re: First time buying a house

I don't have anythng of real importance to add, but will say if yall find a house you love it mgiht not be a terrible idea to send the seller a personal letter after your walk through. We bought our home last year so it was right in the heart of the selling frenzy when buying was cutthroat. We found a house we absolutley wanted so I wrote up a letter about what all we liked about it, we could see us raising our kid there, hope you'll consider us, blah blah and put a picture or me/wife/baby at the bottom. This was recommended by our buyers agent who said she's seen it be succesful in the past. Sure enough it worked and we got hte house.

And actually, this was the 2nd time we'd done that ha. We found a different house a few months prior that we loved and did the letter thing and they decided to go with us, but after inspection there were some issues that we decided weren't quite worth the hassle of taking on in the long run, so we skipped. But anyway we're 2/2 on letter writing success.

I’ll go through these point by point. I’m a realtor, I sell a lot of real estate.

1 - If you’re a buyer, get your own agent. Never have an agent that represents both parties. Commission can be negotiated but you’ll have to ask. Your realtor won’t bring that up.

2 - 2.5 to 3%. Varies more with vacant land and commercial

3 - if you’re a buyer, ALWAYS ask seller to pay closing. Maybe they won’t, but maybe they will and you save money. Around 2-2.5% if you’re financing with an origination fee. About half that if it’s cash or no origination.

4 - look at the area before scheduling a showing. AreaVibes or neighborhood scout IMO give you pretty good info

5 - 5-600. General, termite, septic maybe

6 - separate

7 - home warranty if it’s not a new appliance which may still be under its own manufacturers warranty. Personally I think they’re useless, but I could be wrong.

8 - this part can be tricky. If you think repairs might be necessary during your showing, have your realtor put repairs may be requested in the purchase offer. Don’t nitpick those, throw too much at a seller they’ll balk. I prefer to have repairs settled as a dollar amount to the buyer from seller closing proceeds. As the buyer you then have control over the work

9 - everything is negotiable.

Really good information here that answers most of the questions you had. I’m no expert, but I’ve bought two personal homes.

From a personal finance standpoint, be sure to remain within you budget. Find what you can swing from a down payment/closing and have an extra $10-20k minimum set aside earmarked for post home BS.

You will find something that you (or your SO) will “have to change” regarding the home after living in it for a bit. You will find furniture/appliances you “have to have” once you live in for a bit. Things will come up so ensure this does not include your emergency fund, just lagniappe. Speaking of emergency fund, have a solid one as owning a home is expensive.

Lastly, being very familiar with what you want and what is a good deal (these may not exist in today’s market) is important. I could have flipped both of my homes for more than I paid with a profit (including expenses) immediately. Don’t overpay and don’t go over budget. This is a big decision.

Good luck to you and your family.

Don’t do it bruh

Dual agency is a lawsuit waiting to happen IMO. Probably a bunch of them once the ball starts a rollin.

In my MLS I see a lot of it, and in exactly two instances I’ve represented both parties.

One was a FSBO who we negotiated a deal. Seller wanted me to handle his paperwork, I told him I’d do it for 1%. This was after a contract had been signed by my buyer for the purchase. The other didn’t require any negotiation either.