Are you thinking it might be the right time to buy a house? If so, you need to give some serious consideration to the type of agent you will use to help you in your search for your dream home. While many first-time home buyers may not realize it, the agent they choose may not always be able to act in their best interests. This is because there are basically three different types of real estate agents.
Seller’s Agent
The most traditional type of real estate agent is known as a seller’s agent. This agent automatically owes a responsibility to the seller to get them the best price and terms possible for the property. As a result this means that they cannot tell you whether the seller would accept a lower price or better terms.
Dual Agent
Some agent’s are what is known as dual agents. A dual agent has a duty to be honest and truthful with both the seller and the buyer as well as to make full disclosure to both parties. As a buyer you should fully understand; however, that a dual agent is not required to disclose information such as the lowest price or terms the seller will accept. Along the same lines, a dual agent does not have a responsibility to disclose information to the seller such as the best terms and highest price you are willing to offer.
Buyer’s Agent
The third type of agent is a buyer’s agent. A buyer’s agent has a responsibility to look out for your best interests in the transaction. This type of agent can also assist in helping you to determine the advantages and disadvantages of each property that you consider while shopping for a home.
Due to the inherent conflict of interest, an agent must provide full disclosure to you regarding who they represent in the transaction. When there is only one agent in a transaction the agent is usually a dual agent. This can be dangerous territory for both sellers and buyers because it can be difficult for even highly professional agents to walk such a fine line.
Ideally, it is best to work with a buyer’s agent when looking for your next home. Keep in mind that any real estate sales agent or a broker can act as an exclusive buyer’s agent in your transaction; however, the agent won’t be able to represent you exclusively if you become interested in a home that the agent listed for sale. In that case, the relationship would revert to a dual agency relationship.
Depending on your agreement with your buyer’s agent it should be further understand that you may be responsible for paying a portion of the agent’s commission. Generally the sales commission is paid by the seller when the transaction is completed. Generally the sales commission is split 50/50 between the buyer’s agent and the seller’s agent and may be paid by the seller. That commission typically comprises approximately 6% of the sales price of the home; meaning that 3% of the final sales price would go to the buyer’s agent.
Under certain circumstances; however, you could become responsible for a portion of that fee. For example, if you are working with a buyer’s agent and the home that you wish to buy is ‘For Sale by Owner’ you may find yourself responsible for the buyer’s agent’s portion of the sales commission if the seller refuses to pay the agent’s fee.
While it is possible that you may be responsible for paying at least some of the buyer’s agent’s sales commission it is still advantageous to consider working with an exclusive buyer’s agent. The assistance a buyer’s agent can provide to you in not only finding the best house for your needs but also in getting the best terms and price can more than make up for the commission.
When looking for a buyer’s agent it is important to make sure you spend some time looking for an agent that you feel comfortable working with. After all, this is the person who will be assisting you in finding the home that hopefully you will live in for a long time. Take the time to ask around with friends, family members and business associates for referrals. Don’t overlook asking for references and be sure to follow up by speaking to former clients. Avoid signing any buyer’s agency contract that exceeds 30 days just in case you realize you need to make a change in agents.
A home purchase is a major investment that most consumers will spend a number of years paying toward. As such, you deserve to get the best price and terms possible for your dream home.
Farming For Real Estate - How To Effectively Use A Blog To Market To Your Farm In Real Estate By Connie Ragen Green
If you have been farming an area with traditional methods you have probably been trying to service an area of two to three hundred homes. You probably send direct mail pieces several times a year, offering a free home evaluation or other marketing offer. Maybe you even go door to door a few times of year. Most of the people are either not at home or do not answer the door and you leave your card or notepad on their front steps.
Welcome to the new millennium. Farming can now be done using technology that will enable you to reach thousands of homes more easily and efficiently than you could reach just a few hundred previously. One of the very best ways to do this is by starting a farming blog.
A blog is a website that lets you write, or post, as often as you wish, and deliver your message to anyone who has either subscribed to the blog’s feed or who visits the website. With the click of your mouse your message can be in front of the homeowners in your farm at a time that is convenient for them to read what you have written in your post.
It is relatively simple to start a blog. They are available for free from some places or for a fee of less than five dollars each month from others. The blogs that have a monthly or annual fee will generally offer more choices and features than the free blog services. It is up to you and you should experiment with the ones you are considering.
You will want to give your blog a name that has meaning to the people who live in your farm area. Do not use your name unless everyone in the area knows you. It is better to use a name that is relevant to the neighborhood. My farming blog is called Plum Canyon Neighbors. When people receive an email message with this subject line they know that it is important information from me about happenings in their area.
Give blogging a chance as a way to market to your farm. You will find that it is so easy and effective you will be glad that you started one.
Connie Ragen Green is a Real Estate Broker and State Certified Residential Appraiser in California and has bought and sold over 100 properties since 1983. Visit her at http://www.BuyRealEstateforProfit.com for more information about buying and selling real estate. To find new ways to market your business go to http://www.SmallBusinessUnMarketing.com
Named by the Illinois Realtor Magazine a Prower Tool and by the Realtor Magazine as “Cool Toolâ€, House4Cell offers unique and revolutionary opportunity for real estate agents to deliver instant information on their listings, while capturing lead information.
The new tool is designed to provide prospective buyers with information about listings via “text messagesâ€, a capability found on most cell phones. All that a prospective buyer needs to do is to send a 1-word code to a special number. Within seconds a text message is send to the buyers cell phone with property description along with several photos of the property, while the homebuyer’s number is captured and sent immediately to the agent for follow up.
At the present time the website offers following plans to real estate agents:
$29.99/month- this plan allows to send up to 3 listings at one time and offers 10 additional free inquiries.
$39.99/month- this plan allows to send up to 6 listings at one time and offers 20 additional free inquiries.
$49.99/month- this plan allows to send up to 10 listings at one time and offers 30 addition free inquiries.
Each additional inquiry, beyond what is included in a plan are just 20 cents. A one time charges $10 per code applies to all new orders.
The cost effectiveness of this tool speaks for itself. With the lowest plan, a real estate agent will pay $8 per one property delivered to a potential buyer which in turn can generate a valuable lead!
Homes4Cell was developed as a result of branching out of Cellit Mobile Marketing- a leading provider of mobile marketing solutions.
Selling or Buying a Used Mobile Home By Bill Parker
Selling or Buying a Used Mobile Home
With the ever increasing use of the internet today, selling or buying a used mobile home has never been easier. There are hundreds of sites on the internet where you can list mobile homes for sale that are seen by thousands of people every day.
In today’s world where mobile home parks will only let you put a For Sale Sign in your window, you can see how limited you are at selling your home. Brokers and Real Estate Agents are fine to use if you are willing to pay their fees, but look at your savings by selling the home yourself and maybe using the brokersor agents to handle the paper work for you.
Another great thing about advertising your home on the internet is the cost.
Advertising in the newspapers can cost a fortune for three or four lines and just listed for the weekend. Most internet sites will give you a full-page ad with several photos for less than what you pay the newspapers plus your ad will run until the home is sold.
Sites like mine, and others, have made it very easy and affordable to list your home. For people looking to buy a mobile home, how great is it for you?
You can go to one site look at the many homes listed and choose the home You want. Plus you deal directly with the seller. No broker or agent fees will make the home more appealing to you price-wise and will get you quicker results.
Traveling2Florida.com, which connects hundreds of owners of vacation rentals in Florida with interested renters, has extended its free listing offer for an additional three months. Owners of rental properties can now apply to the site for a free listing for their Florida vacation rentals, and free listings will remain active until October 8, 2007. Current participants in the free listing program will also have their expiration date extended. As before, there are no charges associated with this offer and owners are not obligated to renew when the free listing expires.
The free listings for rental properties are comprised of the same information as paid listings, including an extended description, a link to the home’s website or to a virtual tour created by the owner, and up to 12 images of the home. Visitors to Traveling2Florida.com who are interested in renting any of the listed rental properties are connected directly with the homeowners by filling out a simple form.
In the competitive world of real estate, agents can pay thousands of dollars for a web site that produces just a few leads a year. At last, real estate agents have a solution to getting high quality, area exclusive exposure from the Internet. The leading authority on search engine marketing for real estate agents and creator of Real Estate Limelightâ„¢, Shaylor Murray, puts it this way, “Our goal was to give consumers an easy way to find the expert agent in their local area, without having to sift through a mess of data or competing agents.
We use SEO techniques to optimize real estate agent profiles with every major search engine in the country. This includes MSN, Yahoo and Google, plus hundreds of more specialized search engines.” And unlike other services, RealEstateLimelight.com doesn’t make customers wait days for a response from an agent. Contact information for each local Realtor® is right on the agent profile page so the customer can contact them directly. No cryptic message system to put off potential customers. “In a highly competitive business like real estate,” says Shaylor, “it’s our goal to give the best local agents an edge by providing national exposure through this new, dynamic Internet tool.”
Bayshore Realty and Vacation Rentals celebrates its tenth anniversary. Ten years ago this month Dan Reddell founded the brokerage company in Morro Bay, CA. This agency has grown over the years from the humble beginnings that started from a small town investment. Dan purchased a home built at 560 Morro Bay Blvd. in 1918 by the Caccia family, who sold a Mexican land grant in nearby Cayucos in order to “move into town.” Three generations of the family lived in the home between 1918 and 1979 when the patriarch, Edward Caccia, passed and willed the property to his caretaker. The family sued the caretaker and the home was returned to the family who then sold it to the law firm that represented them. While converted to an annex for their main law office, the building was eventually left empty and unused for several years. Reddell purchased the building and preserved as much of the old home as possible.
One of Bayshore Realty’s most important assets is its website. This website strives to offer folks interested in Morro Bay, Cayucos, Cambria, Los Osos, San Luis Obispo, or estate homes for sale in any coastal or wine country community a one-stop shop. Recently, Bayshore Realty partnered with Cyberhomes and was provided a branded webpage that allows visitors an incredible amount of date ranging from instant house valuation anywhere in the USA to statistics on air and water quality. One of the strengths of Cyberhomes is that the home values cannot be changed for public viewing by an owner like they can on Zillow. Cyberhomes is owned by the parent company of Fidelity and Chicago Title.
May 31, 2007
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