Ask a Realtor anything

[davepratt]

Re: Ask a Realtor anything

A quick question: if we sign a one lease on an apartment for a year, and we get stuck with the house if buyer doesn't close, could the one year worth of rent be claimed as our losses, and claimed against the deposit ?

My guess is yes as those seem to be legitimate losses but only a lawyer can give you the legal answer.

[veryold]

Re: Ask a Realtor anything

My guess is yes as those seem to be legitimate losses but only a lawyer can give you the legal answer.

understood, and thanks for the tip. we r seeing the lawyer tomorrow and will discuss it.
cheers !

[Fore Warned]

Re: Ask a Realtor anything

A listing is available to other realtors on their MLS site immediately after it's loaded. If I'm not mistaken, the public sites like MLS.ca are updated overnight. If you are working with an agent, ask them to set you up on a new MLS app that allows you to customize your own searches, save them and get the listings at the same time your realtor would. It's quite good. It's called Collaborate.

So...have an agent coming to our house tomorrow to give us a sense of what our house might go for and for advice on marketing and getting it ready.

She is a neighbour and acquaintance. We bought our existing place through her and she also sold my MOL's place, so we are familiar with her and trust her.

Our plans to downsize to a condo are not urgent and we have a long list of boxes we would like checked off. It all depends on finding the "perfect" place and if one does not come up for a year or so, that's OK with us.

Will ask for her to set us up with Collab, as recommended by the experts here. At this point, there is no expectation that anything be signed in the way of agreements. We just want to be ready to move on things if something comes up.

Our house is in great shape, has great curb appeal and in a desirable area. A friend who is a legal secretary in a real estate law firm says the agent probably already has a couple of clients who have expressed interest in our area, so we should expect and ask for big money. We'll see. Just don't want to get squeezed with a good offer if we have not found the right place to move into. We prefer to have this driven by our finding the right place before we initiate a sale.

My rationale for getting my own agent in on the buying end is to get the best advice possible on a prospective purchase and putting together the best possible competitive offer.

Question; if we come across a MLS listing for a condo that might be of interest, what are our obligations to the listing agent if we go and take a look? Do we invoke a mandatory relationship with the listing agent if we don’t go with our own purchasing agent? Should we always advise our (prospective) buyer agent?

What is the proper protocol in this kind of circumstance? I don’t want to inadvertently cut out our person, even if she is not formally signed up yet.

Thanks.

[Cdncombatmedic]

Re: Ask a Realtor anything

We ended up buying a new build in Brandon MB. The builder wanted an excessive amount to finnish the basement. My realtor agreed with me so we didn't do it.

The we have slightly under 1600sq feet , 3 bedroom and 2 baths so we really don't need the finished basement space for just the two of us.

We are most likely only going to be in the house for about 5 years before we are moved by the military again.

Im not so eager to spend the money on the basement since we don't need it and it will potentially allow new buyers the imagination to what they want. Selling feature maybe, don't know.

So far I have spent my money on nice custom blinds, under cabinet kitchen lighting, back splash , and installation of a laundry tub. My next priority is the privacy fence hoping to split with the other neighbours. I want to do some nice landscaping in the spring

Thoughts on my train of thought.

[davepratt]

Re: Ask a Realtor anything

So...have an agent coming to our house tomorrow to give us a sense of what our house might go for and for advice on marketing and getting it ready.

She is a neighbour and acquaintance. We bought our existing place through her and she also sold my MOL's place, so we are familiar with her and trust her.

Our plans to downsize to a condo are not urgent and we have a long list of boxes we would like checked off. It all depends on finding the "perfect" place and if one does not come up for a year or so, that's OK with us.

Will ask for her to set us up with Collab, as recommended by the experts here. At this point, there is no expectation that anything be signed in the way of agreements. We just want to be ready to move on things if something comes up.

Our house is in great shape, has great curb appeal and in a desirable area. A friend who is a legal secretary in a real estate law firm says the agent probably already has a couple of clients who have expressed interest in our area, so we should expect and ask for big money. We'll see. Just don't want to get squeezed with a good offer if we have not found the right place to move into. We prefer to have this driven by our finding the right place before we initiate a sale.

My rationale for getting my own agent in on the buying end is to get the best advice possible on a prospective purchase and putting together the best possible competitive offer.

Question; if we come across a MLS listing for a condo that might be of interest, what are our obligations to the listing agent if we go and take a look? Do we invoke a mandatory relationship with the listing agent if we don’t go with our own purchasing agent? Should we always advise our (prospective) buyer agent?

What is the proper protocol in this kind of circumstance? I don’t want to inadvertently cut out our person, even if she is not formally signed up yet.

Thanks.

The listing agent would probably be annoyed. You are basically using them to do the work that your agent should be doing and then letting your agent get the commission. This is one of the reasons some agents demand you sign a buyer agency agreement before they show you homes. What's the issue with regard to your agent not showing you the homes?

[Frorose]

Re: Ask a Realtor anything

The listing agent would probably be annoyed. You are basically using them to do the work that your agent should be doing and then letting your agent get the commission. This is one of the reasons some agents demand you sign a buyer agency agreement before they show you homes. What's the issue with regard to your agent not showing you the homes?

This. The agent you want to use whether under contract or not can show you the unit. Why not just call her/him?

[Fore Warned]

Re: Ask a Realtor anything

The listing agent would probably be annoyed. You are basically using them to do the work that your agent should be doing and then letting your agent get the commission. This is one of the reasons some agents demand you sign a buyer agency agreement before they show you homes. What's the issue with regard to your agent not showing you the homes?

This. The agent you want to use whether under contract or not can show you the unit. Why not just call her/him?

Thanks. No issue at all with going through our agent. Just wanted to know what was the norm. We have already been to a few places, but now with an agent, it will be a different matter.

[veryold]

Re: Ask a Realtor anything

sorry if this was mentioned, but can an individual and private citizen, buy a property, listed by a selling agent ? And if yes, would the customary 2.5% or whatever to the selling agent be only commission applicable in this case ?
many thanks and cheers.

[davepratt]

Re: Ask a Realtor anything

sorry if this was mentioned, but can an individual and private citizen, buy a property, listed by a selling agent ? And if yes, would the customary 2.5% or whatever to the selling agent be only commission applicable in this case ?
many thanks and cheers.

That depends on the deal the listing agent has with the seller. I always give the seller a break on the commission if I also bring the buyer.

[veryold]

Re: Ask a Realtor anything

That depends on the deal the listing agent has with the seller. I always give the seller a break on the commission if I also bring the buyer.

sorry, just a bit confused here (my usual state of mind as i advance in my 70ies, lol): the seller has the legal right to prevent an individual, private citizen without an agent, from buying a property listed by a seller's agent ?

[Frorose]

Re: Ask a Realtor anything

Thanks. No issue at all with going through our agent. Just wanted to know what was the norm. We have already been to a few places, but now with an agent, it will be a different matter.

If you are going to open houses, no biggie, just let the agent on duty know you are represented and it's cool. (at least it is for me) I pretty much give them the same overview and then tell them if they are interested to have their agent contact me.

[Frorose]

Re: Ask a Realtor anything

sorry, just a bit confused here (my usual state of mind as i advance in my 70ies, lol): the seller has the legal right to prevent an individual, private citizen without an agent, from buying a property listed by a seller's agent ?

Are you asking if a private citizen can bring an offer without any representation at all?




Yes, they can. Not advisable but yes.

You as the seller can reject any offer for whatever reason you choose. (you can't really stop them from making an offer but you can reject it)

[Slickstick78]

Re: Ask a Realtor anything

The wife and I bought a new build down the street from us 2 years ago and it is almost ready. The closing date has been bumped twice and the current date is scheduled for mid-July. I am forecasting a bridge for a few weeks so I can make my own modifications to the new house before we move in. As is stands we are not committed to an agent but we have had a few in for ‘interviews’ recently.

1. Knowing our tentative closing date on the new house, when would be the right time to list?
2. Seeing how easy homes are selling (in general), what would be the right approach? List Tuesday, open house Saturday and Sunday, offers on Sunday/Monday?
3. What is the typical closing schedule; 30, 60, 90 or 120 days?
4. How many agents should I interview before I finally commit?
5. What is the going rate of commission and what would be the right approach to negotiate the best commission?

Slight curve ball in the equation, we are expecting our 2nd child on April 29th.

Thanks in advance.

[veryold]

Re: Ask a Realtor anything

Are you asking if a private citizen can bring an offer without any representation at all?
Yes, they can. Not advisable but yes.
You as the seller can reject any offer for whatever reason you choose. (you can't really stop them from making an offer but you can reject it)

crystal clear, thanks
how about commission question, if seller accepts the private offer ?

[davepratt]

Re: Ask a Realtor anything

The wife and I bought a new build down the street from us 2 years ago and it is almost ready. The closing date has been bumped twice and the current date is scheduled for mid-July. I am forecasting a bridge for a few weeks so I can make my own modifications to the new house before we move in. As is stands we are not committed to an agent but we have had a few in for ‘interviews’ recently.

1. Knowing our tentative closing date on the new house, when would be the right time to list?
2. Seeing how easy homes are selling (in general), what would be the right approach? List Tuesday, open house Saturday and Sunday, offers on Sunday/Monday?
3. What is the typical closing schedule; 30, 60, 90 or 120 days?
4. How many agents should I interview before I finally commit?
5. What is the going rate of commission and what would be the right approach to negotiate the best commission?

Slight curve ball in the equation, we are expecting our 2nd child on April 29th.

Thanks in advance.

1. How confident are you that the builder won't move the date again? It happens all the time and it bugs me that builders can do this with impunity. That said, I'd list in April and because it's a seller's market right now, you may be able to include a clause that allows you to delay the closing date by some specified number of days.
2. I like to list on Mondays ( ensuring everything is ready IE: virtual tour, photos, feature sheets etc.) and accept offers the following Monday. As discussed earlier, open houses have virtually no value except to promote the listing agent in spite of what you are told.
3. I'd say typical is around 60 days.
4. 3 agents is typical unless you call me and then then 1 will suffice.(LOL). Seriously though you will hear more baloney from agents during listing presentations that has nothing to do with the price of tea in China. Ask me to clear up any muddy claims
5. Commissions are all over the board but certainly no more than a total of 5% and frankly 4.5% is the max I'd pay in this market. Pay particular attention to how much your agent is paying the cooperating agent on your listing agreement so that any lower amount is not being taken from a selling agent.
Congrats on your upcoming addition to your family. David is always a good name for a boy!