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Why Should You Hire A Realtor? It’s a great question. It’s one I get all the time. Especially if we’ve just met, or you haven’t been through the process before or perhaps you had a really bad experience with somebody when you bought your last home or investment property. These are all valid questions and I think you deserve an explanation and you’re going to need to investigate the benefits of hiring a Realtor before you do.

In Colorado we have 2 types of relationships with Realtors as a buyer.

• You can either have a buyer’s agent

• or just a transaction broker.

If you don’t sign a Buyers Listing Agreement or a Buyers Agency Agreement then I’m just a transaction broker. If you do sign an agreement with us then we’re a buyer’s agent.

Here’s the difference:

• An agent’s going to be in your corner giving you advice and fighting for you every step of the way.

• A transaction broker is just going to do what you tell them to do.

Now, if you don’t know what to tell them to do, then how effective can that really be? Let me give you another example. I’m going to use a football analogy. In football, there’s 2 key positions on the field during a game. One is a coach and another one is a referee. As a buyer’s agent, I’m going to be your coach.

• I’m going to be on your sidelines rooting for you,
• sending you the plays,
• giving you advice,
• telling you what you should offer on a home,
• what kind of terms we should negotiate.
• I’m going to be working with your lender to make sure we get the best deal,
• I’m going to make darn sure that you do get the best deal (and that you feel comfortable with it),

and importantly, along the way,

• I’m going to make sure that we don’t hit any speed bumps and that we get everything taken care of (to get the contract closed).
• I’m going to give you advice on inspection items,
• what we want to ask the seller to fix for you (if we find anything broken during the inspections).
• What kind of inspections should you get? (Boy, there’s a huge list of those!) Wouldn’t you want the advice on that to make sure you don’t miss anything?

That’s what an agent does. I’m like a coach, rooting for you, making sure that we win.

On the other hand, if you don’t hire an agent, and someone’s just working as a transaction broker for you, then, that’s more like a referee. All we’re doing is making sure everybody plays fair and that the game starts and ends on time. So, which would you rather have? Someone fighting for you, or someone just watching the plays? If you don’t know what to ask the referee, then are you sure they’re calling the game in your favor and not in the opponents favor?

So, give it some thought and think about it. I can explain more in detail and give you the questions to ask when you interview a Realtor during our free 1-hour consultation for buyers. Just give me a call at 303-526-2606 or email me Sam [at] SamWilsonGroup.com In the meantime, take a look at the homes out there, search like a Realtor does, on www.EasyDenverHomeSearch.com

Until next time

I’m going to share with you what’s happening in the market give you my thoughts on what it means for buyers. And then give you some advice on, ‘What to do if you’re thinking about buying a home right now.’

Don’t forget that the First Time Home Buyers Tax Credit expires November 30th.  So far, that has not been extended. I know there’s rumors in the news that it might be, but right now it has not been. So, you need to be under contract on the property in October to be able to close by the end of November in order to take advantage of that $8,000 credit.

It’s important that as you are searching for listings that you know about what’s happening in the market so you can actually purchase the property you want.  The reason that I’m going to go into this today is because it is getting more competitive. It’s not necessarily a buyer’s market right now. It’s not a seller’s market either, but it’s more of an equilibrium.

You’re going to have to be realistic about your purchase prices. You can’t low-ball sellers anymore, (well you can, but you won’t get the properties) because the good ones are seeing multiple offers in a short amount of time.  The very good ones are selling very quickly within the first couple of weeks of being on the market.

There’s only about 21,000 homes on the market, just under 21,000 and there’s over 440 homes a month that are selling. So, if you do the math, what that means that there’s less than 5 months of inventory on the market. The National Association of Realtors says that, ‘6 months supply and more is a buyer’s market.’ ‘Under 6 months supply is not a buyer’s market anymore.’

I want you to be aware that if you find properties you like:

• you have to act fast
• you have to be reasonable about what you’re going to pay

Also, prices have actually inched upwards this year. They’re still lower than they were at the same time last year by about an average of $10,000, they’re up anywhere from 2-3% depending on what area of town, and I can tell you about specific areas and neighborhoods, if you’d like. July was down a little bit again, but overall this year prices are trending upward.  What this means is that seller’s are pricing their homes appropriately now.

Keep in mind that this represents a smaller amount of foreclosure inventory. There’s very few foreclosures in the market right now, therefore, average prices are up because the more high quality and good shape properties are the ones that are selling since the foreclosures aren’t on the market as much.

If you’d like more information or if you’d like my complete set of market update charts or more information on your specific neighborhood that you’re interested in, call me:  303-526-2606

or send me an email:  Sam [at] SamWilsonGroup.com

or visit a great search website, called:  www.EasyDenverHomeSearch.com
(Where you can search for listings and any neighborhood 24/7 and you can even sign up to get email alerts, so you can see all the good new properties before they go!)

And they are going fast. You’ll see when you’re out there looking at what’s available today, if it’s priced right and in good shape, it’s probably under contract within a week or two.

Until next time

[audio:http://media.libsyn.com/media/denverhomepro/Listing_Commisisons.mp3]
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I’m bound to get calls or emails from other Real Estate Agents on this topic because I’m going to discuss some secrets in our industry that most agents don’t want you to know about. This is in no way intended to solicit your listing if you’re currently listed with another Real Estate Agent. I’m sure they’re doing a fine job for you. This is more intended for the people that are considering selling a home or are in the process of interviewing an agent.

I’m happy to share with you:

• All the tips on negotiating a commission

• How Realtors get paid

• How they set their commissions

• What you should pay based on the level of service that you get.

For more information and details, you could call me directly at: 303-526-2606 or, send me an email:  Sam [at] SamWilsonGroup.com
(Just put ‘Commission Schedule’ in the subject line.)
As always you can visit my website:  www.SamWilsonGroup.com

Here’s a couple of insights that you may not be aware of, the first one is:

• By law, commissions are negotiable. That’s right! So, don’t feel shy or awkward asking your agent if you’re getting the best deal or exactly what you get for the commission that they charge.

Another important insight, is that, ask the question to yourself:

• Are all Realtors the same?  Are you getting the same level of service and the same marketing plan for the same commissions? In fact, you’re not. Most of us have very different marketing and sales plans. Then there’s agents like myself who have a team of people that are working on your behalf. So, make sure that if you’re paying a high level commission, that you’re getting a higher level marketing and service plan for that money that you’re spending when the home sells.

That’s another point:

• I don’t get paid anything! We don’t get paid anything until the home sells. So, of course we want a win-win situation. And we want to take listings that are bound to sell. Is your agent willing to invest money up front? Does your agent spend money on, or how much money do they spend on marketing your property just to get it out there and attract buyers and other agents to get your property shown and sold.

There’s a few questions that you need to ask yourself and prepare for when interviewing an agent. If you’d like to get my written commissions schedule upfront, as well as a copy of my sales and marketing plan, I’m happy to share that with you, anytime.

Call me directly at:  303-526-2606 or, just send me an email:  Sam [at] SamWilsonGroup.com
You can also visit:  www.SamWilsonGroup.com (at anytime to get more information.)

Until next time