The Urban Team

At any given time, parts of the economy and housing market are thriving and or not. Thus, some sectors of the economy and housing market will be recovered fully by 2012... some will not.

Much of the real estate data suggests the under 100K market has stabilized. At the same time, the luxury market may or may not have stabilized... there have been too few sales to establish a trend.

Bottom line... whether you are Lee McPheters, Warren Buffett or a guy like me who follows a lot of stats each day, we're all guessing. Each day poses new opportunities and set backs that change the equation. The only thing I know for sure is that hope is essential to both the human spirit and our recovery. - Thu Jul 9 2009, 07:45

I am not sure if I understand the question... but here goes.

If you are searching for homes on a public web site such as Trulia, you will see homes from a variety of agents. Each home is called a listing and the database that stores and dissiminates the listings is called a Multilple Listing Service or MLS. In the Greater Phoenix region our MLS is called ARMLS or Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service.

Here is where it gets interesting. ARMLS has agreements with the various real estate brokerages allowing or disallowing each brokerages listings to be fed to the various sites like Trulia, Yahoo, Cyberhomes, Realtor.com and more. Each brokerage (real estate company) has to opt-in to the ARMLS program to have their listings show up on the various site. Most do this and their listings (homes, condos, land, etc) show up on the various sites.

Some sites offer to give better placement for a specific agent's lisitngs if a fee is paid. As a consumer, these listings come up higher in the search results. On some sites, the listings of agents who don't pay the fees won't show up under certain types of searches.

Jay talked about using searches provided by an IDX. An IDX is a bit of software that allows agents to put home search tools on their own web or blog site. These search tools let you see nearly all the avialble homes entered in the ARMLS database. However, since you are searching on an agent's site, you will be referred to that agent for more information about any homes you find. So, if you went to Jay's site and looked for homes, you'd be directed to him for more information about any homes you found. If you went to my site, the same thing would happen only it wouldn't be Jay, it would be me.

I hope this offers some clarity on what can be a confusing thing. - Tue Jun 30 2009, 13:11

It has been interesting reading through the answers. Scott Clayton gave a nice clear answer and most everyone else gave you good and clear arguments for using a single agent.

What I've experienced is pretty simple. An agent who values and knows they have something special to bring to the table wants loyalty from their client. I think this is true of most relationships... business or personal. I've found the best agents can afford to have an expectation of loyalty... their work, skills and knowledge give them enough business to allow such choices.

Perhaps you should ask yourself some questions to determine your best course.... What is important to you? What type of relationship do you want? Do you prefer a win/win partnership or is that unimportant? How are your goals best achieved? There are no right or wrong answers, simply a determination of what you want to achieve and how best to do so.

Like many of the agents who have responded, we work on an exclusive basis. However, we do not have you sign a buyer/broker agreement as we feel you have the right to change agents if you are unhappy with our performance. That is a business choice we've made and really has nothing to do with anyone else... our business, our choice.

You are making a business decision on how you want to explore buying and/or selling a house. Your choice based on your needs, goals and what you consider a good business plan.

Thank you for this question and the opportunity to explore possible answers. - Tue Jun 30 2009, 10:49

I give a big thumbs up to Jay's answer.

Too many people got into real estate investing with the idea it was a short-term, get-rich vehicle. The truth is real estate is, historically, a long term ride. Most pros understand this and work on ten year holds, or longer, and have capital in place to cover market down turns. Most of our clients socked away a bunch of cash during the boom because it was clear a big bust was coming. None of them took equity out.

I'd tell your clients to have a sit-down with their CPA and attorney. Some may find hidden money from losses on their income tax. Consulting with experts to devise a "best-practices" solution is at the very least a starting point. - Mon Jun 29 2009, 16:11

Life get so complecated at times. As a real estate agent, I can not speak with athority on many lender questions. The qualifying standards change daily depending on who is making the loan.

However, when I have a question and want a complete and honest answer I call Judy Giel at MetLife Home Loans. I can't promise you will like what she says, but I can assure you she has vast knowledge and will tell you the truth.

She can be reached at 602-494-6000, ext. 222. Her office is close to the 85032 zip code (Tatum & Shea) and she is good about returning calls if you get voice mail.

Best of luck. Gene Urban - Mon Jun 29 2009, 11:31