Advice to a first time buyer

What commissions are you referring to? The brokers' commissions?
I am also a first time buyer and have been searching for about a year. I am working with multiple agents. They all have access to the same data in general.

Yah. The brokers commission. It seems broken that agents make significantly more money for a more expensive property. I don't begrudge them fair compensation for their efforts but I don't see they should get 2x if someone buys a 4M property rather than a 2M property.

Another question would be are the closing cost neogotiable with new properties? I've been told the seller tends to transfer a lot of their cost to you which seems a bit unfair to me.

Of course, in the abstract, everything is ultimately negotiable because business is business.

I think the brokers get a percentage on the purchase price (3%-6%). Therefore the higher the purchase price, the higher the commissions.
Closing costs are always negotiable. It is up to you to negotiate them with the seller. Usually the closer your offer is to the asking price, the more negotiable the closing costs are.

As a buyer, you do not pay the broker's commission. The seller pays that. So, why are you concerned about that? You don't have to pay it!

I'm paying it because the seller could drop the price an equivalent percentage and walk away with the same amount if the agent wasn't getting the commission.

The broker has an agreement with the seller. The broker is really working for the seller not you. The seller pays commision. The closing cost aren't very negoitable. The only thing that could happen is that the seller in his selling stipulates that the buyer pick up x,y or z. But in general the closing cost is pretty standard. The negotiation in the closing cost would have to do more with the bank/financial institution which you will be borrowing from. Here a resource regarding the closing cost http://www.corcoran.com/guides/index.aspx?page=ClosingCosts

Thanks for the pointer.

While the commission is paid by the seller, a buyer can (at least in other places) get some of that money back.
http://homebuying.about.com/od/realestateagents/qt/NegCommissions.htm

I know for a fact that this is done in other areas. Not clear how common it is in Manhattan.

My understanding is that, in NYC, the laws are a bit less favorable to buyers. However, the broker has a fiduciary responsibility to the buyer (although dual agency is legal here). So, while they may be paid by the seller, they are also accountable to the buyer.

with new construction, the buyer pays both the buyer and seller (transfer tax) closing costs which works out to be about 5.5% of the closing costs. yes it's rediculously high and i just learned this as we looked to buy our 1st place.

Yep. That is annoying. I guess the only thing to do is factor it into your notion of cost and determining if it is reasonable. Certainly, I would add an extra 3% in cost (or PPSF) for a new building above the listed price (or negotiated price)

If it is not a new construction, then your question still doesn't make sense at least in NY. If you dont have a broker, the seller broker gets the full 6%. If you have a broker, then they share it. So most sellers will have a broker to sell their property since it gives them the best chance of maximizing their value. So if you dont want someone to represent you (which i do not advice), you are simply giving money to the seller's broker. In general, it benefits you to also have a representative.

If I believe that if I go through the process and obtain a license, I can represent myself as a broker and I should be able to qualify for the commission. Even if I am not, I can then negotiate directly with the sellers broker and probably get them to shave some money off the deal on the basis that they don't have another broker they need to pay.

If you are looking into new construction see if you can go straight to the developer. Some new projects have direct sales people VS realtors representing new construction.
You can always negotiate with or without a broker on your side however developers will sometime not negotiate back. I wouldn't go through the licensing process for a single deal. If you have good connections you may be able to earn referrals fees in the future by holding a license. We have brokers (non Realtors but w/licenses) set up websites for leads and they forward to my developer for referrals fees. Some make great money (up to 5%) just for the referral.

now is the time to buy. hope you waited 2 yrs

exit2 u bigot

"If you dont have a broker, the seller broker gets the full 6%. If you have a broker, then they share it. So most sellers will have a broker to sell their property since it gives them the best chance of maximizing their value. So if you dont want someone to represent you (which i do not advice), you are simply giving money to the seller's broker."

If a seller is looking at multiple offers, won't the seller's broker try to steer the seller to a buyer without a broker so they don't have to split the commission?