Beating tare by cheatingFollow

I just pictured an open faced sandwich. Now I'm hungry.

I just pictured a bear feasting on some guy's rotting carcass.

Yes. And this is normally handled by the real estate agent as part of the service he/she provides. That's why you hire an agent since their job is to handle all the paperwork and whatnot for you. I was just curious if for some reason he was hiring an attorney in addition to an agent, which seems redundant.

And in my case, I was buying the unit I'd been renting for years. The agent for the seller handled both sides of the sale and waived his fee to me because I was going to be signing off on most of the paperwork he needed and generally making his job a hell of a lot easier. So yeah. I didn't pay a dime except for escrow fees and that was quick and easy.

I'd do whatever it takes to not have to deal with gbaji, too.

that's how it works out here. Usually the seller and the buyer will share the commission on the house. It doesn't come out of the buyers pocket though, aside from the fact that both the seller and the buyer have an interest in inflating the market.

Most home sales are managed by a real estate agent (or an agency). You pay a commission to them. Historically, it's 3% from the buyer to the buying agent, and 3% from the seller to the selling agent, although the numbers can vary. In today's market, both sides are charging 5-6% which I think is highway robbery, but people I talk to in the business insist that's the "normal commission". Probably has to do with sales being down so much.

When one agent handles both sides of the sale, they may charge both sides the commission. Some agents will do this, others will only charge the buyer since they figure it's unfair to double charge. The agent that sold me my condo was one of those who thought it was unethical to charge both sides so he didn't. Maybe I lucked out there. It may also have been that I commented that three members of my immediate family were licensed real estate agents so he figured he wasn't going to get anything anyway. No way to know.

The agents handle all the paperwork. They do take an up front fee to cover costs, but that's rolled into their commission on a sale. They get the forms filled out, t's crossed, i's dotted, etc. This includes inspections and lists of things which need to be done to make the sale. And most agents either have the authority to file said forms, or retain an attorney to file them for them. That's all part of the service and it's why they get a commission.

My original question was whether or not he (she? Don't even remember who it was now) had paid a lawyer on top of an agent, since that seemed redundant. Obviously, if you decide to manage the sale or purchase yourself, you can and you'll have to pay fees to file various papers and whatnot. I suppose you'll save money doing that, but you can also easily leave yourself liable to costs and suits later if you miss something. It's a choice to make. I just wasn't sure that was the case here.

I know that up here the buyer doesn't have to pay anything, at least in the cases I've seen. I emailed a friend who's a real estate agent so we'll see what she says.

Edited, Jul 21st 2010 12:53am by Xsarus

This is the guy who once argued that, when you get married, you have to sign a giant contract "as big as a stack of mortgage papers". And he then actually defended this when everyone else told him he was an idiot.

I don't know why any of you would take him seriously.

Well... we did have to put our names in a really large book. Does that count...?

Why on earth you think a simple real estate agent can provide Title Insurance for you is beyond me. Much more is happening behind your understanding.

Further, why you would EVER take out a policy that wasn't determined to be free and clear of all liens, junior or senior, by an Attorney is just plain stupid.

I don't think so...

From the bank or from the lawyer?

My bank is about 10, the lawyer is about 30 at most.