Buying/selling without realtor?

Get a lawyer to do it for you.

Lawyers can draft purchase and sale agreements just like what realtors use (OREA forms) ...

Saves on the commission charged by the realtors ... legal fees would not be as high as commissions.

Only thing is: you need to do your own negotiation and once agreed upon then the agreement is drafted and then needs to be reviewed by both parties lawyers.

It's EASIER when you are the SELLER.

When you are the PURCHASER ... NOT all SELLERS (in this market now) are WILLING to go the PRIVATE SALE ROUTE. Why?? You get more selling with a realtor although you pay commissions.

It's a 50/50 .... either way you need to give up something to get something.

I bought my house without having a realtor. The realtor of the seller (if he has one) becomes your realtor. He will work for both the buyer and the seller at the same time (IMO doesn't make sense ethically) so he will want to make sure that you are the buyer that will get the house since he will get both commissions. In my case it worked in my favor since he pressured the seller to accept my lower offer (there was a lot of interest in the house, multiple visits, since they had just lowered the price).

Same thing happened to a friend, he didn't have a realtor. The house he wanted to buy got multiple offers but since he didn't have a realtor, the seller realtor made sure that my friend got the house. The other buyer realtor was pissed because my friend offered $100 more and he said his client would gladly have made an even better offer than my friend if they had had the chance.

My parents sold their condo without a realtor (and the buyer didn't have a realtor either). It wasn't scary as realtors want you to believe. The forms are all standard and a notary (I think in other provinces it might be a lawyer?) will go over everything anyway to process the transaction smoothly.

My gf just said the same. She said to go to a house you are interested in and just tell them they can do both . Well i hope i get good luck like the people you know Wish me luck!

My friend was the realtor. It was a very LONG and annoying process. I actually know about 3 realtors but I do not trust any of them.

I sold my last 2 houses without a realtor. In the internet age, realtor's are becoming increasingly unnecessary for your average home sale/purchase. My lawyer took care of all the paperwork. It wasn't an inconvenience at all. Not having a realtor saved me a fortune.

JEDI Force wrote: ↑ I bought my house without having a realtor. The realtor of the seller (if he has one) becomes your realtor. He will work for both the buyer and the seller at the same time (IMO doesn't make sense ethically) so he will want to make sure that you are the buyer that will get the house since he will get both commissions. In my case it worked in my favor since he pressured the seller to accept my lower offer (there was a lot of interest in the house, multiple visits, since they had just lowered the price).

I think this pretty much sums up the agenda of a realtor. Their top priority is making the most commission. They will have no problem doing that at the expense of their client.

If selling yourself, you can expect to be harassed by realtors trying to scare you into selling with them. Just tell them to GTFO and block their numbers. You can do full DIY or have a small fee to use a private selling agency to do pics, listing, etc.

For buying, yes you can have the selling agent double up on fees, but you can usually negotiate them down on the percentage. They should be happy to get 1% bonus, but it may be worth giving them more if they pressure their client for accept your lowball offer. Sucks for the seller, but they should sell privately if they don't want to be gamed by their agent.

marksmithy69 wrote: ↑ I think this pretty much sums up the agenda of a realtor. Their top priority is making the most commission. They will have no problem doing that at the expense of their client.

Dude can lose his licence for "pressuring" the seller to accept a lower offer, particularly if he benefits from it.

I listed my house privately for two weeks then pulled the ad and hired a realtor.

Too many tire-kickers, low ballers, stupid offers (rent to own), trade requests, and other general BS questions from people who just ghost. Happy to pay someone to deal with all that and navigate the closing.

RCGA wrote: ↑ I listed my house privately for two weeks then pulled the ad and hired a realtor.

Too many tire-kickers, low ballers, stupid offers (rent to own), trade requests, and other general BS questions from people who just ghost. Happy to pay someone to deal with all that and navigate the closing.

Rent-to-own and house trade offers? WTF?!?

Get a realtor. When buying you don't pay and can always work something out. There's no discount for no realtor and you might get ripped off a lot in today's market.

As an example I renovated my townhouse with my wife who is a realtor and she staged and we had a strategy and sold over asking by a lot.
My neighbour decided to do same without the planning and strategy and was not able to sell.

Dm me and I can refer you my wife or another friend who is an honest agent.

And it is not all about money. Good agents want to build a customer base and get the best deal for their clients. It is just you have to find that agent.

Also if you want to do all the work yourself you can do that and have agent help with the negotiation.

JEDI Force wrote: ↑ I bought my house without having a realtor. The realtor of the seller (if he has one) becomes your realtor. He will work for both the buyer and the seller at the same time (IMO doesn't make sense ethically) so he will want to make sure that you are the buyer that will get the house since he will get both commissions. In my case it worked in my favor since he pressured the seller to accept my lower offer (there was a lot of interest in the house, multiple visits, since they had just lowered the price).

Called "dual agency" which is permitted if both parties agree. Perhaps not always in any party's interest as the agent should remain neutral.

Same thing happened to a friend, he didn't have a realtor. The house he wanted to buy got multiple offers but since he didn't have a realtor, the seller realtor made sure that my friend got the house. The other buyer realtor was pissed because my friend offered $100 more and he said his client would gladly have made an even better offer than my friend if they had had the chance.

Certainly a dual agent knows all the offers and can advice the buyer represented. Perhaps not ethical.

One advantage to having a realtor is exposure. Unless your property happens to be well-known and in a sought-after neighbourhood, potential buyers may not even realise if is for sale unless they stumble across the for sale sign or find it in a search engine (that you may have to pay money for). With no exposure, you can expect low-ball offers and may end up selling for less than what the realtor could have gotten you, even net of commissions.

RCGA wrote: ↑ I listed my house privately for two weeks then pulled the ad and hired a realtor.

Too many tire-kickers, low ballers, stupid offers (rent to own), trade requests, and other general BS questions from people who just ghost. Happy to pay someone to deal with all that and navigate the closing.

That's fine, but pay them a fixed fee, not a percentage of the sale. Perhaps offer a bonus for every X amount over asking.

Realtors do provide a service, they should get paid for (no one works for free). However I think that asking for a % commission with current house prices is way too much. On top of that, with internet, it gets easier and easier to DIY if you want to. I guess more and more people feel this way and don't think their service is worth the price they are asking for so they prefer to do it themselves.

Also, personally (and I know many people that think the same) their marketing to scare people do more harm than good to their cause. I also have some friends that had bad experiences with realtors pressuring them to make a transaction instead of looking for the best interests of their clients. While it might not be the majority that act that way, it does hurt their reputation a lot.

Regarding buying without a realtor: The seller has a contract with the realtor and the seller is the party that pays both realtors. It may or may not allow for a reduction in fees if the buyer does not have a realtor, but it is generally out of the buyer's control.

Regarding selling without a realtor: I desperately wanted to sell without a realtor. But this is why I did: Most buyers will have a realtor and you'll have to pay them. There goes almost half your savings. Did I think it was possible I could misprice the house or otherwise screw up to the tune of ~2%. Very possible so I went with a realtor. But I did a number of interviews before choosing one. And they definitely got me a lot more than I would have alone. I am 100% not a fan of the how the real estate market works as it borders on scam. But in the end I am not going to be able to change the game so I made the best decision in the circumstances.

danieldcc wrote: ↑ Get a realtor. When buying you don't pay and can always work something out. There's no discount for no realtor and you might get ripped off a lot in today's market.

As an example I renovated my townhouse with my wife who is a realtor and she staged and we had a strategy and sold over asking by a lot.
My neighbour decided to do same without the planning and strategy and was not able to sell.

Dm me and I can refer you my wife or another friend who is an honest agent.

And it is not all about money. Good agents want to build a customer base and get the best deal for their clients. It is just you have to find that agent.

Also if you want to do all the work yourself you can do that and have agent help with the negotiation.

Yea........

RCGA wrote: ↑ I listed my house privately for two weeks then pulled the ad and hired a realtor.

Too many tire-kickers, low ballers, stupid offers (rent to own), trade requests, and other general BS questions from people who just ghost. Happy to pay someone to deal with all that and navigate the closing.

To make it worse, the folks that are confident enough to buy without an agent are also financially savvy and want to save the commission that you were planning to put in your own pocket! I did it twice but next time I will consider an agent again.

Dealmaker1945 wrote: ↑ To make it worse, the folks that are confident enough to buy without an agent are also financially savvy and want to save the commission that you were planning to put in your own pocket! I did it twice but next time I will consider an agent again.

I assume the current market in GTA is better for sellers than buyers (as it is here) so you can simply tell them to look at the price of comparables and that is your price. You will sell it at that price anyway, no need to share the avoided commission with the buyer.

I do believe however your concern would be valid when the market is better for buyers than sellers (which is not the case right now).