Trust My Realtor??

Question

My realtor says that I should pay asking price on the house I want and when I mentioned seeing if the seller would pay closing costs she acted like that was too much to ask. Does she make more money If I pay full price or something? Can I trust her advice? The house is for $69,900 (1st home) How much would closing costs be??? My rate is 6.375% Who can I trust and how can I cut down the closing costs?????

Answer 1

Your realtor makes a commission on the selling price, so obviously the higher she can get you to bid, the better her commission. Do you know if she is also the listing agent? If so, this means she also works for the seller,too, not only you. In most cases, although this should have been disclosed to you before you started working with this realtor, when this is the case. . .the buyer (you) gets the raw end of the deal. You're unable to get all of the information you may need to make an informed decision/offer. Why? Because her role is to help the seller first and then you.
Closing costs will run you around $1500-$2000 on your home. In an effort to cut them down, ask that closing be at the END of the month. Interest is calculated on the number of days left within the month you are closing. If you close on the 5th. . .you'll pay a daily interest charge on each remaining day of the month, if you close on the 30th. . .you've just eliminated this cost.
Sounds to me like you may need to find another realtor. I hope this helps you.

Answer 2

You should ask the realtor why she says or implies this is too much to ask. If the realtor's answer is something like "this house is already listed at less than it's worth and there are 2 other offers in on it" then it's totally legitimate for the realtor to give you this advice--- the seller might reject your offer and move on to the next bid, where they don't have to come out of pocket to make the sale.

An alternative is to see if the seller will consider a slightly higher sale price, which would cover the closing costs. Instead of $69,900 you pay $77,000 (or whatever) to the seller, and the seller takes what's over and above their asking price and uses that to cover closing. You still pay the closing because your mortgage now includes it, but you don't have to come up with it in one shot.

Answer 3

Sounds like your realtor has not done the basics here.

Has she provided you with the ten latest comps for the neighborhood for similar homes? I don't mean homes that sold last spring. You want her to show you the last ten within the past few weeks.

Tell her you do not want to pay more for the same home. If she can produce the comps (comparable sales), then there is one reason she may be telling you to offer asking.

Now, if she tells you that the reason is because the seller agent has told her that there is another offer on the house, ask to see it.

Also, regardless of the comps, lowballing is becoming quite common currently. Remember, you can always go up, but once you do the full bid, you're dead in the water.

Your agent should NEVER act like anything is too much too ask, because it is her job to negotiate for you.

After you have seen comps, then decide what to bid. Then ask her to include the seller pays closing costs. Finally, tell her you'd like to see in writing the bid prior to her doing it. If she says one negative thing about any of this, do yourself a favor and get a new agent.

Good luck.

Answer 4

Unless you are in an extremely hot market area ( I don't think so at 69 000) or there is more than 1 registered offer on the property you should be able to purchase for 3-5000 under list...this is very common in the industry.
Also you should have whats known as a buyer broker ( an agent that is representing you and your interests only )...again very common.
However the most important thing here is that you are questioning your relationship with your Realtor already ! This is a lengthy process that has hardly begun as yet...it is imperative that you feel comfortable with your Realtor. Good luck - you might want to consider a different Realtor ?

Answer 5

Yes, she makes more money if the sale price is higher, but it's not a lot; they make 3-4% of the price.

However, it's rare that the seller will pay closing costs, unless they're really motivated to sell quickly.

If you're unhappy with your realtor's advice, you could speak with another one.

Answer 6

First your realtor should work for you. If they are not willing to take a valid offer to someone on a house, the I would select another realor. They may be the selling agent on the house, but this should be part of standard disclosure. If they have tried to bring other offers this should also be part of the record. If you are getting a standard contract FHA home the closing costs are different than with a bank.
Try this web site it can not hurt.

Answer 7

Find another Realtor now. She may be listing the house for the other person. If you don't trust her don't use her. Good luck.
You can look at the National Association of Realtors for info as well.

Answer 8

Realtors are right up there (or, rather DOWN there) with lawyers and used car salesmen. Most are ignorant scum and YES, the more the home sells for, the more they get. Call the mortgage company for any questions about closing, down payment, etc. After all, they are the ones that handle the money.

Answer 9

Where on earth are you that you can buy a house for $69,900? Forget the realtor, I'd not trust the house at that price!

Answer 10

Yes, she makes more money the higher price it sells for.

Sounds more like she's working for the seller, to me. I don't know about your current local market, but anyone who doesn't try to negotiate for you isn't representing your interests very well, is she?

I am always angry when my buyer's first offer is accepted, because that means I could have done better for them.