Buying using brokers or not - pros, cons?

The clients who use me to buy (I'm both a buyer's and seller's broker) believe that there are benefits to full-service brokerage, including access to a broad range of inventory and information (some find that not all information is on streeteasy), management of the transaction, and the luxury of not attempting to do everything themselves.

that said, a few people prefer D-I-Y as they like the details of the process.

As far as rebate brokers, you might want to contact Keith Burkhardt -- who is on these boards a lot and does buyside-only work.

ali r.
DG Neary Realty

a

Highly recommend The Burkhardt Group. I worked with Keith and Christian to purchase last fall and was very happy with the service and result.

Agree totally with Whynot. I also worked with Keith and Christian of Burkhardt Group and I could not imagine going through the coop board review without them. Also, they handed me a check for the commission split once the deal was done.

I think what can be difficult about using a buyer's broker is that the broker often loses patience with the buyer if the buyer does not make an offer on a property within a few months. If you have a very definite idea of what you want, how much you want to spend and you are willing to wait for that type of property, finding a broker who has the same level of patience can be somewhat difficult. For myself, I liked the convenience of having someone make the appointment for me. Some people like to have the assistance of a buyer's broker when they are submitting theisr package for board approval.

so for a $1.5 million property, you felt good about spending $45 k for the agent to make the appts?

If you don't know the area a good buyer's broker might make sense. but if you are willing to put the time and energy in there's nothing better than self reliance and getting unfiltered information or worrying if the broker has an incentive to steer you toward a certain property.

how did you avoid the problem?

C0C0, talk about properties in your price range.

uh oh.

Embarrassed, huh? Ok, I'll change the subject. So, C0C0, what do you think about the election? http://www.columbiacountyny.com/elections/documents/officials/up_for_election2013.pdf

are you?

No, I couldn't get enough signatures to get on the C0lumbia C0unty ballot. Probably because I've never lived in C0lumbia C0unty.

too dumb.

you might be on to something C0C0.

you're a dumb fuck.

of course.

C0C0, you left your keys here