Real Estate

I’m trying to help my mother-in-law buy a house. I’m skeptical about realty agents because the one I used when I bought my house seemed too shady.
He talked me into something that was more expensive than I wanted just so he could make a higher commission. I like my house, but it wasn’t my first choice. The realtor seemed like he was refusing to show me cheaper properties. He also evaded certain questions. I was signed into a contract with him so I couldn’t change my mind about dealing with him.
My mother-in-law is easily sold on things and I don’t want her to get ripped off.
Has anyone reading this ever bought a house without using a realty agent. What the advantages and disadvantages of doing that? and do you have any regrets?
I’ve had my house for over four years now, so there’s no point in telling me what I SHOULD have done with my agent. "Live and learn" is a natural part of life.

You’re under no obligation to sign an agreement with an agent when you’re buying. And if I did have a contract with one who was not following MY instructions, I’d tell him to take a hike, contract or not!

Unfortunately if you’re looking at a house being sold by an agent, there’s no way to buy without dealing at least with that agent. And it would be a potential conflict of interest to deal with that agent so you really should find one of your own to work with.

You can buy a property being sold directly by the owner without an agent, but you’ll need an attorney to look things over and make sure that the deal is properly structured and legal. That’s always a wise idea anyway, even if you do have an agent.

how many times a day should they be done, and how can I keep myself reminded to do reality checks?

The nose test is by far the best because its almost always works and is always with you. Pinch your nose, close your mouth and try to breathe. If you can breathe through your hand then you’re obviously dreaming. I’ve been lucid dreaming for around 8 years now and the is the best technique I have found. Its also good to do two different checks to cover your bases because no reality check works every time. If the nose pinch doesn’t tell you you’re dreaming, try reading something, looking away and then looking back. If it changed then you’re dreaming. By the way, don’t push to hard when you do the nose pinch as you will pop your ears and I don’t know if thats is dangerous or not.

You don’t want to do this to many times during the day, but maybe once an hour. On the other hand, you do need to think about lucid dreaming all the time. I use to use a countdown repeat timer that could be set to go off every so many minutes to remind me of my intentions. You can also place notes up around your home or work, or car to remind you. Be sure to move them around or you’ll start to ignore them.

The main key is to become aware of "strange" things that happen during your day, then do a test. Like if two of the same cars are parked beside each other or someone says something really weird, or your tv doesn’t work. Anything like that will get you in the mode of doing tests in your dreams. And you pretty much have to do the sleep back to bed method if you want to have a good shot at it. You can google that for more info or go to http://ld4all.com. Happy Dreaming!

What can they find that can make them not want to find an partment for you? Is there a certain number?

I have a public notice on my credit history, for a bill with an old apartment I had. ($3,600) Could this stop me from getting a place to live?

They’re all looking for good credit history. Having a bunch of collections on your credit shows that you do not pay your bills & that you are a risk being a renter.

Risk for being late on rent or skipping months.

If you have collections, also provide the property management company or apartment complex with an explanation letter for any negative information.

if this $3,600 is something you are disputing w/ your previous landlord , explain that to your new one.

Most apartment complexes will still take ppl w/ bad credit, you may just have to put up a higher security deposit.

everyone’s credit past & current situations are different, there is no magical # to any of this.

I’m not really looking for the ones that sell expensive homes. I’m looking for a major realtor that sells average homes and lists rentals also. On the east coast, RE/MAX is like that.

Keller Williams
Prudential
Century 21
Coldwell Banker

For the most part, the company name doesn’t mean anything – every company has their good agents and lousy ones. What good does it do you if someone tells you the name of a good company, but you end up with a lousy agent from that company. Get recommendations from friends, family, and co-workers…

http://www.homegain.com/local_real_estate/FL/jacksonville.html

I made www.houseinannapolis.com for my friend. One question is I have the featured homes right now on that site. Since that needs to be updated and right now, I have all the listings hard written on the page, I am thinking about linking that to his listing page through his realty agency that automatically updates. So instead of having each listings, when visitors click on the tab on the left, it redirects to other site. Is this o.k. to.do? I really don’t want this to affect negatively for SEO. Please advise.

i assume you are referring to this page
www.houseinannapolis.com/listing/featured-listings.html

you can connect to other sites using:
iframe – for example – http://meirgluzberg.com/Toronto-real-estate-listings-55-Lonsdale-road.asp
frame – http://ceotoceo.biz/published_frame.html

Older companies like Long and Foster, Coldwell Banker and Century 21 have longevity behind them, but most of them still pay the same ole’ 50/50 split for agents. Now, newcomers such as Keller Williams and Exit Realty have stepped onto the scene and offer agents 70/30 splits with new and improved ways of making additional funds. Does the decades and centuries of experience in the industry still make the older companies the most reliable for customers and beneficial for new agents? Or is the lure of a higher commission split, residual income and sponsoring enough to make these new companies the better choices. Could their updated technological features better than the older companies and would that actually benefit the customers more?
I’m mainly asking because I am newly licensed and have not decided if I want to go with one of the new fancy companies or the older ones

Brand has nothing to do with day to day sales. Go with an experienced company and learn from them. Surround yourself with agents that have high levels of production.

I believe there is value in both the basics in sales and using modern technology in the marketing of real estate.

Good Luck.

Join Tara as she interviews Jackie Nordstrom from Colorado Real Estate Associates. Find out how Jackie accidentally became an important part of Colorado ’s real estate community. Also find inside insight into today’s housing market; after the bubble burst.

You can Contact Jackie at:
ColoradoRealEstateAssociates.com
888-894-8644

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