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I went to an open house today and wanted to put down an offer. However I didn't have an agent, thus the seller's agent offered to act as my agent as well. Is this usually a good practice or I should find another agent to represent me?
Also, I was researching regarding the house maintenance. Most websites state that houses older than 30 years require significant amount of maintenance each year. The town I am looking into is pretty old, with most houses built in 1920s. Can someone share with me the list of annual maintenance items needed and the annual cost of them for a house that is almost 100 years old?
You don't need an agent to buy a house. Verbally negotiate a price between you and the "seller's" agent. Mostly! Agents work for themselves NOT for you. (even though that is against the theory of how agents are supposed to work.)
Do not sign anything and do not put money down. Once you have a meeting of the minds on price; you then ask the seller to draft a contract. The seller might not want to spend money on drafting a contract until he/she knows you are qualified to buy in that you have sufficient credit and resources. If you are really serious on buying a house, you have to find a lawyer with enough competence (which is hard to do) to actually review the seller's contract and recommend changes that would be in your best interests.
Real estate is a numbers game for agents and lawyers; the whole process is money generating opportunity for everyone but you. The best way to play is;
-in cash and
-within the context of a crash
-not at all
-as an "educated consumer"
Otherwise you are going to be the cash cow that gets milked. I am of the position that LI real estate is currently a huge racketeering scheme that is totally dependent on the greater fool theory.
I went to an open house today and wanted to put down an offer. However I didn't have an agent, thus the seller's agent offered to act as my agent as well. Is this usually a good practice or I should find another agent to represent me?
Also, I was researching regarding the house maintenance. Most websites state that houses older than 30 years require significant amount of maintenance each year. The town I am looking into is pretty old, with most houses built in 1920s. Can someone share with me the list of annual maintenance items needed and the annual cost of them for a house that is almost 100 years old?
Thank you.
It is not unusual for the sellers' agent to work with a buyer who comes to an Open House. However, keep in mind that the listing agent has a fiduciary responsibility to the sellers first and foremost.
If you want your own representation, another agent (preferably a "real" Buyers Agent), might be preferable.
All houses are different, regardless of age. How well have they been maintained by the owners over the years? Regular maintenance? Updates? Improvements? Or the bare minimum with regard to maintenance? There is no rule of thumb IMHO.
You don't need an agent to buy a house. Verbally negotiate a price between you and the "seller's" agent. Mostly! Agents work for themselves NOT for you. (even though that is against the theory of how agents are supposed to work.)
Do not sign anything and do not put money down .
Everybody wants to get paid for their work. Agents are no different. However, some care more for their clients/customers than others and actually take the word "ethics" and what it means seriously.
Why not use the assistance of an experienced agent - the agreement with the sellers already spelled out the expected commission and won't change. Your own agent should know better than you what questions to ask, etc.
When you put a layer (or middle man) between you and something you buy the price has to go up.
The Kabuki that is the real estate process in NY is highly orchestrated to put as many people into the mix {to take money from you} (and to put as much taxation into the process) as is possible. eg Mangano and his clerk have a big surprise for anyone recording a title change; the life long pensions of those pages of $500,000 a year cops need to be paid along with his no-show wife It is harder to sell a house in NY only because of MLS (a near monopoly) which encourages agents to swarm into a listing. On the buy side, A good lawyer is far more valuable than a real estate agent. You don't need a real estate agent. . When you buy houses as an "investment" you NEVER want to use a real estate agent. The NY system is totally captured and rigged, there is nothing ethical about it.
In other states, buying with cash, it will cost less than $500 plus a title search/title insurance policy (as a small percent of the price) and the whole closing process can be accomplished by mail. Add in a few bucks to record the title change based on the number of pages being recorded.
The more educated you are the less "help" you will need. Passing an easy NYS test and paying a fee is the only thing needed to be a real estate agent. I picked up a real estate licence at one point so I would know how the game was played. At the time I owned four NYS properties.
On the sell side, "A successful real broker" on the other hand is a force to leverage. (<-the broker is on the top of the pyramid scheme of agent-broker relationship) I used a real estate broker as a seller in Oceanside http://www.century21.com/real-estate...olfo-P25332858 because his odds of selling a house in 60 days at top dollar was 90+%. He is responsible for 80% of the home sales in Oceanside. <-I cherry picked him, negotiated a number with him, and then let him run the show. Were it not against the law, I would have liked to incentivize him as a percent of sales above a set number. If you want to sell something at a highest possible price (or in the shortest time) you could sweeten the deal for the salesperson. NY knows how to conduct my personal business, and contracts, better than I do.
He managed a bidding war which more than paid the $30,000 in closing costs, including his commission. THE BUYER PAID EVERY DOLLAR OF THOSE CLOSING COSTS INCLUDING HIS COMMISSION. I found the broker who sold most of the houses in Oceanside, and he is making 7 figures in commissions a year. The buyers used "aunt mary the real estate agent" and used the title insurance lawyer instead of hiring their own. The buyer got "bleeped: and I did the "bleeping."
As a buyer you need;
1) cash to purchase the home
2) the best lawyer you can find
3) you have to know what you are buying
4) you need to buy value (which you are NOT going to be able to do on LI at the present time)
I went to an open house today and wanted to put down an offer. However I didn't have an agent, thus the seller's agent offered to act as my agent as well. Is this usually a good practice or I should find another agent to represent me?
We worked with a "buyer's agent" when we were house hunting (two of them, actually, as each only served a particular area), and it was made very clear that they worked for the seller, not us.
On the house we purchased, we worked with the seller's agent after an open house and ran everything through our attorney. We had no issues.
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Also, I was researching regarding the house maintenance. Most websites state that houses older than 30 years require significant amount of maintenance each year. The town I am looking into is pretty old, with most houses built in 1920s. Can someone share with me the list of annual maintenance items needed and the annual cost of them for a house that is almost 100 years old?
Thank you.
It's really going to depend on the house and its construction.
You have to look at the siding, roof, plumbing system, floors, doors and windows, electrical system, HVAC....
The advantage of a 50+ year old home is things like solid construction and hardwood floors.
The disadvantage is if/when it was updated for electrical, plumbing, HVAC, if it had asbestos or lead anywhere, if it has a cesspool (especially original), foundation cracks or basement leaks, repaving the driveway, rebuilding a rotting deck, etc.
The general rule is spending 1-3% of the purchase price on home maintenance each year.
Considering the convoluted process that NY Real Estate Transactions can become I would recommend you secure a buyers agent to represent you, their commission will be paid from the sellers profits so there is no cost to you. As for the maintenance the real key is how ell previous owners maintained/upgraded the home over the years. I'll take an older home over some of the throw together garbage that has come out in recent years.
Last edited by VA Yankee; 05-01-2017 at 06:25 AM..
Don't buy a 90 year old house, at least get a detailed inspection. Plumbing and Electric can be sub standard. Knob and tube wiring can be very expensive to replaced. Plumbing can be galvanized pipe which will clog. Heating system can be a real bear as it could be steam. Most of the house's infrastructure could be at it's end of useful life. Most likely plaster walls with lathe. I bought a house built in 1939 back in 1984. All plumbing and electric had to be replaced. Best thing about the house was all lumber used was true 4x6 and 2x6 construction. Not that nominal stuff used today. Walk away get something that was built in late 50's early 60's
WW2 is a great point to look at homes and the housing industry. During the war, housing and construction was all but halted. The industry reorganized after the war and building became codified and more universal.
So post WW2 homes are more alike and similar. Yes there are big differences between a 1950's home and a 1980's home but they are much more alike than a home for the turn of the century.
As for pre war homes, they will tend to need more maintenance and repair than post war. The old you get, the more it costs to maintain and repair.
Personally, homes older than 1920 is a much bigger "ball of wax" to deal with.
In older historic homes, it is wise to have money set aside to repairs.
Good luck!
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