choosing the right Realtor

[Irulan]

I bought mine for $119,000 three years ago and I paid $20k too much. All depends on where you live.

What she said. All depends on where you live and the local economy. Our City hasn't busted like Phx or Las Vegas, but it never boomed either.

"Nice" homes in our area are less than started homes in other places I know of.

[Crankin]

We never had the bust that Phx had, either. My old house in Tempe is now valued at 300K, and at one point it was at 675K. I can tell you that it is not worth 675. It's nice and in a nice area, but... people got greedy. The last 2 times I was back there (I almost said "home"), every other home had a for sale or foreclosure sign. That's what happens when you build a zillion homes, ruin the desert, and never think of the consequences. So having a limited amount of land to build here in MA helps. We had a boom, but prices have not fallen as much. Basically, they fell the most in towns where they never should have been that high to begin with. I've seen a lot of "sold" signs here, lately.
As far as prices, sure there's a regional difference. Some of you have homes that cost less than the above mentioned house I had in AZ, which I bought in 1981! So I won't mention the prices in MA. It all becomes normal when you are used to it.

[badger]

ok, so I saw both of them. Based on my first impression, I liked the first realtor better, simply because she was more professional. I liked the second one, too, I think she will work hard.

Having met both of them, is it wrong for me to go out with both of them to look at places, or is that somehow "using" one that I will eventually not work with?

Also, are the fees/commissions negotiable? The second one was a fraction "cheaper". If I like them equally, it may be that I might just go with the cheaper one.

[shootingstar]

I did negotiate for a tiny bit less commission for my agent when I sold in Toronto. Have you asked them to summarize a few of their clients and how they meant their needs.
Try not to spend too much time "trialing" them. Otherwise it might piss them off, it's their time.

I found out in the course of conversation where my agent me told all sorts of stories:

*people with strong biases against "foreign" looking people as their neighbours. Clients would check the condo directory of non-Anglo-European sounding names. No kiddin'. My agent was Caucasian. And this is in --Toronto. So cosmopolitan cities have their pockets of problems.

*she had a blind client who wanted to buy! So she did go for a walk with the client to help client sense her neighbourhood...very interesting...

*as a female agent, she made sure she was never alone in an empty home with a male. Some agents have been assaulted/ threatened. Think, some aggressive agents feature their photo as part of their biz, right?


The agent that sold latest place to me, was actually selling new units for his client, a company because the developer foreclosed on our building which meant it went into receivership/bankruptcy.

So I got a deal, but not exactly very cheap. Mortgage time..again. But I enjoy my abode.

[jessmarimba]

(off-topic, but there are a few cities - like in Oklahoma - where it's difficult to find an average house OVER 130K. But I would presume that if I lived somewhere more expensive, I would have to be paid more to compensate. I was also willing to put some work into a house).

You can pretty much negotiate everything with realtors. But as soon as mine really started doing work with me, I had to sign a contract that I would buy from her, provided I was able to find something within 6 months (or something like that). She was weird. Quirky. And I missed out on one house up the street because she was on vacation. But she was great for what I needed her for - we had similar tastes, and I had spoken with so many realtors who kept telling me where I couldn't live (and were bordering on racism against many of the lower priced areas) and that my price range was impossible...which it wasn't.

I like my neighborhood. Especially now that the crazy people next door have moved out.