Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Qualifications to Find in a Real Estate Agent to Successfully Sell at Tampa Real Estate

Qualifications to Find in a Real Estate Agent to Successfully Sell at Tampa Real EstateBy [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Eliza_Maledevic]Eliza Maledevic
One of the most important things that you should consider when you want to successfully sell your home in Tampa real estate is that you have to choose the right real estate agent. You have to find someone that will work for your best interest and has the know-how tool to aid you to have success in the real estate market.
Looking for the right real estate agent, someone who has the passion and the ability to guide and aid you with your quest, is very important especially if you have a little knowledge about the entire real estate market.
In having a good real estate agent can aid you in making sure that you will get the best deal out of your home in Tampa real estate and you will get the most out of your real estate experience. Unluckily, not all real estate agents have the abilities and qualifications that you need in a real estate agent. You have to consider several factors in order for you to find the right real estate agent with your quest to make a quick sale and have the best deal out of your home in Tampa real estate.
The right real estate agent has the expertise and ability to sell someone a house. Actually, a real estate agent can either work with a buyer or seller, it really depends who is he or she is working with, but of course, his or her main goal is to make a sale. So you have to look for a real estate agent that can sell any property in Tampa real estate. You have to make sure that you will hire someone that you can be comfortable to be with for few months and someone that you can trust and work for your best interests.
In looking for the right real estate agent, you have to make sure to know his or her expertise. You have to know if he or she has the know-how and the knowledge about Tampa real estate, since you have to make sure that the real estate agent has the knowledge and skills in selling a property or home in Tampa real estate. It is really important that the real estate agent knows the market, he or she can easily sell your home if he or she is familiar with the market.
The right real estate agent is always there for you, he or she will represent you all the way. The real estate agent will make sure that he or she can help you will your problems or queries regarding your property or home for sale in Tampa real estate. The right real estate agent will make sure that you will gain the best result from your real estate experience; he or she will guide and aid you with the whole process.
You have to make sure that the real estate agent that you will hire is educated and has the right experienced regarding selling a property or home in Tampa real estate. You have to find someone that can handle your account without any problems. So you have to take some of your time and effort to find the right real estate agent for you. Ask for recommendations from family, friends and investors you know. Take time to interview at least three real estate agents, until you find the right one for you.
Eliza Maledevic writes for http://Jump2Top.com - SEO Company
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Eliza_Maledevic http://EzineArticles.com/?Qualifications-to-Find-in-a-Real-Estate-Agent-to-Successfully-Sell-at-Tampa-Real-Estate&id=661411

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Saturday, June 27, 2009

Real Estate Agent And Real Estate Broker - Two Sides To The Same Coin

Real Estate Agent And Real Estate Broker - Two Sides To The Same CoinBy [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Deepak_Rodey]Deepak Rodey
A real estate agent is often confused as a real estate broker, although both differ with their work profiles!
Earlier both of them were seen as a salesperson who deals with real estate market. They were involved with selling properties and hence these terms transposed. But now finesse has crawled in with progressing times. Services have augmented and so have people associated with them.
Though there is no perfect demarcation between them, still there are some disparities that allow them distinct designations. The entire role of a real estate agent has evolved from a salesperson whose occupation primarily was to sell properties. Now a real estate agent is a key person whilst dealing with property. He not only aids the trader in selling the property rather he also assists the buyer in various property matters. He is reminiscent of a manual to be consulted whenever one is planning to buy or sell their property.
A real estate agent and a real estate broker are essentially a pedestal rather an interactive media via which the entire transaction process takes place. In some places, a real estate agent is acknowledged differently as compared to a real estate broker. They are the licensed professionals working in the same field but their functional areas differ to a certain extent.
Talking about a real estate agent, he is basically a fresher who steps into the world of property transactions immediately after completing his academic studies or his training for being a real estate salesperson. This training consists of a course varying from forty to ninety hours and then undertaking an exam, passing in which would entitle him for a license of a real estate person or a real estate agent. But he certainly cannot work alone, he needs further supervision of a real estate broker and hence one must be allied with him for his work.
A real estate broker is an experienced real estate agent. The only distinction between a real estate agent and a real estate broker is the experience in form of years spent as a real estate agent.
It can be said that a real estate agent on maturity becomes a real estate broker. For this transition to occur he needs to appear in broker’s state exam and on qualifying that exam he gets a license for real estate broker. A real estate broker may work in partnership with other brokers to form business alliances or he may undertake some real estate agents to work under him.
Both real estate agent and real estate broker share the same field of work but the major difference lies in their working experience, where a real estate broker is better experienced than a real estate agent.
Deepak Rodey works for an agency called Property Advice Dubai a [http://www.propertyadvicedubai.com]Real Estate Dubai company
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Deepak_Rodey http://EzineArticles.com/?Real-Estate-Agent-And-Real-Estate-Broker---Two-Sides-To-The-Same-Coin&id=579448

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Saturday, June 20, 2009

Cash Back Rebates to Home Buyers - Why Most Agents Aren't Talking!

Cash Back Rebates to Home Buyers - Why Most Agents Aren't Talking!By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Bill_Brynelsen]Bill Brynelsen
Ask just about any traditional real estate agent what he / she thinks about giving back part of their commission to their home buying clients in the form of a real estate rebate and you just put a stick in a hornet’s nest. Most Big Brand Name Real Estate companies continue to do business the traditional way and get away with out offering real estate rebates to their home-buying clients.
One of the biggest reasons traditional agents get away with not offering rebates is because most homebuyers are not very well informed about buyer rebates. How they work, where the money comes from, will a rebate affect the price they may pay for that next home or are they even legal in the first place? While there is no law on the books in any state that says real estate agents must offer a rebate. Homebuyers should at least know they exist and have some basic knowledge about how rebates work so they may make an informed decision when it comes to using an agent that offers a rebate or one that does not.
To be honest, just the word rebate sounds cheap. For me it congers up images of my dad mailing in a rebate form so he can get two bucks back on a case of Pennzoil. And, there is nothing wrong with that. A penny saved is a penny earned.
But, rebates provide homebuyers with far more than just a couple of bucks back. A good homebuyers rebate can add up to thousands of dollars off the price of your next home purchase. Rebates to homebuyers can range from one half of one percent to as much as two percent of the homes purchase price. The rebate my company offers (New Market Realty, Inc.) is 1.5%. So, on the purchase of a $300,000 home my buyer clients will receive a check and lower the price of their new home by $4,500. Now that’s money any homebuyer should want to get back!
But, it’s been very slow going for real estate companies offering rebates. Even with Nontraditional real estate companies advertising heavily online they still represent just a fraction of the $61 billion in commissions that were paid out last year in the U.S. real estate market. Discounting transactions totaled just 2 percent of home sales, according to results of a study issued this summer (2005) by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
The controversy surrounding rebates has The National Association Of Realtors taking a buyer-beware attitude. Mr. Stevens, current president of the NAR has been quoted as saying "In some senses, you get what you pay for." Mr. Stevens has also been quoted, as saying home buying is "too big a transaction not to work with an expert." Well, Mr. Stevens I personally don’t feel we, as Realtors should be trying to scare homebuyers back into the dark ages of traditional real estate. I also would like my readers to note that I am a dues paying, member in good standing, licensed Realtor® I also consider myself an expert on the home selling and buying process.
Just for the record. All real estate agents under the rules of the NAR and state law are required to take and pass a state test in order to receive a real estate license. And, all real estate agents must take state required continuing education classes in order to keep their real estate license and to stay current with real estate practices in their state.
For Mr. Stevens or any traditional real estate agent for that matter, to imply or suggest that a real estate agent offering buyer rebates or listing homes for a flat fee is some how less of an expert than a traditional real estate agent is nothing but a cheap shot and a pitiful attempt to scare home buyers and sellers into believing they will be receiving inferior service and poor real estate market knowledge.
Traditional real estate agents love to use the word discounters. It’s their way of cheapening the innovative ways we so called discounters have come up with to save real estate consumers (buyers and sellers) thousands of dollars on a single real estate transaction.
The rebate process is very simple. In any real estate transaction there is a buyer and a seller. A listing agent works with the seller and a buyer’s agent works with the buyer. The party / person who pays all the commission in a real estate transaction is the home seller. Buyers never pay a commission. Now that we have that covered how about we walk through some basics of buying a home.
When working as a buyer’s agent I am never concerned about the amount of commission a listing agent has charged a home seller to list their home. It just doesn’t matter. 3%, 4% or 6% I don’t care. The only thing I am concerned with when it comes to commissions is how much that listing agent is going to pay me out of that 3%, 4% or 6% they have charged the home seller.
In my local real estate market in the state of Illinois I can expect to be paid on average 2.5% of the homes selling price from the listing agent.
If you were to purchase a home using me as your buyers agent for a selling price of $300,000. I would be paid a commission of $7,500. 2.5% buyers side commission x $300,000 homes selling price = $7,500. Now, lets give you back some money in the form of a buyers rebate.
But, before we do lets just do a little review. I don’t want you to miss anything. First, we don’t care what the listing agent charged the home seller. Second, all we care about is how much that listing agent is going to pay me working as your buyer’s agent. Third, we now know that I will be paid 2.5% of the homes selling price from the listing agent. Forth, the amount I will be paid is $7,500, which is funded from the total commission charged to the home seller.
Ok, now for your share of all this money. It doesn’t matter what your rebate amount is. The math stays the same. The only thing that will change is the amount of cash you get back from your buyers agent and that depends on the amount of rebate being offered. As I have mentioned earlier in this article I give my home buying clients a 1.5% rebate.
So, pick up your trusty calculator and take your new homes selling price of $300,000 multiply that by 1.5% and you should come up with $4,500.
Now subtract the $4,500 from my buyer’s agent commission of $7,500 and you should come up with $3,000.
Your buyer’s rebate is $4,500. Your welcome. And, my buyer’s agent commission is $3,000. That’s all there is to it. Now you know how buyer rebates work. Where the rebate money comes from and that a rebate will not increase the price of your new home because it comes out of the commission the home seller agreed to pay before you even looked at the home.
It even works for brand new construction. Because most homebuilders will pay a commission to a buyer’s agent of from 2% to 3% depending on what area of the country you’re in. Because of fair housing laws the Builder's published price list guarantees that everyone pays the same price. With or with out a Realtor. And, no, the builder will not reduce the price of your new home if they don’t pay a real estate commission.
If you are wondering if rebates are legal in your state you may want to refer to Money Magazine’s 2005 Real Estate Guide. Which reported that rebates were banned in Alaska, New Jersey, Kansas, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Louisiana, South Carolina, Mississippi, West Virginia and Missouri. Rebates were reported as restricted to credits at closing in Alabama, South Dakota, Oregon and Tennessee.
In my home state of Illinois the web site I direct people to is the Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation. www.idfpr.com./
Once on this official state site I tell folks to look in the navigation bar on the left and click on the link that reads General FAQs. On the next page that opens click on the link that says Real Estate FAQs. The next page that opens is titled Division of Banks and Real Estate Real Estate Frequently Asked Questions INTRODUCTION. Scroll down to GENERAL PRACTICES. On line / question number six. That question will read as follows.
May compensation be paid to a principal to a transaction, even if the principal does not have a real estate license?
The Answer: Yes. Section 10-15(c) of the Act authorizes the offer or payment of compensation (“prizes, merchandise, services, rebates, discounts or other consideration”) to an unlicensed person who is a party to a contract or lease. Of course, such compensation is not required. The payment of such compensation should be pursuant to the negotiations on the transactions. The payment of such compensation is not limited to payment by a licensee to the licensee's client - in other words, a seller's agent may pay compensation to an unlicensed buyer.
But I just don’t stop there. On the very next line / Question number seven. That question will read as follows: May a licensee offer compensation to solicit clients?
The Answer: Yes. Section 10-15(d) of the Act authorizes the offer or payment of compensation (“cash, gifts, prizes, awards, coupons, merchandise, rebates or chances to win a game of chance”) to a consumer as an inducement to that consumer to use the services of a licensee, even if the consumer and licensee ultimately do not enter into a client relationship. Any advertisement under this Section must also comply with all requirements regarding real estate advertisements. Also, care should be taken not to offer compensation to unlicensed persons for referrals of clients - this is prohibited.
This seems to clear up any question as to real estate rebates being legal or not in my home state of Illinois.
Some words of caution if you decide to use an agent offering any type of buyers
Bill Brynelsen is a real estate agent in Spring Grove Illinois. His forth coming book “The Truth Behind The For Sale Sign”©. Gives readers valuable insight into the tricks real estate agents will use to get your listing/money. Visit Bills real estate web site at http://www.mypadd.com or email him your real estate questions at [mailto:info@mypadd.com]info@mypadd.com You just may save yourself thousands on your next real estate transaction.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bill_Brynelsen [http://ezinearticles.com/?Cash-Back-Rebates-to-Home-Buyers---Why-Most-Agents-Arent-Talking!&id=116225 ]http://EzineArticles.com/?Cash-Back-Rebates-to-Home-Buyers---Why-Most-Agents-Arent-Talking!&id=116225

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Real Estate Commission - A Corrupting Influence

Real Estate Commission - A Corrupting InfluenceBy [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Peter_Mericka]Peter Mericka
Real estate commission is the way in which real estate agents are paid for the services they provide. They receive a percentage of the price received for the property. Effectively, the real estate agent requires the seller of a property (the vendor) to sign over to the real estate agent a part of the property being sold.
Another way of looking at it is to say that the real estate agent, through the wording of the listing contract, effectively has his name added to the title deed of the vendor’s property, so that the real estate agent becomes a part-owner of the property. When the property sells, the real estate agent receives a payment that represents his share in the vendor’s property.
Most readers will be aware of the arguments in favour of real estate sale commissions, so I won’t discuss those here. My focus is on the ways in which the sale process can be skewed against all parties involved, when the motivation to win a commission takes precedence over more important considerations.
Commission is a “winner-takes-all, loser gets nothing” situation. This increases the pressure on the real estate agent to secure a sale. Time is also a problem. If the real estate agent cannot secure a sale within a time acceptable to the vendor, the vendor may take the property off the market, or away from the real estate agent’s agency. This will result in a total loss for the real estate agent.
Finally, the vendor becomes an obstacle between the real estate agent and his commission goal. In order to receive payment for his share of the vendor’s property, the real estate agent must receive an offer to purchase within the available time, but the offer must be accepted by the vendor. If the vendor decides that the offer is not acceptable, then the real estate agent loses.
In order to win the gambling game that is real estate sales, the real estate agent may decide to tip the odds in his favour – and there are numerous ways in which this can be done.
At the listing stage the real estate agent may use improper means to win the listing contract. These include over-quoting on valuation, and offering dodgy sales figures.
During the sale process the real estate agent may be tempted to tell potential purchasers things that are untrue. I have seen many sale contracts with clauses designed to protect real estate agents against the consequences of false statements. Known as “porkies clauses”, they invariably state that the purchaser acknowledges that any information provided to the purchaser by the real estate agent is provided on the understanding that the purchaser will not be relying on it for any purpose.
When a purchaser has submitted an offer, and the purchaser cannot be convinced to increase her offer, the real estate agent may be tempted to pressure the vendor into accepting what would otherwise be unacceptable. Observations, such as “the market has softened” or “the market has spoken to us” are used by real estate agents to convince vendors that the real estate agent’s high estimation of value can no longer be relied upon, and that the vendor should now accept what the vendor believes is an unacceptably low offer.
For some years now, I have been arguing that real estate services should be provided on a fee-for-service basis.
I will explore the replacement of real estate sale commissions with a fee-for-service structure further in future articles.
Melbourne Lawyer Peter Mericka B.A., LL.B is a real estate lawyer and consumer advocate. He is a former police detective, with experience in areas of criminal investigation and police internal investigations. Peter is the Director of Lawyers Real Estate, a law firm that sells real estate and offers conveyancing services. He also instructs in real estate conveyancing at the Leo Cussen Institute, Melbourne, and edits the [http://www.AustralianRealEstateBlog.com.au]http://www.AustralianRealEstateBlog.com.au.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Peter_Mericka http://EzineArticles.com/?Real-Estate-Commission---A-Corrupting-Influence&id=89290

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