Texas Hill Country Blog

Buyer’s Agents - and why EVERYONE needs one!
April 1, 2009

I began earnestly searching for a home for my daughter and me in December.    You would think being a real-estate agent would have given me the upper-hand.   But it seems that I was only drawn to the “troubled” properties.   With each home I was interested in, something invariably came up.   I tried buying a “short sale”, but decided the process was too long and arduous.    I considered a couple of other properties, but was concerned about the cost of converting them into the home I envisioned.    More important than the home itself was location.   Don’t get me wrong.   There are no bad areas in Fredericksburg.   Every neighborhood has it’s own charm.   But I knew exactly what I wanted, a quiet, kid-friendly, single-mom friendly place.

And guess what?    Out of all of the available properties for sale, there wasn’t a single one that I felt in my gut was the right one.    I thought perhaps I was making excuses for not buying out of trepidation of being a single home-buyer for the first time.    But I had faith the right home would come along – and I would know it immediately.

One of the biggest mistakes I made was in representing myself.   Again, as a real-estate agent, you would think I would have the upper hand.   But emotions got in the way of common sense – and I wasn’t doing my daughter or myself justice doing this house-hunting on my own.

One of the agents I work with told me of a For Sale By Owner in his neighborhood – an area that was exactly what I had envisioned for my daughter and I.    I immediately called the owner and went and saw the house within the hour.   When I walked in the door, I knew “This is it.   This is our new home.”

Fortunately, I work with a great group of agents, and this same one volunteered to represent me and be my Buyer’s Representative.   We filled out the paperwork and made it a formal agreement.    Almost immediately after entering into this agreement, my Buyer’s Representative had an offer ready to present to the seller.  

Needless to say, it was not an easy process by any means.   I removed my real-estate agent cap entirely for this transaction and allowed my agent to take charge.  And it was one of the best decisions I ever made.    I wanted the house and knew I would do whatever it took – within reason – to get the house.   My agent knew this, but the seller didn’t.    Had I been representing myself, the seller would have known in a heartbeat how much I wanted his home, and I would have lost all negotiating power.

In the end, with much assistance and guidance from my agent, it all worked out.   My daughter and I are now happily ensconced into our long-term home, the seller walked away happy and the buyer (me) is elated.    (Any my agent now has a new neighbor!)

Kudos to my Buyer’s Representative.    He had a challenging deal:  representing an agent he works with in a For Sale By Owner transaction – without any compensation!  (The seller refused to pay any commission, and my agent refused payment from me.)    And he did an excellent, A+ job.

Thanks Charlie!

Horse Property
September 14, 2007

If you have horses that need to be boarded short term or long term we have a place locally that can accomidate both.  Close to town with horse friendly facilities including 2 horse arenas, indoor box stalls and outdoor runs.  All situated on 40 acres of trails to ride on. Contact us for further information.

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