Buyer's agents??

They are free. When you enlist the help of a real estate agent you decide whether you want them to represent you as a buyer's agent (they are working in your best interest), or as a seller's agent (they are working for the best interest of the seller).

HTH

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Posted by Meaghan729

so how do they make $$?? just from the seller?

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Yes, the get a portion of the commission on the sale of the house. At least that's what happened in our case.

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Posted by alnem

NO NO NO!!! What they said above is partly right. In NY state, all realtors work in the best interest of the seller because that's who pays us (I'm a realtor) and we are automatically called 'sellers agents'. So if you want an agent to work for you (the buyer) then you need to hire one exclusively as a 'buyers agent'. When you meet with a realtor for the first time they need to have you sign an agency disclosure at your first substantive meeting. So the first time you meet and you start asking questions about houses, the realtor is required to present you with the disclosure form and you have the choice if you want the agent to work for the seller or work for you. A buyer's agent gets paid based on a percentage of the amount of money they save for you from the original listing price to the accepted offer. It's usually 30%. For example, if the house you want is listed at $450k and the buyer's agent gets you the house for $430k, you pay the agent out of your pocket 30% of $20k which is $6k. FM me if you have any more questions.

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thanks for the help - since most of my friends arent buying houses in NY because they are ridiculously overpriced, they are buying in other states with different laws and such.

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Posted by alnem

NO NO NO!!! What they said above is partly right. In NY state, all realtors work in the best interest of the seller because that's who pays us (I'm a realtor) and we are automatically called 'sellers agents'. So if you want an agent to work for you (the buyer) then you need to hire one exclusively as a 'buyers agent'. When you meet with a realtor for the first time they need to have you sign an agency disclosure at your first substantive meeting. So the first time you meet and you start asking questions about houses, the realtor is required to present you with the disclosure form and you have the choice if you want the agent to work for the seller or work for you. A buyer's agent gets paid based on a percentage of the amount of money they save for you from the original listing price to the accepted offer. It's usually 30%. For example, if the house you want is listed at $450k and the buyer's agent gets you the house for $430k, you pay the agent out of your pocket 30% of $20k which is $6k. FM me if you have any more questions.

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I guess then that's NYS, we bought in NJ and didn't have to pay our agent anything out of pocket. The listing agent and our agent got a portion of the commission I think it was 3% and 2%.

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Posted by FallBride05

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Posted by alnem

NO NO NO!!! What they said above is partly right. In NY state, all realtors work in the best interest of the seller because that's who pays us (I'm a realtor) and we are automatically called 'sellers agents'. So if you want an agent to work for you (the buyer) then you need to hire one exclusively as a 'buyers agent'. When you meet with a realtor for the first time they need to have you sign an agency disclosure at your first substantive meeting. So the first time you meet and you start asking questions about houses, the realtor is required to present you with the disclosure form and you have the choice if you want the agent to work for the seller or work for you. A buyer's agent gets paid based on a percentage of the amount of money they save for you from the original listing price to the accepted offer. It's usually 30%. For example, if the house you want is listed at $450k and the buyer's agent gets you the house for $430k, you pay the agent out of your pocket 30% of $20k which is $6k. FM me if you have any more questions.

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I guess then that's NYS, we bought in NJ and didn't have to pay our agent anything out of pocket. The listing agent and our agent got a portion of the commission I think it was 3% and 2%.

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yup. in NJ, agents don't automatically work for the seller. they get paid based on the percentage of commission and it's divied up at the closing.