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All Forum Posts by: Russell Brazil

Russell Brazil has started 176 posts and replied 16476 times.

Post: Negotiating EMD with Seller

Russell Brazil
Agent
ModeratorPosted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Washington, D.C.
  • Posts 17,273
  • Votes 29,798

The amount of the EMD only matters if you don't actually plan on closing.

Post: Purchasing a small Office Building

Russell Brazil
Agent
ModeratorPosted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Washington, D.C.
  • Posts 17,273
  • Votes 29,798

@Scott Trench Ive bought office spaces in the last few years as the market has collapsed in that sector.  The big thing Id be looking at is what the local vacancy rate is over the last 5 years. In my market, its over 20%.  So just go in eyes wide open that it is a risky sector right now. But thats also exactly why there are good deals in this sector.

Post: Joe Asamoah - Course Review

Russell Brazil
Agent
ModeratorPosted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Washington, D.C.
  • Posts 17,273
  • Votes 29,798

Joe is a good friend of mine. Top notch investor. I can't speak to the quality of his course though as I've never taken it. He's been a speaker at my real estate meetup many times, I've had him on my podcast. We invest in the same neighborhoods. Etc

Post: How U.S. can lower housing prices? And Could Trump look at Broker model as Broken?

Russell Brazil
Agent
ModeratorPosted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Washington, D.C.
  • Posts 17,273
  • Votes 29,798
Quote from @Jay Hinrichs:
Quote from @Jeff S.:

@Jay Hinrichs how about one stop shopping at Costco.

My other thought is that RE brokers should not cooperate with other brokers but sell their own listings for 3% and handle the financing. With prices what they are the commissions are huge. We used to do all the qualifying as agents, push the loan officers who didn't want to work to get the job done, give comps to the appraisers etc. etc. Now they write the offer and send it online. Too many people involved to do a relatively simple transaction.

@Russell Brazil  was 100% correct when he stated that the new commish rules were going to wean out the RE herd.. I see agents leaving the industry a lot right now.  Out here on the West coast the buyers brokers agreements were not nearly as common as back east and buyers out here are not familiar with them and are balking.. then sellers are balking at paying outside agent because of the laws Etc etc..  I know we are pushing back on the last 20 houses I have in Canby and agents are going nuts.. But hey when things were white hot a few years ago we lowered our BAC by 50% then as rate rose and sales got tougher we raised our BAC and now we are back to negotiating each one.. And I personally like it because now the commish is on the counter offers and the buyers have to see it and sign it.. This puts the agent in a pickle trying to explain why 10k is not enough commish and they should get 15K etc etc even though they have the buyers brokers agreement the buyer wants to use those extra dollars in our case for upgrades not to pay their agent.. 


 Just keep in mind for those high production agents....the builders who treat agents well, those agents treat the builders well right back. 

I work with one builder....every deal I close with them in a calendar year, the comission on each subsequent transaction goes up. 

Post: Selling portfolios of properties... use agents or loopnet or another strategy?

Russell Brazil
Agent
ModeratorPosted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Washington, D.C.
  • Posts 17,273
  • Votes 29,798

Im pretty sure you have to be an agent to list on Loopnet and Crexi. Both ask for my license numbers.  

Post: Realtor Lawsuit Settlement

Russell Brazil
Agent
ModeratorPosted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Washington, D.C.
  • Posts 17,273
  • Votes 29,798

As of right now, the estimated pay out per claim is about $8. I've filed the claims. Funny enough I'm a defendent and a claimant in the suits. I'm hoping that the money I receive as a claimant pays off what I owe as a defendent lol. 

Post: Pitbull Service Animal

Russell Brazil
Agent
ModeratorPosted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Washington, D.C.
  • Posts 17,273
  • Votes 29,798

Federal law. You can not charge anything extra for a service animal. No breed restrictions. Even breed restrictions imposed by local law do not apply to service animals. Prince Georges County MD loses a lawsuit on this about every 5 years or so because Pitbulls are illegal there. Federal government doesn't care. PG county gets hit with a large settlement bill every time.

Post: New to me - How to handle Buyer's agent now?

Russell Brazil
Agent
ModeratorPosted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Washington, D.C.
  • Posts 17,273
  • Votes 29,798

Sellers are still paying the agents at the same rate as they were before. It merely is includes in the offer now as opposed to being listed on the MLS.

There are pluses and minuses to this. Top tier agents are making out substantially better in the new system. Weak agents are washing out of the industry. (Which is also good for top tier agents) 

To the consumer, there are also pluses and minuses. The plus is less of the hobbyist and bad agents to deal with. The con is it is putting upward pressure on the cost of service.

Post: How U.S. can lower housing prices? And Could Trump look at Broker model as Broken?

Russell Brazil
Agent
ModeratorPosted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Washington, D.C.
  • Posts 17,273
  • Votes 29,798

Ive done A/B testing to see if going through my mortgage broker, or going directly to the bank would produce a better result. The mortgage on my personal residence I got a .25% lower rate from my broker than when I got the quote from the bank, with very similar fees.

Thats obviously not always the case.  But more options in the market I think is always better than less options. 

Post: Issues with Neighbors Upstairs - Management refuses to do ANYTHING. What can we do?

Russell Brazil
Agent
ModeratorPosted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Washington, D.C.
  • Posts 17,273
  • Votes 29,798

How about going upstairs, knocking on their door and having a neighborly conversation to start?