Finding/ Interviewing Listing Agents

[mranski]

You need to know the comps yourself, and find agent based on them accepting your number. But I wouldn’t give them your number upfront.

[cherzeca]

Maybe you can do a search for properties that you feel sold for higher than expected prices and look for who the agent is.  Completely different, I just closed on a property a few days ago.  The agent basically worked with my wife and I for 2 years.  We started out just looking for a co-op for me to use as an office.  It morph into something that was 5-6x of the initial price.  Along the way, I put in a bid for a condo that turned out to be a bad choice for me and I withdrew because it was internally managed (meaning everyone has to pitch in to clean up) and I was looking for something more turnkey.  Then we got outbid on another property and the seller wanted more cash equity in the deal.  We closed on a property that we are very happy about.  The agent probably showed me a dozen properties and have to deal with the seller being weird and wanting to 1031 his proceeds.  There were some fixes that needed to be taken care.  The amount of patience that this woman had justified every penny that she earned.  A lot of people mention asking behavioral questions etc. 

BG - is there a lot of effort involved with 1031? I thought it was just a form to be signed by the buyer. I've seen a few of those contingencies in listings but nothing we've put a bid on had that stipulation.

1031s are for commercial properties

[BG2008]

Maybe you can do a search for properties that you feel sold for higher than expected prices and look for who the agent is.  Completely different, I just closed on a property a few days ago.  The agent basically worked with my wife and I for 2 years.  We started out just looking for a co-op for me to use as an office.  It morph into something that was 5-6x of the initial price.  Along the way, I put in a bid for a condo that turned out to be a bad choice for me and I withdrew because it was internally managed (meaning everyone has to pitch in to clean up) and I was looking for something more turnkey.  Then we got outbid on another property and the seller wanted more cash equity in the deal.  We closed on a property that we are very happy about.  The agent probably showed me a dozen properties and have to deal with the seller being weird and wanting to 1031 his proceeds.  There were some fixes that needed to be taken care.  The amount of patience that this woman had justified every penny that she earned.  A lot of people mention asking behavioral questions etc. 

BG - is there a lot of effort involved with 1031? I thought it was just a form to be signed by the buyer. I've seen a few of those contingencies in listings but nothing we've put a bid on had that stipulation.

Depends on from who's perspective.  From the seller perspective, you have a gun to your head where you have to identify 3 property within 45 days of selling your property and then close within 180 days.  From the buyer perspective (my situation), we jumped through hoops to get all the paperwork lined up and the seller wanted to wait another 3 weeks to close because he needs time to identify a 1031 property to exchange into.  This is where my agent worked her magic and just badgered him into agreeing to close within a week.  My wife and I just about flipped out when we found out the seller wanted to close in mid Feb.  You then run into issues with the bank with rate locks and them asking for more financials. 

My understanding is that you typically have to wait 2 years after declaring your property is no longer your primary residence for it to qualify for 1031.  Someone smarter can verify this.

[bizaro86]

Maybe you can do a search for properties that you feel sold for higher than expected prices and look for who the agent is.  Completely different, I just closed on a property a few days ago.  The agent basically worked with my wife and I for 2 years.  We started out just looking for a co-op for me to use as an office.  It morph into something that was 5-6x of the initial price.  Along the way, I put in a bid for a condo that turned out to be a bad choice for me and I withdrew because it was internally managed (meaning everyone has to pitch in to clean up) and I was looking for something more turnkey.  Then we got outbid on another property and the seller wanted more cash equity in the deal.  We closed on a property that we are very happy about.  The agent probably showed me a dozen properties and have to deal with the seller being weird and wanting to 1031 his proceeds.  There were some fixes that needed to be taken care.  The amount of patience that this woman had justified every penny that she earned.  A lot of people mention asking behavioral questions etc. 

BG - is there a lot of effort involved with 1031? I thought it was just a form to be signed by the buyer. I've seen a few of those contingencies in listings but nothing we've put a bid on had that stipulation.

1031s are for commercial properties

I believe 1031 is for investment properties. A residential property used as a rental could qualify, if I understand correctly.

[cherzeca]

"My understanding is that you typically have to wait 2 years after declaring your property is no longer your primary residence for it to qualify for 1031."

if you are renting out your former residential property on a permanent basis such you can prove change of use (ie establish you have another residence) then you should be able to do a 1031

[crastogi]

Whatever you do make sure your negotiate the commission. 5% is easy and I got great service for 4.5% last time.

From my experience, the highest volume realtors aren’t always the best.

I would negotiate commish...after getting a good offer. of course if I get an offer at full asking price I dont negotiate the commish but I haven't seen a full price or bidding war in a couple of decades personally,  but one way getting an improved result after the offeror stands pat and the net is lower than you would like is to then simply ask broker to move a bit...and he/she likely will and happily will to cement sale...but dont piss off your broker before getting the listing by trying to discount commish.

A little unethical, no?

[LounginMKL]

Whatever you do make sure your negotiate the commission. 5% is easy and I got great service for 4.5% last time.

From my experience, the highest volume realtors aren’t always the best.

I would negotiate commish...after getting a good offer. of course if I get an offer at full asking price I dont negotiate the commish but I haven't seen a full price or bidding war in a couple of decades personally,  but one way getting an improved result after the offeror stands pat and the net is lower than you would like is to then simply ask broker to move a bit...and he/she likely will and happily will to cement sale...but dont piss off your broker before getting the listing by trying to discount commish.

A little unethical, no?

Most listing agents, from what I've seen, would require you to give exclusivity of 3 -6 months before the property is listed.