For years in this country, working agreements between a buyer and a real estate agent amounted to a handshake agreement, and sellers have been the ones to pay both sides of a transaction through the commission portion of a listing agreement. More and more, however, buyer’s agents are routinely asking for a document known as a buyer-broker agreement to be signed upon developing a working relationship. Below is a description of the buyer-broker agreement, why things have recently changed, and how …
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I have long used the adage, “spring is the time to sell, fall is the time to buy,” and with a couple of notable exceptions (2009 and 2020), that has held true through my entire 29-year career. Timing your purchase is not always doable, of course, since you have to find the right property to bid on, but aiming for that can be a strategic way to take advantage of market seasonality. As it turns out, the first week of …
There’s an old adage that new homes take twice as long and cost twice as much to build, but the truth is that it really depends on all the factors we covered in the first of this two-part series. If it makes sense to build, let’s cover the seven challenges this option presents. 1. Managing expectations Unless you’re working with a limitless budget, compromise in some capacity is inevitable. The best way to set yourself up for success with a …
Building your own home from scratch holds a lot of allure You get the floor plan and style you want, brand spanking new. But the reality is that building from scratch can turn into a full-time job—it’s not for the faint of heart. The decisions and potential problems that can waylay moving into your dream home are endless. Of course, knowledge is power, and being as prepared as possible upfront is the best way of deciding if building your own custom …
At the dawn of the fall selling season (marked by the end of Labor Day), we’re about to see a rash of new listings come to market after the traditional summer slowdown. In anticipation of that, I thought I’d get you up to speed on what a listing status means since it varies slightly by region and what website you may be using for your searches. The big home search sites, like Zillow, Redfin and Realtor.com, all have their own language …
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