H Bomb

My wife and I are looking at buying a second home (technically a first home as we cannot afford to buy in NYC) in the Catskill area about 75 miles outside of NYC.

We are quickly discovering that things work very differently out here versus the UK.

I have a load of questions - but this one is most pressing at the moment...

The realtors we have contacted seem very keen to find out if we are working with anyone else and state that they can get access to any property we want to see.
So when a house is for sale here any agent can sell it?

Are they just being pushy making sure we do not possibly buy with anyone else - or is it some sort of legal requirement here?

The initial realtors we have contacted don't seem great - so don't want to be tied to the first one we spoke to!

mrken30

When selling a house you will work with one realtor and pay that realtor commision.

There is no legal reason that you cannot work with two realtors, but there are moral reason and an unwritten code that a realtor will not take another realtor's business.

They all work on commission. The same applies to salesmen.

Nutmegger

It's called Multiple Listing -- any realtor can show you any property. While your realtor will work with you, the buyer, there will be another realtor in the picture, who works for the seller. So, for instance, you make an offer on a house and your realtor works up the paperwork and takes it to the realtor for the seller, who passes your offer along.

So you choose one person with whom you want to work and stick with them.

H Bomb

Ah I see - so there are 2 realtors in the deal.

For me it seems to make sense to just find the sellers realtor for every property we want to view - especially as that must reduce the number of people involved in the deal - but can see that is not the way it works.

So we just need to find someone we like/who is useful. I think that may be harder than actually finding a house we want to buy!

petitefrancaise

In Texas ( so it may be different in NY), the seller's realtor splits the commission with the buyer's realtor. You should ask about how your agent gets paid, don't assume you will be given the bill. A good realtor is worth their weight in gold. From a quick google search, it appears you need a lawyer in NY to buy a house so I would ask them for a recommendation.

mrken30

Or find a lawyer and find out which realtors they work with. The lawyer part is the part you want done properly. So going with someone that only just started doing real estate transactions probably isn't wise.

anotherlimey

I would recommend getting a good real estate attorney. Many realtors just want the sale and aren't interested in protecting you, but the attorney will be paid to look out for you.

But, it's been my experience realtors are overpaid used-car salesmen/women so I could be jaded.

Giantaxe

The process of real estate transactions varies from state to state (e.g. lawyers typically aren't involved in some states etc) so the OP should be wary of information that may or may not be relevant to NY state. Of course, there are a lot of commonalities too.

dc koop

In California when a sale is agreed on the deposit made by the buyer goes into what's called an Escrow Account. This is very important because the Escrow company is responsible for establishing that there are no liens or debts or claims of ownership by third parties held against the property. An Escrow period generally lasts around 30 days. Once the requirements are satisfied and the property free and clear the monetary deposit is then transferred to the seller

kodokan

Nope, not at all how it works. I made that mistake too at first, and tried phoning the selling realtor to view properties. They don't do viewings like that - your buyer's realtor does them, usually using access to a key lockbox to let you in. You find a house you want to see, call your realtor, and they make it happen. Neither the selling realtor or the owner will be there, so you can have a good poke about and chat freely. It's nice once you get used to it!

You make any offers via your realtor too, and carry out the negations through them. They also organize inspections, help schedule any repairs, etc.

Typically you don't pay for this; your realtor is paid from the sale commission (usually 3% each). And then when it's your turn to sell, you pay both realtor commissions too.

Nutmegger

I'm surprised that so many people complain about realtors. I've found them to be nothing but helpful, showing me dozens of houses until the perfect one materializes, assisting in making a sensible offer, ensuring any defects are corrected, and steering me to the best RE attorney in town. My OH held a license for a year, while we were looking for our current house, and took on a few customers and saw the other side of the coin. So many of them were disgusting -- doing things like calling up the seller to try to make a direct deal cutting him out (the sellers were honest enough to say no and let him know), and buying property he'd shown them via another realtor.

petitefrancaise

our realtor was excellent too.
At a time when houses in the area we wanted were being sold in a couple of hours and people were making offers on 10+ houses with no luck,she got us this house which was the first one we made an offer on and within our budget and looked after us every step of the way. She's been a realtor for over 20 years in Austin, lives in our area and knew which streets/houses to stay away from. She still sends us an amarylis every christmas and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend her.

Rete

Needed one here in Mississippi as well. The bank provided the attorney.

The seller's real estate agent works for the seller and looks out for his best interest which is getting the best price and the buyer's agent works for the buyer and looks out for his best interest which is getting the lower price and concessions that the buyers want and help in negotiating who pays what to have things repair and/or replaced after the home inspection before the closing.

We like our real estate agent, as well. Wanted to look at the home we recently bought and when hubby went to case the neighborhood first, there was a real estate agent out front who asked him if he were interested in the house. He replied yes and she told him to forget it as her client already had a bid in. He went home and called our agent to cancel the house showing and relayed what was told to him. She was quickly told him that a bid on the house does not mean the house has been sold or that he could not view it and make an offer. He did see, made an offer and we got the house with additional land thrown in my the seller.

Rete

In NYS you do not need a real estate agent if the property is put up for sale by the owner. In those instances there is no agent for the seller and usually no agent for the buyer.

You do require an attorney. There are documents that need to be researched and/or filed, i.e. property title, deed, search for mechanic's liens, etc.

Rete

Where about in the Catskills are you looking. There are some very lovely small towns and lakes up there. The one town we do NOT like is Liberty, New York. Do like Roscoe, trout capital, as it is known. Former neighbor owns a summer place in Roscoe. Monticello is a large city with a major hospital and the race track for gambling. Have a former sister-in-law living in Wurtsboro (she's a real estate agent btw) and my former mother and father-in-law lived in Ellenville. We travel Route 17 to the Finger Lakes several times a year.