Buyers count on their real estate agents to help them with all of the complex pieces throughout the home buying process. When buying a home, you will likely be working with a variety of real estate specialists including professionals for:

• Home inspection
• Legal representation
• Homeowner’s insurance

You trust that your agent will point you in the direction of qualified professions – but are you sure about that? If a professional offering homeowners insurance for example, can get on the referral list of a popular real estate agent, they stand to make a very nice profit. Because of this relationship, many real estate professional will offer agents financial incentives for referrals.

This is not to say that all real estate agents take compensation for referrals. This is not to say that when an agent does receive compensation that he or she is not referring you to the person they feel is the best for you. But isn’t that something you’d like to know before you sign on with an agent?

At Buyer’s Advantage Group, we have strict guidelines for the Raleigh real estate professionals that we recommend and never take compensation for referring clients. Instead of putting our best interests first, our goal is to provide our clients with Triangle real estate professionals that offer competitive choices and that have exemplary service records.

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Being fanatical about real estate, you might imagine that we love watching the home shows on HGTV. Oftentimes though, we are appalled by the behavior of the real estate agents!

One that episode of House Hunters that really stands out as unbelievable features bachelor Brian Lau and his pet pig Mu Shu. What Brian needed most was a yard for Mu Shu to roam around in… but incredibly, the real estate agent continued to show him homes that were not suited for Mu Shu at all! Each time she brought him to a home we couldn’t help but burst out… What about Mu Shu!

Why do some real estate agents show buyer’s homes that obviously aren’t suited for them? We’re not making ANY assumptions about the agent working with Brian and Mu Shu, but there are some good reasons as to why many agents take buyers to homes that may not be their ideal solution.

A tradition real estate agent that sells and lists homes – or who works for a real estate agency that sells and lists homes, has a vested interest if they buyer purchases a home that they have listed. In fact, in North Carolina, agents of a firm have a fiduciary responsibility to the firm. That means that if you contract an agent to help you buy a home, they must first try to sell you one of their firm’s listing before offering other options!

As buyer’s ONLY agents, we are not bound by any fiduciary responsibility to any seller. As an exclusive buyer’s agent, our role is to be an impartial advocate for the home buyer, asking critical questions of the selling agent that the home buyer may not even think to ask.

We can start a home search anywhere, without trying to sell you our own inventory first because we don’t have an inventory!

Here are some questions you can ask an agent to determine if they are a true exclusive buyer’s agent:

1. Do you list any properties? An exclusive buyer’s agent does NOT list properties

2. Does your firm list any properties? An exclusive buyer’s agent does NOT work for a firm that list properties

3. Are you a member of NAEBA (National Associate of Exclusive Buyer’s Agents)? Only a true exclusive buyer’s agent can become a member of NAEBA.

To find more fun real estate shows on HGTV, visit http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/shows/

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Sometimes they are loved, sometimes despised, yet homeowners associations are a fact of life in the Triangle where most new subdivisions are requiring them. A homeowners association is created by the property developer and given the governance responsibility to enforce the covenants, conditions, and restrictions of managing the common interests of the single-family homes, condominiums or cooperative apartments that comprise the development.

Here’s what some folks in the blogosphere have to say about homeowner’s associations in the Triangle in reaction to the latest news story about a Wake Forrest Home Owners Association that said despite the current drought, homeowners would be forced to keep a green law or be in violation of the HOA.

The letter gave an October deadline to meet the HOA standards. Violators would be subject to fines or “self-help” — a landscape company would fix the violations; the homeowner would get the bill.

No thanks. I’ll take the hot sauce wrappers, Blues Festival “noise”, and varying shades of yellow, green, and brown that dot the Walltown landscape. Read More

Even though I shouldn’t be by now, I’m shocked to hear how much control HOAs have over people’s lives. Read More

This is exactly the reason I will live in a cardboard box under a railroad bridge before I live in a place that has an HOA. Read More

Not all homeowners associations are created equally. While homeowners associations seem to work well for most residents, you may want to inquire about the role and performance of the specific homeowners association in the development you are considering. And since such organizations depend upon the interest and participation of its members, you may want to volunteer to serve.

There are benefits to being part of a homeowners association as well as criticisms.

Most homeowners appreciate the proper management and upkeep of common amenities, like landscaping, clubhouses, tennis courts, walking trails and the like. Criticisms levied at these associations include a belief that they are undemocratic, lack a clear system of checks and balances, and that they amount to double taxation because residents must pay association assessments as well as property taxes.

Share Your Opinion!

What do you think of HOA’s? Do you prefer a community with a Home Owner’s Association, or one without? Have you had any positive or negative personal experiences with an HOA?

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Most people assume that if you’re buying a new home that you don’t need a home inspection. You might be surprised. We’ve seen a lot of occurrences lately with people finding problems with new homes that they assumed they didn’t need to have inspected.

If you find problems before you buy the home, you have the right to ask the builder to fix them. Once the builder is gone, it is extremely difficult to motivate the builder to return once they’ve been paid. A lot of times, the homeowner ends up footing the bill.

Though new homes are inspected by the municipalities, the municipalities simply don’t have the time to do a thorough inspection. Further, they do not get on the roof, which is where most of the damages are reported. Think about how many contractors are in an out and on top of a new house during its construction process. With all of this activity, the probability of damage occurring is quite high.

If you’re buying a new home, seriously consider bringing in a home inspection specialist! Don’t rely on your eyesight alone. Major problems can be hiding in places you can’t see of where you’d never expect to look.

To help homebuyers understand more about what home inspectors do and where common problems occur, we’ve created a 20 minute Flash presentation where you see a home inspection in Raleigh NC from the perspective of a home inspector.

Whether you’re buying a new or used home, this is definitely a video you’ll want to check out. If you do find problems, you have all the rights. Ask the seller to fix the problem or reduce the price. Waiting to find problems later usually gives them time to get worse and means that you’ll end up paying it out of pocket!

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One of the biggest hassles of moving is packing – and one of the biggest hassles of packing is finding boxes! For a commodity that is disposable, the cost of cardboard boxes sure is expensive.Â

Getting boxes from local retailers can be a major pain. Most retailers today send their boxes straight to the compactor. Others get shipments on certain days and you’ve got to get there at just the right time to get a few. The only other option for getting free boxes is to scrounge around in dumpsters, feeling less than respectable while poking around through disgusting garbage.Â

If you’re looking for an easier route, don’t overlook the internet! Instead of paying high prices as rental truck and storage facilities, the internet allows you to find the most competitive prices without even leaving home.Â

Here are a couple of interesting places we found online with good deals on packing supplies:

Moving Day Boxes.com

When you go to the store to buy boxes and supplies, it’s almost guaranteed that you won’t get the right amount for the job. Moving Day Boxes offers “kits” with boxes, tape, and markers that you can select based on the number of rooms you’re moving. The kit shown below of 36 boxes (you get two of what you see pictured) costs $93 and is recommended for a 2-3 room home.

Box Kits.com

Box Kits.com uses a quick online calculator tool that allows you to select the number of rooms in your house and then recommends a kit that includes boxes, tape, bubble wrap, and markers. The best part – shipping is free!

The price for 48 boxes from BoxKit.com (recommended for 3 room home) plus 110 yards of packing tape, 80 feet of bubble wrap and 2 markers costs $129.95.

ULine Boxes

Need odd shaped boxes? ULine has boxes for all sorts of odd shaped items like floor lamps, bicycles, golf clubs, mattresses, and art.Â

The cost to pack a 2-4 bedroom home with ULine which includes 60 boxes, 6 tape rolls, 1 bubble wrap roll, newsprint bundle, 1 knife and 1 marker is $149.

If you’re facing the moving blues, we hope this helps relieve some of the frustration that packing can bring on. When you’re organized the entire process from packing up your old place to starting fresh in your new home can be a much more pleasant experience!

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With the recent news about the mortgage meltdown in many parts of the country, many are left scratching their heads wondering what went wrong in the housing market. Unfortunately in many cases, unscrupulous industry “professionals” are to blame.

There have been an unsettling number of cases where a “buyer’s agent” turned out to be in cahoots with the seller’s agent, and not truly on the side of the buyer at all. Together, buyer and seller agents will collaborate on an inflated price and make a nice profit while the buyer struggles with an over-inflated payment.

When choosing a buyer’s agent, make sure to do your homework. Check with the BBB for any record of similar complaints and talk with past clients about their experience with the buyer’s agent.

Looking for an Wake County buyer’s agent you can trust? Visit our NC buyer’s agent website, talk to some of our clients, do your research, and give us a call when you’re ready to find your next dream home.

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