Buyer Agency?

[Wagonbacker9]

So, looking at buying a house, and my agent was talking about buyer agency.

Someone educate me. The agent is not the listing agent (or listing company) for the property I'm interested in.


Also, any suggestions for getting an inspection done on a basement-less home would be excellent.

[pOrk]

Its basically a contract saying you will not use another realtor for 3,6, 9 months or whatever the terms are and the realtor works for you. Are you extremely happy with your realtor and have no problems locking in a deal with them? You're realtor technically works for the SELLER of the house, unless of course you sign a buyers contract in which case they lean to help you more then the seller. Either way, no one gets paid unless the house is sold so I say avoid the contract.

If the realtor pisses you off and you buy a house within the term, that realtor still gets paid whether they helped you or not.

[Wagonbacker9]

Its basically a contract saying you will not use another realtor for 3,6, 9 months or whatever the terms are and the realtor works for you. Unless you are extremely happy with your realtor and have no problem locking in a deal with them, I say avoid them.

If the realtor pisses you off and you buy a house within the term, that realtor still gets paid whether they helped you or not.

I already axed the first realtor I tried... moved onto the 2nd and have no problem working with him. I've basically been doing all the driving on what properties I see, and am pretty serious about one. Its lack of garage is actually attractive to me (rural location in Men Falls, .7 acres so plenty of room to build one), mostly as a result of a conversation you were having regarding how one can be built relatively cheaply. Its lack of a basement isn't quite so attractive, but the house is gorgous, not to mention huge.

Does he get something MORE by me entering into the agreement? I realistically don't think that there is much he is going to be able to do for me above and beyond his obligations already (set up the deal... etc), seeing as I'm kind of a control freak when it comes to the whole process.

[pOrk]

Not that I know of, I was just real uncomfortable with the whole deal after I had so many problems with dbag realtors that didn't want to do their jobs. I found one I am extremely happy with and beginning to look at rental properties with her again, so this time around I might sign one since I was soo happy with her the first time around.

And building a garage is cheap, make sure you go as BIG as you can right off the bag. A 2 car garage will cost you 10-12 grand with concrete, a 3 1/2 car will only cost another 2 grand more. That is just a basic garage without storage in teh attic etc. Go big or go home

[pOrk]

Oh yea, we rarely use our basement if it makes you feel any better. As long as you don't pay full value of what the house should be worth your are doing alright, they are harder to sell but if you plan on staying there for awhile worry about it later.

[Wagonbacker9]

Not that I know of, I was just real uncomfortable with the whole deal after I had so many problems with dbag realtors that didn't want to do their jobs. I found one I am extremely happy with and beginning to look at rental properties with her again, so this time around I might sign one since I was soo happy with her the first time around.

And building a garage is cheap, make sure you go as BIG as you can right off the bag. A 2 car garage will cost you 10-12 grand with concrete, a 3 1/2 car will only cost another 2 grand more. That is just a basic garage without storage in teh attic etc. Go big or go home

Due to the lack of basement, I plan on putting in a loft area over the 2-car side, and putting in a lift bay for the 3rd part. As of right now my plan is for a 23.5x35 or so. 23.5 depth will make easy 12' 2x8 floor joist construction with no scrap, and 35 or so wide (exactly where it falls is unimportant) should give plenty of room for swinging doors.

Its 1800 sq ft listed at 163K right now. I'm honestly not too sure how I feel about the value/price given the various unique features of the property, its hard to put a dollar amount on it.

[wrath]

There is no way I'd build a garage loft with #2 2x8 southern pine. It's probably cheaper to buy attic trusses built out of yellow pine and will actually hold a load.

Find a decent buyer's agent, preferably one that only is a buyer's agent. And preferably not in the same agency as a house that you're looking to buy. At the end of the day all agents want to get paid and don't care if it costs you $10k more (because at 2%, that's only $200 in their pocket). A good buyer's agent will only lock you in for 3 months or less (most will do month to month). They keep records so even if you buy a house you visited with them a year later they're going to get paid.

[Wagonbacker9]

There is no way I'd build a garage loft with #2 2x8 southern pine. It's probably cheaper to buy attic trusses built out of yellow pine and will actually hold a load.

Find a decent buyer's agent, preferably one that only is a buyer's agent. And preferably not in the same agency as a house that you're looking to buy. At the end of the day all agents want to get paid and don't care if it costs you $10k more (because at 2%, that's only $200 in their pocket). A good buyer's agent will only lock you in for 3 months or less (most will do month to month). They keep records so even if you buy a house you visited with them a year later they're going to get paid.

framing southern pine? no... structural Douglas fir? yes. Trusses would be fine if I wasn't going to try to fit a lift in a 15' building. I'm basically locked into a structural beam, and I believe (haven't done the nitty gritty calculations, so I could be wrong) it'll work out slightly cheaper than a truss design, with more usable space. If I can figure out a way to raise the beams without heavy equipment, it should all be very straitforward to construct myself. I've got experience with concrete, and my fiance's family is all very handy. 2 summers ago I helped her dad re-steel a 40x80 barn, so he kinda owes me. lol

[xxsn0blindxx]

I already axed the first realtor I tried... moved onto the 2nd and have no problem working with him. I've basically been doing all the driving on what properties I see, and am pretty serious about one. Its lack of garage is actually attractive to me (rural location in Men Falls, .7 acres so plenty of room to build one), mostly as a result of a conversation you were having regarding how one can be built relatively cheaply. Its lack of a basement isn't quite so attractive, but the house is gorgous, not to mention huge.

Does he get something MORE by me entering into the agreement? I realistically don't think that there is much he is going to be able to do for me above and beyond his obligations already (set up the deal... etc), seeing as I'm kind of a control freak when it comes to the whole process.

When entering into a buyer agency the agent will typically get an additional commision percentage (3% I think). I believe they also typically charge if you decide to ditch them before the contracted time is up. We did this and ended up hating our realtor. I wouldn't recommend it.

[Wagonbacker9]

thanks much for the input. On a steep learning curve with this whole process.

[Slow Joe]

We used a buyers agent. It worked out excellent. He was in our court when things came up, and helped steer us in the direction that would work out best. I would reccomend getting a buyers agent.... I'd also use my buyers agent again.

[Wagonbacker9]

So I've basically come to the conclusion that the realtor I was working with basically didn't want to give me ANY info before I signed an agency agreement. I'm still looking into one house with him, I just won't be doing any more work with him if that doesn't work out. So far I'm 0 for 2 on thinking that the realtors I've worked with are what I'm looking for.

[pOrk]

Drop him like a bad habit and call Barb Miller, you won't be disappointed.

[Wagonbacker9]

My aunt has been trying to sell her house for 3 years, I may call her realtor. But I appreciate the recommendation.

I've also looked at buying her house on land contract, but, it'd be a helluva commute, and her house is all in-floor heat, so there is no AC. On the plus side its a 2 car garage, plus a 2.5 car heated shop with loft.

[pOrk]

If she's been trying to sell her house for 3 years I probably wouldn't use her realtor. Barb Millers contact number is (414)476-9070 Ext 230

[Wagonbacker9]

If she's been trying to sell her house for 3 years I probably wouldn't use her realtor. Barb Millers contact number is (414)476-9070 Ext 230

Can't blame a realtor for that. Market just isn't there, even with her listing price being very reasonable. I think her asking is 100K below what it was worth before the market collapsed, its out in east troy.

[Wagonbacker9]

If she's been trying to sell her house for 3 years I probably wouldn't use her realtor. Barb Millers contact number is (414)476-9070 Ext 230

hmm... the stooge i've been working with was with shorewest too...

The house I wanted to make an offer on apparently accepted one yesterday... I found out there were offers in yesterday morning, which sounds very atypical of the way a foreclosure sale typically works from everything I've read. Also seems strange that the bank (foreclosure) would accept an offer knowing there was another party interested in making an offer, but who knows... you can speculate all you want, at the end of the day it is what it is.

[05caddyext]

You can still make an offer even if they house already has an offer on it. If they tell you that you can't, they are wrong. Pretty common to find out that a house you like already has an offer on it. You never know if they other persons financing, or anything else will fall through. If you like it and really think its the one, put your offer in also.

[nismodave]

I had Barb Miller as an Agent...Did not work out....

You need this.... http://www.realtor.com/ ......A computer and some time....

[pOrk]

She worked out awesome for me