Let me explain. Say you’re buying a home in a different state, and conditions are such that you have cash in hand and want to pounce on a property quickly. You know the neighborhoods in the new place well, having done your research. If you’re still living in a rent-back situation at the old place, it would be hard to fly instantly to the new place to look at a new home for sale that just popped up. Zillow only shows so much, and you don’t really trust a local real estate agent to give you an accurate idea of the place - they want to close deals quickly after all.
Does there exist a person who does this kind of thing, a sort of objective scout? Who’d do a walk-through of the place for you, look at the neighbors on either side and report what they see? If not, I think I’m seeing a kind of job opportunity here.
I’m trying to work out the logistics of our move next year and am intimidated by the logistics.
I’m struggling to understand why a buyers agent isn’t the answer?
They generally have access to homes that are not yet publicly advertised, and would be able to execute on your behalf. They would be expected to have a level of insight into neighborhoods, and an eye for for individual homes plusses/minuses.
If you have a local real estate agent that you trust, they can likely recommend a trustworthy contact in the new area. Otherwise, how would you vet a “neutral third party” for trustworthyness? It seems you are overemphasizing your suspicions of a real estate agent.
Right. It’s called a Real Estate agent that works for you. Whoever it is isn’t going to work for free. Whatever you want to call this person they are looking to get paid for their efforts and they’ll expect the equivalent commission that a buyer’s agent would receieve.
Fear of a less than honest real estate agent is legit though. They are all too often about just closing the deal and moving on.
I think the best you can do is find an agent willing to pre-check houses for you and line up 5+ to see in a 2-3 day period. What you want doesn’t really exist and probably couldn’t.
Another thought is that there are now virtual walk throughs where the agent or their assistant does the walk through using their phone in video mode. You can ask them to scan around and everything else. So probably close to what you want.
Agents willing to do this multiplied during the pandemic. I know in Monmouth and Ocean Counties in NJ at least is a was semi-common for those moving out of apartments in NYC to have an agent do this for them. I still don’t think it is all that common though.
We only had one agent do this during our time on the market before selling to a couple from North Jersey living with the wife’s parents. They came in person.
I don’t think they’re looking for a RA, whose incentives are muddled for all sorts of reasons, I think they’re looking for a kind of home inspector+. Home inspectors will usually look at the more objective and harder to assess elements of a house like termite damage or hidden mold but it’s possible that some of them would be willing to also assess home marketability factors like neighbours and noise levels etc.
I’d call some home inspection companies in the areas you’re targeting and ask if they’re willing to perform extra services for an extra fee and whether they’ve done similar stuff before for other remote buyers.
My wife has done this for investors, but only those with whom she has a very long history (has known them for 30+ years).
She was looking for homes, viewing them, arranging inspections and advising the buyer who then engaged a real estate attorney to complete the actual transaction. Post transaction she would also serve as a property manager or turn it over to a professional property management firm.
But the principals in this case were buying houses/condos as income properties which represented a tiny faction of their net worth. Losing a few millions in a real estate investment gone bad would be a rounding error in their overall financial situation. They just wanted local knowledge they could trust completely. And I suspect ask questions and get answers that would violate LOTS of Equal Housing Opportunity rules.
My wife also scouted condos for kids of these people coming here to college, for whom they wished to arrange accommodations well above the normal freshman dorm (even if they officially HAD to live in the dorm, they’d have this “crash pad” or “decompression chamber” just off campus)
Significantly she gave up this sideline when she became a real estate agent. No broker would allow her to get that involved in a client’s affairs as that.
Home inspectors are a mixed lot. They may hear of some homes available for sale and be able to help you, but they’re not going to find all of the homes you might be interested in, and have no incentive to find one if you’re going to keep paying them a fee for every address they turn up but nothing like a commission if they find one you want to buy.
Generally speaking, you don’t hire a Realtor to buy a house, you work with one to buy a house. And many Realtors are not looking out for your interests but their own. Realtors are “hired” by the seller.
I agree Tripolar, I recommend just tracking down an agent that will do virtual tours for you. (see above) I was commenting on someone else’s suggestion.
Really? It’s been a while since I bought a house, but as I recall, they charged a few hundred bucks for a run-through and a written report, as opposed to many thousands that I paid the real estate agent. Of course, you’d have to budget in multiple houses until you found one you liked, but it seems to me that if you searched for “home inspectors” in the desired area, and gave them your spiel about what you want and what you dont need at the moment, I’d bet one of them would be willing to do it for much less than hiring a buyer’s agent and paying them their customary commission.
It has been 23 years since we bought a house, and not only is my memory about the process fuzzy, a lot of things have changed in that time.
So a (interviewed and vetted) realtor in the destination area can be trusted to film a walk-through and pictures of the immediate neighbors’ properties, and transmit the same to me? And if we approve, can put the transaction in motion as soon as we give the thumbs-up? That would be a boon for us, saving travel time, money and stress. I was just leery that we could trust an agent to do that kind of thing.
A “Realtor” (r)(c)™ is simple a licensed real estate sales agent who has paid the extra fee to join the “union” of agents named “Realtors”. They may represent sellers, buyers, or both. Nothing more but also nothing less.
Whether any given practitioner is honestly representing their customers or is merely representing themselves is 100% up to them and their perception of their interests, both short and long term.
I worked for a realtor doing what the OP describes. Went around the house and took polaroids. Checked the foundation, filled out a questionnaire for each house and turned it in to the agency.
+1, though I assume regulations could vary by locality.
Buyers agents are in widespread use in Sydney for decades take your pick from the top, even when the prospective home buyer lives locally, though obviously more commonly seen for investment buying for those out of town or overseas.
The rationale, apart from logistics and convenience, is that these guys are professionals and act according to their instructions. If the principal says “bid no more than $1.25million” then they will not, though they may seek further instructions. If the principal specifies “An east facing Victorian terrace with three bedrooms and original features without needing renovations”, the buys agent will not consider, or inspect, let alone bid for a “Californian bungalow on a big block needing structural work but with lots of potential”.
In a hot property market, with most properties being sold at auction, then “novices” can get emotionally over-engaged and bid well over the odds and their limits to buy the house of their dreams. In Sydney would not be unusual for several, if not the majority of the active bidders are buyers agents. Auctioneers don’t like them because they tend to act as moderators of house prices in what been a bull market for generations.
Yes. And if you contact one and they won’t do this or say they will and don’t do it, then move on to another. I’ve seen many accounts of people choosing an agent and the agent is not doing what they had expected the agent to do but they don’t want to be rude by ending the relationship. There are plenty of good agents who will do whatever you need (and nothing you are asking is out of scope) so don’t hang your hat on one who won’t.
I would suggest talking to several agents and letting them know what you are looking for both in a home and in an agent and choose one. But also have one or even two definite other choices in case the first one doesn’t work out.
We “hired” a buying Realtor several years ago when looking for a house. She interviewed us about what we wanted - “must have’s”, “nice to have’s” etc. She gave us a realistic view of the current market situation, and what areas we might have overlooked. She arranged viewings for us for several houses before they hit the general public (MLS site).
When a house came up that was close to our ideal, she jumped on it, and got us in the door before others. She helped us negotiate with the seller’s Realtor (and had us put in a much lower offer than we thought was possible). She did the negotiations, and knew which levers to pull (“They’re a lovely local family who LOVE your gardens and will certainly care for them the way you have done!”)
She was paid out of the selling agent’s commission. Effectively, she worked for us, but was paid by the commission that the house sellers paid to THEIR Realtor. We paid her nothing.