Sequim open houses are weekend events from time to time, and June 4th and 5th is the big National Association of Realtors push for open houses all over the country.  Many Realtors are holding open houses on Saturday or Sunday afternoon, and most have advertised their open houses in the local print newspapers.  Local associations join the national campaign and much todo is made about the open houses and the opportunity to buy a home with all the hoopla Realtors can muster.  There are some major misconceptions about open houses, and unfortunately these misconceptions have been propagated by my own profession and the NAR.

Sequim Open Houses and The Real Purpose

Do you know the real purpose of an open house?  No, it’s not to sell the house.  Professional Realtors around the country know why they hold open houses, and they know that selling the home is very unlikely.  Only 1% to 2% of houses sell at open houses in a healthy real estate market according to the NAR. In a real estate recession like the one we are in now, my guess is that far less than 1% of homes sell at open houses.  It may be as low as 1/10th of 1% in this recession.  There are two major reasons for this.  The first is that there are fewer buyers these days, and who doesn’t already know that?  The second is that about 95% of all buyers are searching for their next home on the Internet, not in print newspapers and not by driving around looking at open houses.  In many areas, like mine, nearly all buyers are from outside the area, which means they are not in the area when an open house is held.

So why do Realtors hold Sequim open houses?  There are two reasons.  First, they hold open houses to satisfy their selling clients, to be able to tell them they are doing something to market the home.  That reason is more smoke and mirrors than anything else.   The second reason is more substantive.  Realtors hold open houses so they can get a list of prospective buyers.  There it is!  The primary purpose of an open house is so the Realtor can meet buyers and try to reel them in.  They know they won’t sell them the open house, but they want to sell them something.

Proof:  Go to an open house and listen to the questions the hosting Realtor asks you.  Do you live in the area?  How soon do you plan to buy a home?  Have you pre-qualified?  What is your price range?  What kind of work do you do? Do you both work? How many children do you have?  Where do you live now?  Do you rent or own?  Would you sign-in here with your name, address, phone number, and email address? Why would you give a Realtor you have not even hired to represent you all this personal information?  But there is an even greater danger you’ll want to know about.

Sequim Open Houses and Buyers Beware

Why is this such a big deal for buyers?  Why is it a red flag?  Why would I as a Realtor warn buyers about open houses?  The answer will be obvious when I tell you, if it isn’t already.

The listing Realtor who is hosting the open house represents the seller, not you.  This agent has a legal and fiduciary duty to get the seller the highest possible price and the best possible terms.  If you really were interested in a home, would you want to give the seller’s agent all your personal information, information that could be used to negotiate against you?  Of course not.  Read a fuller explanation of the Danger of Dual Agency.

I’ve been in the real estate business for 30 years, 20 as a real estate attorney.  I love the real estate business, and I love representing my clients ethically and without conflict.  I believe my job is to put my clients’ interest first and foremost above all else, even my own interests.  With that in mind, I do a lot of educational articles on this real estate blog, sharing the truth about how the real estate business really works behind the scenes so that buyers can beware of traps for the unwary, avoid sales gimmicks by agents, and protect themselves from conflicts that could cost them a lot of money.

Would you like a simple way of ending all the personal questions and still be able to walk through an open house?  If you are going to be in the area driving around and looking at Sequim open houses, simply say to the hosting Realtor, “Thank you for the open house.  We are represented by a buyer’s agent, Chuck Marunde (or your own buyer’s agent’s name).  We’ll just walk through the home if that’s okay.”  That will end the questioning and make your experience more pleasant.

If you’re attending Sequim open houses and you want to draft an offer on one, you can call me to represent you as your exclusive buyer’s agent at 360-775-5424.  Of course, we can meet at Starbucks and you can interview me first to see if you feel I am competent, professional, and experienced.  You can learn more about me at Sequim Buyer’s Agent.

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If you are going to buy a Sequim home, may I suggest three keys that have taken me a lifetime to learn.  I’ve been in real estate 30 years, 20 of which were practicing real estate law.  I’ve seen many mistakes in real estate, and I have learned through clients’ mistakes all about traps for the unwary.  If you ask me what are the three most important considerations for a buyer, if I had to boil 30 years in real estate down to the three most important tips for buyers, here they are.  May I say before you read these that they may sound simple, but there is much more beneath the surface to each of these.  I could write a book about these.  Wait, I did!

1.  Find out the best way to do your research and how to find the ideal Sequim home.

This is clearly the beginning of the process in finding and buying your Sequim home.  But this is more important than some realize.  If your research tools and human resources are not the best, you can miss out on the best home and you can miss the opportunity of a lifetime.  You can also end up with an inexperienced agent, and you could end up in a nightmare scenario, instead of the happy retirement plan you have been dreaming about for so long.

There are two powerful free online resources I recommend.  They are both resources I created, but I created them to be the best two resources for buyers, and I believe they are.  One is the largest Sequim real estate blog, which you’ll find at Sequim Real Estate Blog.  This real estate blog has over 900 articles written for you as a buyer so you can make wise choices.  I’ve written about almost every conceivable issue that comes up for buyers.  This is my life’s experience given to you at absolutely no cost, no obligation, and you can read these articles anonymously without registering.  I never force myself on my clients or prospective clients.  The other resource is the easiest and most powerful MLS search site, which you’ll find at Sequim MLS.  You can do simple or advanced parameter searches for your home, and there’s a great map showing the location of all the listings.  If you want to, you can have the program keep track of the homes you want to bookmark for future reference.

2.  Find the best buyer’s agent in the area.

Why not take a lifetime of education and experience and put it to work for you at no cost.  Why risk so much money and the potential for mistakes by trying to be your own professional agent?  This is not the time to learn by trial and error.  As a buyer’s agent, my clients pay me nothing.  The sellers always pay the commissions for the buying and selling side.  Take advantage of a professional buyer’s agent’s education, experience, contract drafting knowledge, negotiating skills, and attention to inspection issues to keep you out of trouble and to reach your goal of a smooth closing.  By the way, the answers you get are only as good as the questions you ask, but what if you don’t know all the questions?  A great buyer’s agent will not only answer you questions, they will help you to raise questions that need to be raised to protect you.  Believe me, a good buyer’s agent is worth his or her weight in gold.  (Read Why You Should Never Buy From the Listing Agent)

3.  Beware of traps for the unwary in the local real estate market.

One of the keys to success in life is simply avoiding major pitfalls.  This is true in real estate.  There are a hundred mistakes a buyer can make, mistakes that could cost you a lot of money and stress.  When you buy real estate in a new area, you can bet there are unique real estate issues in each state and in each county.  Find out what those issues are, especially for the specific location of your property, and do your due diligence with the right research, the right documents (feasibilities and contingencies), and the right processes within all contract deadlines.  If you don’t know about all the local issues or traps for the unwary, this is another reason to hire a local buyer’s agent who does.

Some might say, “Yea, he’s just trying to sell his services.”  Sure I am, but I also am honest and have a valuable lifetime of experience to offer my buyers.  I work hard every day for my clients, and I work hard writing articles that are helpful to the public, whether they ever hire me or not.  These three tips are honest and true.  If you use these three tips, a lot of good will come out of your experience, and you’ll be glad you did when you buy your Sequim home.

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Sequim Land for Sale.  Chuck Marunde and eXp Realty are pleased to announce the sale of another property, a beautiful mountain and water view lot on Marine Drive in Sequim.  Many of my clients tell me they would prefer a mountain view over a water view, but the ideal scenario is to have both.

Sequim Land for Sale with Views

This lot is a little over two acres and surrounded by similar sized lots.  This is an agricultural community, so open fields and valleys like this are common here.  But this lot is not common.  Even with hundreds of lots in the inventory, it is still hard to find a beautiful lot with a gorgeous mountain or water view lot, or both.  They’re not making water view lots anymore, so when they are sold, they are not typically available for many years.

Sequim Land for Sale Feasibility

This lot was listed at $218,000 and sold for less.  I represented my clients as a Sequim Buyer’s Agent.  This lot is subject to a full feasibility study and several contingencies.  I am currently assisting my clients in doing their due diligence on the irrigation system easements, the conditions in the restrictive covenants, septic system requirements, community well terms, and building site planning.

This Sequim land for sale (and now sold) also is a short walk to the beach.  How cool is that?

Here’s a Sequim MLS site that will allow you to search for all Sequim land for sale listings at:  Sequim Land for Sale.

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Conflicts of interest in this world are very real, and some conflicts–the kind that can cost you so much money and stress–are often hidden beneath slick advertising campaigns and clever slogans.  I’m going to focus in on conflicts in the real estate business, but let’s acknowledge deceptive conflicts effect you regularly in nearly every industry.

For example, buy anything from any salesman, and inherent in his best sales pitch is his desire that you buy from him.  That’s a practical conflict we experience almost daily.  Let me add right here that conflicts of interest are only a problem if there is dishonesty (exaggeration, misrepresentation, or outright fraud) AND the salesman does not put your interests above all else. If a salesman has integrity and is absolutely honest and will put his clients’ interest above his own, an apparent conflict of interest will not harm you.  It’s the other kind of salesmen that can turn a conflict of interest into a trap for the unwary that will cost you.

If you have a retirement fund in the form of a mutual fund or other stocks and bonds, you are involved in a huge conflict of interest right now.  Did you know that fund managers get paid 1% to 1.25% of the total funds under management on an annual basis.  So if your investment adviser (or his company or affiliated companies) are managing $30 million, that is a $300,000 annual income.  So when your investment adviser gives you advice to keep your stock rather than sell, do you think that is a gigantic conflict of interest?  Of course it is.  And if he suggests you sell and buy something else, is that a conflict of interest?  Of course, he will still get the management fee plus a transaction fee for selling and buying.  Can you say, “CONFLICT OF INTEREST WITH MY RETIREMENT FUND?”  [He might argue he doesn't get the fee, but if his company receives the income, it distributes it to him in various ways.  I know these things because I was a registered financial adviser and worked as a financial adviser for American Express Financial Advisers, later Ameriprise.]

Lawyers and law firms are full of conflicts of interest.  They charge you by the hour for work they do when no one is watching how they bill and you have no way to verify their hours.  The more hours they bill, the more they make from you.  The more legal issues and disputes they can create, the more they can bill.  I practiced real estate law for 20 years, so I know, but who doesn’t know about these conflicts?

In real estate buyers often assume they can just buy a property from the listing agent.  The extent of the conflicts are much greater than most buyers realize.  A listing agent has a fiduciary responsibility to get his client (the seller) the highest possible price for the property.  Even though dual agency is legal in the state of Washington (because John L. Scott’s real estate attorney Doug Tingvall wrote the statute and the state Association of Realtors lobbied hard), do you really think the listing agent is also going to get you the lowest possible price on the same house?

The conflict goes way beyond just the price, although that alone would justify hiring a buyer’s agent.  Disclosures to the buyer and handling the home inspection, the septic inspection, the well inspection, and other neighborhood issues all create the same kind of conflict where the listing agent is working for the seller.  Do you think the selling agent, who earns a commission if he gets the property sold to you has a conflict in what he tells you and how he advises you for his own listing?  Absolutely!

If you are buying real estate in Sequim or Port Angeles, I would strongly urge you to hire your own buyer’s agent who can exclusively represent your interests.  As a buyer’s agent, I cost my clients absolutely nothing, because the sellers pay the commission to both listing and selling agent.  I love the idea that I can represent my clients against the seller’s interests, and yet the seller pays my fee while I work for my buyer.  Isn’t that great?  Protect yourself and hire a buyer’s agent.

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Sequim Buyer’s Agent Chuck Marunde shares his background in this short video for out of state buyers looking their own buyer’s representative in Sequim or Port Angeles.  Avoiding the conflict of dual agency is wise.

Sequim Buyer’s Agent

Sequim Buyer’s Agent v. Dual Agency

The reason why so many buyers want their own Sequim Buyer’s Agent is because the conflict inherent in dual agency is becoming fairly well known around the country.  You have a dual agent if your real estate agent is both your buyer’s agent and the listing agent of the home you want to buy.  Here is a common sense way I think about dual agency.  Imagine a listing agent working with a seller for over a year, having listed the home, had numerous meetings with the seller, emailed and talked on the phone a lot, spent a lot of time  and money developing advertising campaigns, and essentially having a important relationship with the seller.  The listing agent has promised that seller the highest possible price, and in fact the agent owes his client a legal and fiduciary duty to get the highest possible price.

Now imagine the same agent begins working with a buyer who comes to town.  The buyer likes that house, and the agent has a legal and fiduciary duty to get his client the lowest possible price.  The conflict is very real.  Who will the agent fight for the most?  Where will the price end up?

Sequim Buyer’s Agent Chuck Marunde

As your Sequim Buyer’s Agent, Chuck Marunde represents you and your interests exclusively without conflicts in showing you  homes, in drafting your purchase and sale agreement and relevant addendums, in negotiating the best possible price and terms, and in following up on all inspection items and transaction details all the way through closing.

“I hope you will consider giving me the privilege of representing you as your Sequim Buyer’s Agent.”

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Buying Sequim real estate requires money and knowledge.  The knowledge involves an understanding of local Sequim real estate issues, and knowledge of real estate transactions.  I recommend hiring a Sequim real estate buyer’s agent who has the knowledge and experience and professionalism to represent you without any conflict of interest.   We all know life is full of conflicts, and that is certainly true in the real estate business.  This video lays out six major reasons you will benefit by hiring a Sequim buyer’s agent to find and negotiate to buy your retirement home.

Sequim Real Estate Buyer’s Agent

Sequim Real Estate

When you hire a real estate agent to help you find a home, you either hire a dual agent or you hire a  Sequim real estate buyer’s agent.  If you have called the listing agent off a sign or an advertisement, and you hire that agent to write an offer on that house, you have hired a dual agent. A dual agent represents the seller and the buyer. While this is legal in the State of Washington, it is in my opinion a legal conflict of interest.

I believe there are six huge reasons you will find it in your best interest to hire your own buyer’s agent.

1.  You have an agent who represents only your interests without a conflict with the seller.  Here’s an honest way to look at dual agency.  In the video I share an honest way to look at dual agency that will clarify the problem.  Now if you hire an agent to represent you as your buyer’s agent, you eliminate those conflicts that can work against your best interests.

2.  You can find and hire a buyer’s agent who has the experience and professional abilities you need as you get ready to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars.  You undoubtedly are very careful when you selected a financial advisor to invest your money for your retirement.  Isn’t it just as important to hire a qualified buyer’s agent to advise you as you spend a very large sum of your hard earned money on your retirement home?

3.  A buyer’s agent has a focused interest in protecting you, and that means bending all of his resources, knowledge and experience to help you find the best home, negotiate the best price, handle all contingencies appropriately, protect you from legal liabilities and contract ambiguities, and in being your transaction coordinator from mutual acceptance to closing.

4.  Because your buyer’s agent does not have a legal or fiduciary duty to protect the seller, he can negotiate the price and terms entirely with your interest and preferences in mind.  This is not a small thing.

5.  A Sequim real estate buyer’s agent has no financial incentive to act as your dual agent and make twice his regular commission.  More about this on the video.

6.  A Sequim real estate buyer’s agent has a desire to help you do your due diligence on your home to avoid problem areas, bad septic systems, polluted wells, standing water in the crawl space, and a hundred other potential problems that could crop up in the wrong location or in a house.

A good experienced and professional buyer’s agent will help you find the ideal retirement home without biases, provide you with the best local information to help you make wise decisions about location and other local issues, help you negotiate the best possible price and terms without conflict, and guide you through the contingencies and coordinate transaction details all the way to closing.

Sequim Real Estate

Real more articles on this blog about your Sequim Buyer’s Agent at Sequim Real Estate Buyer’s Agent.

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