I'll agree that if you go to college and get a liberal arts degree then you're not learning a whole lot of anything useful, but if you're studying something real, like engineering or a physical science or art/graphic design or a trade, then you will actually learn a lot of useful things that you probably wouldn't otherwise. Not to mention that you'll have access to some of the leading people in the field you're studying which is well worth what you're paying. I'm also assuming we're just talking about undergraduate work, because grad school is a whole other animal and to claim grad school is worthless would be almost insane.
And even besides all that, just having a degree is worth more money than what you paid for school, so if you have the means to go then you really should.
I live in LA where it's still hot enough on Halloween to have your carved pumpkin succumb to disgusting black mold overnight. But, uncarved, pumpkins stay fresh for months. So I buy a set of cute sugar pumpkins around Halloween (the popular carvable types aren't that tender or yummy) and those sit on my porch as decoration until Thanksgiving when they are cooked down to make pie.
Ok, here are my thoughts. I am a very moral person. And, I guess I really don't have a lot of sympathy for ANYONE in this mess. Including myself. Now, before you think I'm badmouthing anyone, let me explain. I'm in the same situation. I owe more than $100K than my house is worth. My circumstances don't matter, just like yours don't. Of course they matter to you, but they are personal to you. Whether you meant this to be a business transaction or not,.. It is. deal with it as a business transaction.
Basically, when you buy anything, it is an investment (unless it's a consumable, but even then the price has to be right...). When you buy a house, I'm assuming you all know how to read or at least listen to a presentation of what you will be signing. You should have known of a "chance" of the market going down. If I buy stock in the stock market, and it goes down, then I sell it. OR if I feel it still a good investment, I buy even more at the reduced cost. You all need to consider the investment of your house. If it lost so much money, then sell it.. rent it... walk away.. etc. It's NOT A BIG DEAL. It is life. We all just happened to make investments at the wrong time, OR the market decreased enough to catch the rest of us with our pants down at the wrong time. What ever your situation is, you should realize that "YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT OTHER DECISIONS ARE BEING MADE AROUND YOU BY OTHER PEOPLE OR BUSINESSES". They are all trying to make money. Money makes the world go round.
NOW.. What I'm trying to say is that you bought a house to be in for a short time or a long time to make money or have a place to live. It was an investment either financially, or for your family. The banks and lenders made an investment to make money... hence the interest rate they charge you. If you default, you will loose out on future investments in the increased costs to you. The banks should loose out on their investments too. But the BANKS GOT BAILED OUT!!!. They should have FOLDED. They should have had to pay for their bad investment in the market. Just like we are expected to.
It's not 100% your fault. Quit beating yourself up about it. I have a philosophy on life. I live my life by it every day. Lots of unexpected things happen. It's a little crude, but here goes....
Crap Happens! Deal with it! Move on!
What I mean by "Deal with it!" isn't meant to be a slap in the face. It is meant to be more of an "assess the problem, figure out a solution, fix it or don't fix it" . But the most important thing is.. Move on. Don't dwindle on the "woulda, coulda, shoulda" part any more than you have to.. to learn from your mistakes.
You've got to take control of the situation and make it the best you can. If you are in way over your head, then take the loss and move on. You will have to pay for it in the long run, but that's a decision that we should have known we'd be making from the beginning.
Whatever decision you have to make right now, for you and your family. Get informed, and DO IT!. You will thank yourself later for all the stress you saved yourself trying to feel sorry for yourself or get others to feel the same way.
Once you have bought a few homes, you'll understand when you need one and when you don't. Sometimes, Real Estate agents are indispensable and other times you just don't need them. If you are buying your first home, I would suggest you get a good one. The difference with the Real Estate agents and travel agents is that if your travel agent screws a ticket up, its a minor annoyance but if your Real Estate Agent does it, you're paying for it for years.
I think there is a really excellent article on this that goes into more detail at Do You Really Need a Realtor?
from a guy that has bought and sold a number of houses and its pretty balanced.
From my experience, some of the houses that we have bought you wouldn't have even have gotten any consideration without a full service broker. They protect their own turf and if you are the selling broker with two even offers but one if from a buddy of yours and one is from Redfin, who do you think gets the nod. When you are buying, its true the broker doesn't have to do a ton of work especially when you know what you want, but some of these markets are collusive. I've had this happen one time with a discount broker and our bid wasn't even considered and we got no feedback. When I used a full service broker that knew the selling broker, we got tons of insight and we probably paid $25K less than I would have without the knowledge. We also got concessions. Maybe the market is so weak right now that this is less of a problem, but for an average $250,000 house, a percent difference between full service and discount might not be worth the $10 grand you might give up on the purchase price.
I think the article that I link does a better job than I can articulate in a post, so check it out.
As the internet progresses it will become more and more obvious that middlemen like real-estate agents are not needed. The internet lets people connect directly and search much more quickly and cheaply than hiring a person to do the same role. Why hire someone for a huge amount of money when I can search through all the places I want to live instantly, then go visit only the places I want to go? Real Estate agents are a dying breed and I hope the internet will make them completely obsolete in the next few years.
While it's true that real-estate agents have a lot of knowledge about buying and selling homes, again, the internet wins. Sharing knowledge is what the internet is all about and as websites and web communities that deal specifically with real-estate develop it will be possible to get the same knowledge and advice that a real estate agent would offer through the web.
As a former realtor and loan officer, there's no doubt it's important for buyers and sellers to be educated on the home buying/selling process. Experience doesn't always equal a great agent.
Find a good agent and do your own leg work too. A big part of this economical crisis is because we trusted "professionals" too much! Always remember, agents don't get paid unless they sell!
I totally agree with you that any marginally intelligent adult does not need a realtor. And I guess if you aren't marginally intelligent you probably shouldnt be buying property.
I have never spent a dime on one, though I will use one's services when the other side is paying (allowing the agent to have both commissions, trying to increase my odds of getting a lower price).
In general though I have not come across one of the good ones I hear about (except commercial). Residential, wow, some of them are an ethics lawsuit waiting to happen. There really isnt any need for them, as your lawyer can handle the negotiations, at an hourly rate, not a % of sales price.
unfortunately, as with most things, the National Assoc. of Realtors lobby in Washington is HUGE! So they will fight to the death to make sure that people cannot list houses on the MLS (or equivalent) without them getting their cut.
full disclosure, we are 28 and have purchased 6 houses, and looked at/met reators at tons more.
I've bought and sold FSBO. I've found that selling a house on my own is very fun and it saves you 6% every time, which is huge! Buying FSBO is good if you can use it to leverage in negotiations. Otherwise, you do need an agent to get in houses. If you're buying a non FSBO house, you might as well go with an agent.
I usually eat most of the roasted seeds, but I guess I lost a few last year between Halloween and Thanksgiving. I also make pie and roasted pumpkin soup. I also bought a couple of those cute little orange and white tiny pumpkins called "baby boo" and "Jack be Little" and one big white pumpkin as a decoration. Any scraps or goo leftover is dumped into the composter. Well, this year, we had quite a few volunteers in the garden- including japanese pumpkins (kabocha) big white pumpkins, baby boo, Jack be Little, big orange pumpkins and a couple of sugar sweets- compliments of the composter and some watering! (we also somehow ended up with 36 spaghetti squash that all weigh over 6 lbs. but that's another composter story) So, not only do we consume pretty much the whole darn pumpkin, they were FREE this year too! (and our rain barrels provided a lot of free water so I can't even count that as cost)
Of getting an agent. Especially for a first time buyer. I'm sure I'll change my tune once I get an agent that I'm happy to work with. That I'm happy is getting paid for helping me out.
But man, one bad experience can definitely turn you off of these guys.
To get an idea of how real estate agents do their economics in the marketplace, read the first "Freakonomics" book by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. Economics is about incentives and real estate agents do have incentives to use their expertise as leverage. And sometimes they have leverage to do what is in their own best interest to the detriment of their clients.
If you are a trusting sort, or can't be bothered to find things out for yourself, a real estate agent is indispensable. That being said, you've got to remember what their incentive is. They get paid a percentage of the purchase prices. They maximize their earnings by selling you the most expensive house at the highest price they can get you to swallow, in the least amount of time. When doing the right thing does not line up squarely with doing the most lucrative thing it is trusting, but not particularly wise, to assume they will "do the right thing".
If you feel up to it, do your own research. Do your own negotiation. The only thing we found an agent irreplaceable for is opening doors for viewing.
We already are charged more for prepared food(as you use as an example in the photo). I pay 11 cents for every dollar when I go to a fast food restaurant or any restaurant for that matter even if I go to order a side salad. Ironically enough, I daresay the Kraft Mac and Cheese or the Ramen I can purchase at the grocery store are much healthier and they are only taxed at 2.5 cents per dollar.
Who gets to be the purveyor of what qualifies as junk and what is healthy? If I purchase that box of mac and cheese which has tons of sodium and a pack of hot dogs with plenty of unhealthy fat is that really a healthier choice then a side salad and a grilled snack wrap from Wendy's?
In my state, you have to have a real estate agent in order to have access to some information on the house. Some info is not given out for everyone to see. That is a real pain.
The argument that the costs of a real estate agent are exorbitant for what you get, or that they are "unneeded" seems to hinge for me on what your time is worth, either to you or on the market.
If I am going to spend 50 hours doing the legwork myself, and I would otherwise have spent that time working, then the agent might be a great deal. If my free time is very limited, and a house search will suck all of it up for a year, then the cost of the agent may be a good value for me.
Regardless, the agent you interacted with sounded like a real jerk, so I can understand while you think he isn't worth it!
I usually make good use of jack-o-lanterns after halloween. But i just got my first vegetable garden, and the first thing I'm going to plant in it, is this year's jack-o-lantern.
I just have to look up the specifics on how to do that exactly. Any advice?
I have heard that u can make pumpkin rum by adding molasses and yeast to a pumpkin using it as your vessal. How much molasses and yeast would I need for a vessal messuring 10" wide and 14" high subtracting 2" both ways for thickness after cleaning out cavity and using a tube for air release..how long should I brew this mixure for...
I disagree. I bought my first place two months ago and my Realtor was indispensable. Although I did a lot of legwork myself in terms of identifying properties, he has access to more detailed listings, comparable homes in the neighborhood I was looking in and was a very reassuring presence during the entire home search.
And when it came to putting in offers on homes, I couldn't have done it without him. He helped me determine fair starting prices and counter offers on three properties before getting me a great deal on the home I now live in. It helps that my Realtor is an attorney who does real estate on the side because he loves the art of the deal, but there were details like the home inspection that would have been lost on me as a first time home buyer.
There a quite a few things that I think an agent is useful for, assuming you use them for everything it is probably worth it. If you end up being really particular about investigating everything yourself its not. I personally didn't know which inspectors were thorough or reputable, didn't know what types of fees or costs were standard practice in the area, Didn't know about how certain laws worked in the state. Now I could have done a decent amount of digging, but some things I simply wouldn't have known to ask. For a buyer I didn't pay anything (except indirectly) for the agent.
Also I assume that if you were moving from one region to another having an agent in your new region would be invaluable. The laws are different, the taxes, the standard practices, the neighborhoods/schools, arranging the inspectors, appraisers and everything, its a lot to manage and its hard to be physically there.
We often searched for homes on Redfin, but my agent also sent us listing we didn't see on Redfin. She could get access to homes very quickly, quicker than waiting for the listing agent to call back or for Redfin to arrange the tour.
But she really earned her commission by dealing with all the paperwork once we went into escrow. There was so much to keep track of, so many forms we had questions about, so much negotiating to do. Yes, you can pay a lawyer for that, but unless the seller doesn't have a listing agent, not having an agent yourself isn't saving you money and could cost you more because you don't know what you're entitled to or what needs to be done when.
We just bought our first house and used an agent. For the first house purchase, I don't see why not.
He knew the pitfalls that we had never encountered or thought about. He got us into places that were freshly listed before they even made it onto the public MLS site. Good thing too, because in my town, some of the houses we liked were sold before they made it to the public site. Yep, the housing market has been clipping along tickety-boo around here, in spite of what's been going on down in the US.
It was our fault we missed them, we hesitated. Our agent did his job and got us in to see them.
For our second purchase, we might not use an agent. Or maybe we will, it's not like we have to pay him. Well, not directly. We got a free potted plant and a home depot card out of him too, that's alright.
I bought my first home 22 years ago without a Realtor. We started with a Realtor but dropped him when he wasn't showing us the properties we liked.
We decided to look in the newspaper and drove to homes in areas we wanted to live in. One seller wanted $8,500 to assume his FHA mortgage at 8.5% (a good rate back then) on a three year old home. We put $500 down and he went to a lawyer who drew up a contract. It cost the seller $50 for the lawyer. I had no other costs.
The title search was 6 months old so I agreed to go by that. It turned out that the seller had a lot of non-mortgage debts that I didn't know about but the mortgage was transferred to me before his creditors could catch up with him.
The lawyer later sent me a letter saying he wasn't paid enough for drawing up our contract and wanted a contribution from me. I ignored the letter. There is indeed something ironic about a lawyer whining he wasn't paid enough. I was tempted to write back and tell him I wasn't paying and for him to get a good lawyer.
By the end of the month we were in our new (to us) home. 22 years later we are still here and the mortgage was all paid off three years ago (yippee!).
I may end up living and dying having never bought a home through a Realtor.
I'd say that you don't need a "real estate" agent so much as a specific "buyers agent". I'm happy to do the legwork, I LOVE the "window shopping" but I feel like I need a buyers agent to represent me throughout the deal, to ensure that we negotiate down to the best price and to make sure that things like the home inspection, land deed, home loan details, etc. are all correctly handled.
If I were a licensed, practicing realtor, or -HAD- been one in the past I'd feel much more comfortable doing it myself, but I'm not so there you have it...
Honestly, you'll appreciate having a good agent on your side if (when) contract negotiations get hairy. There is much more to a real estate transaction than finding the right place. Finding the house that suits your needs is the easy part. A good agent who has lots of experience with contract and repair negotiation can be invaluable. And, the seller pays for the buyer agent commission, so why wouldn't buyers utilize a good agent to protect their interests in the transaction?
And, no, I am not a real estate agent, just a person who has been through several buy/sell transactions. There's no way I'd go through those negotiations alone. In one transaction, the agency's legal department came into play during a very ugly contract situation. That experience taught me how critically important good representation can be. That's my perspective.
The real estate industry has done a good job of trying to convince us that we need their services to buy or sell a house. The truth is, most of us do not need their services, any of them. We have bought and sold several houses ourselves. It is incredibly easy. If you're nervous, and who wouldn't be with so much money at stake?, buy a book on the process, read it and follow the instructions. The title company does nearly all of the necessary paperwork. We have worked with real estate agents and brokers all over the country. We are really sorry to say that we've yet to find even 1, yes one!, that can do a better job than you can of selling or helping you to buy a home. Who knows your needs or your home better than you for buying or selling? Computers today are going to change their industry completely and the statistics prove it. Check out these types of sites to see how easy it is: www.fsbo.com or www.BillingsByOwner.com for two good sample sites.
I'll agree that if you go to college and get a liberal arts degree then you're not learning a whole lot of anything useful, but if you're studying something real, like engineering or a physical science or art/graphic design or a trade, then you will actually learn a lot of useful things that you probably wouldn't otherwise. Not to mention that you'll have access to some of the leading people in the field you're studying which is well worth what you're paying. I'm also assuming we're just talking about undergraduate work, because grad school is a whole other animal and to claim grad school is worthless would be almost insane.
And even besides all that, just having a degree is worth more money than what you paid for school, so if you have the means to go then you really should.
I live in LA where it's still hot enough on Halloween to have your carved pumpkin succumb to disgusting black mold overnight. But, uncarved, pumpkins stay fresh for months. So I buy a set of cute sugar pumpkins around Halloween (the popular carvable types aren't that tender or yummy) and those sit on my porch as decoration until Thanksgiving when they are cooked down to make pie.
I'm going to have to try the pickle recipe!
Ok, here are my thoughts. I am a very moral person. And, I guess I really don't have a lot of sympathy for ANYONE in this mess. Including myself. Now, before you think I'm badmouthing anyone, let me explain. I'm in the same situation. I owe more than $100K than my house is worth. My circumstances don't matter, just like yours don't. Of course they matter to you, but they are personal to you. Whether you meant this to be a business transaction or not,.. It is. deal with it as a business transaction.
Basically, when you buy anything, it is an investment (unless it's a consumable, but even then the price has to be right...). When you buy a house, I'm assuming you all know how to read or at least listen to a presentation of what you will be signing. You should have known of a "chance" of the market going down. If I buy stock in the stock market, and it goes down, then I sell it. OR if I feel it still a good investment, I buy even more at the reduced cost. You all need to consider the investment of your house. If it lost so much money, then sell it.. rent it... walk away.. etc. It's NOT A BIG DEAL. It is life. We all just happened to make investments at the wrong time, OR the market decreased enough to catch the rest of us with our pants down at the wrong time. What ever your situation is, you should realize that "YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT OTHER DECISIONS ARE BEING MADE AROUND YOU BY OTHER PEOPLE OR BUSINESSES". They are all trying to make money. Money makes the world go round.
NOW.. What I'm trying to say is that you bought a house to be in for a short time or a long time to make money or have a place to live. It was an investment either financially, or for your family. The banks and lenders made an investment to make money... hence the interest rate they charge you. If you default, you will loose out on future investments in the increased costs to you. The banks should loose out on their investments too. But the BANKS GOT BAILED OUT!!!. They should have FOLDED. They should have had to pay for their bad investment in the market. Just like we are expected to.
It's not 100% your fault. Quit beating yourself up about it. I have a philosophy on life. I live my life by it every day. Lots of unexpected things happen. It's a little crude, but here goes....
Crap Happens! Deal with it! Move on!
What I mean by "Deal with it!" isn't meant to be a slap in the face. It is meant to be more of an "assess the problem, figure out a solution, fix it or don't fix it" . But the most important thing is.. Move on. Don't dwindle on the "woulda, coulda, shoulda" part any more than you have to.. to learn from your mistakes.
You've got to take control of the situation and make it the best you can. If you are in way over your head, then take the loss and move on. You will have to pay for it in the long run, but that's a decision that we should have known we'd be making from the beginning.
Whatever decision you have to make right now, for you and your family. Get informed, and DO IT!. You will thank yourself later for all the stress you saved yourself trying to feel sorry for yourself or get others to feel the same way.
Just my $0.02
Once you have bought a few homes, you'll understand when you need one and when you don't. Sometimes, Real Estate agents are indispensable and other times you just don't need them. If you are buying your first home, I would suggest you get a good one. The difference with the Real Estate agents and travel agents is that if your travel agent screws a ticket up, its a minor annoyance but if your Real Estate Agent does it, you're paying for it for years.
I think there is a really excellent article on this that goes into more detail at Do You Really Need a Realtor?
from a guy that has bought and sold a number of houses and its pretty balanced.
From my experience, some of the houses that we have bought you wouldn't have even have gotten any consideration without a full service broker. They protect their own turf and if you are the selling broker with two even offers but one if from a buddy of yours and one is from Redfin, who do you think gets the nod. When you are buying, its true the broker doesn't have to do a ton of work especially when you know what you want, but some of these markets are collusive. I've had this happen one time with a discount broker and our bid wasn't even considered and we got no feedback. When I used a full service broker that knew the selling broker, we got tons of insight and we probably paid $25K less than I would have without the knowledge. We also got concessions. Maybe the market is so weak right now that this is less of a problem, but for an average $250,000 house, a percent difference between full service and discount might not be worth the $10 grand you might give up on the purchase price.
I think the article that I link does a better job than I can articulate in a post, so check it out.
As the internet progresses it will become more and more obvious that middlemen like real-estate agents are not needed. The internet lets people connect directly and search much more quickly and cheaply than hiring a person to do the same role. Why hire someone for a huge amount of money when I can search through all the places I want to live instantly, then go visit only the places I want to go? Real Estate agents are a dying breed and I hope the internet will make them completely obsolete in the next few years.
While it's true that real-estate agents have a lot of knowledge about buying and selling homes, again, the internet wins. Sharing knowledge is what the internet is all about and as websites and web communities that deal specifically with real-estate develop it will be possible to get the same knowledge and advice that a real estate agent would offer through the web.
As a former realtor and loan officer, there's no doubt it's important for buyers and sellers to be educated on the home buying/selling process. Experience doesn't always equal a great agent.
Find a good agent and do your own leg work too. A big part of this economical crisis is because we trusted "professionals" too much! Always remember, agents don't get paid unless they sell!
Buyers please beware.
I totally agree with you that any marginally intelligent adult does not need a realtor. And I guess if you aren't marginally intelligent you probably shouldnt be buying property.
I have never spent a dime on one, though I will use one's services when the other side is paying (allowing the agent to have both commissions, trying to increase my odds of getting a lower price).
In general though I have not come across one of the good ones I hear about (except commercial). Residential, wow, some of them are an ethics lawsuit waiting to happen. There really isnt any need for them, as your lawyer can handle the negotiations, at an hourly rate, not a % of sales price.
unfortunately, as with most things, the National Assoc. of Realtors lobby in Washington is HUGE! So they will fight to the death to make sure that people cannot list houses on the MLS (or equivalent) without them getting their cut.
full disclosure, we are 28 and have purchased 6 houses, and looked at/met reators at tons more.
I've bought and sold FSBO. I've found that selling a house on my own is very fun and it saves you 6% every time, which is huge! Buying FSBO is good if you can use it to leverage in negotiations. Otherwise, you do need an agent to get in houses. If you're buying a non FSBO house, you might as well go with an agent.
I usually eat most of the roasted seeds, but I guess I lost a few last year between Halloween and Thanksgiving. I also make pie and roasted pumpkin soup. I also bought a couple of those cute little orange and white tiny pumpkins called "baby boo" and "Jack be Little" and one big white pumpkin as a decoration. Any scraps or goo leftover is dumped into the composter. Well, this year, we had quite a few volunteers in the garden- including japanese pumpkins (kabocha) big white pumpkins, baby boo, Jack be Little, big orange pumpkins and a couple of sugar sweets- compliments of the composter and some watering! (we also somehow ended up with 36 spaghetti squash that all weigh over 6 lbs. but that's another composter story) So, not only do we consume pretty much the whole darn pumpkin, they were FREE this year too! (and our rain barrels provided a lot of free water so I can't even count that as cost)
Of getting an agent. Especially for a first time buyer. I'm sure I'll change my tune once I get an agent that I'm happy to work with. That I'm happy is getting paid for helping me out.
But man, one bad experience can definitely turn you off of these guys.
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To get an idea of how real estate agents do their economics in the marketplace, read the first "Freakonomics" book by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. Economics is about incentives and real estate agents do have incentives to use their expertise as leverage. And sometimes they have leverage to do what is in their own best interest to the detriment of their clients.
If you are a trusting sort, or can't be bothered to find things out for yourself, a real estate agent is indispensable. That being said, you've got to remember what their incentive is. They get paid a percentage of the purchase prices. They maximize their earnings by selling you the most expensive house at the highest price they can get you to swallow, in the least amount of time. When doing the right thing does not line up squarely with doing the most lucrative thing it is trusting, but not particularly wise, to assume they will "do the right thing".
If you feel up to it, do your own research. Do your own negotiation. The only thing we found an agent irreplaceable for is opening doors for viewing.
We already are charged more for prepared food(as you use as an example in the photo). I pay 11 cents for every dollar when I go to a fast food restaurant or any restaurant for that matter even if I go to order a side salad. Ironically enough, I daresay the Kraft Mac and Cheese or the Ramen I can purchase at the grocery store are much healthier and they are only taxed at 2.5 cents per dollar.
Who gets to be the purveyor of what qualifies as junk and what is healthy? If I purchase that box of mac and cheese which has tons of sodium and a pack of hot dogs with plenty of unhealthy fat is that really a healthier choice then a side salad and a grilled snack wrap from Wendy's?
In my state, you have to have a real estate agent in order to have access to some information on the house. Some info is not given out for everyone to see. That is a real pain.
The argument that the costs of a real estate agent are exorbitant for what you get, or that they are "unneeded" seems to hinge for me on what your time is worth, either to you or on the market.
If I am going to spend 50 hours doing the legwork myself, and I would otherwise have spent that time working, then the agent might be a great deal. If my free time is very limited, and a house search will suck all of it up for a year, then the cost of the agent may be a good value for me.
Regardless, the agent you interacted with sounded like a real jerk, so I can understand while you think he isn't worth it!
I usually make good use of jack-o-lanterns after halloween. But i just got my first vegetable garden, and the first thing I'm going to plant in it, is this year's jack-o-lantern.
I just have to look up the specifics on how to do that exactly. Any advice?
I have heard that u can make pumpkin rum by adding molasses and yeast to a pumpkin using it as your vessal. How much molasses and yeast would I need for a vessal messuring 10" wide and 14" high subtracting 2" both ways for thickness after cleaning out cavity and using a tube for air release..how long should I brew this mixure for...
I disagree. I bought my first place two months ago and my Realtor was indispensable. Although I did a lot of legwork myself in terms of identifying properties, he has access to more detailed listings, comparable homes in the neighborhood I was looking in and was a very reassuring presence during the entire home search.
And when it came to putting in offers on homes, I couldn't have done it without him. He helped me determine fair starting prices and counter offers on three properties before getting me a great deal on the home I now live in. It helps that my Realtor is an attorney who does real estate on the side because he loves the art of the deal, but there were details like the home inspection that would have been lost on me as a first time home buyer.
There a quite a few things that I think an agent is useful for, assuming you use them for everything it is probably worth it. If you end up being really particular about investigating everything yourself its not. I personally didn't know which inspectors were thorough or reputable, didn't know what types of fees or costs were standard practice in the area, Didn't know about how certain laws worked in the state. Now I could have done a decent amount of digging, but some things I simply wouldn't have known to ask. For a buyer I didn't pay anything (except indirectly) for the agent.
Also I assume that if you were moving from one region to another having an agent in your new region would be invaluable. The laws are different, the taxes, the standard practices, the neighborhoods/schools, arranging the inspectors, appraisers and everything, its a lot to manage and its hard to be physically there.
We often searched for homes on Redfin, but my agent also sent us listing we didn't see on Redfin. She could get access to homes very quickly, quicker than waiting for the listing agent to call back or for Redfin to arrange the tour.
But she really earned her commission by dealing with all the paperwork once we went into escrow. There was so much to keep track of, so many forms we had questions about, so much negotiating to do. Yes, you can pay a lawyer for that, but unless the seller doesn't have a listing agent, not having an agent yourself isn't saving you money and could cost you more because you don't know what you're entitled to or what needs to be done when.
We just bought our first house and used an agent. For the first house purchase, I don't see why not.
He knew the pitfalls that we had never encountered or thought about. He got us into places that were freshly listed before they even made it onto the public MLS site. Good thing too, because in my town, some of the houses we liked were sold before they made it to the public site. Yep, the housing market has been clipping along tickety-boo around here, in spite of what's been going on down in the US.
It was our fault we missed them, we hesitated. Our agent did his job and got us in to see them.
For our second purchase, we might not use an agent. Or maybe we will, it's not like we have to pay him. Well, not directly. We got a free potted plant and a home depot card out of him too, that's alright.
I bought my first home 22 years ago without a Realtor. We started with a Realtor but dropped him when he wasn't showing us the properties we liked.
We decided to look in the newspaper and drove to homes in areas we wanted to live in. One seller wanted $8,500 to assume his FHA mortgage at 8.5% (a good rate back then) on a three year old home. We put $500 down and he went to a lawyer who drew up a contract. It cost the seller $50 for the lawyer. I had no other costs.
The title search was 6 months old so I agreed to go by that. It turned out that the seller had a lot of non-mortgage debts that I didn't know about but the mortgage was transferred to me before his creditors could catch up with him.
The lawyer later sent me a letter saying he wasn't paid enough for drawing up our contract and wanted a contribution from me. I ignored the letter. There is indeed something ironic about a lawyer whining he wasn't paid enough. I was tempted to write back and tell him I wasn't paying and for him to get a good lawyer.
By the end of the month we were in our new (to us) home. 22 years later we are still here and the mortgage was all paid off three years ago (yippee!).
I may end up living and dying having never bought a home through a Realtor.
I'd say that you don't need a "real estate" agent so much as a specific "buyers agent". I'm happy to do the legwork, I LOVE the "window shopping" but I feel like I need a buyers agent to represent me throughout the deal, to ensure that we negotiate down to the best price and to make sure that things like the home inspection, land deed, home loan details, etc. are all correctly handled.
If I were a licensed, practicing realtor, or -HAD- been one in the past I'd feel much more comfortable doing it myself, but I'm not so there you have it...
Honestly, you'll appreciate having a good agent on your side if (when) contract negotiations get hairy. There is much more to a real estate transaction than finding the right place. Finding the house that suits your needs is the easy part. A good agent who has lots of experience with contract and repair negotiation can be invaluable. And, the seller pays for the buyer agent commission, so why wouldn't buyers utilize a good agent to protect their interests in the transaction?
And, no, I am not a real estate agent, just a person who has been through several buy/sell transactions. There's no way I'd go through those negotiations alone. In one transaction, the agency's legal department came into play during a very ugly contract situation. That experience taught me how critically important good representation can be. That's my perspective.
The real estate industry has done a good job of trying to convince us that we need their services to buy or sell a house. The truth is, most of us do not need their services, any of them. We have bought and sold several houses ourselves. It is incredibly easy. If you're nervous, and who wouldn't be with so much money at stake?, buy a book on the process, read it and follow the instructions. The title company does nearly all of the necessary paperwork. We have worked with real estate agents and brokers all over the country. We are really sorry to say that we've yet to find even 1, yes one!, that can do a better job than you can of selling or helping you to buy a home. Who knows your needs or your home better than you for buying or selling? Computers today are going to change their industry completely and the statistics prove it. Check out these types of sites to see how easy it is: www.fsbo.com or www.BillingsByOwner.com for two good sample sites.