10-28-2008, 04:12 PM
JoeH wrote:
[quote=decocritter]
You know, a person's realtor usually can and does give initial advice concerning affordability. There is stuff all over the place, including the internet, on how to get the right mortgage. There are lawyers, mortgage brokers and friends, family, that will offer decent initial advice, that gets a home buyer on their route to more and thorough info.
That's nice if you can find a good realtor who will be honest with you. But unless you have a buyer's representative agreement with one or a real estate broker, they always represent the seller and they make more money in commission every time they push the price up. Have you heard some of the ads the national realtor association is putting out on radio? The market is in the tank, and they are trying to make it all sound hunky-dory.
When we (GtDS and I) bought our house last year we dealt with the realtor that my Brother/his wife have used for years now, and she not once tried to steer us wrong - only showing us what we had decided was in our budget, never trying to sway us into something that would be a bad idea down the line. She's an older lady, so she knows the ropes, and isn't the greedy sort herself. When GtDS's mom moved here this spring (getting out of Los Angeles before the crash) she used "our" realtor also, and that went just as well.
Maybe we are just lucky? Maybe just a teeny bit smart? (
We never yearned for more than we knew we could afford.Kathy