All Forum Posts by: Christopher Thompson

No one in my network as used it yet - but I know they're expanding slowly and quietly, so there has to be an element of traction or longer term vision in mind for Glenn Kelman.  He was very bullish on Redfin Direct in Twitter Spaces the other day -- especially how it relates to the future of real estate transactions.

As a real estate brokerage ourselves (homsby) -- I think this is great for the consumer.  We've been in a world where it doesn't matter whether you're a first time home buyer or 5th time homebuyer, you go through the same process and pay the same fees.  There has to be a world where there are more options out there for the consumer/buyer to choose the level of service they want (full service, limited service, and self-service) and effectively get back part of the buyer agent commissions as a form of a refund -- or just have more leverage in the transaction because they aren't represented.

Thoughts?

@Peter Kozlowski If you know the market and know how to structure a strong offer, then you certainly can go without a buyers agent. I've done it both ways successfully (with and without).  And, while everyone says a you don't pay for a buyer's agent, that's not really true.  The agent commissions are baked into the purchase price of the home. 

If you're financing the home, you're financing the buyer/seller commissions -- just spread across 30 years.  If you're not using a buyer's agent, then you should be able to get the house at a lower price since the buyer agent commission should  be removed.   The problem is, you have listing agents push back and refuse to remove the buyer agent commission because they want to double end the deal.  IMO - this is morally wrong.  If a seller understood the situation more, they would push back and renegotiate the listing agreement for an unrepresented buyer.

---For example very rough math---

WITH BUYER AGENT
Purchase Price: $1,000,000
Buyer Agent Commission: $30,000
Listing Agent Commission: $30,000
-- Net to Seller: $940,000

WITHOUT BUYER AGENT
Purchase Price: $1,000,000
Buyer Agent Commission: $30,000
Listing Agent Commission: $30,000
-- Net to Seller: $970,000

As you can see, without a buyer agent commission, the seller nets more.  As a buyer, you can use this to your advantage as negotiation leverage.  Really, you should purchase the house closer to $970,000 vs. $1M

e.g. 

WITHOUT BUYER AGENT @ lower purchase price
Purchase Price: $970,000
Buyer Agent Commission: $30,000
Listing Agent Commission: $29,100
-- Net to Seller: $940,900 <--- seller still ends up netting $900 more

In the home I closed on in December, I didn't use a buyer's agent and negotiated directly with the listing agent.  We were in a multiple offer situation with all the other offers over asking.  I made an offer 10's of K under asking because I wasn't represented - and the listing agent agreed for my case the buyer agent commission wouldn't be included if my offer was accepted.  As a result, I paid a lot less than asking and the seller still ended up netting more money with my offer than the over asking offers.

As I mentioned above, I've also had other instances where the listing agent yelled at me because I wanted to represent myself.

At the end of the day, if you want to go at it on your own, show that you know what you're doing, build a good relationship with the listing agent and you really can save money representing yourself. 

Chris Thompson

Homsby.com

@Corby Goade very interesting, that comment really resonates with me.  you don't know what you don't know.  missed opportunities seems like a problem worth exploring. In your experience, could you bucket those missed opportunities to a couple of main categories? (offering a tad more to win out on the offer, requesting more credit for home inspection issues, etc.)

looking forward to it!

I've bought a number of places with and without an agent.  It's a bit misleading to say the buyer doesn't pay commissions.  The buyer is the one bringing the money to the table. If the buyer doesn't have an agent, then there shouldn't be any buy side commissions and you should be able to get the home at a 3% discount (roughly).  I've done this a number of times to my advantage and the closing statement never had a broker double ending the deal. I saved 10's of thousands of dollars in my most recent transaction and beat multiple offer situations in a hot COVID market.

Key to Success

* Get pre-approved to show your strength

* Contact the listing agent to open up the door to the property (they want to find as many qualified buyers as possible, so they don't care)

* Be direct upfront saying you aren't looking to be represented

* You can either write an addendum where your offer is predicated on no buyer agent fees (after all, it's negotiable), or you can attach a note to the seller that they shouldn't have to pay the fees, with summary of the strength of your offer.

It's actually very easy.  The purchase contract is extremely straightforward.  If you ever have a question, pay $50/$100 to ask a real estate attorney.

I sold my Austin property through Zillow "make me move" last year and it was a great experience.  As folks mentioned in the thread, I offered 3% for any buyer agent.  

When pricing the property, I did a lot of looking into the comps over the previous 90 days and priced my property 30k+ over any similar property in the area.  Had professional photos taken.  Sure enough, a couple contacted me (without a realtor) and made me a great offer.  Sold the place much higher than any comps + saved the 6% in agent fees.  

You do get a lot of calls that can get annoying, but nothing that you can't weather.  All it takes is finding the right buyer at the right time.  

Most markets right now are hot and it should be pretty easy to go the FSBO route. Just spend time doing comp analysis so you know your price, then stick to it.

thanks @Mark Pedroza

I've previously bought a home in Texas without an agent representing me.  I was able to download a purchase agreement online, complete it, and eventually close on the place.

I'm trying to do the same in CA, but the CA board or realtors / DRE doesn't provide easy access to download any forms.  Can someone provide guidance/suggestions on where I can download the CA purchase agreement, counteroffer form, and cancellation of agreement form?

yup @Curt Davis .  Like I said - I did my due diligence and found a little sweet spot in a generally much much nicer area. Logan Cv, Arlington 38002

@Curt Davis Yes, in Arlington there are good schools - look it up.  ranked 3rd and 6th in the state for elementary and high school.  Other realtors have differing opinions than you on the priority list there.

https://www.schooldigger.com/go/TN/schoolrank.aspx