Buying A House Without A Realtor | Part 1

Curious about learning how to purchawse a home right here in Monmouth County, NJ without a realtor? That’s what I’m talking about today!

Hi it’s Cori your local realtor here in Marlboro Township with Monmouth County Dream Homes powered by RE/MAX CENTRAL. I am here each and every monday passing along information about Monmouth County, Marlboro Township and Real Estate in general.

Buying a house without the use of a real estate agent. That my friends is a hot topic. So just to be clear, you all know, I am a realtor, and a pretty good one. So why would I be here telling you how to buy or sell property without an agent? I mean it seems pretty crazy doesn’t it?

Let’s first discuss why do people even try to buy a home without a real estate agent? I mean there has to be a reason right? I came up with 6 reasons someone may choose NOT to work with a realtor, so let’s take a look!

NUMBER 1

Someone who had an awful experience with a realtor in the past. That totally makes sense. It only takes 1 bad experience to make the decision, NEVER AGAIN. NO WAY. And that’s not just with real estate. Think about it. If you go out and you eat something, and you spend the whole night throwing up, and it was just a coincidence, you are never going to eat that food again are you? NOPE. So one bad experience in Real Estate with an agent and you are done.

NUMBER 2

You are looking to buy for sale by owner. People automatically assume, and I honestly don’t blame them, If a house is for sale by owner, then the only way to purchase is WITHOUT an agent. I’m here to tell you that is simply not true, although it does make sense. If somebody’s listing their house on their own, they don’t want to use an agent. But that is NOT true. Many for sale by owners are willing to cooporate with a realtor if they bring a qualified buyers. If you have any questions about that please just ask!

NUMBER 3

Those who simply want to save money, meaning, they think it will be cheaper to buy a house without an agent. If a seller doesn’t have to pay commission, they’ll totally lower their price and the buyer will get a much MUCH better deal. This is 100% FALSE.

NUMBER 4

You just don’t want the hassle of dealing with an agent. You don’t want the pressure. You don’t want someone to call you or test you or email you. You would prefer to go it alone and find the perfect house!

NUMBER 5

Buyers looking at New Construction always, ALWAYS assume you have to work with the builder directly. FALSE FALSE FALSE.

NUMBER 6

This is my absolute favorite one. YOU SIMPLY DO NOT WANT TO PAY US. It’s so frustrating to me. Let me share some valuable information with you. When you are out there looking to purchase a home and you use an agent, you do not spend one single dime paying the realtor. It costs you NOTHING to use an agent when buying a home. Nothing, zip, zilch, zero, NADA. Are you ready? I’m here to share with you a little secret. I’M FREE. Not a dime. I run around with you, I help you with all your paperwork, iI get you through all the different steps, and you don’t pay a cent. ALL COMMISSIONS ARE PAID ON THE SALES SIDE, meaning the person selling their home pays the commission on the sale and and on the purchase end. So to be sure you understand, you get all the use of an agent, with all their information, all their knowledge . They spend countless hours working for you, and you get it all for free.

Now the point of this video is not to convince you that you HAVE to use a realtor, because in reality, you don’t. Many people buy and sell without agents. Infact, the steps taken to purchase a home are basically the same with or without an agent. The experience however, that may be a little different, and i’m all about the experience. Let me explain.

Let’s look at the steps to purchasing a home with an agent or without, remember I told you they were very similar!

Decide what are you looking for? I mean you can’t really start the process until you know where and what you want. What type of a home are you looking for? A home for you to live in or an investment. YES, there is a difference.

Really focus on where you want to live. Sounds easy enough right? Be sure you know where you are going to be searching for a home. Familiarize yourself with that area or town thoroughly. You need to know if there are any issues in certain areas, for example flood zones. It sounds easy but you need to do your due diligence.

Ask yourself, “ Are schools important”. If the answer is yes, again Investigate thoroughly. You may want to set up an appointment to go into the schools. Speak to a guidance counselor or an admin. Simply searching school stats online may not be enough!

Be sure you have a true concept and understanding of the home market value in the area you are looking. What are houses selling for? Is it a buyers market? A sellers market? How long are homes on the market before going Under Contract. How close to asking price are they getting? Do you know the average sales price in the area. This is extremely important so you know what to offer when you find a home!

Find a mortgage Lender, and a good one You can’t purchase a home until you are preapproved and all your paperwork is started! This is a step you can NOT skip!

Find a real estate attorney. In NJ, that step is also NOT optional and if you are NOT using an agent, be sure you find a good one! A good real estate attorney can honestly make or break a real estate deal if you are forgoing a realtor and doing it alone!

Start looking for a home. Check out zillow, trulia, realtor.com (not to be a downer, but many of these sites are not up to date, but hey you may get lucky)

Schedule and set up appointments to see the homes you like and that look interesting. Reach out to all the owners and see if they can accommodate you to view the property.

You found a house, go ahead Make an offer. Be sure you understand how to make an offer. Contracts that agents use are not readily available for the general public so you’ll need to find some type of a contract. Be sure you know how to fill in all your dates, and contingencies. You want to be sure you know what is included in the sale of a home and what is not. There is quite a bit of information that is needed when making an offer.

Offer was NOT accepted so enter negotiations. This is a whole other video, but just take a deep breath and see if you can come to terms.

You negotiated and they accepted, get the paperwork to an attorney asap so you can enter into attorney review!

There are many people out there searching for a home don’t need help. And you too can totally do it on your own. I literally just gave you the steps. But the tricky part doesn’t really start until after you find the perfect home.

Check back for part 2 of buying a house without the help of a realtor!

Thanks so much for joining me. I’ll see you next Monday!