Not using a realtor as a buyer

I recall reading other threads....there's no conclusive advice on this.

Pros: if the Seller has not received other offers and your offered price is very close to their target price (e.g. short by $10k or 20k), then the Seller's agent and Seller can look into accepting your offer as the Seller's agent gets additional commission (i.e. both buyer and seller commission) and that additional commission make up for the shortfall in sale price.

Cons: The Seller agents may not disclose this? and the above may not work in a multiple offers scenario? Someone with more experience can chime in.

watchmeshine wrote: ↑ If I am comfortable to do the search and the leg work myself. Is it possible to purchase a property without a realtor in BC? solely using a lawyer to make the offer/close the deal.

watchmeshine wrote: ↑ If I am comfortable to do the search and the leg work myself. Is it possible to purchase a property without a realtor in BC? solely using a lawyer to make the offer/close the deal.

Why?

Unless you save lots $$$, using agents will expose more listings, but it does not cost if buying, and they do paperworks.

There's no advantage in doing this.
Just get an agent that will give you a rebate.
I hear buyers say they will do the legwork..buyrs can only do so much and find so much information on their own.
Agents have more indepth sales information than you can publicly find. and you still need an agent to show you the property.

Thanks guys. In this seller's market, there is less a buyer realtor can do in my opinion. If the buyer know what he/she wants, apply the filter on area, pricing, etc there is not much to choose from. Saying for a 2M property in GVA, how much buyer agent commission would be?

Haven't you watched CBC marketplace?

You will be ignored and no one will want to do business with you.

If you're asking why then watch CBC marketplace.

You can absolutely make offers without a realtor… wow the market is so brainwashed. Same can be said about using a selling agent. I don’t think people understand that it’s all about exposure and your experience. Someone savy can list on many platforms and get flooded with those that look on their own (and tell their realtor to show it to them). These realtors come begging like dogs for their commission. At the end of the day the ball is always in your court. Just remember that. Not everyone knows how to market, and not everyone knows how to stage, and not everyone knows how to do their DD. This is where an experienced realtor has a purpose. Signing on the dotted line to give someone a exorbitant amount of money for sometimes an hour of work is not only a waste of money to you, but it was also a waste of money to the other individual whom utilized this archaic system.

You can absolutely do it without a realtor when you buy. Lots of leg work and reviewing lines though (even with your lawyer). It's like painting a house. Owner can do it themselves of course. But if you want really nice professional finish, you hire a painter.

If you don't have much clue on what is going in the market and the neighborhood, you hire an agent to work with you. (you can also ask for some rebate)

tried to view a property this way with Purple Bricks and they refused to show me the place if I was not working with my own realtor..

We did this in ON however during peak COVID without competition.

We offer 50k under asking and since we had no agent the buyer agent kicked back some money to the seller so actually they got pretty close to asking.

muscleflex wrote: ↑tried to view a property this way with Purple Bricks and they refused to show me the place if I was not working with my own realtor..

Report them so they are held accountable.

Thanks guys. In this seller's market, there is less a buyer realtor can do in my opinion. If the buyer know what he/she wants, apply the filter on area, pricing, etc there is not much to choose from. Saying for a 2M property in GVA, how much buyer agent commission would be?

i think keeping an open relationship and not locked into one agent to cover different area/neighborhoods. Usually agents know more about certain communities than other agents. Even more critical is if you are looking for an investment property, some agents arent investors themselves, so they will have a different mind-set and understanding your needs. Finding an agent that is right for your needs is just as hard as finding a property in a hot sellers market.

Just be frank with your agent(s) and expectations. i dont think you need to be in an exclusive agent relationship, but it has more advantage with getting an agent to put in offers and negotiate for you as much as it is annoying, it is to your benefit imo. Finding an agents to also prioritize you as a client. Also things could be worst buying and finding an agent, ie. if you have agent(s) in the family = (

all the best with your property hunt!

tried to view a property this way with Purple Bricks and they refused to show me the place if I was not working with my own realtor..

happen to us last month, sort of. Our agent was busy one weekend planning her kids birthday party and could not show us home that just came on the market. my agent asked the seller's agent if they can open the door for us, and the agent said he can get his admin asst to open the door for maybe $300? like what the heck is that about? even worst, the seller's agent tells my agent of his target price and we ended up not even making an offer. he ends up getting 200K less than his target... lol. everyone looses, selling agent, buyers agent, home sellers and buyers.

wakka2u wrote: ↑ i think keeping an open relationship and not locked into one agent to cover different area/neighborhoods. Usually agents know more about certain communities than other agents. Even more critical is if you are looking for an investment property, some agents arent investors themselves, so they will have a different mind-set and understanding your needs. Finding an agent that is right for your needs is just as hard as finding a property in a hot sellers market.

Just be frank with your agent(s) and expectations. i dont think you need to be in an exclusive agent relationship, but it has more advantage with getting an agent to put in offers and negotiate for you as much as it is annoying, it is to your benefit imo. Finding an agents to also prioritize you as a client. Also things could be worst buying and finding an agent, ie. if you have agent(s) in the family = (

all the best with your property hunt!



happen to us last month, sort of. Our agent was busy one weekend planning her kids birthday party and could not show us home that just came on the market. my agent asked the seller's agent if they can open the door for us, and the agent said he can get his admin asst to open the door for maybe $300? like what the heck is that about? even worst, the seller's agent tells my agent of his target price and we ended up not even making an offer. he ends up getting 200K less than his target... lol. everyone looses, selling agent, buyers agent, home sellers and buyers.

whoa, that is crazy! The purple bricks thing made no sense either as the selling obviously chose them to save money and by me coming without an agent they could have saved that whole buyer's commission. I've posted about it on here before and someone suggested purple bricks is probably just too lazy to show it themselves (kinda like yours) so the seller missed out big time on a potential sale (with no buyer's commission) and doesnt even know it!

So....all the agents are like a cartel.

They will ALWAYS want you to "work with a realtor"

Basically the buying agent gets a cut of the commission - in BC, that is usually 3.22% on the first $100,000 then 1.15-1.1625% of the remainder. For a $2M home they are looking at $30K or thereabouts EACH.

You can choose to look on your own OR you can try to find an agent that will give you back your commission OR you can find one who will save you money in this market.

The truth is it's VERY (ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE) to find realtors that are competent and have integrity.

There are a few houses who have sold with no agent, it's entirely possible - we did it - but keep in mind it's also very competitive at the moment,

Some selling realtors will welcome folks without an agent and they will try to "double dip" on the commission - so a few things to think about.

berrytree wrote: ↑
The truth is it's VERY (ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE) to find realtors that are competent and have integrity.

Mine has, for us!!!! Haha

Not all agents are...

muscleflex wrote: ↑ whoa, that is crazy! The purple bricks thing made no sense either as the selling obviously chose them to save money and by me coming without an agent they could have saved that whole buyer's commission. I've posted about it on here before and someone suggested purple bricks is probably just too lazy to show it themselves (kinda like yours) so the seller missed out big time on a potential sale (with no buyer's commission) and doesnt even know it!

Well that's actually a misunderstanding of how Fairsquare (previously Purplebricks) works.

Firstly, people can't constantly be demanding that they shouldn't need to use a Realtor then complain when they're confronted with exactly that model.

Previously, Purplebricks was created for that purpose first and formost that allowed sellers who did not want to pay a lisitng Realtor to represent them, to just list the property on the MLS System as a for sale by owner. Purplebricks was hands off other than to take the requests to show and pass them on to the seller.

It is still that but now they've adopted the full service model to represent the seller for an increased price of about $4,000 so a Fairsquare listing may be a FSBO or it could be a full service listing. The buyer needs to be able to discern this.

If it's a private sale, Fairsquare is not authorized to just show the listing to prospective buyers and if a buyer who is not working with a Realtor calls them to see the property Fairsquare is within their rights to say no unless the buyer has signed an agreement with Fairsquare.

Secondly, the seller, any seller, whether they're a for sale by owner or under full service representation has the right to say that only buyers accompanied by a Realtor may view their property. This is particularly important for a for sale by owner who is not available on a buyer's timeline.

Finally, Fairsquare has listings all over Ontario but only 94 agents, that's a lot of ground to cover where the nearest agent could be an hour or more away from the listing a buyer is requesting to see. The by-product of the consumers insisting they should not need to hire a Realtor to purchase and sell property or that fees are too high is that the $4,000 is eroded every time one of its agents has to get into their car and show a property or spend time with a buyer. An unrepresented buyer for all intents and purposes must be considered a 100% expense to Realtors since they have no allegiance to the Realtor. Similarly, if Fairsquare or any low fee agent is providing full service, they may have included in the contract with the seller that all buyers must be accompanied by another brokerage's agent.

Consumers don't understand that when it comes to low fee agents, huge discounters/rebaters and brokerages like Fairsquare, every minute spent with a consumer is eating into their reduced fee and it doesn't take long to erase that $4,000 or turn it into a single digit dollar rate/hour.

I've reached out directly to agents before. If you sound legit and "hint" that you're not doing this for a discount (even though you are... come on...), they will be open to working with you. I think most try to avoid it because buyers without an agent are perceived as not serious, or potentially money pinchers, and difficult to sell to. I suppose it's also hard to manage that with their client.

My mom purchased a condo like this before out of pure luck, we weren't even on the market to buy but I saw a really good deal and said "let's call the selling agent and go see it" and somehow landed it (?? Beginner's luck??)

This topic has been exhausted ad nauseum and the consensus has been that since a buyer's agent does not cost the buyer anything, any reasonable buyer should take advantage of the free service. Failure to do so only puts more money into the selling agent's pocket. Better yet, get yourself a buyer agent willing to give you cashback - getting paid for a home you were going to purchase, anyway.

What if I am purchasing pre-sale condo, townhouse or house directly from builder?

canuckstorm wrote: ↑This topic has been exhausted ad nauseum and the consensus has been that since a buyer's agent does not cost the buyer anything, any reasonable buyer should take advantage of the free service. Failure to do so only puts more money into the selling agent's pocket. Better yet, get yourself a buyer agent willing to give you cashback - getting paid for a home you were going to purchase, anyway.

Of course it costs you something, if the seller is getting less money - he would prefer to save the commissions for an offer equal without representation. Thus, giving him more and not the agents. This is backwards thinking and part of the nonsense agents push to get a little bit of easy money. A huge red flag for anyone using an agent is when they make you sign an exclusive agreement, often within the same day of meeting. As a seller you should be aware of this because it shows the agents eagerness to tie you down without first giving you the chance to see if you’re a good fit. In the end the seller wants to earn the most money. It offers are equal he’s gonna choose what makes him the most, and, that’s paying less commission sometimes.

The same can be said for new construction, if your self represented before this pandemic you could ask for additional upgrades from builders free of charge… try that when they’re also paying an agent a fee and you’ll be getting less … during Covid this is not the case however. But it still holds true to making offers without representation. When you sign an offer the agent is legally obligated to present it, the key here is to make bully offers sometimes to try and get them to make emotional decisions on something you really want. Otherwise if your hunting for multiple just submit what your comfortable with and move on. Competitive offers won’t be ignored. Keep an eye on the listing, see what it ends up selling for to see how far off you are. If something shady goes on report it (as a buyer or seller) as they are cracking down on agents now. Don’t listen to agents, cause they have a conflict of interest. Do whatever you feel comfortable with. Good luck