Dm

Honestly, in this market, you want a realtor who'll save you the most money. Look for a discount realtor who takes a flat fee and gives you the rest of their commission. That's what we did. They do the same legwork as anyone. We saw 17 properties with our realtor, and they sent us lots of relevant open house tips by email as well, so we ended up seeing a total of 30 properties before settling on one. You also want someone savvy, ideally who runs their own business and is very motivated to create good word-of-mouth referrals. We used Territory RE, they did just that, and now we are recommending them to everyone. - Thu Sep 4 2008, 07:11

I've verified with the lenders and they're open to it.

So we have to check with the city, if they can allow it. - Tue Jul 1 2008, 16:48

Thanks for clarifying. Our attorney has said the biggest hurdle is the city and the lenders.

The reason we would consider attempting this is because we're buying a great property that, down the line, we'd like to be able to sell as a semi-detached single family home, instead of a condo. - Sun Jun 29 2008, 20:18

Thanks for that, I gave them a call and was transferred over to the Head Start programme (turns out what I was looking for wasn't even Pre-K, but Head Start - I need to learn the system pronto!). Apparently that does cover both Cambridge and Somerville so my daughter will be able to attend the school. - Mon Jun 30 2008, 06:10

I have to comment on Swc's response below as someone who's tried all the approaches described - selling by owner, selling through agent, buying directly, and buying with an agent.

Since the original topic was whether to buy using an agent, I have to say in today's market, where there are so few buyers that a seller can simply not afford to be picky, a buyer above a certain price range has an advantage if they work with a DISCOUNT broker (eg. Territory RE), because the difference in commission comes to the buyer as cashback at closing. My husband and I are about to close on a home where we will get $8380 back from our buyer's broker, who takes a flat fee of $5000.

The reality is that the best approach right now is the one that will allow the buyer to save the most.

Now, as someone who also sold by owner, I have to say that we were fully prepared to list our home for a higher price if we hadn't first found buyers privately.

Bottom line: if there's risk of a bidding war on a property that you like, it's logical that you're more attractive to the seller if you show up without a broker. But if the home you want to buy has been sitting on the market for months and you show up with a discount broker, the seller will be more than happy to accept your bid! - Thu Jun 26 2008, 18:41

Thank you again for your comments.

I am looking at a unit that's been on the market for 8 weeks, was reduced from the high 700's to 730 and the seller's agent told me the seller really wants bids that start with a 7, that's the most important thing. Would you consider it acceptable to disclose that to a potential buyer?

Maybe this is completely standard practice and I am misinterpreting it as the agent revealing more than they should to close the deal? - Wed May 7 2008, 13:52

Jeff, what you say makes sense, but here was our experience from the last purchase we made: the listing broker knew how low the seller would go, and encouraged us to bid in that area, so the sale would close as quickly as possible.

I would think the listing agent wants to close the sale and is less interested in squeezing the last few K out of a buyer as the effect on their commission is too small to matter.

I don't mean to offend anyone in the business, but to me it seems for the listing agent the most important thing is to close as quickly as possible, rather than have properties languishing on the market. So in a sense, they want to help the buyers as much as possible.

In fact, I would argue that purchasing directly from the listing broker puts the buyer at an advantage because the broker has inside info on how far the seller would go down.

Just thinking out loud here... I'd love your perspective on this, and again, I don't mean any disrespect at all. - Wed May 7 2008, 10:39

It seems to me when there's a bidding war the listing agent will do what it takes to get their own buyers to offer the highest bid. Am I wrong in assuming that at the end of the day the listing agent would sooner get the full commission than split it with another broker, all other things being equal?

My past experience greatly influences my position on this, but regardless, doesn't it seem logical? - Wed May 7 2008, 10:33

I don't know whether the market is very different these days, but my husband and I were badly burnt in 2001 when we bid on a property where a bidding war ensued and the listing broker ended up taking sealed bids. He had buyers of his own, while we had come in with an agent. Well, mysteriously the listing broker's buyers ended up getting the property FOR THE SAME amount we were offering, which was a rather random number ABOVE asking price, ie. it wasn't a rounded number or anything like that. In other words, we suspect the listing broker unsealed our bid and instructed his buyers to raise theirs to exactly the same amount, and thus was able to sell the unit to them and pocket the full commission.

We were heartbroken for a very long time about losing that property.

Now, we come to Trulia, find out the listing broker's name, and go to them directly. We've still had to go in with an agent to some showings because that agent was the listing broker for another property that we found through their agency, but we certainly do not feel the agent represents anyone but the seller in any potential transaction. - Tue May 6 2008, 22:31

The thing is that this is a 2-condo association that has the condo docs more suited to a greater number of units. I understand that what might work better for this setup is a Home Owners' Association. I need to look into this some more. Thanks for your help! - Mon Jun 23 2008, 14:05

Wow, what a novel idea - sitting down with the other owners! I will ask to do exactly that, thank you for proposing it! The other unit is still in the final stages of construction, so the owners haven't moved in yet. We'd need to meet them via the seller (the developer). - Fri Jun 20 2008, 19:30