cxx

We took a look at a house a few days ago, and were shown around by the listing agent as we don't have a realtor / buyers agent. We're now thinking about buying the house and have a good idea how much we're willing to pay, however not sure if we should get a buyers agent or just go with the listing agent and assume there may be more chance to negotiate as they will have more commission. We'll get recommendations of lawyers, inspectors from friends as wouldn't go with a realtor's recommendations anyway.
Anyone bought without a buyers agent / realtor? Any good reasons we should use a buyers agent / realtor?

Former Lancastrian

As buyers don't pay the real estate commissions thats something you don't need to worry about. The seller pays the most if using an agent hence the popularity of sale by owner. Certainly using an agent can be beneficial as they are supposed to know the market and they end up splitting the commission. You should get a real estate lawyer for the legal stuff.
https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/co/bu...hostst_004.cfm

Once an offer has been accepted here its legally binding and not like the UK where you can pull out at the last minute.

dbd33

Not exactly that but we decided to buy a house and then nominated an agent as the buyer's agent; he had no involvement and never saw the house, indeed he's never been to the town where the house was. I don't think the process went any differently than if we had had an actual "buyer's agent".

cxx

I was meaning that I heard that sometimes the listing agent may take a slightly lower commission to help the buyer get what they need if the offer is lower than they want, and there's more chance of that if they are getting the full commission.

JonboyE

The listing agent has a fiduciary duty to their client and, if they do their job properly, should try and fleece you something rotten. Why on earth should they help you negotiate a lower price?

cxx

and our experience of a buyers agent / realtor a few years ago was that they weren't interested in getting a good price for us (so kept telling us that offering even 2% below asking on properties that had been listed for over 2 years was unreasonable), and just focused on how much commission they would make if we bought a property through them, so it seems like no one is actually interested in helping the buyer get a good deal.

HGerchikov

As with all professions, there are good and bad, although it is hard to comprehend why anyone would say 2% below list price on an offer was unreasonable (unless it was a multiple bid situation), even on a newly listed property. Why don't you ask your friends for recommendations? you are planning on asking for suggestions for lawyers and inspectors.

Bucks_Family

You base this on one experience? That sounds harsh.
We've bought a house, then sold it and bought another one in the last couple of years and in both cases the buyer's agent we used (two different ones) did an excellent job during negotiations to ensure we got the house for a figure that was mutually agreeable to us and the seller.
Sure, you can do it without a buyers agent, but I'm with JonboyE on this one, there's no reason why the seller's agent would go out of their way to get you a better price just because you've agreed not to use a buyer's agent.
How would you feel if your agent did that when the time comes for you to sell your house?
I'd recommend using one, but pick one based on some first-hand experience, if you know someone who has used one recently that they would recommend. Hopefully that way you avoid using one that would treat you like your last one did?
Good luck!

cxx

Definitely not a multiple bid situation. We decided not to bid and the place still hasn't sold several years later, possibly because they've never moved on price.

cxx

We've been asking around and of the three people who've purchased recently one used the "pay the asking price" agent, and as they fell in love with the house they offered the asking price, even though there was absolutely no chance of multiple bids, and the place had been listed for ages. The second used a different agent but said they wouldn't recommend that one as they took ages to get information or reply to questions and seemed to hinder the process rather than help. I'm waiting to hear from the third.

cxx

Not just that one realtor, but also the one in another area who took us round houses and told us not to worry about the damp patches, mold, cracks, and nasty smells because the places had nice curtains. She also spent the entire showings on her phone discussing her weekend plans, then insisted we visit a couple of her listings which we weren't interested in just so the sellers thought she was getting people through the doors.
Or the one a friend used in that area who suggested giving the seller a week to respond to the offer so they could shop around other potential buyers and try to push the price up.

not2old

Having bought & sold a number of properties over the past 47 years, we've purchased through the 'listing agent' as well as our own 'buying agent'.

It has been our 'personal' experience that either agent looks after their own interest & only their interest first to get a sale as fast as possible for as little effort as possible.

Imagine you are the property seller & have an offer - do you really care who brings the offer in, its simply the 'I want the best possible price with as few conditions or agro as possible, as well as to pay a low a commission as I can possibly can'

Typically these days there is no across the table negotiating, table thumping selling & buyers agents battling it out with the seller.

Its something along the lines of to the seller 'we have an offer', with the listing agent by phone informing the seller of the offer price, to presenting or faxing/ pdf email an offer to the seller. Typical seller doing the 'twisted face' to a 'we want more, its too low an offer', the selling agent doing their typical selling job 'its a good offer, you may not get another one', or 'what would you like me to do next'?

Look at the real estate person as 'is not your friend, they are not doing you any favours, they get paid if the sale is done' - no different than a car salesperson, furniture, carpet salesperson - all who are commission paid earners & will for the most part sell you anything, tell you anything to get the sale for their commission. Its a tough world being a commission only earning individual.

As a buyer, we found that we must do our homework, be as smart as we possibly can be - for its 'buyer beware' when it comes to real estate purchasing. After all, as a buyer we are the ones that is putting a considerable amount of 'money on the line' not the sales agent.

My suggestion to you OP is go with either agent that makes you think you'll get the best deal, because in the end its likely the purchase price won't be much different whichever agent you use.

gryphea

The selling agent has already signed an agreement for their commission. Why would they go back on it? Get a buyer's agent

dbd33

It would certainly be good to have someone to represent you in the negotiation but a "buyer's agent" is just someone else who's interest is in getting you to buy the house. I'd look for a lawyer, probably one with a background in agentless transactions, such as those suggested by propertyguys. You would have to pay for the lawyer regardless but, at least, someone acting for you is likely to tell you about the toxic waste dump planned for the street next to house.

not2old

Using a 5% commission base on a $500,000 property, the commission is $25,000.

Should the listing agent actually sell the property they listed (which few do), the commission is a 'two way split' between the agent & the broker, with each getting $12,500.

In the situation where another agent other than the listing agent sells the property, the $25,000 is a 'four way split', with the two agents & two brokers each getting $6,250

At whatever the selling price is from the $500,000. Suppose the property sells at 90%, 95% of the original $500,000 - it makes a small difference to the commission on a two way, even more so on a 'four way split'.

A $50,000 price difference in the selling price is a change of $2,500 in commission that may end up being divided four ways between the two agents & two brokers . Not such a big deal, or is it?