Home buying thread

I got a care package from my real estate agent a month after I closed on my house. I wonder if it was more apologetic than anything else. Pretty sure it was since she did exactly nothing except collect a paycheck.

Are you married? If not, keep renting and keep your options open. Chances are when you find the person you want to marry, their work will be an hour commute from your home on the opposite side of town and you'll have to sell and move anyways. Or in my situation, they'll already own their own home and now you have to decide who is going to sell(pain in the butt)

If you're young and single, don't tie yourself down to a home.

Alternatively, buy an investment property. Then you don't have to worry about anything joeboo just mentioned.

Cad_sl said:

Real estate agents are completely useless if you are willing to learn how home buying works and the things you need to look for. Their only interest is in making sales, and just try to call them the day after closing and see if they take your call.

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I'm pretty versed in it. I have two homes already. But I thought an agent might shed some light on the market and the locale since I've been in town two weeks. Guess not.

joeboo_sl said:

Are you married? If not, keep renting and keep your options open. Chances are when you find the person you want to marry, their work will be an hour commute from your home on the opposite side of town and you'll have to sell and move anyways. Or in my situation, they'll already own their own home and now you have to decide who is going to sell(pain in the butt)



If you're young and single, don't tie yourself down to a home.

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Single but not married, not young either in my mid 40's now. I own two houses and need one where I actually work and live now. The other two are paid for and aren't going anywhere but I need an actual house to live in.

There are homes within 1/4 mile of the new office. Some are nice but I could use a little more land, also some of them are a little price at between $1 million and $3 million. But the 3 minute commute would be nice.

I could walk to work from them, which is odd considering they don't normally put the places I work at in the good parts of town.

Cad_sl said:

Real estate agents are completely useless if you are willing to learn how home buying works and the things you need to look for. Their only interest is in making sales, and just try to call them the day after closing and see if they take your call.

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My real estate agent gave me a $1,000 check at closing when I bought my house.

My Real Estate agent gave me a $250 home depot gift card. I was under the assumption he made around $5000 on our $265,000 house, but I could be wrong.

I'm going to have to side with Cad on this one, my last three agents royally fucked me without the courtesy for a reach around. I FSBO all of my properties now.

Yeah, talk about the most worthless middlemen. I can't believe the real estate agent business hasn't been overtaken by the internet yet. About the only thing mine did for me that I couldn't do myself was open the lockboxes so I could look inside houses.

I've never used an agent when I bought my two. One thing that pissed me off to no end was when my parents bought a house they moved to a new town in retirement. They used an agent and I went over to help them look. They gave VERY clear instructions on what they wanted. It had to have acreage, parking for at least 4 vehicles plus a travel trailer, a shop was preferable along with a host of other shit. Idealy they were looking for 5+ acres with a shop etc...

Dipshit lady showed them a town house with on street parking only and said they could rent out the other half to someone else. Yeah just what retired people need. We had gone in my vehicle and we left her there. For all I know she's still there.

They called to complain and talked to another agent there who said that dipshit did it all the time and she was the owner. The lady they talked to knew someone who had a house for sale or might be going up for sale shortly and put them in touch. It was exactly what they wanted and they bought it. They sent the lady a small tip for turning them onto the lady but bought it without an agent. The only thing she ever asked was don't tell the boss. Turns out she lived next door on acerage as well and didn't want someone the other lady might place there. Win/Win.

Realtors are mostly bored housewives who want a hobby to get them out of the house. Borzak how/where did you buy your properties because I believe (though not 100% certain) that in CT you have to have one in order to purchase. The claim being that realtors are professionals with the needed experience to protect consumer interest. Which of course is laughable.

TX and MS. That's what title companies are for. Don't need a real estate agent, which aren't the same as a realtor. Both do the same shit but a realtor just pays dues and an agent can't identiy themselves as a realtor unless they pay.

opiate82_sl said:

Yeah, talk about the most worthless middlemen. I can't believe the real estate agent business hasn't been overtaken by the internet yet. About the only thing mine did for me that I couldn't do myself was open the lockboxes so I could look inside houses.

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The problem is that the real estate brokers' lobby in the states is pretty powerful, and they have a stranglehold on the MLS. They've lost a couple of anti-trust lawsuits requiring them to provide MLS information to other companies, such as zillow, but with caveats that make the information almost useless (60 day delay providing new listings, limited sales information, etc.) Unfortunately, MLS is the most comprehensive source of local properties for sale, lease, and sold. As long as the brokers and their buddies that regulate them are the gatekeepers to that information expect agents to still be around sucking up 6% commissions.

Cad_sl said:

So they only pocketed the other tens of thousands for doing nothing?

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I guess. I didn't pay him anything so whatever.

Eyashusa_sl said:

I guess. I didn't pay him anything so whatever.

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Sure you did, 6% of the purchase price.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_rent

So opinions on home value comparing fresh remodels with comps? One neighborhood I'm looking at is right about at complete generational flip, built in the mid-late 80s. Lots of sales in the last 4 years, doing some basic searching looks like mostly retired people and newer-ish couples. The few HUD houses post 2007 have all been purchased to be flipped and completely redone to get them out of the community so there's nothing 'low-rent' there and this house seems to be the last, was bought up 1.5 years ago and completely gutted/redone - not as-is though so I'd have full disclosure. Drove through it today, seemed decent, some pride in ownership and none of the usual signs of neglect save for maybe the one old dude emptying his house presumably to resell. Was around end of school time so there was a bit of activity from kids in the area, maybe middle school, so didn't seem that geriatric overall.

That said, the comps are 15-20K lower than the house I'm looking at. This particular house is redone inside and out with granite, high end kitchen appliances in stainless, new roof/ac/etc. so it may be worth it. On the other hand, buying the cheapest house in an area is smart money, buying one of the most expensive ones...

I expect to be able to cut the asking price down more than usual since it's 'retail' instead of market value, house has been up for 24 days already and is approaching ADOM for the area so may have to deal with an obstinate seller who wants full RoI on dumping new parts into an old vehicle.

Thoughts? Seems better to buy into the churn than go a few blocks away on the other side of the freeway where there are a few decent houses but seems like owners keep letting stuff slip - looks like a lot of retirees there as well. Problem is, could easily turn into cheap housing depending on when/how they leave which will ruin the area for a generation, so I am sort of wary of that area.

None of those amenities matter if they do not match the neighborhood. If all comps in area are 15-20k lower then that's what you should offer (if you really want the place). People don't realize this but Granite is one of the cheapest counter top materials you can buy, it doesn't raise property values at all. None of the things you mentioned do. You're talking about MAYBE 3k extra in appliances/amenities and it sounds like those amenities don't fit in the neighborhood based on comp prices (or the seller is overvaluing the house).