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Real Estate Agents - how to pick one? (1 Viewer)

Mario Kart

Mario Kart

Footballguy
I've never really been about buying my own place, been renting, but with the market the way it is and me having a somewhat stable career, the time to start looking is upon me. A couple weeks ago I looked through Zillow.com and found some agents. I talked with one, saw one place, he sent me some others and I emailed him back the ones I'd be interested in seeing. I haven't heard back from him or anyone in his office.

I do not or have not yet been preapproved for any kind of loan. Is this something I should do or try to get first before even looking at places or am I following the correct path so far?

I'd be a first time home/condo buyer so what other "benefits" are there for people in my position? As of right now, I'd say $100,000 would be pretty high end for me. With a condo/home in the $80,000 range, I could get a good 25% down or possibly a little more depending how much I dip in to my IRA and other funds. What is the checklist of taking the home/condo buying process?

 
I would get pre approved 1st.

That will be the 1st thing any agent really wants you to do anyway.

The lender you deal with will most likely be able to recommend someone.

You can see how you feel with that agent and decide from there.

You can ask for a resume of sorts from any potential agent but besides anything I think it's important you feel very comfortable with your agent.

If you can get that much down and looking for a place at 80k you "should" be a quick deal which makes you a good client to represent...just remember that. Don't let an agent or lender push you into making a deal you do not want or are not ready for.

Checklists...(I'm in NJ so these may differ)

-I would only put 20% to avoid PMI and save the extra 5%.

-Remember you will have closing costs to come out of pocket unless you intend to roll that into the mortgage.

-You will have to prepay your home insurance before closing so shop around and budget that for money you will need.

-you will also need to come out of pocket for a home inspection and appraisal so budget for that.

All I can think of for now.

Good luck

 
Definitely get pre-approved if you want to be taken seriously and have your offers accepted. 20% + closing costs & pre-paids (@$4200) is good idea.

What city? You want a condo at about $100k, right? Do you want size or proximity to something (downtown, job area, etc)? How many bedrooms?

Maybe let the FFA pick your agent via hottest pic?

 
Don't go for the hottest agent. Go for the one that seems the most fun to ####. Being attractive and willing to #### you being pre-requisites, of course.

And get pre-approved.

 
Talk to friends and family who own or have had recent purchases and see if they liked their person. Referrals from people who have used someone (not the my buddy is one type) are important as well as getting your own preapproval and using a separate financing person. The in house mortgage person has the same goal as the r/e agent, sell you the biggest house they can to make the best commission. Keep that in mind that while they work for you and your sale makes them money, they want the deal signed and done and don't really care if you are happy or can afford it after, they have already been paid.

 
Who has been in business awhile? Are they attentive to your needs? Do they get back to you promptly? Do they have nice jugs? Etc.

 
For our most recent purchase, I picked the one that had the most for sale listings in the area I wanted to buy. I figured she would know the area best. She knew specific builders/developments and what issues they had, so I think it worked out well.

 
The Big Guy said:
Talk to friends and family who own or have had recent purchases and see if they liked their person. Referrals from people who have used someone (not the my buddy is one type) are important as well as getting your own preapproval and using a separate financing person. The in house mortgage person has the same goal as the r/e agent, sell you the biggest house they can to make the best commission. Keep that in mind that while they work for you and your sale makes them money, they want the deal signed and done and don't really care if you are happy or can afford it after, they have already been paid.
Click to expand...
It's been my experience any lender just wants to get you in a house withing reason regardless if you will truly be able to afford it.

That's my biggest advice when starting the home buying process.

Everyone gets paid when you buy a house. So everyone is pushing to just get a deal done.

This is why I suck as an agent.

I start showing people on paper how their monthly expenses will greatly increase with this new house.

"ME :You want the 1.5 acre lot? Do you plan to landscape it yourself?"

Buyer: "Hell no."

ME :"Ok..well that's another bill that can run you a couple hundred a month"

Buyer: Oh...hmmm...didn't think about that.

 
comfortably numb said:
The Big Guy said:
Talk to friends and family who own or have had recent purchases and see if they liked their person. Referrals from people who have used someone (not the my buddy is one type) are important as well as getting your own preapproval and using a separate financing person. The in house mortgage person has the same goal as the r/e agent, sell you the biggest house they can to make the best commission. Keep that in mind that while they work for you and your sale makes them money, they want the deal signed and done and don't really care if you are happy or can afford it after, they have already been paid.
Click to expand...
It's been my experience any lender just wants to get you in a house withing reason regardless if you will truly be able to afford it.

That's my biggest advice when starting the home buying process.

Everyone gets paid when you buy a house. So everyone is pushing to just get a deal done.

This is why I suck as an agent.

I start showing people on paper how their monthly expenses will greatly increase with this new house.

"ME :You want the 1.5 acre lot? Do you plan to landscape it yourself?"

Buyer: "Hell no."

ME :"Ok..well that's another bill that can run you a couple hundred a month"

Buyer: Oh...hmmm...didn't think about that.
Click to expand...
My wife is agent and she's too ####ing honest. I hate it.

 
Lastly what I like to REALLY stress being every buyer is in "honeymoon phase" when searching as they think they are on an episode of house hunters.

Buyers need to know when the money they put out is non refundable or has the potential to not come back to them.

In NJ...any deposits and such are yours and it's all fun and games.

Then you get out of attorney review and chit gets real.

You now do a home inspection and appraisal.

Both non refundable and need to be paid at the time the service is done.

All is good and your deposit is in escrow and yours.

if the deal falls through at this point you may be liable to charges even if it's not your fault the deal fell.

Your attorney may want some $ for his services. Hopefully you weren't too far in the game where a title search was ordered because that is non refundable as well.

Most people probably don't want to state these things to a buyer as it takes them of their high of buying a house and makes it a bit more "business"...but every one I have dealt with I have wanted to be 100% transparent to them when their money could be at stake and for what reasons.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
The Big Guy said:
Talk to friends and family who own or have had recent purchases and see if they liked their person. Referrals from people who have used someone (not the my buddy is one type) are important as well as getting your own preapproval and using a separate financing person. The in house mortgage person has the same goal as the r/e agent, sell you the biggest house they can to make the best commission. Keep that in mind that while they work for you and your sale makes them money, they want the deal signed and done and don't really care if you are happy or can afford it after, they have already been paid.
Click to expand...
Sorry, but this isn't true. The goal of almost every agent I know is to get them in the house that's best for them. About 50% of my buyers do not buy at their pre-approved max, but at the max they are comfortable with and I applaud them for doing so.

"Commission breath" agents rarely get referrals.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'm buying my new place without an agent because I hate all of them. The sellers agent is helping out because she is motivated for the sale to go through for the right reasons. It's working great and the sellers make more $

 
Abraham said:
I'm buying my new place without an agent because I hate all of them. The sellers agent is helping out because she is motivated for the sale to go through for the right reasons. It's working great and the sellers make more $
Click to expand...
The seller's agent is getting the entire commission. Usually the agent gets 6% and gives 2.5%/3.0% to the buyer's agent. You did her a big favor and she didn't even have to negotiate hard on your behalf.

 
Getzlaf15 said:
The Big Guy said:
Talk to friends and family who own or have had recent purchases and see if they liked their person. Referrals from people who have used someone (not the my buddy is one type) are important as well as getting your own preapproval and using a separate financing person. The in house mortgage person has the same goal as the r/e agent, sell you the biggest house they can to make the best commission. Keep that in mind that while they work for you and your sale makes them money, they want the deal signed and done and don't really care if you are happy or can afford it after, they have already been paid.
Click to expand...
Sorry, but this isn't true. The goal of almost every agent I know is to get them in the house that's best for them. About 50% of my buyers do not buy at their pre-approved max, but at the max they are comfortable with and I applaud them for doing so.

"Commission breath" agents rarely get referrals.
Click to expand...
The goal of 95% of agents isn't to get them in the most expensive house, but rather to get them in any house (or sell their house) as fast as possible. There is minimal advantage for an agent to upsell or negotiate a better deal for their buyer or seller. An additional $10,000 in price is only $150 to the agent after the split and broker portion (for most brokers).

I had my license at one point and yes, there are some good agents, but the whole system is out of control and does not have the best interest of the buyer/seller in mind. The payment structure is so flawed and dated and makes no sense. If getting a license was harder or there were other additiobal requirements it could at least help the system by limiting the huge number of realtors...and the corresponding lobbying money.

 
xulf said:
Getzlaf15 said:
The Big Guy said:
Talk to friends and family who own or have had recent purchases and see if they liked their person. Referrals from people who have used someone (not the my buddy is one type) are important as well as getting your own preapproval and using a separate financing person. The in house mortgage person has the same goal as the r/e agent, sell you the biggest house they can to make the best commission. Keep that in mind that while they work for you and your sale makes them money, they want the deal signed and done and don't really care if you are happy or can afford it after, they have already been paid.
Click to expand...
Sorry, but this isn't true. The goal of almost every agent I know is to get them in the house that's best for them. About 50% of my buyers do not buy at their pre-approved max, but at the max they are comfortable with and I applaud them for doing so.

"Commission breath" agents rarely get referrals.
Click to expand...
The goal of 95% of agents isn't to get them in the most expensive house, but rather to get them in any house (or sell their house) as fast as possible. There is minimal advantage for an agent to upsell or negotiate a better deal for their buyer or seller. An additional $10,000 in price is only $150 to the agent after the split and broker portion (for most brokers).

I had my license at one point and yes, there are some good agents, but the whole system is out of control and does not have the best interest of the buyer/seller in mind. The payment structure is so flawed and dated and makes no sense. If getting a license was harder or there were other additiobal requirements it could at least help the system by limiting the huge number of realtors...and the corresponding lobbying money.
Click to expand...
They make agents in NJ do a continuing education online course every 2 years.

You need to accomplish 12 hours of CE.

Not sure if this has always been done.

I am not sure if it really helps the system you speak of too much as the CE is just online and you can breeze through it mindlessly

 
xulf said:
Getzlaf15 said:
The Big Guy said:
Talk to friends and family who own or have had recent purchases and see if they liked their person. Referrals from people who have used someone (not the my buddy is one type) are important as well as getting your own preapproval and using a separate financing person. The in house mortgage person has the same goal as the r/e agent, sell you the biggest house they can to make the best commission. Keep that in mind that while they work for you and your sale makes them money, they want the deal signed and done and don't really care if you are happy or can afford it after, they have already been paid.
Click to expand...
Sorry, but this isn't true. The goal of almost every agent I know is to get them in the house that's best for them. About 50% of my buyers do not buy at their pre-approved max, but at the max they are comfortable with and I applaud them for doing so.

"Commission breath" agents rarely get referrals.
Click to expand...
The goal of 95% of agents isn't to get them in the most expensive house, but rather to get them in any house (or sell their house) as fast as possible. There is minimal advantage for an agent to upsell or negotiate a better deal for their buyer or seller. An additional $10,000 in price is only $150 to the agent after the split and broker portion (for most brokers).

I had my license at one point and yes, there are some good agents, but the whole system is out of control and does not have the best interest of the buyer/seller in mind. The payment structure is so flawed and dated and makes no sense. If getting a license was harder or there were other additiobal requirements it could at least help the system by limiting the huge number of realtors...and the corresponding lobbying money.
Click to expand...
Yep.

This is the goal of everyone involved.

Agents, lenders and attorney's.....Close the file and onto the next one.

I'd rather shop for a cheaper house for my client to ensure I don't have a problem obtaining a mortgage commitment because they bought a house that was 30K more.

The whole RE system was surprising to me.

Specifically how much power a RE agent can yield to clients who usually have limited or no knowledge at all.

 
An agent is about 5 times more likely to show a house where there is a 3 to 3.5% split rather than a 2 to 2.5% split. Yeah, agents will work to get the house that best fits the client, but only to a certain extent. They want their 3% plus commission in doing so.

 
jon_mx said:
An agent is about 5 times more likely to show a house where there is a 3 to 3.5% split rather than a 2 to 2.5% split. Yeah, agents will work to get the house that best fits the client, but only to a certain extent. They want their 3% plus commission in doing so.
Click to expand...
Some agents yes as the % can be make a difference of 1-10k...but I stick with my main thought.

Any agent that has 2-10 files open simply wants them to close.

1% or 50%

You get nothing unless they close...and remember the agent is getting 50%-70% of that 3%

I'm probably naive or just not that into it to look at the commission aspect and make decisions.

I have shown clients houses without even bothering to have seen what the commission breakdown would be.

 
Any tips on questions to ask a potential listing agent?  We had a lady that put a solicitation in our door, and she specializes in selling houses in our area.  Took a look at her agent listing on the official real estate site (First Weber) and she checks out as a real agent.

Meeting with her Friday and expect her to do all the talking, but wondered if there were some questions my fellow FBG owners asked (or wish they'd asked) of their listing agent.

 
I would just ask around. 

First house, I asked co-workers on who to use. Second house was a family friend. 

 
bigmarc27 said:
I would just ask around. 

First house, I asked co-workers on who to use. Second house was a family friend. 
Click to expand...
Yeah, struck out at work.  Thought someone would have a fringe cousin that's in RE but no dice.

Any questions you'd wish you'd asked your listing agent?  Or is it like I thought, they do most of the talking.

(edit to add: Google is my friend)

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Mario Kart said:
I've never really been about buying my own place, been renting, but with the market the way it is and me having a somewhat stable career, the time to start looking is upon me. A couple weeks ago I looked through Zillow.com and found some agents. I talked with one, saw one place, he sent me some others and I emailed him back the ones I'd be interested in seeing. I haven't heard back from him or anyone in his office.

I do not or have not yet been preapproved for any kind of loan. Is this something I should do or try to get first before even looking at places or am I following the correct path so far?

I'd be a first time home/condo buyer so what other "benefits" are there for people in my position? As of right now, I'd say $100,000 would be pretty high end for me. With a condo/home in the $80,000 range, I could get a good 25% down or possibly a little more depending how much I dip in to my IRA and other funds. What is the checklist of taking the home/condo buying process?
Click to expand...
What city are you thinking about buying?

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Statorama said:
Yeah, struck out at work.  Thought someone would have a fringe cousin that's in RE but no dice.

Any questions you'd wish you'd asked your listing agent?  Or is it like I thought, they do most of the talking.

(edit to add: Google is my friend)
Click to expand...
Just make sure they're showing you what you want to see, not them.  Ive heard from others that occasionally you'll say "I want to live in area A, B, or C" but they were getting shown houses in X, Y, and Z because that's what the realtor knew of. They work for you. 

 
Statorama said:
Any tips on questions to ask a potential listing agent?  We had a lady that put a solicitation in our door, and she specializes in selling houses in our area.  Took a look at her agent listing on the official real estate site (First Weber) and she checks out as a real agent.

Meeting with her Friday and expect her to do all the talking, but wondered if there were some questions my fellow FBG owners asked (or wish they'd asked) of their listing agent.
Click to expand...
Most agents will want a specified timeframe to sell...so you are locked in to them for however many months they request and you agree to.  Ask what this length is and how you are able to get out of the agreement if you are dissatisfied with their service.  Don't sign anything that you can't break.

 
Focus to see how much they listen to what you need out of this, instead of how much they talk.   The best listing agents focus on your desired goal, not theirs.  

 
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