Showerthought: I was dead wrong about needing a realtor

For months I told everyone I'd buy a house without a buyer's agent because I thought they were just taking a cut for no reason. But after three showings where the sellers' agents basically ghosted me (one in Gary last month just stopped answering phones), I finally caved. Turns out my realtor got me into a house that wasn't even listed yet, saved me $4,000 on the inspection negotiation, and she only cost me the commission the seller paid anyway. Has anyone else had a big flip-flop on something they were super sure about?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_ben4mo agoMost Upvoted

That Gary agent ghosting you though. I drove two hours to a showing once and the guy just never showed up. No call, no text, nothing. My question is how much did you actually save though? Because I ran the numbers on my place and the seller paid my agent's 3% but that means the seller baked that into the price. So I paid for it one way or another. Did you ask your realtor straight up what her actual fee was and if she would have taken less so you could offer lower?

janac512mo ago

You said "the seller paid my agent's 3% but that means the seller baked that into the price." That's kind of true but not always how it works in practice. In my experience, the seller has already agreed to pay a certain commission to their listing agent, and then that agent splits it with the buyer's agent. So the price of the house is usually set before any buyer's agent is even involved. If you go without an agent, the seller's agent might keep the whole commission themselves, but that doesn't mean the seller automatically lowers the price for you. You gotta ask upfront if they'll knock something off since there's no buyer agent to pay. I've seen some sellers do it, but plenty don't because they figure the listing agent did the work anyway. So your mileage may vary big time on actually saving money that way.

parkermorgan4mo ago

Three showings ghosted me too before I got an agent. My realtor found a place three days before it hit Zillow and I had an offer in before anyone else even saw it. Have you asked your agent about pocket listings yet?