The New York Times has an article up that discusses pros and cons (link is to another paper’s site so those of you not registered with the Times can read it). My own belief: like other services, some agents are worth their fee, others not. I do think we’re more likely to bring value to the transaction when we act as buyer’s agents. But check out the article for a full discussion.
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Having bought and sold 4 or 5 properties over the years, I’ve been involved in every combination: agents on both sides of the transaction, agents on one side of the transaction, and owner to owner. Those who think owner to owner is a cakewalk are delusional, IMO. Especially if you’re the seller. You’d better be armed with a good attorney or title company and you’d better have a real estate contract appropriate for the state you’re living in. You must be able to suffer fools gladly and be prepared for potential buyers who think the best way to jack you down is by insulting you and your property. And just like any real estate agent, you’d better be prepared to do some serious hand holding. You may know what you’re doing, but chances are your buyers don’t have a clue and just like an agent, you’d better know how to walk them through a contract and be able to get that escrow check out of them. Oh, and be prepared for some potential buyers to show up with family members or friends any time they choose with little or no notice, between contract and closing.
A good real estate agent is worth his or her weight in gold. The second property the ex and I purchased, we contacted an agent who was a real pro. She had us come to the office, sit down and tell her what we were looking for, what we could afford, etc. She really listened and knew what was real and what was bs. Checked on the credit, pre-approval and down payment. Then she went to work on the MLS and picked out five or six properties. She called us and scheduled a day to take us around. The first four or five were almost, but not quite what we had in mind. We started to get discouraged. The last one she showed us was perfect. Exactly what we wanted. It wasn’t until after we closed that I realized she’d played us like a Stradivarius, in a good way. Because if she’d showed us the last one first, we would have been all mealy-mouthed about how nice it was, but could we see what else she had? Being a pro, she knew this, so she saved the best for last. Because she instinctively knew it was the right property. Actually, it was the only property for us, but she knew she’d have to go through the motions showing us other properties anyway.
I might add that the transaction went very well from start to finish, because she knew her stuff. A smooth operator, but I really appreciated it.
I’d also like to add, if anyone ever finds themselves in a hostile HOA or condo situation and needs to sell, having a real estate agent is just about the only way to extract yourself somewhat gracefully. If it hadn’t been for a buyer’s agent some years ago, I might still be sitting in that villa, armed to the teeth. That lady probably saved both my life and my bank account. Her commission was paltry compared to the prior legal fees.
Moral: HOA or condo association problems? Don’t call a lawyer. Call a realtor. Fast. It’s cheaper, too.
G’wich Ex-Pat,
You’re right. Condos are a bitch. We took a bath with one when the market took a dive back in ’87. (Jeez, I sound like Methuselah.)
But that was Stamford. My mother, on the other hand, owned a condo in New Canaan and it did nothing but appreciate. (She died in ’95 and her condo was sold for a profit, though I’m sure its value has fallen in the past couple of years, just as everything else has.)
Anyway, she always had very good luck with agents. We, not so much, both buying and selling. We have found most agents do not have any patience when it comes to small fry like us, but would rather jam us into a house based on who the neighbors are, kids ages, etc., instead of what the property is like, as if we’re joining some clique. Ick.
In order to find what we were after, we basically became our own agents, and voilà, success.
XY, that’s a great success story. I’ve been lucky to have worked with good real estate agents. I agree with Chris that they can bring more value as buyer’s agents, but on the other hand, you have to run the other way when the agent isn’t willing to listen to you and demonstrates by the properties they show you that they just don’t get it.
Condos give me the willies. The idea of being tied in financially and otherwise with a bunch of people I don’t know is horrifying to me. A HOA was bad enough.
G’wich E-P, re: “Condos give me the willies.”
Indeed. You and my husband are on the same page for the exact reason you specified, as well as for the attending smells and sounds emanating from said neighbors. Ew.
Ex-Pat: “…be prepared for potential buyers who think the best way to jack you down is by insulting you and your property.”
Funy you mention that. I’ve come to believe insulting the customer was taught to Realtors in “Closing 101″ class. ‘You’re not a serious buyer/wasting my time/don’t know anything about the market [because you won't pay my asking price].’
“she’d played us like a Stradivarius”
Show the mark… uh… -customer- the wildly overpriced crap first, then the moderately overpriced crap will look like both a find and a deal. Also from Used House Sales 101, and CF has reported on the Greenwich variety.
You fondly remember these tactics as evidence of a ‘good’ agent. Leaving aside the illegal and unethical things that so many in the industry do to sully our host’s fine reputation and industry, Your two examples would be my Exhibits A and B as to why “NAR delenda est.”
Moose, why so quick to flame? First of all, I am not now nor have I ever been, a licensed real estate agent. Sometime I’ve used them, sometimes I’ve been on my own. I’m no fan of the NAR. Anyone who got taken in by Liareah’s hype deserves what they got. And don’t even get me started on Yun. I’ve never had much experience with the types of agents you refer to, because I only deal with agents who demonstrate that they want to deal with me. I’m not in the habit of dealing with people who insult me, therefore I’ve never worked with an agent who has done that.
I freely admit that the realtor I dealt with used a “tactic” on me. But in the end, we got a very good deal, the agent got a commission and the seller sold the property. A win for everyone. All properties she showed us were in the same general price range, it was just a matter of location and layout. Sure, she showed us the less acceptable stuff first. Like I said, if she’d showed us the best one first, or presented it as the only one, I doubt if we’d have been able to appreciate it without seeing comparables. Of course, this was in the early 1990s, before the bubble.
Bottom line, I was happy with the transaction. What’s wrong with that? My only regret is that I didn’t hold onto the property longer.
Not all RE agents are bad. There are many decent agents out there. They’ve just gotten a bad name because of bubble behavior on the part of less ethical RE agents.
Ex-Pat;
I wan’t intending to flame (well, not you at least), and I’m sorry if you took it that way.
You have good memories of working with one particular realtor. I would not be so enamored with being ‘played’, even if the end result were acceptable. I do not believe that the ends justify all means.
“Not all RE agents are bad. There are many decent agents out there.”
I’m like Diogenes, roaming with my lamp, searching for an honest one. (To be fair, I haven’t formally met CF yet, just commented to his blog.) However, there are agent-principal conflicts that are intractible so long as the agent gets paid solely as a percentage of the sale price.
“They’ve just gotten a bad name because of bubble behavior on the part of less ethical RE agents.”
The problem is that the ‘less ethical RE agents’ are not just one in a barrel. I see it more like the reverse, that the ethical ones (which I define a bit higher than the NAR does) are quite rare.
Moose, thanks for clarifying. I used the word “played” and that does have an unfortuante connotation. That transaction was many moons ago. I later understood where the realtor was coming from, after having had to deal with potential buyers on FSBOs. I do believe she did the exact right thing in my case, being a callow, somewhat mealy-mouthed youth myself at the time. There was nothing wrong with the means she used. In fact, she cut down on the amount of time and aggravation involved for everyone, got me a nice place at a good price, fast. If there was some control exerted by her, that’s a good thing. Sometimes people need a little guidance. I did, and that’s the value of a decent agent.