Purchase Offer without a Realtor

[RedDawn]

Has anyone ever purchased a place listed on the MLS without a realtor?

When it comes time to put in an offer, what method did you use? Did you simply tell the listing realtor about your offer and conditions and they did up all the paperwork? Or, is it my responsibility to create this paperwork. If so, where can I get a blank form in order for me to put the offer together?

Yes, I know this would be easier with a realtor and that I should get one. Yes, I know they're "free" if I'm buying. None of these responses answer my question as to how this self-serve process works though, so please don't clutter up this thread with responses like that. I'm simply here to learn about how to execute this process.

Anyone done this, or knows how to do it, that can help me shed some light on this?

[Kloubek]

A real estate lawyer will be able to draw up whatever documents you require. Or, their real estate lawyer can do so as well... might as well do something to earn their comissions.

Or, you can be really sneaky and just go talk to the owner directly, bypass the agent, and split the difference. (Though, this isn't a very nice thing to do to someone who is trying to make a living... so perhaps their contract is almost up anyway?)

[lilmira]

The seller's agent can become dual agent for both the seller and the buyer if you don't mind.

[Idratherbsidewayz]

I remember sitting in the registries idly looking at the documents tree they had in the corner. Pretty sure one of those legal documents was a real estate how to.

[barmanjay]

The Listing agent can Facilitate the purchase contract for you.

He will either be in transactional brokerage completing the contract for both sides,... or if the seller is not comfortable, will have you sign a customer status form and still facilitate the transaction on behalf of the seller.

If you find a home listed on the MLS with a discount brokerage that does not supply purchase contracts, then a good real estate lawyer can facilitate the transaction. Keep in mind the Lawyer will cost you more now, than just transferring title and handling funds.

Good luck!

[RedDawn]

Originally posted by lilmira
The seller's agent can become dual agent for both the seller and the buyer if you don't mind.

Hmmm....if this were the case, and the listing agent did become a dual agent, is it reasonable to reduce the offer price by an amount similar to the commission that would've gone to the agent representing me?

Maybe not the full amount, since the dual agent does now have a little more work to do by representing two people, but does that amount of work necessarily deserve the full commission amount? From my very limited understanding, they will now just have a little more paperwork to deal with but nothing too serious. Can anyone correct me on this, if my assumptions are wrong. What's a fair percentage to reduce by? 80%? 90%?

[skandalouz_08]

You can negotiate that with the selling realtor as well as the seller.

Make an offer on the house at a lesser price based on the selling realtor receiving less commission and the seller having to pay the selling realtor less commission. It's up to the buyer (and ultimately the seller) to talk to the realtor about commissions earned and how they will be earned since they are no longer splitting them with another realtor

[lilmira]

The seller might be a bit more flexible on the price if the agent is willing to give him a deal on the commission. I don't think you'll have any say on it though other than offering a price. Not sure what the rate is now, 3.5% for each side? So if the agent is willing to take 4%, someone will save 3%. Not 100% sure, on board realtor here can answer your question.

When I sold my place last time, I had a walk-in so my realtor did end up doing the paper for both sides. Another thing I thought you might be able to save money on is using the same lawyer as the seller, less paper, less moving with the money. Again not 100% sure.

[barmanjay]

When a listing is added to the mls, the commissions have already been set in contract.
Almost makes no difference whether 1 or 2 agents are part of a transaction.
At the point of purchase, the buyer can't use commissions as a negotiating feature.
The seller can use this if one agent is involved, however there is a contract already in place for commissions paid out, so it is at the discretion of the agent/listing brokerage to accept. Most of the time the agent will co-operate to help close a deal - no guarantees though. Amendments will have to written and the listing contract altered prior to acceptance of a purchase agreement = extra paperwork.

Hard part doing this on your own is knowing whether or not the house is truly priced right in accordance with the selling market or not.

[msouther]

Keep in mind that buying through the listing agent is ok, but they are in an agency relationship with the sellers, so all they are doing for you is facilitating paperwork, showing you comps and acting as a scribe and presenting your info to their clients. The realtor owes fiduciary duties to the sellers and their objective is to get the most money for their clients and terms most favourable to them.

Having another realtor represent you would probably be the best way to go as they will have the opposing objectives to the other agent and that is to get you the lowest price and terms most favourable to you.

At the end of the day, you could save money being a Customer to the listing agent and having them cut a bit of commission, but who says you are going to pay less than you would if you had an agent working for you for "free"?

[redx2nv]

fuck the realtor's, sold my last house when someone knocked on the door and bought the place. Only cost me $700 and 0 commision for anyone!

[BrknFngrs]

Originally posted by msouther
Having another realtor represent you would probably be the best way to go as they will have the opposing objectives to the other agent and that is to get you the lowest price and terms most favourable to you.

I understand what you're trying to say, but even if you get your own realtor isn't it still beneficial to them if you end up paying more for your house as it also means they make more on the commission?

[waypastfast]

Ideally the realtor working for you will show you the market comparables so that you know what a fair price to pay is. Being a realtor myself I love trying to neg the lowest price for my client. I have NO problem going down to the last dollar if thats what it take to get the best price. That is definitely the most enjoyable part of the process of buying. Besides if you do get a great price the word of mouth referral for doing a great job is well worth hammering the sellers agent!! And I love doing it too....lol. Thats just me though.

[dexlargo]

Originally posted by RedDawn


Hmmm....if this were the case, and the listing agent did become a dual agent, is it reasonable to reduce the offer price by an amount similar to the commission that would've gone to the agent representing me?

Yes, it's reasonable.

Will it work? Probably not.

As the others have pointed out, the commissions are set in the listing agreement that is agreed to by the listing agent and the home seller. It says the commission will be 7% on the first $100k, and 3% on the rest. That commission is usually divided between the selling realtor and the buying realtor. If there is no buying realtor, then the commission amount is still payable, but just to one party. Unless you negotiated and got the price to within some small percentage difference (like $5000 or something), the realtor won't cut his commission, but at that point if it looks like the deal won't get done, he might cut his commission by the difference - just to facilitate the deal and so he can get paid.

No disrespect to the realtors on this forum, but some (not all!) realtors are just in it for themselves, and while they do have fiduciary duties to their customers, I feel that they often act mostly in their own interests. Getting a great price for the seller is good, but increasing the house sale price by $10,000 only nets the realtor an extra $150, (to put that in perspective, for a $500k house, each realtor's commision would be $8500 - if he gets both ends, it's $19,000) It's much better for the realtor if you agreed to sell it for less quickly - that way he gets paid sooner, uses less time, spends less on marketing, etc.

That said, I think that there's no benefit in not using a realtor (of your own! not the listing realtor) when buying a house if the seller is using a realtor. In fact, I think that an offer made without a realtor would be in danger of being not taken seriously, especially if there are competing offers on the home.

But if you want to make an offer on your own, go crazy. Here's a link to a form of contract that might work okay (I'm not endorsing it at all, I haven't reviewed it in detail, but it appears to be meant for Alberta):Sample purchase contract It doesn't appear to include the condition schedules, but you could probably find another version online that has those. Make sure you use a form that is meant for Alberta.

[Xtrema]

Unless the house is listed as exclusive, you won't get much saving.