If you've built a home, did you use a realtor?

[krisim]

Why or why not?  

We've already met with a builder, but now I'm wondering if we should get a realtor involved just to make sure our interests are looked after.  

[Ashley&Scott]

We used a buyer's agent. We found the builder first. It was nice to have someone that we knew was looking out for our best interests & it didn't cost us anything.

We had a small builder, his agent was also his wife so we were a little worried about it being very one sided. Everything turned out fine but it was still nice to have someone that was just on our side.

[Pom]

We used a REA for the new build we did. She was helpful but in the end we didn't end up with the property since it majorly failed appraisals. It wasn't her fault and we would have still used her and did to find our current house.

[tripleshot]

We did not. We built a semi-custom home with a large regional builder. A realtor wouldn't have helped. We handled everything on our own.

[Deleted]

We did. It was absolutely no cost to us and they did the running around and calling to coordinate closing. She also attended the contract signing and inspections with us and it was nice to have that additional set of eye looking things over.

[atarianna]

If you go custom, I wouldn't use a realtor however if I went with a production home company, I would.

[crashgizmo]

I bought a new build (model home) and didn't use a realtor. I didn't feel like it was necessary and think I negotiated pretty well for myself.

[justsam]

We're currently building and don't have a realtor. We didn't feel it was necessary. I've got a friend who just built and didn't use one either. There really wasn't anything for us to negotiate - when we signed our contract our builder was actually holding lottery drawings for the lots because there were more people interested in buying than they had lot for. So I think if we'd have tried, they'd have just moved on to the next party. But I'm good with our decision.

[my3boyz]

Admittedly I'm biased but here's my take. As a Realtor I can help people with knowledge, negotiations and leverage. Sometimes the builder does everything well and I am there to mostly coordinate, provide resources (independent inspectors, title etc.) but sometimes it goes very very wrong. In those instances Realtors have more leverage because they have more clients the builders want. They cost to have a bad reputation with a Realtor is much higher than to have a bad rep with one consumer.

The real answer is that you should have a GOOD Realtor. I have seen Realtors who feel like they can phone it in on new construction. Obviously, they don't add much value to the process. A Good Realtor will help you know which options are a good value, keep resale in mind, keep the builder accountable etc.

[escrow]

We did but it wss pointless and I'd we did it again I world not

[y4m]

Oct 1, 2015 0:14:54 GMT -5 escrow said:

We did but it wss pointless and I'd we did it again I world not

This.

And of course it's not "free". The builder pays it and that means the builder needs to charge you that amount more for what you're buying versus what they'd charge someone without a realtor.

[boiler717]

Yes, we did. I think it was worth it, we had several things come up that he helped with.

[krisim]

Sept 30, 2015 23:15:39 GMT -5 my3boyz said:

Admittedly I'm biased but here's my take. As a Realtor I can help people with knowledge, negotiations and leverage. Sometimes the builder does everything well and I am there to mostly coordinate, provide resources (independent inspectors, title etc.) but sometimes it goes very very wrong. In those instances Realtors have more leverage because they have more clients the builders want. They cost to have a bad reputation with a Realtor is much higher than to have a bad rep with one consumer.

The real answer is that you should have a GOOD Realtor. I have seen Realtors who feel like they can phone it in on new construction. Obviously, they don't add much value to the process. A Good Realtor will help you know which options are a good value, keep resale in mind, keep the builder accountable etc.

We doing a semi-custom build and wondering if what y4m said was true.  Does the builder add in the cost of us having a realtor to the home price?   I think initially I didn't want to use a realtor for that reason, but after doing some research, I found resources that said both: builders increase the cost of the house when you use a realtor (and/or give a discount to people who don't use realtors) and others that said it was illegal to give discounts to clients not using a realtor and that the cost comes from marketing budgets.  I'm so confused now! 

[krisim]

Oct 1, 2015 1:19:01 GMT -5 y4m said:

Oct 1, 2015 0:14:54 GMT -5 escrow said:

We did but it wss pointless and I'd we did it again I world not

This.

And of course it's not "free". The builder pays it and that means the builder needs to charge you that amount more for what you're buying versus what they'd charge someone without a realtor.

I'm curious about this--I've read that this happens (or the opposite, that they give "credits" to people not using realtors).  But I've also read that the realtor fees come out of the marketing budgets, so having a realtor doesn't impact home price.  Do you have more information? 

[boiler717]

Oct 1, 2015 8:38:31 GMT -5 krisim said:

Oct 1, 2015 1:19:01 GMT -5 y4m said:

This.

And of course it's not "free". The builder pays it and that means the builder needs to charge you that amount more for what you're buying versus what they'd charge someone without a realtor.

I'm curious about this--I've read that this happens (or the opposite, that they give "credits" to people not using realtors).  But I've also read that the realtor fees come out of the marketing budgets, so having a realtor doesn't impact home price.  Do you have more information? 

Before we got a realtor I asked if a discount equivalent to the commission the agent would receive and was told that wasn't allowed and that realtor fees came out of the national marketing budget, not the local builder.

[elcjet]

The first time, I did not.  I was only looking at the neighborhood and that particular builder, I knew what I wanted, and I didn't need any hand holding at all.  We totally lucked out and had a great experience.

Fast forward to current home we are purchasing.  I called in a rebate realtor because they weren't playing on price and I wanted to eek a little more out of it.  Rebate realtor has actually been very helpful during the building process -- we had a terrible super that seemed to screw up everything, and she has put us in touch with some exceptional structural engineer and home inspectors.  She also really talked us down this week when we almost walked away from the house.  I really appreciated having someone there to help me navigate through all this and provide solid referrals.  

Whether you have a realtor or not will not lower the price of your home or give you any concessions -- that is now against the law.  So there really is no harm getting somebody you trust on your side.  I wholeheartedly recommend it after my second build.

[y4m]

Oct 1, 2015 10:40:08 GMT -5 elcjet said:

Whether you have a realtor or not will not lower the price of your home or give you any concessions -- that is now against the law.  So there really is no harm getting somebody you trust on your side.  I wholeheartedly recommend it after my second build.

What law? A federal one?

The laws of economics say this is fundamentally not true, if there's a federal law overriding that, I stand corrected. We bought a model home (so new from the builder but we didn't build it) - our realtor was beyond useless and I deeply regret having her involved.

[scout8]

Oct 1, 2015 8:38:31 GMT -5 krisim said:

Oct 1, 2015 1:19:01 GMT -5 y4m said:

This.

And of course it's not "free". The builder pays it and that means the builder needs to charge you that amount more for what you're buying versus what they'd charge someone without a realtor.

I'm curious about this--I've read that this happens (or the opposite, that they give "credits" to people not using realtors).  But I've also read that the realtor fees come out of the marketing budgets, so having a realtor doesn't impact home price.  Do you have more information? 

Does the builder have an agent? If so, this is how it typically works: Builder has already agreed on a commission with their listing agent. The listing agent then shares a portion of that commission with the buyer's agent. So, the builder is paying the same commission either way. If you don't have your own agent, then the listing agent will just keep all the commission. With that said, however, if you don't have an agent, then the listing agent may agree to reduce their commission and this savings could then be passed on to you. In my opinion, the savings you would get is more than made up by having someone represent your interests. Of course, I am going to be very biased here. 

[elcjet]

Oct 1, 2015 11:20:34 GMT -5 y4m said:

Oct 1, 2015 10:40:08 GMT -5 elcjet said:

What law? A federal one?

I perhaps used that loosely.  I was told by my sales agent that in my state they were not allowed to give a 3% discount to unrepresented buyers.  Whether she was referring to a real estate regulation or the builder's policy, I didn't bother clarifying because at that point I just wanted some of that. 

Sorry your realtor is useless.  I'm finding many of them to be useless in my interactions these days.....but in my particular instance, I lucked out and got one that has really gone to bat with me against a builder whose superintendent pretty much did everything wrong.  

[starryfish]

We didn't because I knew my builder (small local one) offered NO incentives or negotiating, so there was nothing for the realtor to do.

[Velvetshady]

We are just starting out and aren't using a realtor. This is the 4th time DH has been through the home buying process and he's relatively knowledgeable about proper building process. We also know exactly what we want and what we are willing to pay to upgrade and what we aren't willing to pay for.

We did get the builder to add a credit at the home center for upgrades equal to the realtor's 3%--so it doesn't change the sale price, but helps us since we already know of upgrades way beyond that amount (hardwood floors vs carpet adds up quick).

[my3boyz]

It might depend on if it was a big builder or a little locally owned company. Big builders factor the realtor costs into their marketing budget. A little, locally owned guy might be different. However, I would never recommend getting a house built by a local small company so that's a whole other issue.

Think about it this way, builders want agents to bring their clients. If they disincentivize (sp) consumers from using agents they are alienating a large buyer pool because agents won't bring their buyers. The builders need the Realtors and its not worth it, in the grand scheme of things, to piss them off.

[sju]

We are not. We were able to negotiate some (50% off lot premium in addition to the 5% they offered in design upgrades) but not much. The fact that we are not represented did not help in negotiating-we tried. Their response was that they don't want to alienate realtors.

[y4m]

Oct 1, 2015 14:58:07 GMT -5 my3boyz said:

Think about it this way, builders want agents to bring their clients. If they disincentivize (sp) consumers from using agents they are alienating a large buyer pool because agents won't bring their buyers. The builders need the Realtors and its not worth it, in the grand scheme of things, to piss them off.

That would be pretty unethical, huh? For an agent who is supposed to represent their clients' best interest to steer them away from an otherwise good property because of the realtor's interests?

[Deleted]

Oct 1, 2015 11:20:34 GMT -5 y4m said:

Oct 1, 2015 10:40:08 GMT -5 elcjet said:

Whether you have a realtor or not will not lower the price of your home or give you any concessions -- that is now against the law.  So there really is no harm getting somebody you trust on your side.  I wholeheartedly recommend it after my second build.

What law? A federal one?

The laws of economics say this is fundamentally not true, if there's a federal law overriding that, I stand corrected. We bought a model home (so new from the builder but we didn't build it) - our realtor was beyond useless and I deeply regret having her involved.

This is not true. We got an incentive both times we've built for not bringing a realtor. Anyone who thinks that cost isn't factored in is crazy. No builder is just going to eat 2-5%

[buppy]

We built a truly custom home on a cost plus contract. A realtor would have literally been another line item in the contract, right below the cost of 1.25 loads of brick sand. There was nothing a realtor could have done for us during that process. I'm also convinced we wasted money using one to purchase the land and I'm generally pro-realtor.

[mpc]

My builder had a policy that if you didn't have a realtor with you the first time you walked in the door, you couldn't bring one later. So we didn't use one. Sometimes I wonder if a realtor could've helped us negotiate more, but of course we'll never know. Ours is semi-custom, so there were no set prices in the beginning.

[sfy]

Oct 1, 2015 1:19:01 GMT -5 y4m said:

Oct 1, 2015 0:14:54 GMT -5 escrow said:

We did but it wss pointless and I'd we did it again I world not

This.

And of course it's not "free". The builder pays it and that means the builder needs to charge you that amount more for what you're buying versus what they'd charge someone without a realtor.

I dont think using a realtor is helpful for custom builds, but I do think it's worth it for semi-custom builds, and with those, the prices are usually laid out. It seems like it would be pretty unethical for them to tack on an extra fee for a buyer to use a realtor.