As many of you know John and I have been in the house hunting market for about a year. This is no longer a fun endeavour for me but more like a chore. John and I have been working with a realtor for the past 4 months, I have never been happy with him. He is good at being a realtor he is just not good at helping me feel at peace. During this adventure I felt a lot of pressure to find my dream home in the first 20 houses we looked at. If anyone knows me you know that I like to shop around a lot, that is why we have been looking for a home for so long. Our realtor and I finally had it out, I told him that if he didn't like the way I shop I will look for someone else to work with or do it myself, I enjoy doing things myself I feel like I have more of a say in it. Anyway John and I were looking on the MLS Saturday and found some homes that we liked so Sunday we took a drive and peeked in windows and climbed fences into backyards. We found a couple of homes that we really liked and Monday I called on them. Home #1 is under contract, #2 is no longer for sale it is now a rental #3 is beautifully remodeled and built in 1958. I love older homes that have been remodeled, they feel like home to me. The kitchen has all new appliances and granite counter tops, there is a pool and all new everything. I love it. Quick thought how much does remodleing cost? It has to be a lot. Anyway we will take home #3.
We happen to sort of know the owners Mark and Tiffany Flake. About 15 or so years ago Mark Flake came to my parents house to pick my older sister up for a hot date. Anyway they are discounting the price by a few thousand dollars since we aren't using a realtor so I am taking the discount. I really feel bad about ditching Scott he did take us to look at over 100 houses. I feel kind of sick that I am just leaving him out in the cold, I never really liked him and the only reason I stuck with him was because I felt guilty about all the work he had done.
Now for the rest of the story, OK so there really isn't a rest of the story I just needed a way to transition from what I was saying to the real reason for my post, my questions.
Has anyone purchased a home without a realtor and if you have what do I need to be aware of? What do you wish someone had told you before you took the plunge?
What papers do I need? What is a good earnest deposit?
And finally, How do I dump the realtor?
Stay tuned for my Adventures in Dating (after marriage).
Ooohh, Becca! This is exciting, but I wouldn't recommend doing it without a realtor. A co-worker of mine is in the process of selling his house and buying a new one without a realtor and he has had a lot of problems. Mostly because he sold his house to a sketchy Russian lady, but nonetheless it's been hairy for him. You could probably talk to Ben Frei. He does mortgages, but he might be helpful. I can talk to my co-worker and see if he can give you any pointers.
ReplyDeleteI never bought without a realtor, but we did sell our house when we moved out here without one, though. We did have a friend who helped us out with the paperwork. I'll think on that!
ReplyDeleteHi Becca, you said you found the house in the MLS book. If this is true then there is a listing agent. Listing agetsn will get a full commission even if you do not have a Realtor representing you. If your previous Realtor did not show you the house at any time, he is not entitled to part of the commission. I would recommend you have the listing agent do the paperwork for you. It the the sellers responsibilty to see if the
ReplyDeletelisting agent will take a smaller
commission.
Ernest money amounts are something that are agreed on by the seller and buyer. If they do not think it is large enough, they need to make a counter offer. It is an encourgement for you to go through with the purchase.
For a realtor to truly do his job he needs to be able to tell you if the house is over priced, fill out the paperwork for you and help find financing options.
A personal note. I sold houses for
a couple of years. I switched to
selling investmentments for
one reason. I did not have to drive around on weekends entertaining bored people. Your Realtor does not appear to know how to discover the kind house someone is interesed in or he would have found a house for you by 20 houses.
If you beleive that he does know
the paperwork, is looking after your interests, knows financing, then he has earned the right to share the commision the listing agent will get get all of the commision if your is not involved. The full commion will be paid regardless of how many agents are involved.
Good luck, glad you found what you are looking for.
bruce