Quote:

A firm no in using the same agent. By law, and unless your broker is morally ok compromising, he represents the seller's interest first and cannot give any undue advantage to you by you using the same broker.

My decision chart is something like this :

DO I KNOW THIS CITY PRETTY WELL INCLUDING ITS REAL ESTATE MARKET (JC or Anythign else) - YES OR NO


(A) YES
In this case, an agent is JUST filing papers and not providing any information. Moreover you dont need any information because you already know it inside out. Its funny when you go to an open house and the brokers themselves dont know the details about the building that you already know because of your research, which by the way no broker can do as well as you (try asking, when was this building built and how many owners it had, when was the last time assessment happened, how many units in the building, tax abatement, typical utility bills, are the furnishing standard or were there any renovation and try to get ABSOLUTE CONFIDENT answers not here and there)

(a) Preference is to go alone using a fsbo. This "buyer doesnt pay the broker, but the seller does" is absolute BS because the seller is going to take the call on his/her offers based on net proceeds to him/her, i.e. selling price - total brokerage. By avoiding your broker, your offer with the same price is around 3% higher to competitive offers that are coming through a broker. Knowing this, you can adjust your offer price as well.

(b) If you can't go solo on fsbo, try Redfin that give you at least some money for the closing cost + offers you an agent who can help with papers,etc (or you can negotiate with your own RE broker to get such rebate). Again you can do the papers yourselves, its pretty straightforward if you are good with documentation and have the right motivation, but if you cant go without an agent, try redfin.



(B) NO
(a) If you have time to know and research the area and its RE, do so and try to do FSBO or Redfin,

(b) If you can't, find a good reputed agent (independent of who is on the seller side) who knows the area well and has a good performance backing him/herself. See if you can negotiate some sort of rebate.

Pick local broker that offers a rebate. Or go with Redfin.

https://www.redfin.com/

A buyer agent will negotiate on your behalf, keep you in the loop on brand new and off market listings. They will also provide you with a comparative market analysis/comps which will help you to come up with a reasonable offer. They also understand the state of the current market and can offer insight as to what will help to win a bidding war. They can also recommend reputable and local lawyers, lenders, contractors and inspectors. They have your best interest at heart. If you go directly to the listing agent what is the benefit? The listing agent is looking out for the seller and has a signed agreement with the seller. Also any buyers' agent can process a bid on homepath on your behalf. They do all the work and facilitate the whole process at no cost to you.

I"ve seen discussion about this indirectly, but I wanted to start a thread about it. In JC do you have your own buyers agent or did you submit through the listing agent?
What about for homepath properties? I've called a homepath property before and the listing agent could not be gotton a hold of.
Some have said you get your offers favored if you go through the listing agent and I'm not opposed but I'm looking for the most effective way.