Home shopping tips.  How to Shop for your PA home.  Working with Real Estate Agents.

Look on www.Real Estate Agent.com.  These properties are the same as what a Real Estate Agent has in their MLS and who better to keep on top of things than you?  You should save a search for your area and check it daily.  This site is as good or better than anything else.  It is a live feed off the MLS.

If you contact a Real Estate Agent:
About Real Estate Agents - Many Real Estate Agents will try and push you to use their lender and they may try and scare you with horror stories etc about other mortgage companies not coming through (that does not apply to our company!).

Here is the standard horror story Real Estate Agents have told to our customers many times:
"You found your own mortgage company?!  Where did you find them? The internet?!  The last time a buyer found their own mortgage lender we went to closing and the documents never showed up and we never heard from the lender again.  The buyers and sellers had all of their things in a moving truck, the buyers already sold their home and had no where to go.  They then used my lender as I originally wanted them to and it was two weeks until we actually closed"  
--- What they are probably really upset about is they have no control over the buyer now as the buyer is taking care of their business the way they should be, being represented by someone who is not working for the seller in any way, as any intelligent person would do, including themselves as a buyer.

We are not denying this scary ever happened somewhere out there, it may have by a big E-Lender startup who came and went in the 90's,  but it has become a fable like the boy who cried wolf.  It has not happened to every Real Estate Agent who tells that story.  Real Estate Agents get a lot of mileage out of this and it's so scary that it understandably upsets first time buyers who are looking for guidance from a Real Estate Agents.  While their intentions aren't totally against the buyer, it is easy for some buyers to be manipulated by scaring them. After all, the Real Estate Agent is probably very nice and their experience makes them seem credible, but they are NOT looking out for the buyer.  If you choose a good lender to work with, they will do a perfect job and look out for you in the process.  You will be better off in many ways not using a Real Estate Agent affiliated lender. 

Here are the rest of the stories that you never hear...

Many, many success stories!  We have come through on some difficult loans, floated customers down 3 times during application when rates drop repeatedly, and made our customers very happy by giving them as much assistance as they need in the process, and keeping the mortgage process simple.  This is what our company does - a great job for a great price!  The Realty Agent's praise us at closing and always say they will refer their customers to us in the future! 

Real Estate Agents often get illegal kickbacks from lenders, which are in violation of Federal laws. This kickback gets passed onto the borrower. Also, Real Estate Agents by law represent the seller and hence have no reason to disclose to you comments from their chosen lender or appraiser about your property, and will pressure those parties . I recommend you use a lender who will be on your side so there are none of those politics - all that benefit the seller.

Remember:

• Real Estate Agents represent the seller.
• A Real Estate Agents main goal is to sell the house, not to make sure a buyer is satisfied.
• Real Estate Agents want the house to close so they get paid.  They want nothing to slow that down.
• Real Estate Agents are not looking out for the buyer solely.  Even with a dual agent, they are neutral to both parties, and still have that main goal to close without any holdups to get paid.

Questions about working with a Real Estate Agent:

Generally speaking...

Have we seen Real Estate Agents pressure Lenders and Appraisers to hide any problems or risk losing referrals and commissions?  YES. 

Will a Real Estate Agent or their mortgage lender want you to know the appraisal has negative comments about future plans for your community?  NO

Does the Real Estate Agents Mortgage Affiliate you have possibly hired do whatever they can to satisfy the Agent First, even above you, the borrower, so the Agent keeps sending them business? YES, the Realty Agent is their customer first.

Do we have anything against Real Estate Agents personally? 
NO. We have many friends who are agents and they are good at marketing and selling.  Plus, every agent we meet at closing becomes an satisfied acquaintance.  It is just a given that just about every customer of ours will try to be persuaded to use the Realty Agent's mortgage company, regardless of our flawless record.  It is a knee-jerk reaction.   The above scary story is told to almost every customer of ours by their Agent, so we are publishing the untold truth here to inform the public.   Customers should be educated, not scared.  We also educate the public about mortgage companies on this site.  We put our customers satisfaction first, including above commission.

Are we experienced enough to share these opinions?
YES.  - They are based on a decade of Industry and Personal Real Estate Purchasing and Selling experience.  If you know their motive you are better off and can use them for the services they are best at providing. 

What do we think is a Real Estate Agents purpose in the marketplace? 

• To MARKET the property if a buyer can not or does not want to sell it themselves. 
• To COORDINATE showings for the seller.
• Hold OPEN HOUSES.
• PRE SCREEN buyers to make sure they can obtain financing. 
• And mainly, to draw up the SALES CONTRACT.  This alone is why many people hire a Real Estate Agent as this scares many people, but a lawyer can handle all of the legal  paperwork usually for a few hundred dollars.
• NOT to control the buyer, their mortgage lender, the appraiser, the home inspector, title company, or influence these parties to their benefit in any way.  These are all working for the buyer, or should be, not for the Real Estate Agent's desired commission and rapid sale.