Source: Jacksonville Progress —
Whenever you become involved in a transaction whose subject matter you are not familiar with, it is of the utmost importance that you deal with individuals who are skilled in the subject matter and who realize and appreciate their obligation to you. All the homes I ever bought were purchased before I got into the real estate business. Now that I know real estate, I know that there are things I could have and should have done differently.
Let’s talk about buying a home. If you are looking for a home in a market that you are not familiar with, and that could be the very market you live in, you need to engage an agent who is willing to represent your best interests in terms of what to offer and any other strategies that should be used during your search. Even though Texas law allows an agent who has a listing you want to see to work with you, you are better off engaging an agent who works with another brokerage, because that agent only needs to look out for your interest and not the seller’s; he/she has a fiduciary obligation to only you. If the agent representing you is doing his/her job, he will do a proper market research and suggest an appropriate price to offer. An appropriate price is essentially based on market circumstances. In a hot market, homes will be more likely to sell for full price or even more. That happened quite frequently, in Jacksonville, over the past two years. If a property has multiple prospects, it will often sell for more than list price. If you tell an agent what you would like to offer and the agent thinks your offer is not high enough, he/she should tell you. If he/she thinks your offering too much, he/she should also tell you.
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