buying FSBO with or without agent?

The only reason to use a buyer's broker in your case is to have someone guide you through the process, which can be quite complex in some cases. Or you could buy a book and teach yourself much of what's involved. Just make sure you have a good real estate lawyer to back you up.

Incidentally, you won't pay the broker fee yourself (the selling broker just has to split his - and his fee may be the same regardless of whether a buyer's broker is involved or not). Nevertheless, you might be able to successfully make a lower offer to the current owner (if the selling broker agrees to take a smaller cut).

Regardless, if you do decide to seek help from a buying broker, you should seek the most experienced one you can find, as negotiation and troubleshooting (rather than searching) will be their main contribution.

cmsuck the RE broker

My mistake - I failed to spot that the OP would be buying an FSBO, so there is no seller's broker. In that case, it seems unlikley that the owner would be pleased to have a buyer's broker brought into the equation, as a new transaction cost is being introduced. I'd go it alone.

Spunky - you are a waste of time.

Duh your a genius cmsuck. Why would anyone need to bring in a broker such as yourself if the seller is putting it on the market by himself and the buyer has down all the research necessary and knows exactly what his offer limits will be.

meant to write done not down all the research

you also meant to write 'you're a genius', not 'your a genius'.
Nice try, though. And I'm not a broker.

no I really meant to say you r a genius

Having bought and sold FSBO in the past, I think that if you feel comfortable that you've really done the research, and want tender your offer, do so.

But not before you have located and retained the services of a top quality real estate attorney. They are the ones who are invaluable in any real estate transaction. Make sure the offering plan/house rules + amendments, board minutes of the last couple of years, building financials of the last couple of years, and your contract are scrutinized by a professional who knows what to look for and has been through this many, many times before.

Also make sure that the attorney knows how to and will assit you in packaging whatever materials are necessary from you to give to the coop/condo for their review as well. Make sure all materials and copies are neatly and crisply organized, and are handed in AT ONE TIME - ON TIME, in toto, and not in dribs and drabs. Reagardless of whether you buy this place or another, you can start assembling what is required already - get clean, complete copies of your past two years tax statements (along with 1040's), past three months savings/checking/brokerage/etc. statements, and an up-to-date list of your assets and liabilities (which you should have your accountant/CPA review and sign off on). Then, when ready, you can add to this whatever else is required by the board/managing agent (like letters of recommendation, etc.) and begin assembling your financial packages - and remember - neatness and completeness count. And if I were you I would request that when the board/managing agent is done reviewing the multiple copies of your financial application, that ALL copies are to be returned to your lawyer (save for one copy for their permanent records if you are accepted).

Thanks guys.
Pesudonym > that's very helpful. I'm going to make sure I start compiling the necessary paperwork. Do you have a top quality but not top paying real estate attorney to recommend?

fizzbo:

I have always used a gentleman named Richard Cohen (Friedberg Cohen Coleman Pinkas, LLP, Attorneys at Law, 444 Madison Avenue, Suite 805, New York, New York, 10022, phone 1.212.829.9090).

Excellent representation, and for a fair and appropriate price. He really knows his stuff, and is well regarded in the world of Manhattan real estate lawyers.

Hello Fizzbo.

I am selling my co-op on my own, without a broker, and would like to give you my honest perspective. Here is what would happen if you walked into my open house with a broker, and then later decided to make me an "offer":

I would have no other choice but to take into consideration the commission I would have to pay the broker when negotiating the final price with you. Nuff' said.

Now I have a question for you: You stated "...I have found the property myself, i've researched the comparables in the area and i know what i'm going to offer".

WHY ON EARTH would you want to bring an added expense into this picture?

You say "...I think I'm pretty resourceful and willing to spend time to learn about the rest of the process...."

Well here's lesson 101: A unexpected commission expense to a FSBO seller puts your offer and negotions in a very different category. For example, if I were currently entertaining a similar offer by an equally qualified buyer who walked in "unescorted", well then the negotiations with you...would probably come to a complete stop.

And that, my friend, is the truth.

Please...no raving rants from brokers right now. I gave an honest reply to a very specific buyer who clearly states that he found the property on his own, did his own comparable sales research, and is intelligent enough to complete the transaction.

I have nothing against brokers, honestly I don't, we all deserve to make money/make a living and there definately ARE buyers out there who do need brokers to help them with the process; again I am offering my honest reply to Fizzbo who asked a very specific question so lets not generalize and get on a bandwagon here.

Cheers everyone and have a great Labor Day holiday.

Thanks pseudonym.

ShareShareThatsFair >
that's what i thought in the beginning, I didn't want brokers in my business. But after a bit of more research, a few people actually encourage it. So i was wondering what services they can offer me.

I had contacted a broker to help me as a buyer's broker just in case I'm missing out on other properties that i can't find on my own. She basically said to me that she can't help me in anyway because my budget's too small and she recommended me to go to a smaller brokerage company. The thing is, I can get quite a bit of listings with my budget.
You might think, well it's only one broker, you got unlucky. But I have contacted several brokers to help me as a buyer's agent and most of them do not contact me back.

They are useless and not willing to work.
I am frustrated and I do not see the value of them in my home purchase. Especially with the internet nowadays, all the information that we need is within our reach.
This is from my personal experience.

Enjoy the rest of your Labor Day Weekend!

If your question is whether to use a buyers' agent then the answer is yes as almost all listings in the city (96%+ according to Inman http://www.inman.com/2016/07/25/the-underground-for-sale-by-owner-movement-in-nyc/) are listed by agent and both buyer/seller agent fees are built in already whether you choose to be represented by a buyer or not. In that sense, why not take advantage of something you're already paying for? Moreover, if you can get a buyer agent rebate it makes even more sense to have a buyer agent. Why not get 1% back on the home price as a "closing gift" from your buyer agent? That'll take care of the Mansion Tax at least.

If you're actually going to make an offer on a rare FSBO listing to the owner direct then make sure you have a really good real estate attorney at your back.

I would offer 2% less than what you'd been planning to offer, and tell the buyer that you have no broker and so they are making a percent more.

(oops... tell the seller, not the buyer)

At RealDirect (www.realdirect.com) we represent buyers that are looking at FSBOs all the time. Typically a buyer chooses us (initially) because we offer a rebate on the purchase price and have deep market experience, but in the case of a FSBO, buyer rebate often doesn't make sense, so we simply advise them on what we would do if we were actually working for them on that deal, and then have them go in on their own. When our clients buy the FSBO, we are not compensated per se, but they appreciate the work we did for them and they tell their friends (I have a case of wine in my office from the last time this happened). A good broker knows that it's not about one commission, it is about the client experience. If they are building a business for the long run, that buyer will use them to sell, when it eventually happens. And the same thing applies to low priced listings. Good brokers will work with every client - a 300K studio buyer today will buy the $1M 2 bedroom tomorrow.