All Forum Posts by: Josephine Wilson

I haven't yet heard back from Yvette about the passcode. Could you possibly DM it to me? Thank you!

@Account Closed Great response - thank you! I don't want to discount the work an agent does. I'm just trying to figure out how it works and why people do or do not use agents in certain situations. Great learning on here!

@Travis Biziorek Good points there. I'm on BP because I can do better in RE than in the bond fund. I'm a natural debater - that may be coming out! But I pretty much agree with you on all points. :-)

@Fred Cannon I know more now and think it's a B property, and also think I was slightly underestimating rents.

@Travis Biziorek Agree on all that. My point is just that if the yield on a bond fund (dividends/total invested) is 4% and the CoC is 4%, you are talking about equal investments in terms of income. You can find bond funds with yields of 4%.

@Travis Biziorek My calculation is off because I forgot my denominator changed during the year. So that aside, I want to say the apples-to-apples comparison is SEC yield to CoC. But I seem to recall earlier in this thread that you indicated it wasn't. I'm surprised not to be finding a discussion of these comparisons online.

@Travis Biziorek I'm not arguing with you, I'm just trying to square what you are saying with the fact that my bond funds throw off a decent amount of income every year and I don't have to lift a finger. Then again, it may seem like a lot because I think about it only at tax time when I have to pay the full income tax rate on them. 

...Okay, just checked and my bond funds threw off 2.2% in dividends and cap gains distributions in 2019. It does seem kind of lame. So I'm looking at (dividends+cap gains distributions)/total invested x 100. Is this the comparison with CoC? I'm not looking at appreciation at all. Don't hose me here; I know nothing about mutual funds aside from the tax loss/gain harvesting I do from time to time.

@David M. Thanks for sharing the relationship you had with that agent. That sounds ideal. I would be good with something like that.

@Jin Kim That's a great way to do it. Hopefully I'll get to that point.

@Nate Sanow I'd be happy to pay a wholesaler. I'd be happy to pay an agent who knew things or did things I couldn't do. I'm just struggling a bit with the concept of paying someone to do something I would prefer to do myself. But yes, if an agent brought me an off-market property, then definitely, I'm happy to pay the commission, because I couldn't have found that property myself. The scenario that gives me some trouble is one in which I find an MLS property and don't have an agent who can negotiate or anticipate issues better than I can. Then again, I'm only going by my limited previous experience with agents. Surely the right agent could change my mind.

@David M. Okay, yeah, I get what you are saying. 

I guess the buyer's agent can work if you really trust your agent, and if you find that person, they can be a powerful asset. 

@Jason Crittenden Good info - thank you. 

@David M. I just looked up those threads you mentioned about buyer's agents for investors. Yes, that is definitely resonating with me. Thanks for pointing me toward those. 

Regarding costs, it seems like a lot but then again, if I buy or sell just one $300K property per year, I am in the black. 

So...I'm not allowed to talk to the listing agent if I have representation?

@David M. Thanks for this very clear explanation of how this works. As you note, dual agency really means no one is working for you. So I'm pushed toward getting my own agent, but I dislike having information filtered through another person, especially someone whose interests don't exactly align with mine. I much prefer to talk directly to the listing agent, title agent, home inspector, etc. When I'm doing all that, it tends to lead to some conflict with my agent because they feel I don't trust them. They are correct; I don't trust them. But it sounds like there is no financial benefit to not working with an agent, so maybe I'm stuck with it. 

@Jason Crittenden Another great explanation here. I'm really better understanding the listing agent's "ownership" of the commission. I'm curious if you can share what the annual costs of being an agent in AZ are? It looks like about $1000 to get licensed and about $125 to renew the license annually but I'm thinking there have to be other costs. Is everything else broker-dependent?