Representing self as buying agent

I am a fairly informed potential home buyer and I live in the market I am planning on purchasing.  What are the benefits of getting my own realtor license so I can represent myself?  I don't plan on practicing as a realtor, the license is for my own personal transactions.  I get frustrated at agents who don't have the same sense of urgency as I do for a house and I sit around waiting for the agents' response on when they are free so they can show me a house.

Do I only need a salesperson license and will I be able to get access to MLS listings? What are the costs involved?

Thank you!

First off, your avatar picture is making me hungry... is that almond tofu or almond jelly/jello?

Secondly, you don't *need* an agent to buy a house... but it sounds like you want an RE license so that you have access to the MLS lock system so you can view houses at your leisure.

I was in the same position as you many years ago... even went so far as ordering the Allied Real Estate School materials but the time and expense just didn't add up for me. Unless you plan to do several real estate transactions, I'm not sure if getting a license just to buy your next house would be worth it. Other than the course materials and license test, there are other things required to get you MLS access and a Supra key (I think you need to be attached to a broker for that).

You would probably just be better off finding a better agent, a friend who does have a license... or using Redfin. There are few realtors on this board who are really good... and it's no secret that I use and highly recommend IrvineRealtor, Scott Gunther.

While in the past, I used to use a relative as our agent, it helps to use someone who is familiar with the area you are looking at and by using an established agent, you get to leverage their connections and resources in the industry.

Good luck and welcome to TI.

almondtofu said:

I am a fairly informed potential home buyer and I live in the market I am planning on purchasing.  What are the benefits of getting my own realtor license so I can represent myself?  I don't plan on practicing as a realtor, the license is for my own personal transactions.  I get frustrated at agents who don't have the same sense of urgency as I do for a house and I sit around waiting for the agents' response on when they are free so they can show me a house.

Do I only need a salesperson license and will I be able to get access to MLS listings? What are the costs involved?

Thank you!

Click to expand...

1. You can get access to MLS listings just by asking.

2. If you are interested in representing yourself, you can always call the listing agent for access. (I would let them know that you plan on representing yourself, if so).

3. Agreed, that avatar makes me hungry too.  Time for lunch.

Good luck, and if you find that you would like help in the future, I'll be around.
-IrvineRealtor

P.S. Thank you, IHO.

almondtofu said:

I am a fairly informed potential home buyer and I live in the market I am planning on purchasing.  What are the benefits of getting my own realtor license so I can represent myself?  I don't plan on practicing as a realtor, the license is for my own personal transactions.  I get frustrated at agents who don't have the same sense of urgency as I do for a house and I sit around waiting for the agents' response on when they are free so they can show me a house.

Do I only need a salesperson license and will I be able to get access to MLS listings? What are the costs involved?

Thank you!

Click to expand...

If you have the time to go through the process of getting your real estate license, definitely go for it.  As mentioned before, there are good agents out there (unfortunately most are a complete waste of space) so it sounds like you've had bad luck finding the good ones.  As for the costs, here's a quick estimate for you:

1)  Online courses approx. $200-$300
2)  Exam fees, licensing fees, finger print fees, etc is about $300
3)  Realtor Association dues, MLS access, etc is approx $1,000 (it'll be about $600 annually to renew)
4)  Supra Key for lockboxs is approx. $200 ($150 annual renew)

Remember that as a salesperson, you will need to hang your license under a broker.  National brokerages like Coldwell and ReMax will take 20-40% of your commission plus other minor annual costs while smaller brokers give you a 100% of the commission but will charge you a transaction fee of $500-$1,000 and an annual fee to hang your license ($500-$1,000).  I'm not quite sure what the rules are of acting as your own buyer's agent when you are the buyer when it comes to credit yourself the buyer's agent commission.  If the broker pays you out the commission you will get a 1099 and will need to prepare a Schedule C (obviously the best thing is to contribute all the commission into escrow so it becomes a non-taxable event but the lender calls the shots on what you can and can't do with commission if you are also the buyer).  Let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks everyone for the responses.  I think after weighing in all the cost, it's probably not a feasible idea for me to get my own license.  With the agents I've encountered I feel like I did all the homework myself and I am very frustrated with that.  Also, I've had agents who know the market very well but seem too busy for me as it goes by several days without a response to my emails.

I just booked myself a hometour with Redfin since I am fed up with conventional agents. If the so called "full service" brokerage is not giving comps, returning my emails, etc, I might as well go for a discount brokerage.  Within 20 minutes I already got a response from Redfin about setting up home tours for the houses I want to see.  I'll give Redfin a try so I can learn more about their business model.

Certainly I'd also recommend using an experienced Realtor when it comes to the inevitable problems that come up during a transaction. Negotiations fail, inspections go awry, and in a worse case you might end up in small claims court facing an angry seller that might have been crazed to begin with. An Agents error and omission policy insurance, plus arbitration options can keep you shielded from problems that will come up.

As well there is often a credibility issue when a "non-branded" buyer agent submits an offer on a property. The sellers Realtor may shuffle your offer to the bottom as it did not come from a company they've heard of or a person not easily verified as an experienced agent. Sad, but true.

My .02c

Soylent Green Is People.

Redfin's site says that their agents are paid to show you houses... not to sell you one.

It's been mentioned before to use Redfin for your viewings but when it comes down to making an offer, use an agent. I don't know how fair that is to Redfin and I don't know if their agents pressure you to make an offer through them but I would be interested to know if anyone tried to do this.

Back in the day when I didn't have an agent, there was this place that billed itself as a discount agency because they gave you back a percentage of the buyer commission... the only problem was they wouldn't go with you to view unless you had contacted the listing agent first and the listing agent could not show it to you. That relationship ended rather quickly and I started using that relative agent.

I understand that viewing homes is actually a balance between both buyer and realtor... sometimes it seems like the buyer is wasting the realtor's time... and other times... a buyer doesn't feel like they can make a decision until they've seen every home in the world. I'm probably on the side of wanting to see more than less... but with all the online sites, more pictures and some guy who uploaded every Irvine floorplan to his website... it does weed out the riff raff. I still wonder on those episodes of House Hunters on HGTV, if those buyers actually only saw 3 houses and have to choose between them because sometimes based on the choices they have, it should be 'None of the above'.

almondtofu said:

Thanks everyone for the responses.  I think after weighing in all the cost, it's probably not a feasible idea for me to get my own license.  With the agents I've encountered I feel like I did all the homework myself and I am very frustrated with that.  Also, I've had agents who know the market very well but seem too busy for me as it goes by several days without a response to my emails.

I just booked myself a hometour with Redfin since I am fed up with conventional agents. If the so called "full service" brokerage is not giving comps, returning my emails, etc, I might as well go for a discount brokerage.  Within 20 minutes I already got a response from Redfin about setting up home tours for the houses I want to see.  I'll give Redfin a try so I can learn more about their business model.

Click to expand...

Redfin has a nice little business model and for the most part are good for sophisticated buyers who like to be hands on.  The down side is that their agents will not be overly knowledgable about any particular market and they sort of use an "assemble line" style in handing the transaction (i.e. you'll be dealing with someone new in each significant stage of the purchase).  That being said, keep us posted on your experience using them.

almondtofu said:

Thanks everyone for the responses.  I think after weighing in all the cost, it's probably not a feasible idea for me to get my own license.  With the agents I've encountered I feel like I did all the homework myself and I am very frustrated with that.  Also, I've had agents who know the market very well but seem too busy for me as it goes by several days without a response to my emails.

I just booked myself a hometour with Redfin since I am fed up with conventional agents. If the so called "full service" brokerage is not giving comps, returning my emails, etc, I might as well go for a discount brokerage.  Within 20 minutes I already got a response from Redfin about setting up home tours for the houses I want to see.  I'll give Redfin a try so I can learn more about their business model.

Click to expand...

When I was looking for a house, that is exactly what I felt.  Even though the real estate agent sold my house and collected a hefty commission, she did not have any more knowledge about Irvine neighborhoods and the actual houses on the market.  I actually ended up giving her information about Irvine neighborhoods even though she is an Irvine "expert" and actually lives in Irvine.  I actually dictated what I wanted to see and not thouugh online research and had a lot more information about a property that the agent did. 

Evetually, I ended up buying  a new house and because of it I ended up not using her service.  If I did use her service, I would have been upset because I would have done all the work and she would have just prepared a minnimal amouint of papaerwork.

I command you for going at it by yourself and hope you the best.  We need more of you to break the system and make purchasing a house a lot more reasonable.

if u r interested to see any house, just call the listing agent itself. they r more then happy to show u the house and if u tell them that u haven't hired any agent and planning to use seller agent as a buyer one then u get the great service. i saw around 30+ houses this way and i never had any problem with any listing agent. All of them were very helpful.

http://www.prellorealty.com
http://www.mlsselfservice.com

I don't know about California, but in Illinois you can now list your home on the MLS for a $199 flat fee. This evens up the playing field as 90% of the inquiries come from the MLS. With homes prices down, homeowners are more conscience than ever about broker/real estate agent fees. Though you need RE license to sell/buy real estate for others, you do not need a RE license to sell your own home.  You can also find a broker who is willing to list your home for a flat fee and you can cover the photography, painting, and staging costs if you are a do it yourselfer. 3% on a $600,000 home is $18,000, not chump change. It may be well worth it.

If I were in the market to buy a home in Irvine, I would use redfin to tour the homes and if i find the home i like, I would find another agent who is willing to rebate 80%of the commission for just handling the paper work to close the deal.

Although I won't make any friends saying it, it's quite a different level of service when you purchase in a dual agency situation. "No man can serve two masters" it's been said. Most of the listing Realtors are just that - listing machines and not very buyer friendly. I've been in meetings with Realtors who boast openly how "I don't like buyers" and thus additional fuel for my dislike of D.A.. You would not have the prosecution represent you as your defense attorney in a criminal trial would you? Why then would you have a listing Realtor with a pre-existing relationship with the seller represent you in the deal?

Can it work well? Sometimes. Not often enough to justify going forward without independent representation. Might you pay more for the house if you have a Realtor? Perhaps, but I've not seen any data so far that shows this is the case. There are plenty of complaints though on DA transactions which indicates where there is smoke, there is fire as well.

My .02c

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