Real Estate

Case in point: my fiance and I are preapproved for a mortgage of "X-amount". I’m pretty savvy when it comes to finances, but I’m having a hard time finding homes which are suitable for our needs. Should I bite the bullet and pay a realtor to help me find our dream home? Or just keep searching on my own and save the realtor fees?
Case in point: my fiance and I are preapproved for a mortgage of "X-amount". I’m pretty savvy when it comes to finances, but I’m having a hard time finding homes which are suitable for our needs. Should I bite the bullet and pay a realtor to help me find our dream home? Or just keep searching on my own and save the realtor fees?

As for the cost of inspection, I’m not sure if the seller pays for it or not. I know that the third party fees include: appraisal, title, inspection, recording fees, taxes, and I think surveys too. I’m not 100% sure who pays for all of these, I’m just going to assume the buyer does so that I’m not guessing my cost too low.

Unless you plan to build, I’d use a Realtor. Fees can always be negotiated, and a good realtor can take care of negotiating away some of the detail fees you mention above.

You need to interview realtors to find out if they WANT the job – many will simply go through the motions. Since I’m not in the biz, and don’t know where you live, let me put an ethical, hardworking realtor’s email below – he’ll take the time to answer your concerns, and if you like, he can refer you to someone in your area – for you to audit. Always stay in control, and NEVER sign agreements with realtors – you can always find another one, and eventually, you’ll find a good one that won’t push you for contracts.

If you want to build, skip the realtor and get a lawyer instead.

I’d like to sell my house to pay off some high interest debt. I’m not sure if I have the equity to net enough from the sell to make it worth the move.

I should be able to sell the house for 155k, at least, and owe 137. I’d like to net 12k.

What I don’t know is, how much am I going to pay in closing costs? With and without a realtor. I would prefer to use a realtor, but not sure how much this costs.

I am not sure what to do. Any advice would be appreciated!

Don’t use a realtor. THey charge a ridiculous amount of money for the work that you cna do yourself if you are willing to do the research

First, check your counties property appraisers website for the recent sales of homes in your neighborhood. Find similar homes that sold and use the number as a basis for your home.

Next advertise the home anywhere you can. there are multiple websites you can use to market your home.

When you finally find a buyer, hire a real estate attorney to handle the paper work for you. They will do this for a fraction of the price you would have paid a realtor. if your homes value is really 155k then you could expect to pay as much as $9300.

I’m a realtor, and I sold a house to a client a few weeks ago. It will close in another 2 weeks from now. Suppose I die between now and scheduled closing. Would the sale fall through, or would my employing broker be re-assigned as the buyer’s agent?

The sale is really with the broker, you are jusst an agent of his.

He would have to finish the transaction himself, he can not legally delay it because of this.

There is no re-assign here, it was always the brokers deal.

We originally said 6% is fine, but the realtor said when we were going over this – it is flexible. How likely would it be that she would lower it to 5% or 5.5% thanks!
Also, if we originally signed paperwork saying we agree to 6% when we sat down to get our condo listed, can it be revised to a lower %. I don’t think we are locked into 6% are we. Our place has only been on the market for 2 weeks. Thanks again!

It is usually the listing agents commission that you are negotiating. The selling agent (who has the buyer) expects a full commission. If three percent is the typical split for the buyers agent, I would only expect the listing agent to discount their fee so much before it starts to seriously affect their efforts to market your home.

If you have already signed a listing agreement, you may be stuck with the 6% for the time being. If it doesn’t sell. you might consider one of the flat fee deals and offer a bonus for the selling agent. Lets say you can list it for $495. Then you offer 4% to an agent who brings you a buyer. That saves you 2% less the $495.

MLS sells houses. Get creative if it starts to take longer than you would like to get it sold. Offer incentives to the buyer (e.g. assistance with closing costs, paying the 1st years condo dues, etc.) before you just start reducing the price. You may have to end up providing the incentives anyway and lower the price in advance of that will just reduce your net.

Good luck with the sale.

What would be considered a reasonable time for a realtor to respond to your questions on a house and to set up a time to go look at them?
Glenn… You obviously didn’t read the question or the answers. I had asked if my realtor was taking to long and now I want to know what I should expect from a realtor. Why bother answering if you don’t have anything constructive to add.

It really depends on who is listing the home and if they are answering the phone. If your real estate agent calls the listing agent with questions and to get a lock box code, and the listing agent does not respond, they won’t have any info for you. Out of courtesy, they should call you to let you know what’s going on within the hour if there is a contact issue.

I am an currently an investor in Minnesota and wouldn’t like to necessarily be an active realtor but there are some advantages that I would like to have such as MLS access to review comps. It is my understanding that I would need a company to "hang my hat" to gain access to the MLS. Also, can anyone recommend a company that has lower fees?

If you’re an investor and your sole reason for being a realtor is so you have access to MLS, I suggest you ask around for the CHEAPEST real estate brokerage out there. There are some brokerages that only charge you like $100-200/month for being licensed under them. Simply ask around or do your own research because there are plenty of "discount" brokerages out there.

You are aware that there are also mandatory licensing fees and compulsory courses after licensing etc etc which could get you in the thousands.

I am looking to buy a home (my first). My sister just said something about "signing a contract with the realtor" however the realtor I’ve been in communication with hasn’t brought that up. Does one always sign a contract with a realtor? What does it cover? For whose benefit is this, mine or the realtor’s? Is this common practice?

I’d like to get some background information on it before discussing it with my realtor, if I can ascertain that this is a valid, common practice,

Why would he not have mentioned this contract to me before?

It is more and more common, but not at all typical for a buyer’s agent to have a buyer sign a "Buyer’s Broker Agreement". The contract basically says that if you buy real estate in the next "X" months you agree to do it through thte agent so they can make a commission. Since you are committing to them then they will commit to you and spend hours and hours running around and showing you all kinds of property.

I have been working with buyers for over 10 years and have never asked someone to sign one. I think that it suits me better to develop a relationship with my clients. I have not had a problem with clients leaving me – but that may be an issue for other agents. Some agents use these agreements only for those clients they "get a feeling about" in order to avoid getting taken advantage of.

I know there is a substantial out of pocket start up fees and evenings and weekend work. What other pluses and minuses are there? I am very interested in becoming a realtor.

The pay is commission which can vary each month like crazy. One month you make $6000 and the next lucky to make $2500. Getting clients to sign with you is the first hurdle, second is actually selling their property (or finding one for them). How creative you are, how much time and effort you can donate to each client will determine your numbers and success. One problem for many realtors is they fail to talk to their selling clients about making the house saleable. This means getting rid of junk, cleaning, fixing problems, painting and then staging (even if using their furniture) for the open houses and all showings. It is a lot of work and at times you’ll wonder why you bother (some clients can be frustrating).
Have fun and enjoy.

Also, what is the difference between a real estate agent, realtor, buyers agent, and listing agent?? Cant a real estate agent and realtor be a listing agent and buyers agent? I am SOOO confused?

A real estate agent is a person who list and sells houses
and a realtor is basically the same thing, But when contact a realtor, its an office and you usually ask a question about real estate, You ask I am calling about a house I am interested in looking at and I need to speak to an agent. The receptionist will pass you to an agent which is a realtor, Now it mostly one in the same. Now this agent works for a Real estate Broker. Which has a different kind of license than an
a real estate agent. In other words when you walk into a real estate office and you see several desk with
a person behind each one you just walked into room of realtors.

What is the difference between a realtor salesperson and a realtor broker?

An agent/salesperson/Realtor requires a licensed broker to supervise his real estate activities. A broker doesn’t require such supervision A broker’s license is harder to get vs. an agent’s license. A broker’s license requires the person to pass a more difficult test and to have years of experience in selling real estate. Basically a broker supervises agent/salepeople.

All a Realtor is, a member of National Association Realtors. Both an agent and broker can be members of the NEA. If the agent or broker is not a member of the NEA he can’t use the copyrighted term "Realtor".

The National Association of Realtor’s has a strict Code of Ethics that each member must adhere to. If a member doesn’t follow these rules they can be fined, censured, and possibly lose their real estate license.