Hey, I just thought I'd get the board's opinion on how you'd proceed. We've been looking into buying a second home in the Destin/30A area in the Florida Panhandle. The real estate market down here is blazing hot. If a home comes on the market, you are competing against anywhere from 5 to 20 buyers and it is gone immediately. Also, a lot of stuff is pre-negotiated and it never hits the market. I have been working with a Realtor down here the past few weeks and he sends me feeds, but nothing yet that I wanted to act on. We also never signed anything formally so I'm not obligated to use him. Well I was able to find a situation where the owner is selling their house and will negotiate directly between myself and 1 other buyer this week. She has made it clear that she is not allowing Realtors as part of the transaction. So if I chose to have a Realtor support me through the transaction I'd have to pay them directly out of my pocket. I asked my existing Realtor and he said he want me to pay him a full 2.5%. These are new homes so I don't expect a ton to come up on an inspection and if it did I think I could handle it. I'm sure there are other things to think of, but the main thing I worry about is presenting a competitive offer and not overpaying. That being said, there are 4 very comparable homes with similar square footage that have sold in the community between September and December of last year. I feel like if I involve a realtor for me to pay directly, I'm going to have to calculate that into what I offer and I'll be at a competitive disadvantage vs. the other Buyer I'll go up against. The market is so crazy down here right now this might be my only chance to emerge successfully in a transaction because I only have to win out over one other Buyer.
Just to reiterate, from an obligation standpoint I am completely in the clear and could represent myself at this point.
Thoughts? Go at it on my own? Things to look out for?
Just to reiterate, from an obligation standpoint I am completely in the clear and could represent myself at this point.
Thoughts? Go at it on my own? Things to look out for?