Monday, January 22, 2007
Buying without a realtor and getting money back
For those who are currently shopping for a home, consider this alternative to the traditional approach. Use existing online real estate services and attend open houses to find a home that you feel confident meets your needs. Do your own title search, appraisal by looking at comps and have an inspection performed. Determine the minimum and maximum that you are willing to pay for the house. After these steps if you feel confident about buying the house approach the sellers realtor and tell them that you would like to use their services to buy the house, but you want a 2% commission deducted from your offer. The agent should then recognize that s/he will get a 4% total commission and that it's advantageous. At this point you need to stick to your guns and be happy to walk away if the agent begins to get squirrelly. If you can do this successfully you will be looking at $8000 saved on a $400k home, which is enough to do some significant improvements. It will require that you be pro-active and willing to question "convention".
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Firstly, the lender may not allow the buyer to get cash back; that is the first hurdle. The lender may require the 2% to be a credit toward settlement fees or a price reduction of the home.
Secondly, how does the buyer really know that the 2% is coming from the commission? It could be a discount that the seller would have given anyway? Is the buyer versed enough to discern this contractual detail on the settlement sheet - HUD-1?
Thirdly, is the listing agent intentionally appeasing this request to keep the buyer from seeking out a true buyer's agent who may reveal adverse facts about a particular home?
Finally, a buyer can seek out a true buyer's agent to promote their interest, seek a lower price and give back a rebate too.
Post a Comment