William's Places

Buyers in Need of an Education...

"...all the realtor wants is to make the sale, that's all that matters to them". As I entered the sandwich shop yesterday morning, this was the conversation that was ensuing between an older gentleman, a young man, and a young lady behind the counter. The old man paused and gave me a look, as he noted the badge on my shirt.

No, no, no!!! The sale is only the end result of a long process, and while realtors are compensated at the end of that process for their knowledge, time, and expertise in conducting a real estate transaction, it is not the only thing we are interested in. We are interested in making sure that the buyer gets the home that they want, at the price they can afford...Jesus...

Of course, my ears perked up (and my eyes arched in annoyance, I must admit) as I noticed an opportunity to pick up a lead, perhaps...if the opportunity presented itself.

I placed my order for a meatball sub and proceeded to the register to pay, as the threesome continued their conversation.

"...we've been looking at houses online for some time now and there are just so many houses..." the young man continued.
"Oh, you're looking to buy a house?" I asked.  "Oh, we have an agent, yeah" was the young man's quick response. "Good", I responded as I paid for my meal and took a seat to eat. The old man gave me that look, again.

When you are looking for a house, first thing is, you should be pre-qualified by the appropriate person to determine how much of a home you can afford. That's the first step in narrowing down your selection of homes to view. Then deciding what the most important features of a home are - size, location, style, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, garage, yard space, proximity to recreation, shopping, and transportation, schools, etc. - will help you to focus your search on the homes that you want. Have you had this discussion with your agent? There's no real reason, if you have defined your search in such a way, that you should still be looking, especially "online"...

As I sat there eating, I drifted in and out of the real estate conversation taking place around me, wondering silently to myself if their agent had even bothered to give them counsel, or if these young people were being steered contrary to their agent's advice by a third wheel.

"...the lawyer has to review the contract. What in the hell do you need a lawyer for?" the old man griped, loudly. I paused in the middle of taking a bite out of the second half of my sandwich. I'm sooo glad I'm almost done, I thought, struggling between giving the old man a quick real estate 101 lesson and just walking out the door right then and there.

The purchase of real estate, at least in Connecticut, is a legal matter, and agents are instructed to advise both buyers and sellers of the need to retain legal counsel for the successful transfer of real property. The language of contracts to purchase property are not overly complicated, but failure on any side to fulfill all of the terms of that contract can expose all parties involved to future legal action, so it is the wise thing to have an attorney review the contract and make sure that you and the other side are fulfilling your obligations under that contract.

I held my peace, finished my sandwich and chips, said "Good day" to the trio and walked out the door.