Real Estate

I’ve dealt with about 4 Realtors already in about 2 years trying to find my first home (in California) which has been so far a bad experience and unsuccessful. In my experiences thus far I’m come to the conculsion that all Realtors are just greedy used house salesman who really don’t have my best interest in mind. How do I go about representing myself in looking at houses or if I want to make a offer on a home. I would like to eliminate a Realtor altogether as a middle man. I would appreciate any advise given!

After taking Real Estate classes I’ve learned it is far better to use a realtor because they do all the paperwork for you and that can be a major headache. But if you want to do it yourself you will have to hire an attorney who specializes in Real Estate to write up the contracts and make sure the transaction is completed legally. You say you have dealt with Realtors before, were they just showing you the houses or were they your "buyers agent"? A buyers agent is a real estate salesperson who reprsents a buyer. They will find houses and also show them to you, you are their client and they are on your side, it becomes their legal duty to protect you. They must do what is in your best interest and cannot share any private information with the seller or anyone else. If what you had before was a buyers agent and they did not do what was in your best interest write a letter to your states Real Estate Commission. Buyers Agents have no attachment to the seller, unless they are a dual agent, but I do NOT recommend this at all as it means they represent both the seller and the buyer and therefore cannot be loyal to both parties. They must tell you this upfront and if they are, I’d find someone else. Good brokers do not allow Dual Agencies, but they are legal in some states. For them to become your "Buyer’s agent" you will sign a contract, they do not get paid unless they find a house for you and the deal gets closed. They can either be paid by you, by the seller, or you can make a lower offer for the house to cover the fees, also the listing broker may split her commission with your buyers agent, it all depends on that specific situation, but most of the time you as the buyer will not pay the fees, it generally comes off the selling price or the listing brokers splits. I hope this helps and if you need anything else you may contact me by email. Good Luck!

What does the sales price of a home have to do with anything. It does not cost any more to sell a $200,000 house than a $400,000 house. Why is not based on a flat fee? Sometime the Realtors make more than the homeowner does. This seem to be one of the largest scams played on the american public today.

It’s not a scam. Realtors admit they get a fee. They’re required to by law, like all commission sales people.

In a lot of cases, the Realtor’s office gets 3% of the final sale price, and the Realtor him/herself gets 3%. But remember that the 3% is what the Realtor *lives on*.

They do not get a salary, nor do they get a steady paycheck. And they paid some money and attended a training program (sometimes a couple, depending on where) in order to become an agent. A Realtor is even more elite. They paid to play, and they’re working for however much they can get.

Every self-employed person lives by the motto "haud opus, haud victus… no work, no food."

3% of a $200,000 house is $6,000… but how many months did it take to get that money? And remember, Realtors pay taxes _after_ they get paid. Their earnings are not conveniently withheld so they can just blow their money. Up to 40% of what they make goes straight to Uncle Sam, for the sweat of their backs.

The less guarantee there is of a pay-off, the higher the risk of days without food and of getting the electricity turned off, the larger the ultimate pay-off should be. IMO, that’s the American Way.

Hope that explained.

If the house is listed on the MLS as a "courtesy" of a certain realty company, do I have to use that company or can I go to the realtor of my choice in that area?

You can use the realtor of your choice. Tell them the MLS number you’re interested in, then they’ll show it to you. They’ll get the commission for the sale of the house, but the lister will get the commission for listing the house.

Good luck!

I want to rent a house in san diego but am having difficulty finding the time to look for one. I want to pay someone to find one for me, any ideas who to call?

Most large agencies will have rentals.

Here are a few that I see have good ratings on Yahoo local in or near San Diego.

www.teambourda.com
http://www.californiamoves.com/property/PropertySearch.aspx?propsearch=4

I have heard conflicting opinions on this. I am looking at selling my house and when I begin to pull comps of the houses sold in the area, how are foreclosures going to affect that price? I heard from a realestate agent that foreclosures are not suppose to affect active listings, while my bank (when I was going to refinance) used foreclosure listings when they pulled comps, which doesn’t seem exactly fair to me. Any info would be great. Thanks.

Your real estate agent is wrong. Foreclosures of similar properties in your area definitely affect your valuation and selling price. Stop to think about it. Why would a buyer pay YOUR asking price when he can go down the road and purchase a foreclosure for perhaps $20,000 less ?

Foreclosures which sell below the former (pre-foreclosure era) pricing definitely bring down the values of other properties in the area.

Is there a way to discover which realestate company’s/agents get these? Details/websites appreciated!

One way you can try to find out who lists foreclosures is by picking up a homes for sale guide and reading the ads. The ads that say "being sold as-is" or "proof of funds required" are usually foreclosures. See which Realtors have more listings like that. Another, probably faster, thing you can do is call some real estate offices and ask if they have any agents who specialize in foreclosures or who usually list foreclosures. I used to be a Realtor and there were 2 or 3 people in my office that usually listed foreclosures. If you call a real estate company and ask for someone who lists foreclosures, the secretary will know who to put you in touch with. Also, as long as the foreclosures are put in the multi-list system then any Realtor can tell you about them and show them.

95.00 r 95,000 dollars??

what are good material to study or read to prepare you for the test?
Do you need to take any other couse to get license to became qualified?

Its pretty easy. The classes are a piece of cake. See:

http://dre.ca.gov/exm_home.html

I want to become a realtor but dont know exactly how to do it. What are the steps in order to become a realtor.

Sitting in the office listening to the other agents tell you what will not work is not the key to being a successful real estate agent.

The key to having a successful career in the real estate field are simply and easy to follow.

#1 Get the necessary education to get your state license.

A. An internet class would do just fine you are only trying to get your license.

B. If you like to sit through a class then find a real estate school in your local area.

C. Some real estate offices offer career real estate license school in their office

#2 Obtain the necessary continuing education to maintain and keep your license to sell real estate up to date.

#3 Formalize the best marketing plan you can think of to maintain a high degree of referrals and a good customer base.

You may listen to others that are successful and those that are unsuccessful tell you about what they do that work and what they do that don’t work for them.

You are not them so, what might work or not work for them might be the reverse for you. So take what they tell you and put them into something that work for you.

Starting part time might work for some and not for others. It simply depends on how many hours a day you are willing to put into your new career and how bad you want to leave your old career behind. Sometime your present career can be a crutch.

The main thing you want to remember about making real estate your career is that you are working for yourself, so you are the one that have to motivate yourself each and every day.

You want to become an expert in real estate not just a person that sell and list houses. There is a big difference.

There are several marketing techniques that are in use today.

#1 There is telemarketing, but then there is the "Do not call list" So you have to be careful there and not make a mistake or you will be sued. Cost is $11,000 per call for you as well as your employer.

#3 Advertise in the local newspaper that you are now in the business of doing real estate.

#4 You can direct mail to people in your city telling them you are in the real estate business.

I suggest you market yourself by leaving the office and spending time in a area that you want to work and get to know the people that could be your future clients.

Find an area in your city that you want to work approximately 5,000-10,000 houses. Make you enough fliers to cover your area. If you have children this will be a good weekend activity for them as well as yourself. While walking the area passing out your fliers, if you see someone out doing the lawn or just out introduce yourself, give them one of your cards. See if they are willing to give you their name and email address so you can email them, on a monthly basis, things about the real estate industry as well as your monthly newsletter. Place any information you collect in a data base that you should start.

Your flier should tell them a little about you, the high school and college you attended, a little about your family # of children, husbands first name if you have a family yet, a few of the real estate programs that you will be offering and introducing. This is an introductory flier that you can make on your computer. You can get them ran off at Staples or Office Depot.

You should pass these type fliers out at least 3 months in a row. This will let them know that you are sincere and look as if you will be there for them.

You should also visit the local commercial places in the same area. Find out if they will allow you to place a flier holder in their business, give them one of your business cards, find out their
name, write it down you never want to forget it because they will become one of your partners. buy something even if you are gonna give it away and don’t need it. Do this to as many commercial businesses in the area as will allow you to place a flier holder in their place of business. You will find the flier holders at Staples or Office Depot.

Call the post office and inquire about their bulk mailing stamp. Get one and learn the system of bulk mailing.

Also call your title company and get them to provide you with the names of the people in your area that you have been passing out your flier.

Remember your data base you were starting and now should have over a thousand names that you alone should have been able to get if you have been walking the area.

Once you have passed out the fliers for at least 3-4 months start you a newsletter covering topics on the real estate business. Get articles from your local newspaper as well as off the internet. Just remember to give credit to the author of the article. You might have a doctor, lawyer or some other professional to help you on your articles. Charge them for the articles, about 50% of the cost of the newsletter.

Now remember the businesses that you had your fliers in and you now know their names because you have been there to change your fliers abou

I have a new home inspection business and need to send my flyer with attached coupon to realtors so home buyers can use my services and save money!

Phone them up and ask them. Remember the phone?