Ask for the MLS BROKER SYNOPSIS in advance

[Account Closed]

Ask your Buyer's Agent to email you a copy of the MLS BROKER SYNOPSIS before looking at any properties. 

This is different than the standard MLS sheet that buyer's agents send their buyers which hides information and populates the buyer's agent's info over this info instead.

The Broker Synopsis has very valuable information on it that the buyer/ borrower does not usually see unless it's shared with them.

It's helpful in many ways to view the Broker Synopsis, like being able to see the potential urgency to sell which can help the buyer gauge their offer as to when to make it and for how much  Buyers can gain an advantage knowing what the listing is paying in real estate commissions to both the Listing Agent AND what is offered to any Buyer's Agent as well as the amount of months left on the current listing, etc.  

If the seller is only paying the Listing Agent 2.5% or 2% or less, this could affect the offer.

If the seller is only offering buyer's agents 2.5% or 2%, even though the property may be the very best deal, many buyer agents will avoid showing them as they feel it does not pay them enough.

Do any BP Investors, who are not realtors, use this strategy?  

[Wayne Brooks]

@Brandon M.  Jump to conclusions much?

This client was paying me for knowledge, not necessarily the hours of labor involved.

We met at the courthouse where I was doing some research on a foreclosure and he was also.  Here, you had to go to the courthouse computers to view the actual filed documents in a civil case.  He leaned over to me to ask a question about two properties he was going to bid on that week.  

He asked about the first one, as it was confusing with originally recorded errors in the legal description (two half duplexes where the legal descriptions had been swapped at the original sale).  Took a while to figure out.

I asked him about the second one, which he had no concerns over, and it turned out to be a trap that not many would catch.  This was one of those cases where a 1st mtg filed foreclosure, the 2nd mtg intervened, and by some quirk in our system, the case continues But with the second mtg taking over the foreclosure on Their mtg But the Case name remains as the first mtg.  Anyone not reading the file would believe it was the first mtg still foreclosing.  He was about to make a $300k mistake.  I pointed that out, and he was of course grateful.

Later he asked me to find him a condo on the market, and we began the search.  We of course had a discussion about commissions up front, before I began searching. In fact I originally told him, when this 2% $580k condo popped up that the "bad news" was he'd need to kick in .5%, as 2.5% on that size is somewhat standard.  At closing He decided to make it 1%, still with lots of thanks for my work.

Yeah, he must have been upset with me....2 months later he came to me to buy a condo for his brother. I found an REO with a "special condition" that seems to scare others away but I see as a non issue opportunity. We bought that one, $125k, well under value, with no mention of commissions. A month or so later he insisted I come over to see what they had done with the place. He hands me an envelope with $2500 cash with a "thanks for the great work again".

I got invited to his personal condo house warming after he did a full "modern" renovation, and received glowing recommendations from him.  So yeah, I guess he was upset.

Any commission issues with buyers must always be discussed up front.  You have to decide how You choose to work with buyers and sellers, and what You think you are worth.  I've seen quite a few flat fee brokers listing properties with 1% commissions to buyer agents.

Perhaps you should team up with @Account Closed, if you haven't already...he seems to think agents should rebate 2/3 of the commission back to buyers.