Im making an offer on Real Estate and need help/experience...

[arthurthedented]

Sellers agents are all very friendly and 'in your corner' etc..but I assume its traditional and SMART to have someone beholden to ME in the process who knows hows this goes...  is that an agent? a broker? a real estate attorney? and does anyone know a good one

Comments

[throm]

Do it yourself and save the money - all you need is a good house inspector. In so long as the person who is working for you is paid on commision they have no incentive to get you the lowest price.

my buyer's agent is

[sheilagh]

a good hearted guy, got a kick out of getting lowest prices for me, since he gets the 3% that the selling agent would otherwise get (6% set aside, standard, with 3% to selling agent and the selling agent also gets the other 3% if there isn't a buying agent), and came to me from a friend who felt similarly well supported by Dan. His business model is to help each buyer as much as possible with lowest costs and ensuring they're not getting screwed on the deal because we definitely send him more people, who will also benefit from his help

[polydad]

Law varies extensively from state to state, and NJ is the only state I've bought property in. Given that caveat

[throm]

Most house purchases in Texas use a standard boiler plate contract that can be printed out from any number of web sites. My experience has been that lawyers are not usually part of the real estate transaction unless it is a large/complex purchase.

I completely agree that by doing your own homework you can get all the info the real estate agent provides. Tax information is on the web as well as school and crime data. The tax apprasial information is searchable by address or name (By county).

[42itous]

It varies widely by geographical area, but in Massachusetts we have (although they are quite rare even here) "exclusive buyers' agents" -- we used one in buying our condo, and it was really nice to know that there wouldn't be any problems with dual agency.

[nightshaderose]

Cynthia Riley
http://www.rocketsciencerealty.com/

She was our agent when we bought the condo (and went through all those *crazy* sellers) and we Love her. She'll also say up front if you don't really need her services. If you do call, tell her "hi" from me and JP.

[gailmom]

In Texas, in my experience, you want a buyer's agent if you are still searching, simply because they have access to things you don't, and won't be as likely to try to limit you to seeing things they are selling.

If you have your property picked out, you just need a good home inspector and pest/termite inspector. One does not substitute for the other, btw. Pay for both. Everything else you can learn online and use the seller's agent for, since the contracts are fairly standard.

Don't be afraid to ask questions, don't be so eager you skip inspections, and don't sign anything you don't understand.

Good luck!