Not using a buyers agent

**sip004** · 03-08-2008, 12:47 PM

My wife and I are now searching for your first home in a great buyers market in Michigan. I wanted to get the opinion of some people who have some experience in the field. We were thinking that rather than using a buyers agent, we would search for homes ourselves and contact the listing agent of homes we are interested in seeing (we have not had any trouble doing this).

My question is this....

Is it customary/appropriate for us to approach a selling agent and ask the agent to reduce his total fee since he will be making money on both ends of the deal. I assume that if the agent "double ends" the deal he would usually make 6%, but perhaps I would ask him to take just 4.5% and use the other 1.5% toward closing costs.

Any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

**Codythebest** · 03-08-2008, 01:14 PM

It's not going to happen. The seller's agent will get 6%, that's all. Beside, it's his/her broker who will get the last word.
You better go with a buyer's agent since it's free. And try to get your 1.5% by negociating down the asking price instead.
Why wouldn't you hire a pro to remodel your bathroom since you do not have to pay him anyway??

**Executive Home Buyer** · 03-08-2008, 09:37 PM

Originally Posted by Codythebest

It's not going to happen. The seller's agent will get 6%, that's all. Beside, it's his/her broker who will get the last word.
You better go with a buyer's agent since it's free. And try to get your 1.5% by negociating down the asking price instead.
Why wouldn't you hire a pro to remodel your bathroom since you do not have to pay him anyway??

YOU'RE BETTER OFF dealing with a FSBO if you don't want to pay FEES AT ALL!

(A little side tip ... you'll pay fees if dealing with an agent's broker --- it's added to the sales price)! Shhhhhh! I didn't say that, did I?

Don't worry about the paper work, your lawyer can help you with that!

Good luck to ya!

Jean

**JJohnson1985** · 03-09-2008, 04:19 AM

sip004,
Not a good idea in my opinion. Like codythebest stated, 6% of the price will go to agents/brokers. The question is will the whole 6% go to one or be split between two.

It is better for you to have representation for yourself. Your are not saving any money by not having it and only risk getting the short end of the deal.

No matter how nice the seller's agent is in working with you, the agent is only working in the seller's interests.

The seller's agent also can not represent you at all without the seller and you agreeing to the dual agency agrement. In that case the agent doesn't really work for either interest because both interests conflict and the agent can not help one or the other to an advantage.

Bottom line though the money spent in commision is going to be the same no matter if you have an agent or not.

It's kinda funny because I see agent's advertising that they will represent buyers at no cost to the buyer. It makes me say yeah duh. The agent is just splitting the 6% commision with the seller's agent.

**Codythebest** · 03-09-2008, 05:08 AM

Originally Posted by Executive Home Buyer

--- it's added to the sales price)! Shhhhhh! I didn't say that, did I?

Huh? Are you an agent? Do you really add it?
So do you ask your seller: "how much do you want? $200,000? OK then, I list it for $212,000?"
I hope you wrote a mistake here...
Or even better, tell me you're not an agent...please...

Originally Posted by JJohnson1985

sip004,

It's kinda funny because I see agent's advertising that they will represent buyers at no cost to the buyer. It makes me say yeah duh. The agent is just splitting the 6% commision with the seller's agent.

Say a buyer's agent shows 10 homes to his/her buyer, buyer didn't buy any and say "I give up and stay another 5 years in my rental".
How much get the buyer's agent? If the answer to this question is zero dollars, did he represent the buyer at no cost?
If he buys a home listed at, let's say, $200,000, and he pays $200,000 for it, how much did he pay his buyer's agent at closing?

**JJohnson1985** · 03-09-2008, 08:33 AM

Huh? Are you an agent? Do you really add it?

I thought the same thing.

Say a buyer's agent shows 10 homes to his/her buyer, buyer didn't buy any and say "I give up and stay another 5 years in my rental".
How much get the buyer's agent? If the answer to this question is zero dollars, did he represent the buyer at no cost?

That's always a risk being an agent or a broker in real estate, wasted time with no compensation. Of course there is a cost to the agent/broker. I said no cost to the buyer, not the agent.

they will represent buyers at no cost to the buyer

If he buys a home listed at, let's say, $200,000, and he pays $200,000 for it, how much did he pay his buyer's agent at closing?

The buyer doesn't pay anything, the seller does. That is my point. They advertise like it is a service that they only provide. Actually it happens anyway. Correct?

**Codythebest** · 03-09-2008, 10:23 AM

Originally Posted by JJohnson1985

I thought the same thing.

That's always a risk being an agent or a broker in real estate, wasted time with no compensation. Of course there is a cost to the agent/broker. I said no cost to the buyer, not the agent.

The buyer doesn't pay anything, the seller does. That is my point. They advertise like it is a service that they only provide. Actually it happens anyway. Correct?

Correct. The money goes to the seller's pocket and then, he pays everybody.

**Orlando MLS** · 03-09-2008, 09:02 PM

You're crazy for not using a buyers agent. But that's ok, the world needs crazy it you may just fit the ticket.

In my last few deals, not one deal was over 65% LTV. Could you have done that on your own...highly unlikely. The last three deals were extremely complicated and a lawyer would have charged my clients a fortune to invest that much time.

I also got one mortgage broker to charge 0 points on the mortgage as a favor to me just to get the deal done. Why did he do this, cause I give him lots of business. Considering the average mortgage broker charges at least a minamum of 1 point - add that up over a 30 year fixed and tell me I didn't earn my commission. Had another broker pay for a clients appraisal.

The point is, if you get a good buyers agent who is willing to help you on the mortgage side and on the negotiation - the long term savings to you are HUGE. If you paid me 10% commission, 99 times out of ten I would save you more money than doing it on your own.

Why wouldn't you use those services if it saves you money, time and aggro. Stop stepping over dollars to save pennies!

**carlam** · 03-10-2008, 05:45 AM

Well said Orlando MLS! I don't understand why people can't see the whole picture! Full time Real Estate Agents are PROFESSIONALS that work the business everyday. They have a TEAM of other PROFESSIONALS in the industry that add value, and save money in the long term for their clients.

Not all states have Dual Agency, some are Transaction Brokers, and in states you represent the buyer or seller exclusively. A dual agency or transaction broker work to the contract to ensure it is a win-win for all.

Now back to the question; find a real estate agent to represent you. You are not saving money running around, contacting every listing agent of homes you are interested in. It is more cost effective to hire an agent to help you through the whole process. This is one of the biggest investments a person makes in their life.

**REbuyersgroup** · 03-10-2008, 05:46 PM

Bump to Sip004. Agreed. Using an agent on your side will save you tons of time, energy and even money! You may even miss a house that is available that meets your criteria because you were wasting time driving around.

Agents have the most up to date information available and get immediate notification when a property that meets your needs comes on the market. If it was a GREAT deal, by the time you found it, it would have been sold.

Realtor.com can be as much as a few days old, so not the best place for the most accurate info.

Call an agent, and be LOYAL.. they will work very hard to find your dream home for you.

All the best.