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Sanjay_Burnaby · 09-11-2011, 04:17 PM

Here is some advice.

First thing you need to do. You should ask the realtors if they are helping you as a friend (free) or if you are in a realtor - client relationship. ($$$). Even if they are not charging you, they may be motivated by the seller’s commission payout.

If they are $$$ motivated then you need to be extra careful because they might just be spamming you with mls listings in the hopes that you will eventually choose one. It’s hard for the untrained new first time buyers to understand what is in their own best interest when dealing with a trained script reading realtor.

The best way to get a realtor to work for you properly is to offer them a flat fee and make them give up any commission that they get from the seller. This allows you to negotiate the price down much better when buying. It also reduces the incentive for realtors to use the "sort by commission" button when they are finding a property and avoids other BS. Make sure you offer a good enough flat fee in order to get them to work. They still don’t like this setup.

If you are buying a relatively new condo or townhouse then even the most unskilled realtor should able to do the work that they need to do. (Check prices, some paperwork, cover their legal ass etc). Make sure they send you the strata minutes well in advance of your subject removal date. It is pretty important to read these in order to decide if that is where you want to live. Normally these massive bundles of paper are given to you a day or 2 before subject removal so that you don’t freak out after reading about all the day to day bad stuff that has gone on in the building. (assessments/ cockroaches/fines/ breakins / shootings etc). Read the whole thing yourself. Your realtor won’t do that for you. (They will skim it)

If you are buying a house or older property then I would thoroughly vet your realtor. They need to be able to do more that just basic lead generation and presentation. An old grumpy realtor is often much better than a hip young guy. Never ever choose a realtor just because she is a hot chick. With a house make sure you ask as many other home owner friends that you have for their input.

Never use an home inspector that your realtor recommends to you. It’s a conflict of interest and there are often kickbacks involved. Go to yellow pages and choose you own inspector. I would use 2 different ones if buying an older house.

I am sure there are many good and honest realtors out there, but you need to protect yourself and your money from the poor decisions of others. Realtors are a trained group of professionals, buy they are also highly skilled salespersons as well. First time buyers are easy to manipulate so you need to be careful and shrewd.

I hope you find a nice property.

(Don’t buy Richmond unless you are using your wealthy parents $$$)

09-11-2011, 04:17 PM	#4
Sanjay_Burnaby NOOB, Not Quite a Regular! Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Burnaby Posts: 43 Thanked 51 Times in 10 Posts Failed 2 Times in 2 Posts Member's Picture Albums	Here is some advice. First thing you need to do. You should ask the realtors if they are helping you as a friend (free) or if you are in a realtor - client relationship. ($$$). Even if they are not charging you, they may be motivated by the seller’s commission payout. If they are $$$ motivated then you need to be extra careful because they might just be spamming you with mls listings in the hopes that you will eventually choose one. It’s hard for the untrained new first time buyers to understand what is in their own best interest when dealing with a trained script reading realtor. The best way to get a realtor to work for you properly is to offer them a flat fee and make them give up any commission that they get from the seller. This allows you to negotiate the price down much better when buying. It also reduces the incentive for realtors to use the "sort by commission" button when they are finding a property and avoids other BS. Make sure you offer a good enough flat fee in order to get them to work. They still don’t like this setup. If you are buying a relatively new condo or townhouse then even the most unskilled realtor should able to do the work that they need to do. (Check prices, some paperwork, cover their legal ass etc). Make sure they send you the strata minutes well in advance of your subject removal date. It is pretty important to read these in order to decide if that is where you want to live. Normally these massive bundles of paper are given to you a day or 2 before subject removal so that you don’t freak out after reading about all the day to day bad stuff that has gone on in the building. (assessments/ cockroaches/fines/ breakins / shootings etc). Read the whole thing yourself. Your realtor won’t do that for you. (They will skim it) If you are buying a house or older property then I would thoroughly vet your realtor. They need to be able to do more that just basic lead generation and presentation. An old grumpy realtor is often much better than a hip young guy. Never ever choose a realtor just because she is a hot chick. With a house make sure you ask as many other home owner friends that you have for their input. Never use an home inspector that your realtor recommends to you. It’s a conflict of interest and there are often kickbacks involved. Go to yellow pages and choose you own inspector. I would use 2 different ones if buying an older house. I am sure there are many good and honest realtors out there, but you need to protect yourself and your money from the poor decisions of others. Realtors are a trained group of professionals, buy they are also highly skilled salespersons as well. First time buyers are easy to manipulate so you need to be careful and shrewd. I hope you find a nice property. (Don’t buy Richmond unless you are using your wealthy parents $$$)