Buying my first place.... should I use a Buyer's Agent?

[bball123h2]

So I'm looking to buy my first place, and I have it narrowed down to 2 specific condos. I found the condos online, so I didn't really have someone searching for places for me. My question is: What is the benefit of a buyer's agent? I know I don't pay them directly, but to me it seems that not having the seller pay the buyer's agent would be a pretty sizable negotiation chip. Am I missing something, or should I go solo?

[Katuluu]

It's a buyers market essentially for the entire country so you already have a pretty sizeable negotiation chip. Are you in a big rush to buy a place? Housing values and interest rates are all expected to fall for the next two years , so you will want to take that into account. I'm not sure, but a good buyer's agent might be able to help you find a property that has the least risk of depreciating during the coming down swing.

[RyDogg66]

I am under the impression that if the buyer has an agent that the two agents split the comission, something like 5% to the selling agent, 2 to the buyers agent. If you dont have an agent then the seller gets the whole thing.

 

Not to take this off topic, but whoever decided that a commission was the way to go for real estate agents? It would seem to me that it would be a bit easier to sell a house the nicer it was, or the bigger it was or if it were in a nicer neighborhood, yet the selling agent gets a lot more. I never understood.

[BuckyTuba]

Yes, get a buyers agent.

 

The buyers agent splits what the seller's agent would have gotten for selling the house. Furthermore, if they are good, they can determine if the seller's agent is trying to screw you on the price... which they most likely are. My buyer's agent drove down the price about $9000, and then I got another $2000 back in closing costs. She handled most of the paperwork and was a great reminder for little things i needed to take care of.

 

Go to realtor.com and look for an "ABR" in your area. The big thing is to not let the buyer's agent sell you one of his/her own listings... and they're required to explain that on the introduction before you sign anything. If you sign with a buyer's agent, you aren't required to buy anything, but you can't buy anything without them for a certain period time.

 

In conclusion, GET A BUYERS AGENT.... especially if it's your first time buying!

[BuckyTuba]

also on realtor.com, if you use the find an agent tool, you can find buyer's agents in your area that specialize in first time buyers. it's listed under their name in the search results.

[mothershipconnection]

Yeah, get an agent. If nothing else, they dot the i's and cross the t's that you don't want to deal with yourself. There's a lot of paperwork and nonsense involved in buying a house that you won't understand unless you're an attorney or realtor - and even then you probably wouldn't want to deal with them yourself.

[dadofandrew]

Without a doubt, get an agent. The seller's agent works for the seller, and is under no obligation to tell you anything if you do not ask. Your guy/gal will look out for you and ask questions you may never think of.

 

There's also a lot of rather attractive agents out there...http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

[twobrewers]

If you are 100% interested in buying - get a buyer's agent.

 

Everyone has argued that the seller's agent is only looking out for the seller, but remember, the buyers agent will also be looking out for themselves.

 

They won't get anything unless you buy something. So they will be biased in pushing you towards purchasing something. But again, if you already have decided that you are going to buy - don't go it alone.

[hawing]

We used a buyer's agent for our first real estate purchase in the 90s, and (being complete novices) were glad we did.

 

For our second round of real estate transactions (sell first house to corporate neighbor who asked to buy us out + buy our current house), we used an independent agent who represented us both ways. Not having to deal directly with the corporate neighbor was worth every penny to us, and he negotiated a selling price to the corporation that exceeded what we could have dreamed of getting on the open market.

 

Of course, you don't have a corporation moving in on you (and I hope you never do, because it's kind of stressful), but I still endorse getting an agent who will work at least partially for you.

[elbobbo82]

As long as you aren't in a huge hurry and need to buy a house right away (i.e. you've already sold your house) there is no danger in contracting a buyer's agent. One caveat though, my wife and I recently moved back to Wisconsin (Fond du Lac) and the first agent we contacted turned out to be pretty inept. We were very glad we didn't enter a buyer's agency with him, because then we would have been obligated to use him and we were under a deadline to find a home. If you are already comfortable with an agent, then using one is the way to go, no doubt. Our second realtor turned out to be great.

[thebruce44]

Definatly get an agent. My buyer's agent was invaluable when I purchased my condo. In addition, he gave me something like 25% of his commission, which is his policy. If you are looking in the Chicago area, let me know and I can give you his info. Otherwise, I would look around for something similar.

[bball123h2]

Thanks for all the info. We have no timeline to move, and we don't currently own anything, so we do plan on taking our time and, thanks to the brewerfan.net population, getting a buyer's agent. I guess we'll talk to a few agents and then choose the one who seems the most capable of helping us out.

[JimH5]

I would opt to get counsel. . .but not just a buyer's agent. I have bought several times, and have found that I get more bang for the buck from a good real estate attorney. Ideally, you should use both (as an attorney handles the legal contract matters and the buyer's agent is more of an adviser on what to look for in a property, and how to negotiate the deal), and pay the attorney a flat fee to handle the contract stuff.

 

Wisconsin has some odd laws as it relates to buyer's agents, in that if you seek out a house for viewing, and contact the seller's agent yourself, then the seller's agent is entitled to all of the commission. That's NOT the case everywhere, and if you were to have a buyer's agent set up the viewing, then that's when they get paid.

[dadofandrew]

Just let your agent know you are in no hurry, and you plan to look at many homes and maybe bid low to get a better deal. Any agent worth their license will be honored to serve you, and if they hesitate, ask them for a reference.

 

I would also maybe try and find a newer agent, they will be hungry and very willing to help.

[JJHardy7]

I agree with most of the board here, but it also depends on what you find. I would try to go as long as possible without signing with an agent. We had an agent working for my wife and I on a few homes (he didn't need us to sign anything, which was good) and then randomly fell on new construction that we really wanted. We didn't sign a realtor and got quite a bit off the price (the builder would have to normally pay out of pocket the realtor). I know it's a little different from my end in Middle Tennessee where the housing market is considered at US Average from a few years back (in other words it's usually among the top 10 across the nation) and that builders buy subdivision land here and offer models they will build -- which lowers the cost from their perspective. Just thought I'd chime in from that end...no realtor can have significant savings, but at the same time a good realtor can do a very good job in negotiation in pre-existing homes.

[LouisEly]

Nothing wrong with interviewing several agents first to see 1) who is inept and who knows what they are talking about, and B) negotiate a commission or rebate from them. There's a lot of agents out there who will be willing to give you back part of their 2.5%, and if you tell them up front you are buying and you are interviewing many agents one of them will give you a little better deal to get your business.