Or any area for that matter, please read these three articles first. … Ten Tips for Buying New Construction – read the comments, too.
Posts tagged realtor
Didn’t You Used to Do That for Free?
That’s the question my wife asked me a couple of weeks ago when I came home from an appointment where I provided a market analysis and advice/guidance for a seller preparing to put his home on the market. … It is beyond the time to start expressing that value. (even the Charlottesville bubble bloggers agree ) Setting potential customers’ and clients’ expectations is a start, not the least through my new services page .
2nd Quarter Market Update for Charlottesville Region
I’m not saying that we haven’t hit the bottom, but that calling it as such with so many unknowns and new variables in the equation would be the wrong thing to do right now, despite Lawrence Yun’s statement – ” Without Forecasts, we don’t look credible .” The Realtor update (1): 1st half 2005 : 115 had more than ten sides, 296 had more than five sides, 679 had at least one, with about five hundred or so not having a single transaction 1st half 2006 : 107 had more than ten sides, 285 had more than five sides, 740 had at least one, about four hundred fifty not having one. 1st half 2007 : 73 had more than ten sides, 232 had more than five, 687 had at least one, about four hundred with zero 1st half 2008 : 44 had more than ten sides, 169 had more than five, 619 had had least one, leaving about seven hundred with zero transactions so far this year. (out of 1201 sold residential properties) From the DP on Saturday : Many real estate agents may not manage to weather the moribund market before it solidly rebounds, Savage said.
A Cautionary Tale – Yet another Due Diligence Question for Buyers, Sellers and Realtors
( ed. note : one of my more favorite questions of late is, “tell me about one of your dissatisfied clients, and why they were so dissatisfied”) We’ve never seen a lender hauled before a panel of their peers on ethics charges (as happens in the Realtor community) though there’s certainly been ample cause. … There are a lot of good lenders who can get deals closed in this lending environment and will tell you if it’s not going to work.
A simple question leads to an interesting conversation
One of my favorite snippets from the conversation is this – I would – but there is a very clear and important difference (between Realtors and attorneys) – they clearly disclose the entirely adversarial nature of their relationship. … The difference alone in the barriers to access from a career standpoint – beginning with three years of real academic training – go a long, long way to ensuring a much higher set of professional standards.
Choosing the Right Buyer’s Agent in Charlottesville
Last week’s article in the Daily Progress was good, but as I told the journalist at the time – there is so much more I wanted to go into that article, and newspapers are so limited by what they can offer in print. They deal in inches, and for better or worse, bloggers don’t have those limitations. With that preface, this is one of things that didn’t make it in the article due in part to space limitations – My advice to buyers in the Charlottesville area –
Choose the right representation. Choose the right buyer’s agent. Choose someone whom you trust and get along with and like – not just because you met them at an open house, or because they have a blog, or because they are your sister’s husband’s friend who is just getting started and needs a break. Choosing the wrong representation is not just not worth it.
A good (great) buyer’s agent is someone who will advocate 100% on your behalf – simple. Contrary to public opinion, a good buyer’s agent is focused on the client’s needs more than their own. If you feel that “your” Realtor is focused more on the “sale” than your best interests – tell him.
Going waaay back in the archives to 2005, citing a WSJ article –
“Finding a real estate agent is kind of like dating. You have a small window to make an impression and then you’re with that person for a long time.
Here is my business philosophy when I work with buyers – I want to sell their house when they move. Every buyer client represents a minimum of three transactions –
1) The house they are buying right now.
2) That house when they move (everybody moves, even if “this is the last house I am going to buy”)
3) At least one of their friends or family when my clients proselytize for me
I work with Buyer-Broker agreements with my buyers for a variety of reasons – first and foremost because we negotiate my fee upfront, and I am free from the perception that I am not showing unrepresented sellers’ (FSBO) houses or those houses that are offering lower commissions in the MLS than many Realtors are used to. And – it formalizes the contractual relationship that I have to my clients and that my clients have to me.
You can find a sample (although a bit dated) Buyer-Broker Agreement here.
Updated – this is a current sample Buyer-Broker Agreement. Note that it takes two sections to warn/educate about Dual Agency.
My advice is this – do your due diligence. If you have questions about the process, what questions to ask (or if you have an experience you would like to share) please contact me anytime.
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And the coup de grace with regards to what blogs have over print – here are a bunch of very relevant links to help you get started in your research:
Here are some questions to ask when hiring a Realtor, courtesy of Redfin.
Do you like/do Dual Agency? One of my favorite posts I have written about Dual Agency is this – Dual Agency – Who Benefits? —- The Realtor.
Great Questions for a Seller to Ask
Questions to ask your (potential) agent in Charlottesville
A thought on the current Realtor.com/AVM debate
Realtor.com has the opportunity to leverage their tenuous data advantage and position themselves ahead of the competition. Their current tactic of emulating rather than differentiating is not a positive sign.