Real Estate

How can I buy a condo from someone without a realtor?

I am thinking to buy a condo from my friend’s classmate’s girlfriend. She owns the condo. Can we handle the whole purchase process all by ourselves without a realtor? How can we do that? What should we do ? what’s the procedure ? Or we have to find a realtor ?

Thanks a lot! Praying for Haiti!

Two things:

1) Why would you not want to use a realtor? There’s no charge to you, the buyer. All costs are paid by the seller. You will need a real estate attorney otherwise, if doing a transaction by owner. The seller should definitely pay those costs, because they will be far less than real estate commission if using a realtor.

2) More importantly, why in the world would you want a condo? Do you have any idea what you’re buying (or not buying) when you buy a condo? In a nutshell, you’re just buying air. You don’t own one wall or any part of your unit of the building. You only own the space inside the unit. Yet you will still be liable for property taxes. That’s right, you’re paying property taxes when you don’t own any real property or anything tangible. In addition, you’re paying a monthly association fee that can be as much as $200 a month, something you wouldn’t have if you bought a house. That $200 a month is much more than it would cost you to hire lawn/snow maintenance for your house. I would advise you to reconsider any condo purchase, and seriously look into buying a house. There are plenty of good deals on houses out there in this market.

What would be considered a reasonable time for a realtor to respond to your questions on a house and to set up a time to go look at them?
Glenn… You obviously didn’t read the question or the answers. I had asked if my realtor was taking to long and now I want to know what I should expect from a realtor. Why bother answering if you don’t have anything constructive to add.

It really depends on who is listing the home and if they are answering the phone. If your real estate agent calls the listing agent with questions and to get a lock box code, and the listing agent does not respond, they won’t have any info for you. Out of courtesy, they should call you to let you know what’s going on within the hour if there is a contact issue.

I am looking to buy a home (my first). My sister just said something about "signing a contract with the realtor" however the realtor I’ve been in communication with hasn’t brought that up. Does one always sign a contract with a realtor? What does it cover? For whose benefit is this, mine or the realtor’s? Is this common practice?

I’d like to get some background information on it before discussing it with my realtor, if I can ascertain that this is a valid, common practice,

Why would he not have mentioned this contract to me before?

It is more and more common, but not at all typical for a buyer’s agent to have a buyer sign a "Buyer’s Broker Agreement". The contract basically says that if you buy real estate in the next "X" months you agree to do it through thte agent so they can make a commission. Since you are committing to them then they will commit to you and spend hours and hours running around and showing you all kinds of property.

I have been working with buyers for over 10 years and have never asked someone to sign one. I think that it suits me better to develop a relationship with my clients. I have not had a problem with clients leaving me – but that may be an issue for other agents. Some agents use these agreements only for those clients they "get a feeling about" in order to avoid getting taken advantage of.

Case in point: my fiance and I are preapproved for a mortgage of "X-amount". I’m pretty savvy when it comes to finances, but I’m having a hard time finding homes which are suitable for our needs. Should I bite the bullet and pay a realtor to help me find our dream home? Or just keep searching on my own and save the realtor fees?
Case in point: my fiance and I are preapproved for a mortgage of "X-amount". I’m pretty savvy when it comes to finances, but I’m having a hard time finding homes which are suitable for our needs. Should I bite the bullet and pay a realtor to help me find our dream home? Or just keep searching on my own and save the realtor fees?

As for the cost of inspection, I’m not sure if the seller pays for it or not. I know that the third party fees include: appraisal, title, inspection, recording fees, taxes, and I think surveys too. I’m not 100% sure who pays for all of these, I’m just going to assume the buyer does so that I’m not guessing my cost too low.

Unless you plan to build, I’d use a Realtor. Fees can always be negotiated, and a good realtor can take care of negotiating away some of the detail fees you mention above.

You need to interview realtors to find out if they WANT the job – many will simply go through the motions. Since I’m not in the biz, and don’t know where you live, let me put an ethical, hardworking realtor’s email below – he’ll take the time to answer your concerns, and if you like, he can refer you to someone in your area – for you to audit. Always stay in control, and NEVER sign agreements with realtors – you can always find another one, and eventually, you’ll find a good one that won’t push you for contracts.

If you want to build, skip the realtor and get a lawyer instead.

I am an currently an investor in Minnesota and wouldn’t like to necessarily be an active realtor but there are some advantages that I would like to have such as MLS access to review comps. It is my understanding that I would need a company to "hang my hat" to gain access to the MLS. Also, can anyone recommend a company that has lower fees?

If you’re an investor and your sole reason for being a realtor is so you have access to MLS, I suggest you ask around for the CHEAPEST real estate brokerage out there. There are some brokerages that only charge you like $100-200/month for being licensed under them. Simply ask around or do your own research because there are plenty of "discount" brokerages out there.

You are aware that there are also mandatory licensing fees and compulsory courses after licensing etc etc which could get you in the thousands.

MLS www.mls.com

My dad sold my childhood house last summer… I miss that house so much. Lived there 20 years and I have vowed to buy it if/when it goes on the market.. In the crunch of moving I didn’t get to take any pictures of the house… but, it was listed on realtor websites and had pictures. I’ve emailed our relator to see if she might still have the pictures (she’s a good family friend)…. I’ve found info on my house but no pictures… I know they were on the web once and I need to find them! Any suggestions? Sounds silly, yes… but, it’s very important to me. By the way, I lived in Bucks County, PA… if that helps nailing it down as to where to look. Thanks for the help!!
I’ve looked at google street and it’s not on there I have outside pictures of my house… I’m looking for inside pictures that relators took. I saw them online when my house still wasn’t sold… I just wasn’t sure if they had a site where you could access sold houses, etc.

Yup, the MLS.

My spouse and I are looking to buy a house and we were wondering if we really needed a realtor to purchase a house? I’ve read on a few websites that we can use a lawyer when it comes to writing up the offer and just wanted to double check, as we are first time home buyers.

Get a realtor! You as the buyer get 100% of their services free! Seller pays all realtor fees for both agents.

Suppose a single male realtor shows a house, and discovers that the house had been shown recently by an attractive female realtor, as evidenced by the picture on the business card that she left on the countertop. Would it be inappropriate for him to contact her (like by email) and ask her if she’s single?

Unprofessional.

Also the vast majority are married, the only way to afford to work unpaid.

You are also obviously new. Soon you will realize those women tend to use 20 year old pictures.

A little confused here. I’m a novice real estate agent and I need to find the right realtor to work for.
There’s thousands of companies out there, so what method do I use to find the right company…
What questions should I be asking prospective employers? Should I go for a smaller company or a larger one? Any articles worth reading or advice would be greatly appreciated…

I recommend you to go to www.realtor.org and search for those topics. There are lots of helpful articles and tips for new agents.
Good luck