Everything a real estate agent doesn’t want you to know, part 1
MONEY MATTERS
Thinking of buying or selling a home? Maybe refinance? Maybe you just want some advice on buying, selling, and borrowing a home; If so, you may want to keep track of Money Matters in the coming months as I’ll be giving all kinds of tips and ideas as we get closer. the home buying and selling season. I’ll talk about a wide variety of real estate and mortgage financing topics that you need to know about (things real estate agents don’t want you to know). Well, good agents will have no problem with you knowing this information, but part-time and less ethical operators would certainly prefer you not to know what I am about to share with you.
You see, buying or selling a home is the biggest investment of a lifetime for most people and it’s a GREAT business deal … a transaction made up of people, emotions, contracts, and cash … all the ingredients for pain. legal and financial if you don’t know what you are doing. Real estate agents earn a commission when a home is sold, whether they are the listing agent, the sales agent, or both. Real estate agents generally (and legally) represent sellers in a real estate transaction and not buyers. Yet every day, home buyers refer to the realtor as “my realtor” … they are not your realtor … they are the agent of the home seller and the agents have a legal obligation to obtain the best selling price. for the seller. Also, anything you tell them can and will likely be used against you to extract a higher selling price from the deal. Sellers, on the other hand, are often manipulated into signing long-term listing contracts for up to one year by an agent who will simply pitch the listing to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and wait for another agent to sell the property for them. .
For agents, the name of the game is getting listing contracts … a common catchphrase among real estate agents is: “If you don’t list, don’t last.” Once an agent obtains a listing contract from a home seller, they will get most of the commission when the house is sold, whether it is sold or sold by another agent. Not many sellers are aware of this fact, and many swoon into long-term listing deals with the hopeful promise to sell their homes for the highest possible price only to find that they don’t. Agents will say and do just about anything to get a listing contract without breaking the law. And the big question for home sellers is are you working with an agent part-time or full-time? What is your experience in marketing and sales? Do you really want to sign a long-term listing agreement with a partial timer who has a toe in the bathtub and has no trading experience? We are talking about a business deal, right?
Whether you are buying a home or selling a home, you should be clear that you will enter into legally binding contracts and will depend on the mortgage lenders to provide the financing for the project. The question then is; How much do you know about contract law and mortgage financing? What are the most important elements of a contract and how does that affect you as a buyer or seller? This series of articles is generally drawn from my e-Report (101 Real Estate Tips for Home Buyers, Sellers, and Money Borrowers). The report is designed as a crash course to provide you with the information you need to know to protect your legal and financial interests, whether you are a buyer or a seller. This series of articles will cover the information you need to know to avoid making blatantly stupid mistakes that could hurt you legally and financially and we’ll try to have a little fun in the process …
Which reminds me! If you would like to receive a FREE copy of my E-Report: 101 Tips for Homebuyers, Sellers, and Money Borrowers, please visit the Smart Books website, email us and request a copy and we will send it to your email address within 24 Hours – Absolutely Free – Another Exclusive Ezine Item! Don’t forget to say you saw it on the Ezine! Stay tuned!
Copyright © 2006
James W. Hart, IV
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