All Forum Posts by: Rick C.

Atlanta is a large, diverse city. I would assume the deal flow depends on the neighborhood and what your goals are.

@Joel Owens - Thanks for the color. To clarify, I intend to buy multiple properties over the next year. I have already put an offer in on my first Atlanta area property, and I am looking to submit additional offers in the coming days. Apologies if that was not made clear.

Agreed that the four month clause is a bit much. There is termination clause though that I can use at any point in that timeframe, which would leave me with similar rights (i.e. can work with another agent, but properties shown by first agent are covered by the protection period) had I only signed for a two week period and did not renew.

House sitters are nice, but they are only human. If the house has electricity, then I would recommend getting a temporary security system. SimpliSafe makes a great one that you can easily install and move between houses. Monitoring is between $15-25/mo depending on the plan you get.

A house sitter to monitor the work the contractors are doing? Or a house sitter to make sure no one breaks in?

@Phil Earley - Thanks so much for the color. These are the terms I was given:

3% of sale price - buyer to reimburse the difference if less

$1500 minimum commission guarantee - buyer to reimburse the difference if less

$189 flat portion - buyer to pay regardless

Protection Period - 90 days

Do you think these terms are appropriate?

Thanks @Chris Daetwyler. How long is normally her Protected Period? Also, does she ask for a minimum commission?

I recently started to look at properties in the Atlanta area, where I intend to do multiple purchases within the next year. I do not live there nor am I from there, so I had a buyer's realtor, whom I recently met, take an afternoon and show me around. This realtor was very helpful, but when I went to make my first offer, it was requested that I sign an Exclusive Buyer Brokerage Agreement. It would go for four months and cover all properties, including off market deals. I invest heavily in the Tampa area and my buyer's realtor there has never even asked me to sign such a document. Is this practice more common, even for investors, in the Atlanta area? If not, is there another document that I should request be used to demonstrate our relationship?

@Jared Garfield - Great post! What areas of Atlanta are you currently focused on?

It appears that this property is located in Southwest Philadelphia, which has notable differences from West Philadelphia. To name a few differences, Southwest Philadelphia has less of an influence from University City, a trolley instead of the more frequent Market Frankford subway is used for travel to employment hubs in Center City, the housing stock often looks cheaper, etc. Have you visited or do you plan to visit Philadelphia?

If you are still looking for an attorney, I would recommend Jason Rabinovich. He specializes in real estate law and also holds a PA real estate broker's license.