I wish I'd bought a house on a busier street.

I wish I hadn't wasted my money on a home inspection.

I wish my commute was a little longer.

It was such a waste of time test driving the commute ahead of time.

I'm so glad I didn't worry about resale when I bought this house.

I so wish I'd bought more house than I could afford.

Using the seller's agent and having no representation was definitely a good move.

I'd just as soon not see photos on listings on the internet.

I wish I hadn't saved up so much money for the down payment.

I love that heavy metal rock band that practices in the garage next door.

Some days I hear something that just sends me running to my blog! This has been one of those days and it's not even noon yet!

I listed a house, probably about a year and a half ago now. I was the second agent. There was a third after me. The house never did sell and eventually went into foreclosure. I've kept my eye on it and I recently noticed the bank had gotten a contract on it. The list price at that time was almost $200K less than the original sales price. It hasn't closed yet so I don't know what the final sales price will end up being.

The truly amazing piece of this story is that the people who are buying the house still have a house to sell! Their agent had warned them repeatedly against buying a house when they hadn't sold theirs. But they drove by got very excited, called the listing agent and wrote an offer on the house. Since this is a foreclosure the offer COULD NOT be contingent on the sale of their home. And there are no other contingencies that would let them out since, typically, banks won't accept them. The listing agent assured them that he could sell their house "just like that", no problem!

There are so many bad things happening here you hardly know where to start!

First of all, let me reiterate again that the listing agent represents the seller, will do what he can to get the property sold and does not give two figs how that impacts the buyer! "Buyer beware" doesn't begin to cover it. If you call a listing agent and use them to buy the property without your own representation you are asking to be taken advantage of!

And, if you fall for an agent telling you they can get your house sold "just like that" you need to have your head examined! Anyone who tells you that is either delusional or lying! There's just no way to sugar coat that!

Here's the really amazing part! The reason the house is in foreclosure is because the previous owner, against the advice of their agent, bought another house without selling the one they already owned. History appears about to repeat itself!

Some days I'm not sure this downturn can last long enough for people to wise up!

Just my rather agitated two cents for the day!

I've received a couple of questions recently regarding buyers agency and I thought it made sense to talk about it a little here. I'm sure the families who are talking to me are not the only ones with questions on this issue.

The first question is should I sign a buyer's agency agreement. This agreement commits you to working with a particular agent to find your home. I believe in these agreements.  You're asking the agent to commit to working to find you your new home. Remember, the agent doesn't get paid until you actually get the home you want! While there are certainly agents who will drive you around endlessly to view homes with no prospect of ever getting paid, many of the best will not. While this is very personal for you as a buyer, it's also a business to the agent. Agents who don't get paid for what they do soon end up doing something else for a living.

Most buyer's agency agreements will be for a specified length of time. If you're unsure that you're going to be comfortable working with this agent, make that time period a brief one, perhaps a week. You can always extend that date later.

Some people are concerned that different agents will show them different inventory. Agents in the same area have access to the same inventory. But it's a good idea to have a conversation with your agent up front about this. You want to make sure they'll show you listings from all the brokers in the area. It's also appropriate to ask about their ability to show you properties that are For Sale By Owner. Understanding what both you and the agent are committing to is key to a good working relationship!

You will also be committing to the agent getting paid if they do their job. In many cases, that commission will be paid by the sellers. But there may be homes listed where that's not the case and again, you should have that conversation with your agent before you ever go out to look at homes. If I show a house where the commission is less than my fee, I make my buyers aware of this up front and talk about strategies for dealing with it should that be the home they fall in love with.

Tomorrow's blog will deal a little more with why a buyer's agent is a good idea and what the pitfalls may be of using the listing agent to write your offer.

Yesterday we talked about signing a buyers agency agreement. Today I'd like to talk a little bit more about why you might want to have a buyer's agent rather than use the listing agent to write your offer.

A listing agent is representing the seller of a property. A listing agent can never represent your interests. No matter how nice they seem, this is a matter of law!

They can write the offer for you on a property they list and they can do that in one of two ways. They can do it as a dual agent, once they've disclosed that to you and gotten your permission. This means that they represent the interests of both parties. And, while that's what the law states I think that's absurd. The buyer's interest is to buy the property for the lowest possible price and the seller's is to sell it for the highest possible price. Dual agency, in my mind, means no one gets proper representation. The only advantage here is to the agent who makes extra money!

They can also write the offer for you as the seller's agent and with you, therefore, not having any representation. While this is certainly a more honest approach, if you're the buyer you'd be well advised to be cautious. The seller's agent is obligated to the seller and to represent their best interests. That means that potentially every word that comes out of your mouth may be going back to the seller verbatim! You don't even have to tell the agent you can afford more than you're offering it. A good agent will sometimes pick up on subtle signals and sense this and his or her obligation is to share all of this with the seller. No seller's agent is ever going to be able to do a good job for you as an unrepresented buyer. They may be able to adequately write what you tell them in a contract, but you have given away much of your negotiating position.

In my opinion, you will eventually realize that this was a bad decision. It may be sooner or it may be a year or two later! But having a listing agent write an offer on your behalf is always a bad idea!

If you have a buyer's agent you should be talking to them and not to the listing agent. Again, it's not that they're a bad person. But their obligation is to get every advantage they can for their sellers. The good ones take this obligation seriously. I know I do.

If knowing all this you still choose to have the listing agent act on your behalf, don't say you weren't warned! Buyer beware definitely applies here!