Self-Representing

peregrine

New member
Do people (other than licensed agents) ever do this?

With regard to new construction, any builder will want to protect values (i.e., sale price) within a community so presumably the only benefit here would be to convert the BAC into upgrades? (Or would some builders actually consider an absolute price reduction?) How does this work with the need to register an agent when visiting a community for the first time? Just don't register but then make an offer explicitly requesting upgrades in an amount equal to what would have been the BAC?

Outside of new construction, presumably one could remain competitive by reducing offer price by an amount slightly less than what would have been BAC? (Since the Seller would not need to pay a buyer's agent.)
 
Great idea in concept but doesn't play out as well from an execution perspective.

More often than not, builders will tell you that they won't give you the broker co-op for not using an agent. "It's a different budget." Or, they'll give you a small credit versus what you'd get if you split it with an agent.

On resales, most listing agents will take a slightly smaller percentage if they're a dual agent. But, it takes a pretty savvy seller to care to understand the effects of paying less commission versus a decreased sale price. Usually, sellers just want the highest sale price and/or best terms.
 
peregrine said:
Do people (other than licensed agents) ever do this?

With regard to new construction, any builder will want to protect values (i.e., sale price) within a community so presumably the only benefit here would be to convert the BAC into upgrades? (Or would some builders actually consider an absolute price reduction?) How does this work with the need to register an agent when visiting a community for the first time? Just don't register but then make an offer explicitly requesting upgrades in an amount equal to what would have been the BAC?

Outside of new construction, presumably one could remain competitive by reducing offer price by an amount slightly less than what would have been BAC? (Since the Seller would not need to pay a buyer's agent.)

The builder won't give the buyer a credit for upgrades in lieu of paying a broker co-op if you represent yourself without an agent.  The broker co-op comes from the corporate marketing budget from what I understand.  Keep in mind that builder upgrades are worth about 50 cents on the dollar due to their market-ups (some upgrades have larger mark-ups than others).  Many builders won't even pay a broker co-op to a buyer who is an agent representing themselves (one way around this is to have a family member purchase the home). 

On the resale side, it's a total crapshoot depending on the listing agent and how transparent and open they are with the seller.  I had 2 situations on the listing side where buyers represented themselves (they were both commercial real estate brokers) and I explained to the sellers that their offer price was higher by the buyer agent commission amount because we would not be paying them a buyer agent commission by providing the seller a simple excel spreadsheet with the net amount after all closing costs.  Those buyers handled just about everything that the buyer agent would handle so there was minimal additional work for me. 
 
USCTrojanCPA said:
peregrine said:
Do people (other than licensed agents) ever do this?

With regard to new construction, any builder will want to protect values (i.e., sale price) within a community so presumably the only benefit here would be to convert the BAC into upgrades? (Or would some builders actually consider an absolute price reduction?) How does this work with the need to register an agent when visiting a community for the first time? Just don't register but then make an offer explicitly requesting upgrades in an amount equal to what would have been the BAC?

Outside of new construction, presumably one could remain competitive by reducing offer price by an amount slightly less than what would have been BAC? (Since the Seller would not need to pay a buyer's agent.)

The builder won't give the buyer a credit for upgrades in lieu of paying a broker co-op if you represent yourself without an agent.  The broker co-op comes from the corporate marketing budget from what I understand.  Keep in mind that builder upgrades are worth about 50 cents on the dollar due to their market-ups (some upgrades have larger mark-ups than others).  Many builders won't even pay a broker co-op to a buyer who is an agent representing themselves (one way around this is to have a family member purchase the home). 

On the resale side, it's a total crapshoot depending on the listing agent and how transparent and open they are with the seller.  I had 2 situations on the listing side where buyers represented themselves (they were both commercial real estate brokers) and I explained to the sellers that their offer price was higher by the buyer agent commission amount because we would not be paying them a buyer agent commission by providing the seller a simple excel spreadsheet with the net amount after all closing costs.  Those buyers handled just about everything that the buyer agent would handle so there was minimal additional work for me.
They may not give you the full percentage, but they may give you something. From my experience, I specifically got a 10k incentive to not go with an agent and use it towards design center and could have potentially been used to cover closing costs. I decided to go with a realtor instead. The incentives all depend on how well they are doing in terms of selling homes. If its a hot market like now, I would think you get nothing.
 
sleepy5136 said:
USCTrojanCPA said:
peregrine said:
Do people (other than licensed agents) ever do this?

With regard to new construction, any builder will want to protect values (i.e., sale price) within a community so presumably the only benefit here would be to convert the BAC into upgrades? (Or would some builders actually consider an absolute price reduction?) How does this work with the need to register an agent when visiting a community for the first time? Just don't register but then make an offer explicitly requesting upgrades in an amount equal to what would have been the BAC?

Outside of new construction, presumably one could remain competitive by reducing offer price by an amount slightly less than what would have been BAC? (Since the Seller would not need to pay a buyer's agent.)

The builder won't give the buyer a credit for upgrades in lieu of paying a broker co-op if you represent yourself without an agent.  The broker co-op comes from the corporate marketing budget from what I understand.  Keep in mind that builder upgrades are worth about 50 cents on the dollar due to their market-ups (some upgrades have larger mark-ups than others).  Many builders won't even pay a broker co-op to a buyer who is an agent representing themselves (one way around this is to have a family member purchase the home). 

On the resale side, it's a total crapshoot depending on the listing agent and how transparent and open they are with the seller.  I had 2 situations on the listing side where buyers represented themselves (they were both commercial real estate brokers) and I explained to the sellers that their offer price was higher by the buyer agent commission amount because we would not be paying them a buyer agent commission by providing the seller a simple excel spreadsheet with the net amount after all closing costs.  Those buyers handled just about everything that the buyer agent would handle so there was minimal additional work for me.
They may not give you the full percentage, but they may give you something. From my experience, I specifically got a 10k incentive to not go with an agent and use it towards design center and could have potentially been used to cover closing costs. I decided to go with a realtor instead. The incentives all depend on how well they are doing in terms of selling homes. If its a hot market like now, I would think you get nothing.

That design center incentive you would have gotten wasn't because you weren't going to have an agent represent you, it's because that's what the builder was willing to give to generate a sale.  Why did you decide to go with an agent, did your agent provide you at least a $10,000 rebate instead?  As you said, the builder incentives all depend on how sales are trending for the development not whether you decide to use an agent or not.  And yes, in today's market builders are not providing any kind of incentives other than a few thousand if you go through their preferred lender.
 
peregrine said:
Do people (other than licensed agents) ever do this?

With regard to new construction, any builder will want to protect values (i.e., sale price) within a community so presumably the only benefit here would be to convert the BAC into upgrades? (Or would some builders actually consider an absolute price reduction?) How does this work with the need to register an agent when visiting a community for the first time? Just don't register but then make an offer explicitly requesting upgrades in an amount equal to what would have been the BAC?

Outside of new construction, presumably one could remain competitive by reducing offer price by an amount slightly less than what would have been BAC? (Since the Seller would not need to pay a buyer's agent.)

Oh lord. If brokers or NAR ever got wind of a builder giving any sort of incentives or credits for someone for not using an agent, it would not be good. When you don't use an agent the builder just pockets that money. For resell, the seller pays the same amount of commission f you use an agent or not because they don't pay the buyers agent, the sellers agent splits their fee with them.
sleepy5136 said:
USCTrojanCPA said:
peregrine said:
Do people (other than licensed agents) ever do this?

With regard to new construction, any builder will want to protect values (i.e., sale price) within a community so presumably the only benefit here would be to convert the BAC into upgrades? (Or would some builders actually consider an absolute price reduction?) How does this work with the need to register an agent when visiting a community for the first time? Just don't register but then make an offer explicitly requesting upgrades in an amount equal to what would have been the BAC?

Outside of new construction, presumably one could remain competitive by reducing offer price by an amount slightly less than what would have been BAC? (Since the Seller would not need to pay a buyer's agent.)

The builder won't give the buyer a credit for upgrades in lieu of paying a broker co-op if you represent yourself without an agent.  The broker co-op comes from the corporate marketing budget from what I understand.  Keep in mind that builder upgrades are worth about 50 cents on the dollar due to their market-ups (some upgrades have larger mark-ups than others).  Many builders won't even pay a broker co-op to a buyer who is an agent representing themselves (one way around this is to have a family member purchase the home). 

On the resale side, it's a total crapshoot depending on the listing agent and how transparent and open they are with the seller.  I had 2 situations on the listing side where buyers represented themselves (they were both commercial real estate brokers) and I explained to the sellers that their offer price was higher by the buyer agent commission amount because we would not be paying them a buyer agent commission by providing the seller a simple excel spreadsheet with the net amount after all closing costs.  Those buyers handled just about everything that the buyer agent would handle so there was minimal additional work for me.
They may not give you the full percentage, but they may give you something. From my experience, I specifically got a 10k incentive to not go with an agent and use it towards design center and could have potentially been used to cover closing costs. I decided to go with a realtor instead. The incentives all depend on how well they are doing in terms of selling homes. If its a hot market like now, I would think you get nothing.

They outright lied to you if they said that. The design credit is regardless of if you use an agent or not. 10k design or preferred lender credit is a common thing the public builders bring out before financial are due for the stockholders.
 
USCTrojanCPA said:
sleepy5136 said:
USCTrojanCPA said:
peregrine said:
Do people (other than licensed agents) ever do this?

With regard to new construction, any builder will want to protect values (i.e., sale price) within a community so presumably the only benefit here would be to convert the BAC into upgrades? (Or would some builders actually consider an absolute price reduction?) How does this work with the need to register an agent when visiting a community for the first time? Just don't register but then make an offer explicitly requesting upgrades in an amount equal to what would have been the BAC?

Outside of new construction, presumably one could remain competitive by reducing offer price by an amount slightly less than what would have been BAC? (Since the Seller would not need to pay a buyer's agent.)

The builder won't give the buyer a credit for upgrades in lieu of paying a broker co-op if you represent yourself without an agent.  The broker co-op comes from the corporate marketing budget from what I understand.  Keep in mind that builder upgrades are worth about 50 cents on the dollar due to their market-ups (some upgrades have larger mark-ups than others).  Many builders won't even pay a broker co-op to a buyer who is an agent representing themselves (one way around this is to have a family member purchase the home). 

On the resale side, it's a total crapshoot depending on the listing agent and how transparent and open they are with the seller.  I had 2 situations on the listing side where buyers represented themselves (they were both commercial real estate brokers) and I explained to the sellers that their offer price was higher by the buyer agent commission amount because we would not be paying them a buyer agent commission by providing the seller a simple excel spreadsheet with the net amount after all closing costs.  Those buyers handled just about everything that the buyer agent would handle so there was minimal additional work for me.
They may not give you the full percentage, but they may give you something. From my experience, I specifically got a 10k incentive to not go with an agent and use it towards design center and could have potentially been used to cover closing costs. I decided to go with a realtor instead. The incentives all depend on how well they are doing in terms of selling homes. If its a hot market like now, I would think you get nothing.

That design center incentive you would have gotten wasn't because you weren't going to have an agent represent you, it's because that's what the builder was willing to give to generate a sale.  Why did you decide to go with an agent, did your agent provide you at least a $10,000 rebate instead?  As you said, the builder incentives all depend on how sales are trending for the development not whether you decide to use an agent or not.  And yes, in today's market builders are not providing any kind of incentives other than a few thousand if you go through their preferred lender.
I was told by the builder agent that I can only get the 10k in design credits if I do not use an agent. I also get a $2500 lender credit should I use Lennar Mortgage to finance the loan. I asked if I can use the 10k towards closing and they told me they could ask.
 
USCTrojanCPA said:
Many builders won't even pay a broker co-op to a buyer who is an agent representing themselves (one way around this is to have a family member purchase the home). 

Is the co-op eligibility determined at time of contract or closing? In other words, does the family member (or 3rd party for that matter) actually have to perform or could they simply assign their contractual rights at closing?

Maybe a better way around this, at least in the case of a cash purchase, would be to buy through a legal entity. Or do you think the builder would actually ask for proof of the beneficial owners?
 
Dr. CA Real Estate said:
Oh lord. If brokers or NAR ever got wind of a builder giving any sort of incentives or credits for someone for not using an agent, it would not be good. When you don't use an agent the builder just pockets that money.

Not a builder incentive but rather a knowing, intelligent, and voluntary waiver of the party's right to a buyer's agent under the express condition (i.e., written into the contract) that the BAC would be applied to the buyer's upgrades (if not a straight credit at closing).

Dr. CA Real Estate said:
For resell, the seller pays the same amount of commission f you use an agent or not because they don't pay the buyers agent, the sellers agent splits their fee with them.

Not necessarily; as a fiduciary, the listing agent would need to disclose to the Seller the Buyer's proposition that the Buyer represents themselves (better yet, the contract would reflect this). Despite the fact the listing agreement may permit a full commission in the case of dual agency, there would be other issues if the Buyer represents himself and then the LA attempts to collect the full commission as if they were actually representing both sides when the Buyer made it clear the LA was not a dual agent in the transaction.
 
sleepy5136 said:
USCTrojanCPA said:
sleepy5136 said:
USCTrojanCPA said:
peregrine said:
Do people (other than licensed agents) ever do this?

With regard to new construction, any builder will want to protect values (i.e., sale price) within a community so presumably the only benefit here would be to convert the BAC into upgrades? (Or would some builders actually consider an absolute price reduction?) How does this work with the need to register an agent when visiting a community for the first time? Just don't register but then make an offer explicitly requesting upgrades in an amount equal to what would have been the BAC?

Outside of new construction, presumably one could remain competitive by reducing offer price by an amount slightly less than what would have been BAC? (Since the Seller would not need to pay a buyer's agent.)

The builder won't give the buyer a credit for upgrades in lieu of paying a broker co-op if you represent yourself without an agent.  The broker co-op comes from the corporate marketing budget from what I understand.  Keep in mind that builder upgrades are worth about 50 cents on the dollar due to their market-ups (some upgrades have larger mark-ups than others).  Many builders won't even pay a broker co-op to a buyer who is an agent representing themselves (one way around this is to have a family member purchase the home). 

On the resale side, it's a total crapshoot depending on the listing agent and how transparent and open they are with the seller.  I had 2 situations on the listing side where buyers represented themselves (they were both commercial real estate brokers) and I explained to the sellers that their offer price was higher by the buyer agent commission amount because we would not be paying them a buyer agent commission by providing the seller a simple excel spreadsheet with the net amount after all closing costs.  Those buyers handled just about everything that the buyer agent would handle so there was minimal additional work for me.
They may not give you the full percentage, but they may give you something. From my experience, I specifically got a 10k incentive to not go with an agent and use it towards design center and could have potentially been used to cover closing costs. I decided to go with a realtor instead. The incentives all depend on how well they are doing in terms of selling homes. If its a hot market like now, I would think you get nothing.

That design center incentive you would have gotten wasn't because you weren't going to have an agent represent you, it's because that's what the builder was willing to give to generate a sale.  Why did you decide to go with an agent, did your agent provide you at least a $10,000 rebate instead?  As you said, the builder incentives all depend on how sales are trending for the development not whether you decide to use an agent or not.  And yes, in today's market builders are not providing any kind of incentives other than a few thousand if you go through their preferred lender.
I was told by the builder agent that I can only get the 10k in design credits if I do not use an agent. I also get a $2500 lender credit should I use Lennar Mortgage to finance the loan. I asked if I can use the 10k towards closing and they told me they could ask.

Now this sounds like an actual incentive.
 
peregrine said:
USCTrojanCPA said:
Many builders won't even pay a broker co-op to a buyer who is an agent representing themselves (one way around this is to have a family member purchase the home). 

Is the co-op eligibility determined at time of contract or closing? In other words, does the family member (or 3rd party for that matter) actually have to perform or could they simply assign their contractual rights at closing?

Maybe a better way around this, at least in the case of a cash purchase, would be to buy through a legal entity. Or do you think the builder would actually ask for proof of the beneficial owners?

Determined when you sign in at the office when you first visit the models.

Are you an agent? No builder Ive worked with is so against paying the co-op. Ive received it myself for my home purchases, though usually I just get the house with wifey as the official buyer and me signed as an agent.
 
peregrine said:
Dr. CA Real Estate said:
Oh lord. If brokers or NAR ever got wind of a builder giving any sort of incentives or credits for someone for not using an agent, it would not be good. When you don't use an agent the builder just pockets that money.

Not a builder incentive but rather a knowing, intelligent, and voluntary waiver of the party's right to a buyer's agent under the express condition (i.e., written into the contract) that the BAC would be applied to the buyer's upgrades (if not a straight credit at closing).

Dr. CA Real Estate said:
For resell, the seller pays the same amount of commission f you use an agent or not because they don't pay the buyers agent, the sellers agent splits their fee with them.

Not necessarily; as a fiduciary, the listing agent would need to disclose to the Seller the Buyer's proposition that the Buyer represents themselves (better yet, the contract would reflect this). Despite the fact the listing agreement may permit a full commission in the case of dual agency, there would be other issues if the Buyer represents himself and then the LA attempts to collect the full commission as if they were actually representing both sides when the Buyer made it clear the LA was not a dual agent in the transaction.

Pretty sure even if they represent themselves, unless a buyer is a member of  the local MLS they are not entitled to any of the selling agents commission.

Overall in any situation there is no advantage to not having your own dedicated buyers agent advocating on your behalf.
 
peregrine said:
USCTrojanCPA said:
Many builders won't even pay a broker co-op to a buyer who is an agent representing themselves (one way around this is to have a family member purchase the home). 

Is the co-op eligibility determined at time of contract or closing? In other words, does the family member (or 3rd party for that matter) actually have to perform or could they simply assign their contractual rights at closing?

Maybe a better way around this, at least in the case of a cash purchase, would be to buy through a legal entity. Or do you think the builder would actually ask for proof of the beneficial owners?

You can not assign a new home purchase agreement to a new buyer.  Also, escrow and title will need to know who the owners of the entity are by obtaining the operating agreement or bylaws so they know who owns it and who has the authority to sign on the entity's behalf. 

The broker co-op eligibility is determined at the first physical of the buyer to the sales office, not at the time of the contract signing or closing.  The 3rd party or family member would need to close on the purchase.  Also, builders will not allow an agent to credit any portion of the broker co-op towards the buyer's escrow or outside of escrow (good luck regulating what happens outside of escrow). Thus, the broker co-op will become taxable income to the agent that earns the broker co-op unless they provide a rebate to the buyer after the close of escrow.  You can't credit yourself the rebate for co-op on your own purchase so you'll need to report it as taxable income.  This is why I've represented a commercial broker on a new home transaction because it was more beneficial for them to get my rebate than for them to represent their spouse due to the rebate not being taxable to them.

When in doubt, pick up the phone or send an email to the sales office and ask them what their rules are as most of them will be happy to share with you what their rules are.
 
Dr. CA Real Estate said:
peregrine said:
USCTrojanCPA said:
Many builders won't even pay a broker co-op to a buyer who is an agent representing themselves (one way around this is to have a family member purchase the home). 


Is the co-op eligibility determined at time of contract or closing? In other words, does the family member (or 3rd party for that matter) actually have to perform or could they simply assign their contractual rights at closing?

Maybe a better way around this, at least in the case of a cash purchase, would be to buy through a legal entity. Or do you think the builder would actually ask for proof of the beneficial owners?

Determined when you sign in at the office when you first visit the models.

Are you an agent? No builder Ive worked with is so against paying the co-op. Ive received it myself for my home purchases, though usually I just get the house with wifey as the official buyer and me signed as an agent.

No, attorney. I'm not trying to minimize the value of an agent and realize the vast majority of buyers need one; rather, I am wondering if there is a way to monetize the BAC for the very few Buyers comfortable representing themselves.
 
Nguyen80 said:
peregrine said:
Dr. CA Real Estate said:
Oh lord. If brokers or NAR ever got wind of a builder giving any sort of incentives or credits for someone for not using an agent, it would not be good. When you don't use an agent the builder just pockets that money.

Not a builder incentive but rather a knowing, intelligent, and voluntary waiver of the party's right to a buyer's agent under the express condition (i.e., written into the contract) that the BAC would be applied to the buyer's upgrades (if not a straight credit at closing).

Dr. CA Real Estate said:
For resell, the seller pays the same amount of commission f you use an agent or not because they don't pay the buyers agent, the sellers agent splits their fee with them.

Not necessarily; as a fiduciary, the listing agent would need to disclose to the Seller the Buyer's proposition that the Buyer represents themselves (better yet, the contract would reflect this). Despite the fact the listing agreement may permit a full commission in the case of dual agency, there would be other issues if the Buyer represents himself and then the LA attempts to collect the full commission as if they were actually representing both sides when the Buyer made it clear the LA was not a dual agent in the transaction.

Pretty sure even if they represent themselves, unless a buyer is a member of  the local MLS they are not entitled to any of the selling agents commission.

Overall in any situation there is no advantage to not having your own dedicated buyers agent advocating on your behalf.

To clarify, I am not asking for a split at closing. I am inquiring whether there is a way to alleviate the Seller of the need to pay a Buyer's agent and, in so doing, profit from it.
 
USCTrojanCPA said:
peregrine said:
USCTrojanCPA said:
Many builders won't even pay a broker co-op to a buyer who is an agent representing themselves (one way around this is to have a family member purchase the home). 

Is the co-op eligibility determined at time of contract or closing? In other words, does the family member (or 3rd party for that matter) actually have to perform or could they simply assign their contractual rights at closing?

Maybe a better way around this, at least in the case of a cash purchase, would be to buy through a legal entity. Or do you think the builder would actually ask for proof of the beneficial owners?

You can not assign a new home purchase agreement to a new buyer.  Also, escrow and title will need to know who the owners of the entity are by obtaining the operating agreement or bylaws so they know who owns it and who has the authority to sign on the entity's behalf. 

Yes, I'm familiar with escrow asking for proof signing authority when transacting via an entity but do they also ask for names of every owner when the entity is buying?

Also, what happens when you visit models but are buying through an entity? Do you register the entity name?
 
peregrine said:
Dr. CA Real Estate said:
Oh lord. If brokers or NAR ever got wind of a builder giving any sort of incentives or credits for someone for not using an agent, it would not be good. When you don't use an agent the builder just pockets that money.

Not a builder incentive but rather a knowing, intelligent, and voluntary waiver of the party's right to a buyer's agent under the express condition (i.e., written into the contract) that the BAC would be applied to the buyer's upgrades (if not a straight credit at closing).


No builder in Irvine does or would do that. You wouldn't be the first to ask them.
 
peregrine said:
USCTrojanCPA said:
peregrine said:
USCTrojanCPA said:
Many builders won't even pay a broker co-op to a buyer who is an agent representing themselves (one way around this is to have a family member purchase the home). 

Is the co-op eligibility determined at time of contract or closing? In other words, does the family member (or 3rd party for that matter) actually have to perform or could they simply assign their contractual rights at closing?

Maybe a better way around this, at least in the case of a cash purchase, would be to buy through a legal entity. Or do you think the builder would actually ask for proof of the beneficial owners?

You can not assign a new home purchase agreement to a new buyer.  Also, escrow and title will need to know who the owners of the entity are by obtaining the operating agreement or bylaws so they know who owns it and who has the authority to sign on the entity's behalf. 

Yes, I'm familiar with escrow asking for proof signing authority when transacting via an entity but do they also ask for names of every owner when the entity is buying?

Also, what happens when you visit models but are buying through an entity? Do you register the entity name?

The title company will not provide an owners title policy and will not release the transaction for recording without seeing the full operating agreement or bylaws which will indicate who all of the owners of the entity are as well as a certificate of good standing.  I dealt with this very issue on my 93 Island Coral listing as the buyer wanted to put the home into a newly formed CA LLC.  The title company would not allow them to close on the purchase until they reviewed the operating agreement and certificate of good standing but that only delayed closing by 2 days. 
 
peregrine said:
Dr. CA Real Estate said:
peregrine said:
USCTrojanCPA said:
Many builders won't even pay a broker co-op to a buyer who is an agent representing themselves (one way around this is to have a family member purchase the home). 


Is the co-op eligibility determined at time of contract or closing? In other words, does the family member (or 3rd party for that matter) actually have to perform or could they simply assign their contractual rights at closing?

Maybe a better way around this, at least in the case of a cash purchase, would be to buy through a legal entity. Or do you think the builder would actually ask for proof of the beneficial owners?

Determined when you sign in at the office when you first visit the models.

Are you an agent? No builder Ive worked with is so against paying the co-op. Ive received it myself for my home purchases, though usually I just get the house with wifey as the official buyer and me signed as an agent.

No, attorney. I'm not trying to minimize the value of an agent and realize the vast majority of buyers need one; rather, I am wondering if there is a way to monetize the BAC for the very few Buyers comfortable representing themselves.

Won't happen with new home builders and on the resale side you'll have to find a listing agent who will be cooperative with that arrangement.  If you do find one that will, they won't be too keen on writing everything up for you so if you run into that I'm happy to provide you the appropriate blank CAR forms at no cost. 
 
peregrine said:
Dr. CA Real Estate said:
peregrine said:
USCTrojanCPA said:
Many builders won't even pay a broker co-op to a buyer who is an agent representing themselves (one way around this is to have a family member purchase the home). 


Is the co-op eligibility determined at time of contract or closing? In other words, does the family member (or 3rd party for that matter) actually have to perform or could they simply assign their contractual rights at closing?

Maybe a better way around this, at least in the case of a cash purchase, would be to buy through a legal entity. Or do you think the builder would actually ask for proof of the beneficial owners?

Determined when you sign in at the office when you first visit the models.

Are you an agent? No builder Ive worked with is so against paying the co-op. Ive received it myself for my home purchases, though usually I just get the house with wifey as the official buyer and me signed as an agent.

No, attorney. I'm not trying to minimize the value of an agent and realize the vast majority of buyers need one; rather, I am wondering if there is a way to monetize the BAC for the very few Buyers comfortable representing themselves.

I cant speak for others but I dont think any agent here would feel slighted by your thread or that you're trying to diminish their value You're just trying to get the best deal possible for yourself. Its a very common question they all answer many times.

Essentially there really is only one way to get some of the BAC as a buyer. That way is to have an agent (your own or a listing agent) agree to share their commission with you.

No agent is ever obligated to do so, though myself and many of the ones I know are happy to share and often offer to share without being asked.
 
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