Buying a home advice

[steve dave]

Moral of the story is you could have gotten it for 3% less than you did if you negotiated yourself.  I'm not saying it's for everyone but assertive people who can do a minimal amount of homework will benefit by doing it on their own.  She did her job by making you feel like you got a good deal (which you may have but you still paid 3% more than you had to).

First of all, are you just pulling that 3% number out of thin air? That's highly subjective and dependent on the situation. Secondly, as a first-time buyer who knew nothing about buying a house, with or without doing homework, I promise you I could not have done as well as my agent, or nearly as quick.

3% is the traditional percentage the agent gets from the seller EDIT:  IF THE SELLER HAS THEIR OWN AGENT AS THEY SPLIT THE COMMISION.  IF THE SELLER HAS NO AGENT THE BUYERS AGENT WILL GET BETWEEN 5 AND 7 PERCENT FROM THE SELLER.  They could get more if the seller has put a "bonus" on the selling of the house within a particular timeframe or under particular conditions, so 3% is the low end.  The buyer does not get to see these "bonuses" that the seller attaches as extra incentive for the agent.  The agent also is not forced to disclose what percentage they get from the seller to the buyer (care to guess why this is?).  Really honest buyer's agents will disclose to the buyer before closing what amount they got, did yours?  I'm not saying that people should never get a buyer's agent, I'm just saying people who don't like wasting money shouldn't.

EDIT:  http://www.abanet.org/publiced/practical/buyinghome_agent.html

[jeffy]

I paid an inspector 100$ and he covered pretty much everything.  It was a guy my agent recommended but I'm sure they were scamming me.

That's a pretty good deal imo

I don't know what they normally cost but I've heard of people that pay like 5 different people that each specialize in something else 50-75 each.

He came in shook my hand and said "cireksu, I will do this like I'd check my own son's house."

You can get just a general inspection, which is just that, it looks for the obvious.  If there is a reason to believe there may be something more in depth required, such as termites, etc., you can get one of those inspections as well. 

[michigancat]

@ your ignorance Rusty. Steel, which I recommended, is the most recycled product on the planet. Not one piece of scrap would be thrown away from building a steel home, it would all be recycled. Also, new properly designed and installed electrical, mechanical, and plumbing systems use far less energy and water then anything done even five years ago.

If you can't understand how creating new steel, and carpet, and shingles, and wood floors, and tiles, and bathtubs, and toilets, and cutting down trees/destroying farmland to put it all together isn't more wasteful than buying an existing house, LOL @ YOUR ignorance.

[kougar24]

I'm not saying that people should never get a buyer's agent, I'm just saying people who don't like wasting money shouldn't.

Again I promise you, our agent was anything but a waste of our money. I'm glad you have such confidence in my negotiating / house-hunting skillz, but I don't. Whatever money was indirectly spent on our buyer's agent was money very well spent.

[ArchE_Cat]

@ your ignorance Rusty. Steel, which I recommended, is the most recycled product on the planet. Not one piece of scrap would be thrown away from building a steel home, it would all be recycled. Also, new properly designed and installed electrical, mechanical, and plumbing systems use far less energy and water then anything done even five years ago.

If you can't understand how creating new steel, and carpet, and shingles, and wood floors, and tiles, and bathtubs, and toilets, and cutting down trees/destroying farmland to put it all together isn't more wasteful than buying an existing house, LOL @ YOUR ignorance.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, Rusty, King of the Tree Huggers!

[AzCat]

@ your ignorance Rusty. Steel, which I recommended, is the most recycled product on the planet. Not one piece of scrap would be thrown away from building a steel home, it would all be recycled. Also, new properly designed and installed electrical, mechanical, and plumbing systems use far less energy and water then anything done even five years ago.

If you can't understand how creating new steel, and carpet, and shingles, and wood floors, and tiles, and bathtubs, and toilets, and cutting down trees/destroying farmland to put it all together isn't more wasteful than buying an existing house, LOL @ YOUR ignorance.

Come to think of it I probably do need another home or two.   

[sys]

christ, i hate americans.

[AzCat]

christ, i hate americans.

Me too.  Bastards expect to start at like $8-10/hr they they want vacations, paid holidays, benefits and the like.  In more enlightened parts of the world you can still chain the serfs to their stations for $0.25/hr or less and run 24/7 on two shifts.  Americans just plain suck.

 

[michigancat]

@ your ignorance Rusty. Steel, which I recommended, is the most recycled product on the planet. Not one piece of scrap would be thrown away from building a steel home, it would all be recycled. Also, new properly designed and installed electrical, mechanical, and plumbing systems use far less energy and water then anything done even five years ago.

If you can't understand how creating new steel, and carpet, and shingles, and wood floors, and tiles, and bathtubs, and toilets, and cutting down trees/destroying farmland to put it all together isn't more wasteful than buying an existing house, LOL @ YOUR ignorance.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, Rusty, King of the Tree Huggers!

Wait, does this mean you agree w/ my original post on how building new is wasteful?

[BigXIIpowercat]

I didn't read through any of this, but I'm planning on closing my first house at the end of this month. I bought a house in Overland Park and had a real estate agent that I found was very helpful and honest. I'm usually very good at seeing through people that BS, haven't been proven wrong on that too many times. He would openly point out negatives to a house and basically hint that maybe house A or B wasn't really what I was looking for.

You probably know as much as me about house buying even still, but if you have any questions, I'll be more than happy to help, just PM me. BTW, my credit was in the 760s and my rate was 5.875%. I'll also give you the name to my realtor if you'd like.

[sys]

Me too.  Bastards expect to start at like $8-10/hr they they want vacations, paid holidays, benefits and the like.  In more enlightened parts of the world you can still chain the serfs to their stations for $0.25/hr or less and run 24/7 on two shifts.  Americans just plain suck.

inflation may have impacted your figures, but basically completely correct.  they're grateful for the work too.

[Rick Daris]

I just bought a house in Manhattan and didn't use a realtor to help me. I did use a realtor to help sell my place in Lawrence though.

Sellers agents 
buyers agents 

[Trim]

I'm not saying that people should never get a buyer's agent, I'm just saying people who don't like wasting money shouldn't.

Again I promise you, our agent was anything but a waste of our money. I'm glad you have such confidence in my negotiating / house-hunting skillz, but I don't. Whatever money was indirectly spent on our buyer's agent was money very well spent.

Did the agent find you a badass house?

[catdude33]

I watch House Hunters a lot.  So I pretty much know everything about buying a house.

[kougar24]

I'm not saying that people should never get a buyer's agent, I'm just saying people who don't like wasting money shouldn't.

Again I promise you, our agent was anything but a waste of our money. I'm glad you have such confidence in my negotiating / house-hunting skillz, but I don't. Whatever money was indirectly spent on our buyer's agent was money very well spent.

Did the agent find you a badass house?

I can't believe it took this long for that to come out. Disappointing.