the buyer" schemes in real estate, a note of caution is needed. Actually, it's more like an entire symphony of caution. Because if there is a loan involved, you run the risk...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Hourly Pay Instead of Commission For Agents
This was a comment on Real Estate Sellers Giving A Buyer Cash Back. The interesting thing is proposing hourly pay instead of commission for agents. That makes a lot of sense. Disclosing (net) cash back to the lender changes the...
You've Got a Great Offer, But Can The Buyer Consummate It? (Cash to Close and Appraised Value)
A Purchase offer is not money in your pocket. As a matter of fact, accepting the wrong purchase offer can cost you tens of thousands of dollars if the buyers can't consummate. I recently dealt with clients making an...
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