You could save thousands of dollars when you buy your home through The Home Buyers Realty.

The real estate commission is the one thing in the real estate industry that is not openly discussed with buyers by real estate agents. The industry has done a good job of  hiding the commisssion and leading buyers to believe there is no way to save on this BIG expense. Many buyers are totally unaware that they are paying for the commission (often for years since many homes are financed). The Buyer’s Realtor commission is built into the sales price of MLS listed homes, so normally when you buy a home you (the buyer) pay the sales commission as a part of the purchase price. Many real estate ads tell buyers they are not paying anything extra when using a Buyer’s Realtor. You may be paying far more than you think. Do the math, after all it’s your money. If the Buyer’s Realtor commission is 3% of the gross selling price of a home that equals $9,000 on a $300,000 home.  On a million dollar home it is $30,000.  Does it take $21,000 more time, expertise and effort for the Buyer’s Realtor to assist a buyer buying a million dollar home than it does to buy a $300,000 home? For years Real Estate Brokers nationwide and in Tennessee have set the amount to be paid for their service as: (the the real estate commission’s percent  X the sales price of the home).

To make it more confusing, the commission is almost always labeled as a Seller’s expense on the settlement statement often called a HUD-1. The seller rarely pays for any services until the buyer brings the funds to closing. That’s because the seller uses your money (brought to the closing and/or funds you borrowed to finance the home) to pay all the commission (buying -side and listing -side) which is generally negotiated  between the seller and the listing company’s agent prior to listing the home for sale.

A few years ago, prior to the internet being readily available to the masses, buyers had to rely solely on the information that only Realtors had access to. Now days when buyers decide they are ready to move to their next home, they go to the internet (NOT TO THE LOCAL REAL RSTATE OFFICE) to search  for the right home, in the right neighborhood that is zoned to the right school district. They often limit themselves to the preferred neighborhoods, preferred schools, the price they expect to pay for the type of home they want that matches their lifestyle. Many internet savvy buyers have completely zeroed in on where they want to be before they contact any real estate agent.

All the “do it yourself” research most buyers do brings on the question that more and more informed home buyers are asking. Should we be paying such a BIG Commission after we have done so much leg work and research on our own to select the right homes, neighborhoods and schools. Why pay full price for a Buyer’s Realtor? Why not pay a flat fee for a Buyer’s Realtor to serve as my Buyer’s Realtor?

Buying a home is too important of a decision to employ a Buyer’s Realtor who has any conflicts of interests. Many agents may state that they have no conflict of interest and they represent their buyer’s best interest, but having been in the residential real estate business for over 20 years we observe that any agent working for a commission has a conflict of interest and it is like wallking a tight rope when he or she is dependent on selling  homes to make a living. We have heard many agents state they wished their buyer would just go ahead and “buy something”. The conflict of interest often comes down to “time spent” trying to find just the right home. If the buyer is hard to please then the agent is almost guaranteed to earn less income for his or her time. At some point for an agent to discourage the purchase of ANY home the buyer expressses an interest in buying will only mean the search will continue, the pay check will be delayed and time available to work with other buyers or on other interest is lost.

Professional guidance is valuable and should be worth the price. It also begs the question is it professional to pay for that guidance when the price increases and decreases based on the selling price of the home. That question has been heavily debated for Stock Brokers and others working to make  a commission sale.  

Why not pay a low flat fee for buyer services like our sellers pay for our Flat Fee MLS listing service?

 If you’re ready to start the home buying process without the traditional Buyer’s Realtor BIG Commission tagging along plus the conflicts of interest that goes with commission sales, we have an alternative. We can assure you that you will be able to settle on the perfect home with unbiased assistance.  Ultimately you will make the decision on the home you buy, but we will not be influenced with any conflicts of interest when we point out any advantages, disadvantages, or any action to take. You will be positioned to have an offer to purchase that gives you a negotiating advantage that is not available with traditional commission based real estate services. You will still be able to have a home inspection by a professional that you choose. You will likely be the one to schedule the inspections and we will negotiate the repairs for you based on your instructions. Together we will monitor the pre-closing tasks and schedule the closing with the goal of making sure you close on time.

 At the closing, you will normally see a significant amount of money being paid toward your closing costs if your offer was written/acccepted that way. You can also simply choose to pay your own closing costs and reduce your offer by the amount of the commission plus any other amount you feel justified to negotiate for.  You can do what many buyers do by asking  for your buyer closing costs and prepaids to be paid by the seller plus ask for a reduction in the selling price too. In a sellers market most MLS listed homes sell within 5% of the asking price. In a buyers market the percentage tends to be greater.

Will you get your money’s worth with our service? We certainly think so. Our fee is $350.00 paid upfront. At closing you will owe another $350.00 as a service fee. The total out of pocket is $700.00 for our service if you close. If you find you need more hand holding than the our Flat Fee Buyer Service provides you can cancel your agreement and we will be happy to refer you to a full service Buyer Realtor and agree to pay up to $350.00 toward your home warranty if you purchase a home within 12 months of transferring to a full service Buyer’s Realtor that we refer you to.

You may wonder how we can offer this service so affordable? The answer is Volume! The same is true for our Flat Fee Home Selling Service. We need your referrals to make it be profitable. You need to be successful before you will want to recommend our BUY-WISE™ Service.

We know this service is not ideal for every buyer. If you need a Buyer’s Realtor doing much of the initial work, we may not be your best choice. If you’re prepared to check out homes and neighborhoods on your own, which most buyers are doing now days, we have a service designed to save you money. We started approx. 10 years ago providing skilled, hi-tech MLS services for home sellers across Tennessee via seven MLSes covering all the major metropolitan areas in and around Memphis, Nashville, Murfreesboro, Franklin, Knoxville, Johnson City, Chattanooga and Clarksville. 

Our service is not just a discount service for Tennessee Home Buyers. We want you to be an informed purchaser. While we don’t provide a Lexus taxi service carrying you from one home to the next you will benefit from the 22+ years experience we have gained as a TN Residential Real Estate Broker.

Got some questions? Feel free to contact us.

For this service to work efficiently and effectively we request you be able to receive email and open attachments which are normally Adobe Acrobat Reader Files and to be pre-approved by our BUY-WISE  Approved Home Mortgage Consultant or be an all cash buyer.  Note:  As a real estate company and broker who works closely with a lender and closing attorneys we do not receive any compensation from the lender or attorney for whom we refer a buyer or seller to. To do so would be a violation of a (US) federal law known as the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). .

When we visit by telephone, we’ll go through all the details. Again we stress our flat-fee buyer service is not for every buyer. But if we mutually agree that we can successfully work together, we’ll be happy to send our Flat Fee Home Buyer Agreement that covers our responsibilities and yours – with a guarantee we’ll pay for your home warranty up to $350.00 if you want us to refer you to a Full Service Buyers Realtor after unsucessfully using the BUYW-WISE Flat Fee service.  

Following is a link to a CBS video you may find interesting.   Chipping Away At Realtors’ Six Percent

More Details 

We welcome your questions, comments and suggestions.
Feel free to call us 1-888-932-0506 or send us an email: buywisetn@comcast.net