How to find a GOOD realtor???

[ASTAR]

Great info, thanks!
We are looking in SF "south bay." Way south IMO in Gilroy/Morgan Hill.
We aren't opposed to looking in San Jose so maybe I'll check out DR's list.

As far as driving around, looking on realtor.com, zillow, etc. we have tried that and not only does it end up usually being behind the curve in being updated, it seems like everything is at some level of "pending." Very exhausting. Not only that but most of the time when I would call one of the realtors in the listing, they wouldn't even return my call/email! I was really shocked by this. I assume it's because they already have buyers??

Either way, I have been told that the inventory in our area is extremely low by multiple realtors. something like 83 homes for sale in Gilroy and 2.5-3 times the buyers. They are all starting to see multiple offers on all homes. Then we are limited by budget and single story required because my wife is in a wheelchair so even a few random steps wont work (not to mention my NEED for a garage) and it gets really tough.

We have "fired" 2 realtors already. Well maybe not fired but just stopped talking to them or returning emails. That was about the level of courtesy we felt we got from them so we just found someone else. We aren't difficult to deal with at all and the pickiness (not that there was much before) has seriously declined.

We are talking to one now that seems to be pretty decent but she is fairly new to the industry. She has a lot of mortgage broker experience and decided to get into this end of it all. She really seems to have our best interest in mind and is customer service oriented (which seems rare these days). She has recommended a broker so we will be meeting with him next week for a fresh pre-approval (not pulling CR, just looking at our pulled reports so we don't have an inq before we find something).

If this falls though, we will be looking again...UGH
I had no idea house hunting would be such a stressful miserable experience.

On a side note, wife and I are both CA raised, moved to Michigan for a year and loved it but had to come home to our families.
We were looking at buying something AWESOME for 300K. Over an acre, private lake/dock, 3br/3ba 2200sq ft, 3 car garage, room for a shop, etc. Now, back in CA we are looking to spend 500K and can't find shit (prefer Morgan Hill). What we could get in MI for 500k!! THAT is a tough pill to swallow.

[JeepButcher]

Originally Posted by roundhouse

Dont forget the realtor works for the SELLER, not the buyer.

thay can and will lie to you to get you to buy the house.

They also will tell the seller anything they overhear you saying.


with the internet you dont need a realtor, just line up your money. find a good home inspector and if a decent realtor comes along fine, but you can look at the same listings they do. they can see em a little faster and they see more details.


otherwise, my advice would be to rent, the price of homes is still dropping and will continue to drop for the next 5-8 years, maybe longer.

This is one of the dumbest posts I've ever read. You do know that you can get your own Realtor that has absolutely no affiliation with the seller right. They are in sales and rely heavily on word of mouth advertising and return customers. A good agent will never lie to you for anything. You are a fucking moron.

[Rock Toy]

Drop me a line at Sergei@sfhomeloans.com. I'm out of San Francisco. If you're not already preapproved, I can help you with that portion of it. I can also get you a good referral for an agent down there. I have a few friends that live in the area that have bought and sold. Couple of wheeling buddies that you might know as well...

[ASTAR]

Originally Posted by Rock Toy

Drop me a line at Sergei@sfhomeloans.com. I'm out of San Francisco. If you're not already preapproved, I can help you with that portion of it. I can also get you a good referral for an agent down there. I have a few friends that live in the area that have bought and sold. Couple of wheeling buddies that you might know as well...

Sounds good Sergei...as long as you don't bring any of that God awful awesome berry floating vodka with you (I'll never forget that stuff). Tell Dimi I said "Sup."

[Rock Toy]

Originally Posted by JeepButcher

This is one of the dumbest posts I've ever read. You do know that you can get your own Realtor that has absolutely no affiliation with the seller right. They are in sales and rely heavily on word of mouth advertising and return customers. A good agent will never lie to you for anything. You are a fucking moron.

Agreed with you 100%. I personally live and breath real estate and can tell you that getting an agent to help you find a house is the BEST thing that you can do. Buying without one will NOT give you an advantage and in all likelihood, you will end up being taken advantage of. My GF is a top 5% agent in San Francisco and represents both buyers and sellers (but never on the same transaction). Sometimes, I simply can't believe the lengths that she will go to in order to protect her client's best interests, all while adhering to the strictest letter of the law. And she is not unique in her approach; all of the best agents do so.

So ASTAR, do yourself a favor and get an agent. They will work HARD to earn their commission and you'll feel better about the process of buying your house.

[Rock Toy]

Originally Posted by ASTAR

Sounds good Sergei...as long as you don't bring any of that God awful awesome berry floating vodka with you (I'll never forget that stuff). Tell Dimi I said "Sup."

Got it. No berry floating vodka Besides, I'm into Tequila nowadays

[roundhouse]

Originally Posted by JeepButcher

This is one of the dumbest posts I've ever read. You do know that you can get your own Realtor that has absolutely no affiliation with the seller right. They are in sales and rely heavily on word of mouth advertising and return customers. A good agent will never lie to you for anything. You are a fucking moron.

Unless you get a BUYERS AGENT, the agent works for the seller.

then a buyers agent is gonna want you to sign a contract exclusively with them, and will sue you to get a commission of a house you find and buy on your own with no help from them.

[crispins]

I am wanting to move to a new area about 180 miles away from my house.

I went on Realtor.com and found a few homes that I was interested in seeing as well as I wanted to see if there were other houses that were similar.

I found 3 homes and all 3 were listed by a different agent. I used the contact form and sent a message to all 3 explaining that I wanted to move there and I am a cash buyer.

Not one responded.

I have decided to rent an apartment there, which I am moving to shortly, and do the searching myself.

[JeepButcher]

Originally Posted by roundhouse

Unless you get a BUYERS AGENT, the agent works for the seller.

then a buyers agent is gonna want you to sign a contract exclusively with them, and will sue you to get a commission of a house you find and buy on your own with no help from them.

You have this whole thing completely fucked. First off any time you are looking to buy is is very smart to go and find a certified Realtor. Like I said before, unless it's written in the contract the seller pays commission, so you shouldn't care about what cut the agent is getting if you are buying.

Secondly a good Realtor will always know more than you. They will know the market and the past present and future of the area you are looking at. I hear a lot of stories of people bragging about how they "saved" by not using a Realtor and how smart they are. What these geniuses don't realize is that they bought a house with a city water main cutting trough the corner of their yard so if there are issues the city will just tear everything up to repair. Or that the neighborhood down the road was bought up by a slumlord who plans to build section 8 housing.

Then there's the fact that gas is like 4/gal so shit let the Realtor drive you around and look at houses.

They provide a service. They show you houses. They find you homes that meet your criteria to show you later. They can do all your footwork so you don't have to search for a few hours after work trying to find a place.

They provide advice and work you through negotiations all the way up past the sale.

There is so much more on the buyers half that I'm not going to go into it's insane and I haven't even gotten into the sellers duties.

"I found a house on Craigslist and I'm going to look at it tomorrow." is probably one of the dumbest things I've ever heard.

[JeepButcher]

Originally Posted by crispins

I am wanting to move to a new area about 180 miles away from my house.

I went on Realtor.com and found a few homes that I was interested in seeing as well as I wanted to see if there were other houses that were similar.

I found 3 homes and all 3 were listed by a different agent. I used the contact form and sent a message to all 3 explaining that I wanted to move there and I am a cash buyer.

Not one responded.

I have decided to rent an apartment there, which I am moving to shortly, and do the searching myself.

This is why you don't cold call sellers agents. If you would have found a good Realtor in the area they could set up showings and find you other houses while you are 180mi away. Someone before mention the D.R. Endorsed Local Provider is a very good way of finding someone somewhere you've never been.

[crispins]

Originally Posted by JeepButcher

This is why you don't cold call sellers agents. If you would have found a good Realtor in the area they could set up showings and find you other houses while you are 180mi away. Someone before mention the D.R. Endorsed Local Provider is a very good way of finding someone somewhere you've never been.

Ok How am I susposed to find a good realtor when i live over 3 hours away?

Stop saying use Dave Ramsey, for enough money he will endorse a Pyrmid scam.

In my local area there is a radio commercial that plays 10x per hour advertising a local restaurant with him doing the voice over (what happened to beans and rice?) and another one that plays almost as often for a Jewelry Store, I believe he says "diamonds for aaaaaany budget"

He is a whore who does anything for a buck, fuck him and anyone who looks like him.

I found 3 houses that looked interesting for me so I emailed all 3 agents. How was that cold calling? What should I do go there and drive around and ask random people if they know a good real estate agent?

[JeepButcher]

Originally Posted by crispins

Ok How am I susposed to find a good realtor when i live over 3 hours away?

Stop saying use Dave Ramsey, for enough money he will endorse a Pyrmid scam.

In my local area there is a radio commercial that plays 10x per hour advertising a local restaurant with him doing the voice over (what happened to beans and rice?) and another one that plays almost as often for a Jewelry Store, I believe he says "diamonds for aaaaaany budget"

He is a whore who does anything for a buck, fuck him and anyone who looks like him.

I found 3 houses that looked interesting for me so I emailed all 3 agents. How was that cold calling? What should I do go there and drive around and ask random people if they know a good real estate agent?

No if it were me I would be a lazy sandy gash and not drive 3 hrs to find a good agent when working on the largest purchase of your life.

[roundhouse]

Originally Posted by crispins

I am wanting to move to a new area about 180 miles away from my house.

I went on Realtor.com and found a few homes that I was interested in seeing as well as I wanted to see if there were other houses that were similar.

I found 3 homes and all 3 were listed by a different agent. I used the contact form and sent a message to all 3 explaining that I wanted to move there and I am a cash buyer.

Not one responded.

I have decided to rent an apartment there, which I am moving to shortly, and do the searching myself.

You just found a good way to figure out which agents are lazy bums, who apparently dont need a big fat commission.

Anyhoo, moving into an area you;re not familiar with, you;re doing the right thing to rent, you never know what areas are fast becoming overrun with illegal mexicans, or which streets are jammed with traffic when you;re trying to drive to work.

[roundhouse]

Originally Posted by JeepButcher

You have this whole thing completely fucked. First off any time you are looking to buy is is very smart to go and find a certified Realtor. Like I said before, unless it's written in the contract the seller pays commission, so you shouldn't care about what cut the agent is getting if you are buying.

Secondly a good Realtor will always know more than you. They will know the market and the past present and future of the area you are looking at. I hear a lot of stories of people bragging about how they "saved" by not using a Realtor and how smart they are. What these geniuses don't realize is that they bought a house with a city water main cutting trough the corner of their yard so if there are issues the city will just tear everything up to repair. Or that the neighborhood down the road was bought up by a slumlord who plans to build section 8 housing.

Then there's the fact that gas is like 4/gal so shit let the Realtor drive you around and look at houses.

They provide a service. They show you houses. They find you homes that meet your criteria to show you later. They can do all your footwork so you don't have to search for a few hours after work trying to find a place.

They provide advice and work you through negotiations all the way up past the sale.

There is so much more on the buyers half that I'm not going to go into it's insane and I haven't even gotten into the sellers duties.

"I found a house on Craigslist and I'm going to look at it tomorrow." is probably one of the dumbest things I've ever heard.

I DONT care where the agent pretends the cut comes from, it ultimately comes from the buyer, but you;re missing my point,

which is the agent, unless you have a contract using them as a"buyers agent" the agent works for the seller. In every. sale.

every single one.

Their goal is to get the house sold and collect their commission,

they WILL tell the seller anything and everything you say, so dont discuss how much you;re willing to pay for the house in front of the agent, the agent WILL repeat this news to the seller.

the agent will sometimes neglect to tell you about restrictions, HOAs, and other stuff thats important.

You will find about this at closing, or maybe when the documents are mailed to you after closing.

Ive had this happen to me.

friend of mine bought a foreclosed home,the agent neglected to tell him that the home he was buying belonged to the children of the people currently living directly across the street.

and the former owners are currently residing in a 15 foot camper in the front yard across the/ street, and all of them, uincluding their brother next door on one side and grandparents on the other side of you new palace, are all very pissed about the whole deal.

Guess the agent just didnt think that was important, huh?

They didnt mention it because they knew it would kill the deal. and also their commission.

a house salesman is no different that any other
commission salesperson, their goal is get the commission, as soon as they can, their loyalty is to the seller, NOT the buyer, so do your homework, the bored housewife real estate agent may be telling you the truth, she may also be neglecting to tell you something that she fears will kill the deal.

so your homework.

[rocksam]

finding a good realtor is like finding a good car salesmen they don't exist. they are just looking to retire off their next sale (ie make a shit ton of money). I have been looking for a house for the last 5 years finally found one on the internet, I am kinda happy she has a house so she is not bitching but i don't have a garage. they say momma is happy every one is happy, bull shit i still want a garage.

[SurfnSnow]

Finding a good realtor is a pain but the wife and I have a good family friend that has helped us buy and sell our past 3 homes, and he actually does his homework on the area/ type of house you're interested in, and I can pm his contact info if you'd like. He's a realtor that actually listens to his clients, no shady shit of any kind

[77bawls]

Originally Posted by roundhouse

none in rural areas, only cityfolk get endorsed by DR.


good luck finding a realtor, 99.9% of em are just bored housewives.

That are DTF? Hhhhhhhmmmm........

[Fueler]

Originally Posted by roundhouse

blah, blah, blah, blah...

You, my friend, are a complete moron. Your location is quite fitting. I think you are bitter because you just dont quite grasp how the process works.

As for your friend, well he sounds like an idiot too. If I went to look at a house and there was an RV across the street with a bunch of people living in it my very first question would be, "WTF is that??"

[JeepButcher]

Originally Posted by roundhouse

I DONT care where the agent pretends the cut comes from, it ultimately comes from the buyer, but you;re missing my point,

which is the agent, unless you have a contract using them as a"buyers agent" the agent works for the seller. In every. sale.

every single one.

Their goal is to get the house sold and collect their commission,

they WILL tell the seller anything and everything you say, so dont discuss how much you;re willing to pay for the house in front of the agent, the agent WILL repeat this news to the seller.

the agent will sometimes neglect to tell you about restrictions, HOAs, and other stuff thats important.

You will find about this at closing, or maybe when the documents are mailed to you after closing.

Ive had this happen to me.

friend of mine bought a foreclosed home,the agent neglected to tell him that the home he was buying belonged to the children of the people currently living directly across the street.

and the former owners are currently residing in a 15 foot camper in the front yard across the/ street, and all of them, uincluding their brother next door on one side and grandparents on the other side of you new palace, are all very pissed about the whole deal.

Guess the agent just didnt think that was important, huh?

They didnt mention it because they knew it would kill the deal. and also their commission.

a house salesman is no different that any other
commission salesperson, their goal is get the commission, as soon as they can, their loyalty is to the seller, NOT the buyer, so do your homework, the bored housewife real estate agent may be telling you the truth, she may also be neglecting to tell you something that she fears will kill the deal.

so your homework.

You are a fucking idiot. So you are saying that every Realtor on the planet is unethical. It's a profession just like any other. There are highly ethical people and the completely immoral. Agents work for you and yes they only get paid if you buy a house, but they don't care what house you buy, so a good agent will work for you every step of the way to make you happy with the sale.

They have no loyalty to the seller because that won't make a sale. Your whole scenario about them running off and telling the sellers agent everything like a little tattletale is just plain stupid. A good agent will disclose everything about a place and find something that is right for you personally.

The key to everything is to find a good agent. It is a lot harder to find a good agent then a bad one. The idiots grossly out number the smart people.

It's also ridicules to hate all agents because you are a huge sandy vag.