It’s pretty scary times for real estate out there, and I don’t just mean because of foreclosures and big drops in value causing people to lose all their equity. It’s scary because on one side you have people who still think like it’s 2005, on the other side you have “real estate gurus” coming out of the woodwork teaching creative financing and doing deals like they did 30 yrs. ago, and then in the middle you have the government relaxing standards and doing the same kind of loans that got us here in the first place.

Then I see a question posted in one of the Real Estate forums from someone wanting to know about hiring a Realtor or a real estate attorney to help with the paperwork on a piece of property she’s buying. One of the answers she got was from someone saying to let the other agent do the paperwork, and the title company handle everything. That’s how they bought theirs and there was never a problem. While I concede that there are many deals between people that didn’t use either a Realtor or an attorney that turned out OK, there are many that turned into nightmares. In a transaction described like the one above, who is looking out for her interest? What recourse is she going to have against the seller if she has the seller’s agent write up the contract? Do you think that agent is going to worry as much about taking care of her as he is the person that actually hired him and is paying him? I don’t think so. While we have a code of ethics that states we have to be “fair and honest” in all our dealings, do you think everyone really is?

Then we have the ads on Craig’s List where investors love to advertise to buy homes. One I read yesterday specifically said “No Realtors or attorneys”. Now why do you think that is? I understand they want to save on costs so they don’t want to pay commissions, or a lawyer a fee for looking over the paper work, but do you think it might be also because all their contracts, etc. may be geared their way with no concern for the seller, or buyer, whichever the case may be?

Remember the old saying “Desperate times call for desperate measures”? Don’t be so desperate you make your situation worse instead of better. If you’re in a situation where you need some help with a contract most Realtors will look it over for you for free (like me. LOL) in the hopes of either getting your business in the future or a recommendation to your friends on what a nice person they were. Take advantage of the service.

I have a buyer that has a friend whose a Realtor, but until I came along no one ever went through the contract with him and his wife to know what they were signing. It’s like hiring a stock broker. No one is going to watch out for your money with the same love and care that you are, and the same is true when it comes to getting involved with buying or selling real estate. It’s your job to make sure you are protected. No one is going to cry with you when you get yourself into a mess. All the courts care about is what you signed your name to. It’s up to you to make sure it’s something you can “live” with.

If I can help with any of your real estate needs, please feel free to contact me by phone, email, or leave a comment below. I’d be honored to help in any way I can. Like I said, it’s pretty scary times in real estate right now.

Lauri Beamish DRE #00950917

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 at 8:34 am and is filed under Investor buying, Realtors, bad realtor habits, crooks in real estate, first-time homebuyers, homebuyer help, homeowner help, real estate mistakes, tips for buying a home, tips for selling a home. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.