1/30    Anyone here buy their own house without an agent?  Looking for good
        sources of info. websites, books, etc. -nivra
        \_ what a coincidence! I was gong to post almost esxactly the
           same question today.  I talked to a realtor, and it became quicly
           clear that he was interested in helping himself and not me.
           in my area, http://www.realtor.com has lots of really great listings, but
           i have not figured out to what extent one can avoid hiring your
           own sheister bastard realtor.
           \_ I'd probably recommend against it for a first house; the
              process is pretty complex and unless you know the ins and outs
              you'll probably wind up costing yourself more money.  And
              some seller's agents will refuse to work with you if you don't
              have an agent.  -tom
              \_ This is all true, plus you won't even see the listings for a
                 lot of houses or won't know about an open house.  You also
                 don't look like a serious buyer to the seller even if their
                 agent is willing to talk to you.  Don't be cheap but don't
                 feel you're required to use the first agent you meet.  Shop
                 around and go with someone you like.  I've met some *really*
                 sleazy agents before.  Also don't let them push you into more
                 house than you feel you can afford.  Good luck!
           \_ I strongly recommend against it, unless you are experienced.
              Yes you can keep the 3% commission to yourself when you don't
              have an agent, but the risk of something going wrong is too high.
              The whole process is pretty complicated, and I still don't
              understand it even though I had a good agent explaining it.  I
              think you should concentrate your effort on finding a good agent
              than on trying to learn about the process.
              than on trying to learn about the process.  -- yuen
              \_ Actually, the seller is going to pay the 6% anyway. If
                 you don't have an agent then all the better for his
                 agent. As a buyer, you don't save anything. The part
                 about not getting listings or seeing caravan sheets is
                 bullshit, though. In my area both the MLS and the
                 twice-weekly caravan info are online for free. I usually
                 had a heads-up on my realtor. It was still useful to have
                 a realtor for legwork and phone tag, though. --dim
                 \_ If you knew the listings better than your agent then hey,
                    big hint, your agent sucked.  They have up to the minute
                    pays only 97% of the selling price.
                    listings on their workstation.  Your agent is getting paid
                    to do more than just play phone tag for you.  You should've
                    found another agent who knew wtf they were doing.
                 \_ Really?  I know the seller still pay 6% anyway, but I
                    thought the buyer and the selling agent get 3% each if
                    there's no buying agent which means the buyer effectively
                    pays only 97% of the selling price.  -- yuen
                    \_ No. What happens in that case is that the seller's
                       agent is considered to be a dual-agent and pockets
                       the entire fee. They like that. I was in that
                       situation when I made an offer on a house I found
                       before I had an agent. That one didn't close
                       (thankfully) and I later got my own agent. --dim
        \_ I'm absolutely clueless wrt agents. What makes a "good" agent, or
           what are the signs of a bad one?
                \_ our agent was very good.  I'd say the qualities that made
                   her good were that she was very understanding of our general
                   anxiety about the process, and did a lot of explaining
                   about what was going on at each point.  She actually
                   discouraged us from buying a house out of our price range.
                   She also knew the area very well and had good contacts
                   with mortgage brokers, house inspectors and building
                   engingeers (we needed an estimate on foundation work).
                   I think the biggest warning sign for me would be an agent
                   who pressures you to make a decision, or to buy a
                   particular house (especially an expensive one).  -tom
                   \_ Another good sign can be that the agent is being frank.
                      My agent covers South Bay and southern half of East Bay.
                      when I asked him to also show us some houses in Alameda,
                      he said although he can find us listings and handles the
                      whole process for us with no problem, he won't be able to
                      tell us whether a certain price is good or not
                      since he's not familiar with that area.  So he doesn't
                      recommend himself for that area.  Another good sign was
                      that he told me to bid down on a particular house two
                      years ago when every other house was being bid up.
                      -- yuen
        \_ It is possible to avoid the 6% by buying a house for sale
           by owner directly from the owner. There aren't many of these
           on the market though. http://www.allthelistings.com seems
           to have the most. -ausman