Real Estate Help!

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bonvivantHermit

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I am buying my first home in USA ( just to clarify location). I am working with a buyer’s agent- he does no work, except show home. That was fine with me, as I used to doing research myself etc.

I know what I want, and had hoped to get a rebate back (20%) when we bought, but now I am afraid buyer’s agents kill deals b/c they get a % of commission the property’s listing agent gets.

How did you find your home? I am also going through a first time home buyer’s program- that allows me to only put down 3% - my buyer’s agent has claimed realtors are suspicious of my loan. I am pre-approved etc. I just want a home, and I am so tired of the run around.

I almost want to just rent. Help! Advice. Prayers.
 
So, I am afraid I don’t have any hope to offer you. When I bought my first home last year it was an ungodly nightmare. Let’s just say I am no longer worried about spending any time in Purgatory post-mortem. Kidding. Sort of.

What I will say is that I love, love, LOVE owning my house, mainly because there is a Starbucks ~3 blocks away. Kidding. Sort of. My point is, I have always been the type to gladly shoulder more responsibility (in this case, property ownership) in exchange for more control. So for me it has been more than worth it.

From my experience, if you buy a house from an actual person (rather than from HUD or from a bank), you have a somewhat cleaner transaction. I bought mine from a bank, and I got a good deal, but it almost didn’t happen. We showed up to the closing (that the bank had agreeed to), and NONE of the seller paperwork had been signed. It took my mortgage broker calling the bank’s attorney and threatening to “send someone downtown to kick her teeth in” for anything to happen. 7 hours after the closing was supposed to happen, at 4:30 p.m., we finally got the paperwork.

As for working with a buyer’s agent, I don’t really know anything about that. From what you’ve said, I don’t know why your loan looks suspicious. Your agent may not be the best, but I could be wrong. I just worked with a standard realtor.
 
I am going through the same process right now! Did you sign an agency agreement with your broker? If so, they have to act wholly for and entirely in your interests. They, by law, cannot offer personal opinions about houses, although they can give real estate advice.

If your agent is trying to steer you away from homes, I would bluntly ask him why. But typically, buyer’s agent commissions are pretty consistent for an area, so your agent should be expectant of that regardless. And rebate or not, his commission is based off of the selling price, so none of those other factors should matter.
 
I have bought and sold homes and land several times, but have never worked with a buyer’s agent, so I can’t help you there. I can offer you some wisdom, though. Under no circumstances should your agent put your good-faith offer deposit into escrow before he has a signed acceptance from the seller in his hot hand and gives you a copy. After a seller has accepted your offer, you will be in escrow. If you are unfamiliar with it, escrow can be described as a place you go where anyone in the world can ask you for money, and you have to pay it. 😛

Seriously, there are typically only a few big-ticket items you have to pay as a buyer, such as points to borrow money. Most of the other charges in escrow are small, but that doesn’t stop them from padding the fees. One of the more outrageous things I recall was my agent called me up and told me to take a check over to escrow for the balance * because they were going to close. So I made a special trip to make sure I got there by the time they closed for the day. Escrow didn’t close for a week; I lost a week’s interest, and escrow got it.

All things considered, though, we in the U. S. have streamlined the process so the average person can complete a real estate transaction in a very short time. In many other countries you have to be politically connected to buy real estate.

As one other poster said, once the process is over and you’re in your home, you will forget about the difficulties you encountered along the way.

Good luck, and enjoy your new home.*
 
In my past life, I worked in many a fast food place/clothing store/ service job…never making much more than minimum wage and would have been fired in many cases on the spot for being rude…once was fired for refusing to open after we were closed ( no joke)…that said… I am BLOWN away by the cavalier attitude of
people making more $$. Today I learn the 401 k company just …forgot…to tell me they didn’t process my loan…ooops…too bad…so sad for you. The entire real estate process is making me feel as if the devil is truly in the details. I am really beginning to think this is not worth the stress.
Real estate is, for the most, part for the upper middle class and above. Even my loan is judged some how inferior…this is after years of struggling to pay, not go bankrupt, credit cards. I think a bankrupcy would have been better and saved me thousands. I can’t get a traditional loan because of late payments, no one cares if you go bankrupt, wait two years, make $$$$ and try again. Sorry I am just fed up.
Thank you for the replies.
 
I used to think I should avoid dual agency (real estate agent represents buyer/seller) but in states where it is allowed I have found real estate agents will hold out for folks who use tehm for both (dual agency) so they get to keep the entire commission.
 
bonvivantHermit said:
I used to think I should avoid dual agency (real estate agent represents buyer/seller) but in states where it is allowed I have found real estate agents will hold out for folks who use tehm for both (dual agency) so they get to keep the entire commission.
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Yes but in their case they are really looking out for number 1 and the client they are selling for vs the client that is potentially buying what they are selling for someone else. In other words the whole ball in in their court and you may end up paying a lot more.
 
Advice: Buy a house that you can afford and that you can re-sell. Wait to buy until you know you can hold the house long enough to re-coup your closing costs and other buying expenses compared to the cost of renting. Unless you’re far more seasoned than you are, be concerned about location and school district, even if you don’t have children and don’t have the same concerns about the location as a typical buyer might.

In our state (and this advice varies by state), I’d go with a buyer’s broker. First off, seller’s brokers don’t like sharing commissions, but they don’t like losing sales, either. Besides, if a seller’s broker doesn’t sell the house within a set period of time, they have to worry that the buyer will switch brokers. It is not as if homes are just flying out of the inventory right now.

It is good to have help in buying your first home, but if your buyer’s broker isn’t doing the job for you, don’t assume that all buyer’s brokers will be the same. It is a competitive business. Try somebody else. You are right to realize that no one will do your homework more diligently than you will. Study, study, study, and if you don’t want to study, then learn the basics of rental law in your jurisdiction, and rent.

Also, do your homework and find a good home inspector. Make sure that every offer you make is contingent upon a clean bill of health from your inspector. A house with hidden problems can be a real money pit, and impossible to re-sell, since in all states I know of, you are legally required to disclose problems that you know about.

IOW: try not to buy a mistake you can’t unload without an unacceptable loss*, especially when you don’t even know a tenth of the mistakes you can make. (*Real estate is a speculative investment in its very nature. It is impossible to buy without the chance of losing money.)

Having said that, it is nice to be your own landlord and have your own castle. Unless it was a lot more costly (in time or money), I’d personally prefer owning to renting every time.
 
bonvivantHermit said:
I am buying my first home in USA ( just to clarify location). I am working with a buyer’s agent- he does no work, except show home. That was fine with me, as I used to doing research myself etc.

I know what I want, and had hoped to get a rebate back (20%) when we bought, but now I am afraid buyer’s agents kill deals b/c they get a % of commission the property’s listing agent gets.

How did you find your home? I am also going through a first time home buyer’s program- that allows me to only put down 3% - my buyer’s agent has claimed realtors are suspicious of my loan. I am pre-approved etc. I just want a home, and I am so tired of the run around.

I almost want to just rent. Help! Advice. Prayers.
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Contact this group: realestateforlife.org/

I know Dave Theisen, the man who runs this organization, and I know he will help you find a good agent, and in the process you will be able to help a pro-life organization.

Good luck!

~Liza
 
If I was you, I would avoid only putting 3% down. I would try to put down at least 20%, even if it means you have to save longer. If you put down a larger down payment, you will likely get a lower interest rate. It makes a massive difference in how much you end up paying. The amount of interest paid on a home loan is generally at least as much as the cost of the home itself! (Assuming the loan is paid off according to the schedule.)
 
Allegra said:
If I was you, I would avoid only putting 3% down. I would try to put down at least 20%, even if it means you have to save longer. If you put down a larger down payment, you will likely get a lower interest rate. It makes a massive difference in how much you end up paying. The amount of interest paid on a home loan is generally at least as much as the cost of the home itself! (Assuming the loan is paid off according to the schedule.)
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The other alternative is to make your monthly payment far larger than the minimum payment. If made from the beginning, this takes years off the loan and loads off of the interest payments.

Keep in mind, though, that interest paid on a loan for a primary residence usually enjoys tax advantages that interest on other loans does not get. Learn about that, too…
 
EasterJoy said:
…Also, do your homework and find a good home inspector. Make sure that every offer you make is contingent upon a clean bill of health from your inspector. …
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This is impossible because there is no such thing as a house with “a clean bill of health”.
All of them need some repair or other, and most defects can be rectified easily as part of escrow requirements. There is also no such thing as an inspector who will find nothing wrong with a house.
 
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