The Real Estate CONSUMER'S Blog
Sponsored by The East Of The Arch Team
Sonsored by Bob Ashauer
The East Of The Arch Team
RE/MAX Alliance
531 Belt Line Rd.
Collinsville. ILL 62234
Sonsored by Bob Ashauer
The East Of The Arch Team
RE/MAX Alliance
531 Belt Line Rd.
Collinsville. ILL 62234
Great! What are other sites you recommend?
Wow Mary, tough question! I usually google for anything I’m looking for at http://www.google.com/
There are 1000’s of good sites for consumers (and some bad ones!) The problem is that all Real Estate sites (including this one!) are trying to hook you as a customer and sell you something. But a fair question, so here are a few, also with a few comments:
For general information about Real Estate, I suggest:
http://www.yourillinoishome.com/ by the Illinois Association of Realtors.
http://activerain.com/ – An interesting blog site of national Realtors, mostly talking to each other. Eavesdropping can be fun, but remember that all markets are local. Some of the information found at this site simply does not apply here.
http://homebuying.about.com/ It has tons of good information that I generally agree as being accurate – also has tons of advertisements.
Speaking of local, home search sites are often best found at local Realtor sites because local help and knowledge is just a click away. They usually have many links to reliable local information.
http://www.eastofthearch.com/ This is my own site – simply the best (smile.)
http://www.metroeastliving.com/ Our main company site.
The national search sites based on MLS feeds have a lot of whistles and bells:
http://www.remax.com/ It’s one of the most popular, and there are lots of others.
Some national sites are not totally fed off the reliable MLS data and listing data is often outdated, but they try hard to provide additional information scraped from other sources. Interesting, but don’t take it to the bank.
http://www.trulia.com/
http://www.zillow.com/
Here’s an interesting oddball:
http://www.walkscore.com/
Like I said, there are thousands. Remember, data is just data. Information comes from a local Realtor that you know and trust.
OK, fair is fair. Let me ask you and other readers a question.
What is your favorite Real Estate site?
Are commissions and fees negotiable and can’t I save money from reducing them?
The short answer is yes (they are negotiabe) and maybe (you can save money.)
A couple of quick points:
The source of almost all “fees” paid to the Realtors involved in a sale come from the commission paid as a marketing expense by the seller, as established in the listing contract. The listing commission is negotiable – Real Estate companies and agents charge different percentages for listing and marketing a home for sale. It is a long answer to debate/discuss these fees, but in short, this is where marketing costs are established, and this is where negotiations should occur. (Maybe this is a good subject for a longer article – you think?)
A couple of notes (I just can’t resist):
1. There are formal and informal agreements on fees and costs established for activities by various parties to the transaction throughout the marketing period based on the listing commission. Consumers should certainly ask who gets paid what and when, but frankly, negotiating “after the fact” is bad form and not likely to be successfull or save money.
2. Remember what Grandma always said, “You get what you pay for.” Seriously, one of the most important aspects of representation for the consumer is to have a great negotiator working on your behalf. The potential savings of dollars involved in the transaction itself, through good representation, are much greater than saving relatively small amounts in reduced fees. Don’t be penny wise and pound foolish. (I think that’s another grandma saying – smile.)