Real Estate agents in Brooklyn you recommend and why

ss321

Mon, Aug 03 2009, 6:31 am

amother wrote:

I'm asking for people who have never bought a house before, so they need someone thats really honest, to avoid major mistakes.

Is it true that many Brokers/Real Estate agents make you sign a document that they'll be the only one house-hunting for you, or something like that, to make sure they're not wasting their time on you if you'll end up buying through someone else.

hmm.... good luck Sad

sorry. we looked with lots of agents and ended up finding our house thru word of mouth (family) and thankfully used no agent. honestly, I the NYC real estate market is a really tough one and people will try to sell you anything and remember the agents work for the sellers not the buyers. that is where their loyalties lie so no matter how nice they are and how much they tell you "Oh, I prommmmise, I am in it for you guys" they are not. you arent the one paying their commission at the end of the day.

yes it is true that they make you sign some sort of document like that. but in essence it means that you will remain loyal to them within their own company. so if you look at houses with John from Century 21, if you see any other Century 21 houses, you need to deal with john, not christina. but if you see a house on the market thru Madison estates, you are not legally (or ethically or whatever) bound by virtue of what you signed to call John. You can call someone from Madison estates, who will then make you sign something similar - when looking at madison estates homes, you will work with Sammy and not call Jenny his colleague.

just remember, it is a business, and what you are told over the phone is not going to be what you see, in a majority of cases. they are trying to sell a product, no different than a sales person at a clothing store. so as much as when you go in to buy a wedding dress (expensive purchase) they will say "mamaleh, the most important thing in the worrrld to me is that yoooouu are happy with your dress! nothing else matters and allll I care about is that you look like a queen," while I am not saying the store owners/saleswomen dont take pride in what they do - I am sure they do sincerely want their customers to be happy - that is not their "first and only priority" - making a sale is! that is capitalism for you. so just tell "them" to remember that and not buy into what anyone tells them.

amother

Mon, Aug 03 2009, 8:53 am

OP here.

One agent told buyers he'd rather not deal with clients who work with many brokers ("who go broker shopping"), that the buyers ought to rely on one agent to show them all houses, and he can get them in to whichever house the sellers are interested in, even if it's listed with another broker. Does that make sense?

Also, are all the documents they have you sign the same, or do some have other stuff in the fine print.

Any brokers who have great reputations in Brooklyn for getting the buyers the best eals?

happyone

Mon, Aug 03 2009, 9:02 am

AFAIK, the seller signs a deal that he can only sell through the broker. The buyer can use whoever he/she wants and can have access to every house, however the commission on someone elses listing is significantly lower than if it were his own listing. If they are asking you to sign, they know you are a serious buyer and not just wasting their time. (I'm not sure if you're actually signing a legal document- whereas the buyer does sign a legal doc) Most brokers take the cues from the buyer as to how serious they are to sticking to a maximum price or if they can spend that extra 50k. You need to be firm in how much you are willing to spend. They will then work on getting you the house for the price you're interested in paying assuming it's a realistic request.

Good luck!

nicole81

Mon, Aug 03 2009, 2:30 pm

if you get a "buyer's agent" then yes, they might make you sign exclusively with them. and yes, they will be responsible for getting you into any house, regardless of the company. they can get you into different homes because they negotiate with the seller's agent using you (a qualified buyer) as their leverage. they end up splitting the commission if you buy.

you don't *need* a buyer's agent though, and it's not that common in nyc. mostly you see houses through the listing broker who works for the seller. one advantage of this is that since the seller's agent isn't splitting commission, you might be able to get a better price on the house. but they're not there to aggressively negotiate for you. You will have to be able to handle negotiations yourself.

One thing to note is that outside of NY, buyer's agents are very popular, however people don't really rely on real estate attorneys. In NYC, you can totally do without a buyer's agent, but you need to make sure to have a capable attorney to negotiate the contract for you.

amother

Mon, Aug 03 2009, 8:51 pm

nicole81 wrote:

if you get a "buyer's agent" then yes, they might make you sign exclusively with them. and yes, they will be responsible for getting you into any house, .....

One thing to note is that outside of NY, buyer's agents are very popular, however people don't really rely on real estate attorneys. In NYC, you can totally do without a buyer's agent, but you need to make sure to have a capable attorney to negotiate the contract for you.

OP here. Thanks for the education!