All Forum Posts by: Charlie MacPherson

Absolutely yes.  3 years ago, we relocated to Maine and bought a fairly new (2004) and very nice colonial.  I walked through did my own "inspection" and was impressed enough to forego a real inspection.

Big mistake.

We just discovered that there has been long term water intrusion where the entry way to the basement (dog house) meets the back wall of the living room.  There was no flashing or any effort to direct water away.  Water has been running into the back wall for a very long time.

A big portion (10 sq ft?) of the chip board sheathing has rotted away, along with studs and the sill plate.  We have opened an insurance claim for hidden rot.  The wall is opened with dehumidifiers / HEPA running 24/7.  Large parts of the area are tented off due to mold.

I had years of experience as a Realtor and had personally attended a ton of home inspections.  I thought I knew what I was doing, but missed one small, but VERY important detail.

So should you get a home inspection?  As others have said, YES.

The request seems pretty straightforward to me.  The attorney is disclosing that he represents the buyer only and that you are entitled to hire your own attorney to represent you.

I would not have a problem signing that.

By the way, closing procedures vary by state.  Here in Maine (where I held a RE license), closings are handled by title companies.  You may also have an attorney draft and review your contracts if you wish.  Most purchases are via Warranty Deed.

In Massachusetts (where I was also licensed), closings are handled by attorneys.  Purchases are almost always done via Quitclaim Deed.

You might consider paying an attorney to look things over for you.

I've been in your shoes.  A new agent with an empty funnel - and it's a tough place to be.

Everybody and their brother wants to sell you leads.  Zillow, Realtor, Trulia (owned by Zillow Group last I knew) - and they're not cheap either.  Not only are they not cheap, they sell the same lead to 3-4 agents at the same time.

If you're going down that road, be prepared to respond to each lead within seconds, not minutes, because your competition will do the same, and you don't want to be the 4th agent calling.

Better to concentrate on being out there in public and letting everybody know you're a Realtor.  Get your own website together and get it set up for robust SEO with someone that actually knows what they're doing (@Jerryll Noorden here on BP).  Use some Facebook ads.  Try other social media sites too.

The bottom line, and I say this as a former Realtor, is that if you look at any handful of full time agents with a few years under their belt, there's not a dime's worth of difference between them.

Nobody, regardless of what their brokers tell them, has anything truly unique.  What differentiates agents is that the best ones work very hard.  Those that aren't as motivated are toes-up in the parking lot within 18 months.  Few make it to the 5 year mark.

One thing about investors.  Be careful which ones you work with.  There is no end to the stream of "new investors" who will waste colossal amounts of your time and gas while never closing on a deal.  You need to filter those out aggressively. 

Get proof of funds and/or pre-approvals from a lender - and not those garbage hard money POFs that the lender lets you print off from their website.  Those are a waste of toner.

Work hard for people who value your time, because for the most part, that's all you have.

Good luck!

Like most things in life, you get what you pay for.  If they are offering to list for 1.5% TOTAL, they're probably hoping to sell within their own brokerage so they might not have to pay a buyer's agent.  That's a really dumb way to go.

You need to ask them *exactly* what's covered by that fee.  I'll bet that there's no commission for a buyer's agent in there.  If that's the case, they will probably tell buyer's agents that they have to collect their fee from the buyer.  That's a strategy doomed to crash and burn.

Why? Well if you are a buyer's agent and one listing is telling you that there's no commission provided by the seller and there are several dozen other listings that are offering a more normal commission, which do you think you'll bring the buyer to?

Your listing will rot on the vine as all of the others around you sell.

You probably see the same ads on TV that I do.  A big discount broker claiming that they're not a discount brokerage.  As little as 2% commission - the key phrase being "as little as".

Don't try to reinvent the wheel.  Discount brokers simply cannot afford to do the same work with the same professionalism with the same services as those who aren't racing to the bottom of the barrel.

Budget for 5% or whatever is the usual in your area.  Make sure that both agents get paid for their work and you'll come out ahead.

Former Realtor here.  The first thing to consider is that the seller's agent is a fiduciary to the seller.  That means that they are legally obligated to put the seller's interest first.  They will be negotiating against you, not for you.

Next, the total commission is already set in the listing agreement.  It is unlikely that you can get the seller to forego part of their paycheck, just because you ask.  If I were the listing agent, I'd give you a quick, but polite "no".

A buyer's agent is going to be a fiduciary to you.  Like the seller's agent, they are legally obligated to represent their client - you.

Yes, you should expect them to run comps.  And don't fall for the automated tools that produce pretty charts and graphs - but know nothing of the interior condition.  I always ran mine manually and they took me a good 45 minutes to run them.

Your agent should know all of the disclosures that need to be completed and how to read them.  Then they should connect you with a good home inspector.  Then they should help you through negotiations and writing your offer.  Then they should help you to hit all of your deadlines.

There's a lot more to it than opening doors and cashing checks!

Good luck.

Whether you can negotiate depends on the language in your offer.  If you have an inspection contingency, you can negotiate to your heart's content.

If not, your options are to either buy the house or walk away and probably lose some or all of your EMD.

Bear in mind that you're not buying a new house.  Repair items are to be expected, but should be reflected in your offer price.

I'd expect anyone who is a laborer to charge by the hour - and that they'd expect to be paid when services are rendered.

Wouldn't you if your were performing hourly work?

Call your insurance agent and file a claim.  I just had a water claim that has ballooned into something MUCH bigger.

I'm a Ham Radio operator and paid a professional installer $4,600 to put a multi-thousand dollar antenna up for me.  They NEGLECTED to install a drip loop in the cables coming into the house, which is a pretty standard thing to do.

After a significant rain event, there was a lot of water intrusion into the house, damaging floors, ceilings (below) and a lot more.

We now have contractors ripping out walls, running HEPA filters, etc (and no doubt fortifying their invoices). 

All I can say is that living like this is no fun.  Use the insurance policy you've been (hopefully) paying for.

Wow.  This is a hard situation, but only one phrase comes to mind.  "Not my circus, not my monkeys".

This is NOT your problem.  Don't let them make it so.

It's not wrong, per se.  It might be ill advised though.

If you're not experienced in real estate, a buyer's agent could be a big help.

You need to contact the electric company to ask about the cost of getting power.  I'd talk with the town about whether a road is permitted and under what conditions.  If it's landlocked, that's a whole other problem.

Easement issues have to be clearly disclosed and if the seller's agent is not cooperating, there may be a reason why.  Maybe trying to hide something?

I'd try to find a strong buyer's agent - and not someone from the same office as the seller's agent.

Good luck!