DIYbanter - View Single Post - I assume most of you have their own home, that is why you might be able to give me an advice

Dave Martindale

writes:

The real estate guy is nice but how honest and smart he is - I don't
know.

Some comments about realtors:

Real estate agents are always paid by the seller, both the seller's
agent and the buyer's agent. Unless "your" real estate agent has a
special contractual arrangement with you called "buyer's agent", he
actually works for the seller, and is likely bound to tell the seller
anything you say that would benefit the seller. So don't tell your
agent the maximum you'd be willing to pay, for example.

In theory, real estate agents are supposed to be motivated to get the
highest selling price because they are paid a percentage. But in
reality, like any rational person, they really want to maximize income
divided by time spent. If a potential buyer is offering close to what
they think the house will sell for, the selling agent my advise the
owner to sell. The agent isn't going to want to show the place to 3
times as many people to get a few percent increase in price.

There are good real estate agents out there. The one we used to buy our
current house was recommended to us by someone else, and acted as a
buyer's agent for us. He worked hard to find us something we'd like and
could afford. He'd send us a list of potential places, we'd drive by an
look at them or arrange to view the house, then report our impressions
back to him. Then he'd modify what he was searching for.

On the other hand, the seller's agent was a turkey. The listing omitted
one upstairs bedroom, had spelling errors, and implied that only
"undiscerning" buyers might be interested (because it's next to a large
cemetary). I'm sure the sellers could have got more than we offered if
they had chosen their agent better.

Years before this house, I bought a townhouse and sold it a few years
later when I moved. I didn't get a good feeling from either realtor
in those two transactions - I always had the impression they were
working for themselves, not me. I suspect that the good realtors are
rare.

Dave