Jeff Royce

Corinne...you're welcome. I'd love to talk to you about being your buyer's agent, and go through the whole home-buying process with you. I can be reached at 703-585-5663 if you would like to set up a time to talk. - Wed Nov 12 2008, 12:53

There are a few houses like that along the blue line in neighborhoods in Alexandria and Springfield. You can see some of them here: http://matrix.mris.com/Matrix/Public/Email.aspx?ID=27780054736 . The best thing you can do for yourself is to get yourself a buyer's agent to work with you to see exactly what areas appeal to you and to talk to you about the whole process.

Check out this article on working with a buyer's agent: http://ourfairfax.com/2008/07/10/buyersagent/ - Wed Nov 12 2008, 12:28

JR....Obviously steering clients to overpriced homes is a terrible strategy on many levels. But some agents have tried many things that are terrible strategies for running a business. Just this week here in Fairfax County a broker was sentenced to prison and ordered to pay over $1 million in restitution to clients he defrauded: http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/news/2008/oct/31/real-estate-bro…

Those of who propose settling on a commission upfront, and putting it in writing are trying to make our businesses more transparent to our clients. We are saying upfront:

1) my fee is $x

2) I am taking away any interest I have in selling or not selling you a particular house because of the commission the seller is offering or not offering.

3) Though our interests are not identical, they are much more aligned because I am telling you exactly how I will be paid and exactly where every dollar is coming from.

This does and should engender trust in our clients much more than saying to our clients "my services are free; I'll just take whatever the person you're negotiating with offers me." - Sat Nov 1 2008, 07:27

My experience has been a lot like Frank's. My buyers have paid the difference when they find a house that is worth that difference. If the listing has a low commission and the house is overpriced,,.my buyers and I walk away together. It's amazing how much easier it is to work with people when you have the same interests.

My last experience with a lower commission than my buyers agreed on, I told the listing agent they were going to offer less because they had to pay extra commission because of their low offer. It took her about 10 seconds to raise the commission.

The worst situation for a buyer is what Frank mentioned below...when the seller offers extra to get the buyer's agent to write a full priced offer. My practice is to show my buyers this information for every house they see. I do this by handing them the listings they are seeing on a particular day with the commission being offered on each house and highlighted if it differs from our agreement. If there is a bonus involved, they need to know that upfront so we can decide how to use that information when making an offer on a house.

Condonewbie...I'd get an agent who knows what their services are worth, gets that issue out of the way in your first meeting, and works hard to get you the best possible house at the best possible price. When you are on a team with someone to accomplish a goal, everyone should have transparent motivations which are plainly communicated to the whole team. - Thu Oct 23 2008, 11:13

Negotiating your Buyer’s Agent commission upfront will motivate your agent to work for you and not against you. Buyer’s Agents are almost always paid by the seller, but as a buyer you need to understand that sellers use the commission amount to attempt to motivate your agent. Is your agent being motivated to work against your or for you? In the contract you sign with an agent it should be clearly stated what they will be paid. If an agent has agreed upfront that he can be paid no more and no less for his services, it takes away any incentive a seller might try to give him to urge you towards purchasing their house.

Say you agree that your Buyer’s Agent will receive x% of the selling price of any house you purchase. Then if a seller is offering a commission of x+1% to buyer’s agents your BA won’t be extra motivated to get you to buy a house that is not right for you in order to pick up the extra commission. The extra 1% of commission would go to you, not the Buyer’s Agent, and he would advise you on the house just like any other house.

If a seller is only offering a commission of x-1% to buyer’s agents, you should let your Buyer’s Agent know upfront that you will cover the other 1% of his commission. When other agents are not showing that house because of the low commission you may find that you save a lot more than 1% by simply letting your agent know that he will receive the commission agreed to upfront no matter what the case. Cases like these might be the best deals out there because they are being shown less and the sellers may be getting desperate. If it’s not worth paying the extra commission don’t buy the house. - Wed Oct 22 2008, 20:47

There are plenty of nice single family houses all over Fairfax County in your price range. The hard part of your question to answer is the part about the schools. Fairfax County schools as a whole rank very well nationally, but it is a large school district with many differences between particular schools. You should determine what is important to you in a school rather than asking an agent "what are the good school districts?"

The best resource I know of to evaluate Fairfax County Schools is the site http://www.schoolranks.com. It ranks Fairfax County Schools of all levels (elementary, middle, high) on many different attributes such as test scores on particular subjects, school size, class size. It even ranks different GT centers, and gives specific information about each school in the system.

I would recommend you spend some time there making a list of specific schools you would be interested in, and then give that list to a buyer's agent with you price an other requirements. This process will help you determine if moving to NoVA will be worth it to you. - Sat Nov 1 2008, 06:47

Tara...which house do you mean? - Thu Oct 23 2008, 08:21

Details are a bit sketchy on this listing, but it is being offered at $364,900 and is a foreclosure sale by Countrywide. If you would like to see this, I'll try and arrange it for you. Give me a call at 571-482-7817. - Thu Oct 16 2008, 09:15