Hi Megan
I just popped into this thread, and I must say you asked a very good question...There was a lot of thought behind it, and I say "kudos" to you for doing your homework, and wanting to be an informed consumer!!

Good for you.!........Best of luck in finding a home (and a Realtor!)
Debbie Rose
Prudential NJ Properties

Wow! Thanks everyone for all of the great advice. What I have read so far has been really helpful. I guess I could start looking for an agent, I just didn't to waste anyone's time by asking questions about the process and possibly deciding that I can't afford to buy or realizing that I am not ready to buy just yet.

I am going to start by looking into all of these helpful links and videos. I am sure after that I will feel more confident about getting the ball rolling.

I'm still going to keep looking at the houses that I think might be in my range. I really just want to observe what new options are out there and what prices continue to do in the area that I like.

If anyone else is reading this and has any additional advice please feel free to answer. I am open to all learning opportunities.

Thanks,
Megan

Hello Megan! I Have an video's that cover everything you need to know about buying a home in the State of PA - Have Fun! http://www.LehighValleyRealEstate.TV

Good Luck! It is nice to know you are looking to get educated first! This is what every buyer should do!

Megan, you received many great answers already. The only thing I want to add is that although I agree with you that it is beneficial to be educated about the home buying process, I feel that my job as an agent is to be your teacher, if need be.
You don't have to be ready for a buyer agent. The buyer agent has to be ready for you.
Good luck with your home buying adventure!

Most realtors do both the buy and the sell side. You use experts in many fields -doctors, lawyers, accountants, ect. I think it will be worth your time to use a real estate professional in your home quest. This is a tough real estate and loan market. It's time for a professional.

Hi again Megan,

You can certainly do much research on the internet about buyer agency and then also take what you want from the many answers you receive here on Trulia.

What I do for my perspective clients is bring them in for a two hour buyer counseling session where I explain everything about the home buying experience from soup to nuts and then answer all questions. There is no obligation for the buyer to hire me. If this is something you may be interested in, feel free to email me.

The term buyer agent is not new, however many buyers do not do their homework ahead of time nor do they understand the importance of what a buyer agent is supposed to do for them. As you can see, John provided the link to REBAC.net and you can read on how buyer agency came to be.

What I can tell you is that most buyers find out the importance of buyer agency after they have been hurt by a Realtor or feel that they were hurt by a Realtor. They see a property and call the listing agent and then run to see that property with that listing agent never understanding or knowing that the listing agent was hired by the seller to protect only their best interests. They do not care about the buyer.

All Realtors in PA are supposed to hand a Consumer Notice to every consumer they meet and have a discussion about real estate with. That notice protects you and explains the different agencies there are in real estate. What it basically tells you to do is not to give any confidential information to any Realtor unless you hire the Realtor. What you say can and will be used against you to help a seller unless you hire a buyer agent. Here is a Consumer Notice: http://www.1kbb.com/pdf/consumernotice.pdf

You are doing the right thing by asking questions and doing your homework.

Another important thing about buyer agency is that you hire the buyer agent who you will feel most comfortable with. You will be spending a lot of time with that agent and you want to be able to say anything to them as well as trust in them and their guidance. You should make sure that they are also an expert negotiator because at the end of the day, you will want to get a home at the lowest possible price and if your agent is not comfortable with negotiating or confrontation, that will ultimately hurt you in the end.

I hope this helps.

Renee Porsia
Associate Broker
RE/MAX ACTION
(215) 669-0589 Direct
(215) 358-1100 Office ask for Renee
http://www.reneeporsia.com See my new website and read my blog.

Here's a good resource to start: http://rebac.net/homebuyer_resources.cfm the Real Estate Buyer's Agent Council (REBAC) - which focuses specficially on "Home Buyers".

REALTORS who hold the ABR (Accredited Buyer Representative) designation are awarding this designation by REBAC. At one point, you may want to consider choosing a REALTOR with this designation.

The Pennsylvania Real Estate Consumer Notice - explains the various Buyer/Seller/Broker/Agent - Consumer Business Realtionships that can exist: http://www.subphillyhomes.com/PA_Consumer_Notice/page_351216.html

The Home Loan Learning Center: http://www.homeloanlearningcenter.com/default.htm is one of many good sources of information about mortgages, lending, etc.

http://www.phfa.org/consumers/homebuyers/where.aspx The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency also offers a great site for real estate/home buyer consumers starting the process.

And, at one point you may want to consider choosing several Buyer agents and several lenders and meet with each one to interview them, then choose a Buyer agent and lender you feel best represents YOUR interests.

Best of Luck to You!

John (John B.) Badalamenti, CRS, ABR, SRS
Associate Broker
Prudential Fox & Roach

A "buyer agent" is just an agent who you contract to work for you in the process of purchasing a home. If you are selling a home as well, the listing agent can and usually is a buyer agent as well. Having two separate agents (one to sell your home and one to help you buy a new home) is not a good message for your listing agent.

If you are just buying a home, having a buyer agent is "usually" free. As in there is nothing to pay. The only exception is if the agent wishes for a higher commission than what is being offered by the seller or if the home you want is a for sale by owner AND the seller will not allow for the commission to be paid by them. Usually the buyer would offer a bit more so that this can happen and it is usually ok with the seller. The only concern is to ensure that the home appraises properly. If it does not, then either the seller needs to accept a lower offer or the buyer needs to make up the difference with a higher down payment.

As for "classes" for learning the process, you can get all the information you need from a Realtor. I would like to give a short list of what should be done.

- Get in touch with a local mortgage broker or local lender. Shop around for them by finding out what programs they have and what their rates are. Remember that getting a lower rate does not necessarily mean less being paid. The lender may nickel and dime you in fees, so be sure you check everything out with them. The reason I say local is that the smaller lenders and banks (Harleysville Bank, local credit unions, etc) have not really been affected by the bigger bank problems had.

- Once you found a good local lender, have them help you getting your credit reports (although you can do this on your own through FreeCreditReport.com). You can actually do this before looking for a lender. This way you know what's there and you can ask the bureaus to get rid of erroneous information. The better your credit rating, then the better your loan rate. Most lenders can show you what you can do to increase your scores if needed.

- After this, you can sit down with the lender and see what you could qualify for. Please remember that this amount is usually higher than what you may be comfortable with AND that the taxes are usually not included.

- Look for a Realtor who will work for you and work around your schedule. If there's an agent who doesn't return your emails or phone calls in a timely fashion, then move to someone else. Once contracted though, you will need a release from the agent.

- See what funds you will need for down payment and closing costs. The agent can do this for you by showing you a closing cost sheet for a typical property in the area you are looking at and the price range of the home. Make sure you have some funds to do this. Also for the inspections.

- Start looking for homes. This can take a long time to find the right home. I know someone who was shown over a hundred different homes before finding the right one.

- Once you and your Realtor finds a home, then they should be able to give you a market analysis of the home to base your offer on. This is where a good agent shows that they will be able to negotiate with the listing agent on why the offer was made for $x instead of the listing price AND back it up with proof.

- Your agent can show you the rest of the process.

Hope that helps,

Terrence Charest, e-Pro®
REALTOR®
Century 21 Associates
905 Easton Road
Willow Grove, PA 19090
Cell (Preferred): 877.614.1494
Office: 215.659.5250
Fax: 215.659.5550
http://www.HomesForFreedom.com
tcharest@HomesForFreedom.com
“Giving to Those Who Gave”

Hi Megan
Many agents and mortgage companies hold home buying seminars. The agent Benito, has some goood sites/references as well. The consumer notice, which is not a contract, explains agencies in Pennsylvania. I'd be more that happy to email you a copy or review one with you. The best suggestion that I could make is to have you meet with an agent to discuss the process. You should also meet with a mortgage representative to discuss the mortgage process.
A buyer's agent is an agent whose primary responsibility is to service a buyer to find homes to preview as well as to assist in every step of the transaction to closing. I am an an Accredited Buyer's Representative which is a cerified designation to better educate agents assist buyers (ABR). My recommendation is to speak to a few realtors who specialize in your area as well as look at their profiles on their company website or webpage.

Please fell free to contact me with no obligation as I can better review the process with you.

Sincerely,
Frank Dolski
Coldwell Banker Hearthside Realtors
f.dolski@cbhearthside.com
215-803-3237
215-794-1070 x103

Megan,

You are so lucky to live in PA where you can hire your exclusive buyers agent, whose job is to work with you and protect your rights, for FREE. The Seller is responsible to compensate the realtors involved.
But why not go straight to the expert? I devote my day to knowing everything there is about real estate and deal with buyers, sellers, lenders, contractoal paperwork day in and day out- this is my career and how I make a living after all... There's no way an instructer or counselr sitting at a desk can give you up to date and current information like a productive agent on the field.
It would be like if you had to undergo a complicated medical procedure, would you go to a counsler or nurse or to the Doctor who specializes in your situation? Something to think about...

If you're ready to work with a professional- let me know. Would be happy to help.

Odelia

Check out Barnes and Noble at Neshaminy (if you currently live near the casino like you were asking about). They have a decent book section for real estate. Pick up a general overview book and jot down some questions.






Sean

There should be courses regarding how to buy a home..nowadays there are courses for everything you can think of. There are books too. One I suggest is "The Road to Home Ownership" which is also part of a course(program) given by AIG United Guaranty. One thing that I ususally look for on an Agent, is that he/she is patient enough and willing to guide me and explain to me the whole process. That's how I do business with my clients and if the realtor that is representing me with my own properties, so my advice is, taking a course or not, make sure you work with a realtor that make you feel you can trust him/her and open for questions and explanations.
Regarding your "buyer's agent" question. There is a term for buyer's agent, but it is not a common thing. Usually when people refer to a buyer agent, they mean that the agent is representing the buyer on a particular transaction where a seller agent(also known as the listing agent) is representing the owner/seller of the property that is being sold.
I hope it helped you a little.

Megan,

Check out my post on your other question. I went into detail for you on what a buyers agent does. If you have any questions more about that just post there and ill chime in or drop me an email sean.dawes@lnf.com

As far as classes. Some real estate companies have them but a lot of times they are an overview and just used to lead generate.

Do you have any specific questions? If so just shoot and Ill type away. :)


Sean Dawes

Hi Megan-There are some buyer seminars that are run by Real Estate companies and Mortgage co.s, (and of course there are Agents there ready to pick up clients) I personally ran a first time buyers seminar here at my office and the few that showed seemed to be satisfied with what they learned.

I think you need to interview different agents to see if your a good match or not before you sign on with a buyers agent. This is your transacation, not the agents. I believe that one of the most important things about a buyers agent, is that they are extremely responsive and knowledgable. I'd be glad to meet with you and go over my qualifications with no strings attached and just discuss your Real Estate goals...that's really the first step...

A buyers agents is simply a real estate agent who represents a buyers best interests (NOT the sellers) That's what you need out there, someone who works for you and only you...feel free to contact if you'd like!


Brian Hicks
215-350-7179

Hi, I think you need to make some calls:
https://ilnet.wellsfargo.com/ildocs/funding/DAP_States/PA.htm

http://www.phfa.org/consumers/homebuyers/homebuyers.aspx

PDF
http://www.phfa.org/forms/counseling_agencies/chci_agencies/…

Map for Home buyer classes:
http://www.phfa.org/applications/counseling_agencies.aspx#se…