With the year 2012 just around the corner, many are wondering what the future will hold for the real estate market in the Washington, DC area and other parts of the country. Even though it will probably not be an extremely good year, it is also not supposed to be quite so bad as the [...]
Everyone has heard a sales pitch. Whether it’s from a car salesman or an appliance dealer, there are salesmen out there that are excellent at what they do. Still, that does not mean that everything they say is wrong. To be a good salesman, you have to know your product. Real Estate agents are the [...]
Finding a suitable home to buy can be a very stressful period for families. The stress starts to go up a little once you find a home that you ‘simply must have’, especially if negotiations don’t start off well. Here’s a bit of advice, negotiations are rarely simple, so don’t let them get to you. [...]
Dual agency – permitted in most states, banned in others. Dual agency is a situation where a real estate agent is working for both the seller and the buyer - that’s the theory anyhow. In practice, a seller enters into a contract with a real estate agent to market and sell their home. A buyer comes [...]
A question that is often asked relates to engaging a buyer’s real estate agent. To be more precise, at what stage should you engage an agent? Before answering that question, it’s important to understand what a buyer’s agent can and cannot do. The term agent is used to indicate that someone is acting on behalf [...]
We’ve talked about buyer’s agents before and how important it is for you to have one. First, you don’t have to pay their commissions. That’s paid for by the seller, so it’s virtually free to use one. Two other reasons you are probably well aware of are: A buyer’s agent can help you negotiate a [...]
Part of the home buying process is the negotiation phase where buyers make offers and sellers make counter offers. It doesn’t always follow that trend, of course. There are times when a seller will reduce the advertised price hoping to attract interest and then be unwilling to negotiate any further reductions. When it comes to [...]
We could be called brave, we could be called gullible but most of the time we are just plain ignorant when it comes to buying real estate. In fact, we are often not helped by the very people we rely on for help – the real estate agent. As a buyer, you have to be [...]
