[daveto]

I've got a pretty good idea of which project I want, and so I'm wondering how essential it is to have a buying agent. I'm pretty good with legal documents, financing and small print.

In particular, will the seller provide a discount to offset the buying agent commission?

 

[carturo15]

The seller will not give you any discount, they do not care. find an agent and make a deal with him to split the commission. make sure you do not register with the seller at the sales office, otherwise the seller won't allow you to bring an agent.

 

[Observer Walt]

Agreed, take an agent. (Cue up the howls of protest from some "anti-agent" people on this forum.) Why not? You have everything to gain and nothing at all to lose. Of course, get an agent who is knowledgeable of the condo market in the part of town you are looking at.

A good agent may also get you a good deal on mortgage financing.

 

[rbt]

I've got a pretty good idea of which project I want, and so I'm wondering how essential it is to have a buying agent. I'm pretty good with legal documents, financing and small print.

In particular, will the seller provide a discount to offset the buying agent commission?

Disclaimer: I am registered. I do not specialize in condominiums. I am not accepting clients at this time.


An agent should be able to get you a few concessions out of the vendor that your lawyer may find more difficult and help keep you out of the dud units that tend to get sold to folks without agents.


A really good residential agent should be able to go over the ~30 page agreement with you and point out many concerns/catches before you ship it off to your lawyer for an official review. Perhaps they will even do a quick review of the ~300 page book too.

They should also be able to point out upgrades to buy upfront to improve resale marketability, remind you that you can move walls and other things in the design before the building is built (I reconfigured my place when buying), and other things like that.

Really, by hiring an agent you are hiring someone to blame and possibly sue when things go really bad. They're working on your behalf to watch for your best interests.



Here is a trick you might try. Most buildings under a single developer will operate the same at the sales office. See if you can get a discounted price on Building X. If you can, you *might* or might not get a better price at the building of interest. If you cannot then you know you definitely will not. It is a gamble and one you take at your own risk. You need to ask yourself how badly you want the unit?

If you want it well enough a ~2% discount isn't going to change anything and you ma be risking paying much more later when it becomes available to the general public.

 

[lowesthangingfruit]

Here is a trick you might try. Most buildings under a single developer will operate the same at the sales office. See if you can get a discounted price on Building X. If you can, you *might* or might not get a better price at the building of interest. If you cannot then you know you definitely will not. It is a gamble and one you take at your own risk. You need to ask yourself how badly you want the unit?

Sorry, I don't understand what you mean by this trick. Please clarify, thank you.

 

[gei]

I've got a pretty good idea of which project I want, and so I'm wondering how essential it is to have a buying agent. I'm pretty good with legal documents, financing and small print.

In particular, will the seller provide a discount to offset the buying agent commission?

Agent's are generally quite useless, but particularly so in this type of situation. They are no better able to look over floorplans than you are. And as long as you are moderately intelligent, you should be able to go over the purchase agreement (and of course, your lawyer will go over it in greater detail).

They might convince you they know some extra tricks about which suites are "dog" suites for example, but really all they're gonna tell you is don't buy a unit close to an elevator or garbage chute. Go and check out the site for yourself to get an idea of which views will be the best, and which will be obstructed. Any tips they give you to make a unit more desireable for resale later on are usually very obvious (ie get a parking spot), and nothing you wouldn't be able to figure out yourself.

That being said, some developers may not offer you any additional incentive to buy without an agent. Go into the sales center, make up some name when you sign in, and then tactfully tell the salesperson you are serious about buying, and are looking for free upgrades or cash discounts for purchasing without an agent. Make sure you do this after you have seen the prices and any incentives they already have going on.

Projects that have been for sale for a while usually will offer you something. Decide whether or not it's worth it. If it isn't, or if they aren't offering you anything at all, find a friend or family member who is an agent and get them to go back and buy it with you. Since they really aren't doing any work whatsoever, make sure you tell them in advance that you will be expecting the majority of their commission. Offer to pay them a few bucks for their time (ie a few hundred dollars).

Agents are a dime a dozen, and you almost certainly know someone who is, or at the very least, a friend of a friend. Considering they are doing virtually no work besides showing up with you to the sales center, you should be able to find one who will oblige.

This is the advice I always give. Recently, a friend was able to get a few free upgrades at a unit in liberty village for showing up without an agent. Another friend of mine who bought a newer unit downtown had a seller who would not budge, so she gave her agent friend $500 and pocketed the rest of the commission herself.

 

[dpylyp]

CBC Marketplace

http://www.cbc.ca/mrl3/8752/marketplace/condo_crunch.wmv

This video is very informative.
Produced by CBC Marketplace.

What you should know before you agree to buy a condo

Great towers of glass and steel are going up in every big city in this country, and in many of the smaller ones too. If you’re looking to buy your first home, or if you're looking to downsize, chances are good you’re looking at condos. You may be surprised to learn that the beautiful rooms you see in the model suites are not necessarily like the ones you’ll live in once your building is complete. The den on your floor plans may become a walk-in closet by the time you move in. Your ceilings may turn out to be a foot or two lower than the ones you saw in the model suite when you decided to buy. As Wendy Mesley reports, buying a condo is fraught with risk for you, the buyer. The developers? They’re pretty well protected.

 

[rbt]

Sorry, I don't understand what you mean by this trick. Please clarify, thank you.

* Developers often have more than one development.
* The offices at these developments often (not always) have the same rules.
* You may be able to test the waters (restrictions and rule wise) at a development you do not want to buy at to see if you need an agent at the development you are interested in.

Again, this is a risk as you might get shut-out completely. Clients that play tricks are quickly found and taken care of (blocked from future purchases). Developers also talk to eachother regularly.

If you really want the unit, you will bit the bullet find a good contract negotiator (agent) and buy it.

If you're on the fence and don't care if you do not get the opportunity to buy, you might try negotiating without representation -- please be darn sure to have a lawyer review everything though. Those agreements have a lot of meat hidden away.

Unless you are a known investor there is a good chance this will not work. Buyers without representation are generally seen as easy prey.

 

[gei]

http://www.cbc.ca/mrl3/8752/marketplace/condo_crunch.wmv

This video is very informative.
Produced by CBC Marketplace.

What you should know before you agree to buy a condo

Great towers of glass and steel are going up in every big city in this country, and in many of the smaller ones too. If you’re looking to buy your first home, or if you're looking to downsize, chances are good you’re looking at condos. You may be surprised to learn that the beautiful rooms you see in the model suites are not necessarily like the ones you’ll live in once your building is complete. The den on your floor plans may become a walk-in closet by the time you move in. Your ceilings may turn out to be a foot or two lower than the ones you saw in the model suite when you decided to buy. As Wendy Mesley reports, buying a condo is fraught with risk for you, the buyer. The developers? They’re pretty well protected.

That was an absolutely HORRENDOUS "documentary". It was no different than the pitch real estate agents were throwing at me when I was looking to buy.

"OMG!! LOOK WHAT CAN HAPPEN... THE TERROR!! DONT EVEN THINK ABOUT BUYING WITHOUT AN AGENT!!"

 

[urbandreamer]

I agree. The CBC show, typical of all television, is aimed at idiots.

Gei is right. Real Estate agents are useless! Unless you're dating one.

 

[TKTKTK]

I agree. The CBC show, typical of all television, is aimed at idiots.

I don't understand why you guys think it was so horrible. The information seems obvious to anyone familiar with real-estate, but I think the mistake is in thinking that's the majority of people. Most people WOULD assume that purchasing something as expensive as a Condo would come with the same consumer protections as would come with buying a car - it's like that gap between reality and the majority's assumption that's allowed this B.S. to go on for as long as it has.

The notion that the single biggest purchase in most people's lives is almost entirely without protection is mind-boggling.

The show had nothing to do with hiring an agent, and everything to do with being aware of your rights (or lack there of) as a purchaser.

 

[CGM]

I've got a pretty good idea of which project I want, and so I'm wondering how essential it is to have a buying agent.

If it is a project that hasn't been released yet, you should get an agent as they get advanced purchasing previliages, and you'd be more likely to get the unit you want.
You should also take your documents to a good lawyer who will review it (for free) and they might spot something you don't or they can ask for amendments from the builder to protect you (cap on closing fees, etc.)

 

[lowesthangingfruit]

If it is a project that hasn't been released yet, you should get an agent as they get advanced purchasing previliages, and you'd be more likely to get the unit you want.

Yet another reason to implement a consolidated, transparent and true open market where everyone is playing on a level playing field and has access to the same database and "privilidged" information at the same time. It is only then that realistic buy and sell decisions can occur.

 

[rbt]

Yet another reason to implement a consolidated, transparent and true open market where everyone is playing on a level playing field and has access to the same database and "privilidged" information at the same time. It is only then that realistic buy and sell decisions can occur.

The only reason this hasn't happened is that realtors are currently the ones paying for the upkeep of these systems.

If a lot more for sale by owners appeared, you can count on mls.ca or its replacement (realtor.ca) being locked down simply to protect the system from its own success.

 

[dpylyp]

New Preconstruction purchase

Yet another reason to implement a consolidated, transparent and true open market where everyone is playing on a level playing field and has access to the same database and "privilidged" information at the same time. It is only then that realistic buy and sell decisions can occur.

The only way the builders have to distribute their "adverts" to the consuming public is to Print/ Media advertise or direct email contact with REALTORS in organized databases. They can email floorplan samples, pricing and renderings to agents, who inturn speak to their prospective client base or may incorporate those materials in their marketing plans.

That said; Once you register directly with a builder, on their website or their sales office, the sales agent you may have used is removed from the transaction.

Maybe those who cater exclusively to this market would care to comment.