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Anybody can look up listings. And anybody can go directly to the selling agent to buy the house. It's not about negotiating a price, it's about making sure that

Anybody can look up listings. And anybody can go directly to the selling agent to buy the house. It's not about negotiating a price, it's about making sure that everything is legit with the transaction. Are you going to make sure that everything is properly filed? Are you going to keep on top of all the other people involved to make sure they're doing their jobs? Are you going to go through 4000 pages of legal paperwork? Are you going to ride the sellers' asses to make sure the sale closes, so you aren't stuck homeless after moving out of your old place? There's nothing stopping you from hiring a real estate lawyer instead of an agent. I'm sure he'll be happy to charge you by the hour. And also as the buyer, you don't typically pay anything to the agent.

tacomonstrous 8y ago
>Are you going to make sure that everything is properly filed? Yes, also that's what the attorney keeps track of. >Are you going to keep on top of all the other people involved to make sure they're doing their jobs? Yes, that's what I had to do anyway, even with an agent around. >Are you going to go through 4000 pages of legal paperwork? No, and neither does anyone else. >Are you going to ride the sellers' asses to make sure the sale closes, so you aren't stuck homeless after moving out of your old place? Sure, if I have to. >There's nothing stopping you from hiring a real estate lawyer instead of an agent. I'm sure he'll be happy to charge you by the hour. Depending on the state, you're required to hire an attorney in any case.
atwebb 8y ago
A slew of what you mentioned is the responsibility of the closing office and attorney. Your real estate agent is not our there verifying deeds, ownership interests, liens, titlework, or insurance. They have real estate attorney/title offices they generally work with, you always have a choice and generally the spend is the same. The best bang for your buck buying/selling is choosing a great closing office. Even boutique ones tend to be within a margin of cheap ones and their the people making sure everything will be smooth, from loan closing to property transfer.
WkndTriathlete 8y ago
Back in the day I did a FSBO with a real-estate lawyer who charged a grand total of $250 for a sale of $100,000. I'll take 0.25% overhead any day over 6%.
- asciident 8y ago
  Same, my real estate lawyer charged $350 flat fee. He used standard documents, private sale. He probably spent about 1 hour on it in total, and that was about it.
fma 8y ago
You don't pay anything to the agent, directly. Why do you think for sale buy owner homes are cheaper? The seller can knock off a few percentage points because they don't have the overhead of paying 6%.

tacomonstrous 8y ago

>Are you going to make sure that everything is properly filed? Yes, also that's what the attorney keeps track of. >Are you going to keep on top of all the other people involved to make sure they're doing their jobs? Yes, that's what I had to do anyway, even with an agent around. >Are you going to go through 4000 pages of legal paperwork? No, and neither does anyone else. >Are you going to ride the sellers' asses to make sure the sale closes, so you aren't stuck homeless after moving out of your old place? Sure, if I have to. >There's nothing stopping you from hiring a real estate lawyer instead of an agent. I'm sure he'll be happy to charge you by the hour. Depending on the state, you're required to hire an attorney in any case.

atwebb 8y ago

A slew of what you mentioned is the responsibility of the closing office and attorney. Your real estate agent is not our there verifying deeds, ownership interests, liens, titlework, or insurance. They have real estate attorney/title offices they generally work with, you always have a choice and generally the spend is the same. The best bang for your buck buying/selling is choosing a great closing office. Even boutique ones tend to be within a margin of cheap ones and their the people making sure everything will be smooth, from loan closing to property transfer.

WkndTriathlete 8y ago

Back in the day I did a FSBO with a real-estate lawyer who charged a grand total of $250 for a sale of $100,000. I'll take 0.25% overhead any day over 6%.

asciident 8y ago
Same, my real estate lawyer charged $350 flat fee. He used standard documents, private sale. He probably spent about 1 hour on it in total, and that was about it.

fma 8y ago

You don't pay anything to the agent, directly. Why do you think for sale buy owner homes are cheaper? The seller can knock off a few percentage points because they don't have the overhead of paying 6%.