Tag: first time buyer

Who Pays the Buyer’s Agent Fee?

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Everyone wants to know how Buyer’s Agents get paid. Here’s the truth.

The buyer is the only party to the transaction that brings a check to the closing table. So, simply, the buyer pays the fee. In most cases, the buyer’s agent fee is “baked” into the sale of the house. It’s the whole enchilada.

How Buyer Representation Works: When you hire a Realtor to represent you in the purchase of a home you sign a contract with the Realtor’s agency that outlines the terms, conditions, and most importantly the fee that is due to the Buyer’s Agent. This contract is between you and your Buyer’s Agent. The seller does not pay the Buyer’s Agent fee, it is paid through the transaction as a line item on the seller’s settlement statement.

Here are the two ways to pay your Buyer’s Agent:

In most cases the purchaser may request that the seller cover the Buyer’s Agent fee in the transaction. This means that when you see a “sale price” for a house it does not reflect the “net proceeds” to the seller.

Less commonly, the purchaser may want to pay the Buyer’s Agent fee directly to the buyer’s agency as part of their closing costs. This means that the “sale price” for the house does not have the Buyer’s Agent fee baked into the transaction.

If you are thinking about buying and still have questions – please feel free to reach out, we are always happy to help!

The Right Home May Not Be Your ‘Forever’ Home

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Your “right home” may not be your “forever home.” Sometimes your life circumstances and current lifestyle lead you to a property that doesn’t fit your needs “forever,” but it fits your needs right now. Interestingly, 81% of buyers who think they bought their “forever home” end up moving in 5 years.

Over the last few years some buyers focus on finding the best home that fits their criteria of a “Forever” home. The search is frustrating, long, tiring and sometimes elusive. Buyers focus on future needs rather than their immediate circumstances. Of course, it’s natural to look for a house that you absolutely love, the house of your dreams, the house that you can grow into. In reality, though, the search that “checks all the boxes” rarely ends with the ideal house. Why does the search for a “forever” home turn into endless showings and frustration?

After working with buyers for many years, we ask more questions than other real estate agents. Instead of asking for a list of “must have” features in a home we ask these lifestyle questions:

  • What do you do for recreation?
  • Do you need to be on a school bus-line or close to school?
  • Where do you work? Do you need to live close to your company or do you work from home?
  • Do you want the option of public transportation?
  • How close do you want to be to the airport, the interstate, grocery shopping, restaurants and health care providers?

The “forever home” may have the “wish list” items but it may not fit the lifestyle questions. If you’re frustrated with your home search, or just thinking about starting, reach out – we’d love to help you find the best home to suit your needs, now and for the future.

Summer Buyer’s Market?

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Yes, there is a Summer Buyer’s Market! If you’re thinking about buying or “have” to buy, now is the time to jump into the Vermont real estate market. Sellers who have their homes for sale are eager to sell before the fall. If you’ve been discouraged over the past few years, now is the time to get back out there to find your new home. More houses for sale, fewer buyers competing.

Here are the top 3 reasons to buy in the summer:

Everyone is on vacation. The pool of buyers goes up and down in the summer months depending on vacations. You are competing with fewer buyers.

Back-to-School season is here. Believe it or not, people are preparing for back-to-school which means college trips, school supplies and new clothes and shoes. Even people who aren’t going back to school get excited about office supplies. This phenomenon distracts many potential buyers from the real estate market.

One last trip! If people aren’t taking a scheduled vacation, then they are planning that “one last trip” before the summer is over. Concerts, horse shows, or just a quick jaunt to the ocean. The “last trip” of the summer means that those buyers are still vacationing rather than house-hunting.

We have a 100% success rate for helping our buyer clients find their next home. Reach out if you are ready to take the first step in purchasing.

3 Reasons Why You Need a Buyer’s Agent

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pexels-rdne-8293700If you’ve been following the mainstream media you may have read that Sellers are no longer required to pay Buyer’s Agents. It’s an interesting headline unless you are in the real estate business and know that Sellers never were required to pay Buyer’s Agents, but that’s another blog.

The fallout from these headlines has led many consumers to call Listing Agents (agents that represent the seller) directly and declare “I don’t want a Buyer’s Agent.” There are 3 reasons why this does not turn out well for unrepresented buyers:

  1. The Listing Agent represents the Seller in the transaction. As an unrepresented buyer there is “no one” on your side. You can choose to have an attorney draw up a Purchase and Sale offer for you, however, your attorney is not a real estate professional in terms of negotiation at time of contract or throughout any other contract contingencies that arise.
  2. Every real estate transaction is unique. You cannot “google” or ask “AI” to help you navigate the process. You need to have a local professional real estate agent that understands the nuances and traditional practices of the current real estate market.
  3. You don’t know what you don’t know. We’ll leave it there.

Bottom line, hire a Buyer’s Agent. If you don’t, you will not be successful in securing the home that you want. Buyer’s Agents know how to work quickly on behalf of their clients. If you don’t want to pay your Buyer’s Agent because it’s too expensive, then what is the cost of “not” securing a home for yourself or your family?

If you’ve been thinking about buying, we are here to help! We will guide you through the entire process from home search to closing, providing unparalleled support and expertise every step of the way. Contact us today to get started.

The Real House Hunters of Chittenden County

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Essex Jct - Juniper Ridge RdWe would love to write the script for a show, “The Real House Hunters of Chittenden County.” This reality show could follow a group of buyers in their search for the perfect house. Alas, no one has called us (yet) to work on a pilot, so we’ll just regale you with a few house hunting tips to save you some drama.

Episode I – Heartbreak on Hilltop Drive

Joey Jones thought he was approved for a $450,000.00 loan … after we found the perfect house on Hilltop Drive he found out that he was only qualified for a $250,000.00 loan. It was heartbreaking to see Joey burst into tears.

Real LifeTip: Make sure you are pre-approved with a mortgage lender. This sounds so basic but if you don’t take this step it will lead to unnecessary stress once you start the house hunting process. We have met with buyers who are certain that they are qualified for a certain mortgage amount and start the house hunting process with an unrealistic price point.

Episode II – Snooze and Lose on Sleepy Hollow Way

Tiffany Thomas thought she had time to think about putting in an offer on her “almost” perfect dream house on Sleepy Hollow Way. She dismissed her alarm by mistake when she should have set it to snooze. Once she emerged from her long winter’s nap she called her Realtor to put in an offer. Alas, the house just went under contract with another buyer, apparently an early riser. Tiffany spends the next week in bed mourning the loss.

Real Life Tip: Don’t hesitate to put in an offer if you think you found the “almost” perfect house. While the market may seem slow-moving and sleepy to you, there are other buyers who are searching for a similar property.

Episode III – Too much to Fix on First Street

Martin McFly thought that the photos of house on First Street fit most of his “wish list.” Once inside the house, though, he couldn’t believe how much worse the house looked in “real life.” The paint, the appliances, and the flooring all needed to be addressed to suit his particular aesthetic. Six months later he still cannot find a location or floor plan that fits his needs. He can’t move forward with his search and spends his days pricing out appliances and flooring just in case he ever finds a comparable property to First Street that may need some updating.

Real Life Tip: No house will ever fit your wish list 100%. It is good to know the cost of any updates or changes that you may want to make to a property before you dismiss it as a “fixer-upper” or needing too much “work.” We have seen some beautiful transformations on many different budgets.

If you’re frustrated in your own house hunt, get in touch to see how we can help you find your Home Sweet Vermont!