Just updating the community here about our journey. I know we're a DIY Home Buyer's group, and I've mentioned in Happy Hours that because I'm buying out of state I'm opting for a hybrid approach where I use an agent, but negotiating the rate down. Summary of where we're at: Sale of our Home - We'll most likely list around $1.5M. We're in Duvall, WA, just east of Redmond in the Seattle area. - I've negotiated a sliding commission scale with an agent we know in our neighborhood who is top sales agent in our locale. I'll pay 1% up to $1.5M, and 1.5% over that price. I'll share more in a future happy hour about the conversation we had. The workshopping help I've had in those has really helped.d - It's important to understand that we have spent a month getting our home ready for sale including having a preinspection done with remedies for 25 of the 33 things found and had the inspector remove those items. A full container of stuff has been taken out our home already and it is picture ready, even before I talked with our agent. So we are willing to do the work, and have done most of it. She sees that as well. - In Washington State, you have to specify one of 1) a fixed percentage you'll offer buyer commission, 2) negotiated rate, or 3) none. We'll be choosing option 2 and I've let our listing agent know my sensibilities around paying for other people's agent (not a fan). If they are asking for more than 1% buyer commission, most likely I will counter with the difference as an increase to the price in some for or another, unless they've already increase their price. We live in an area where the supply of homes is lower than the demand, so much of this is a product of that. - We're requiring a rent back until June 21th so our kids can finish school. In our area, this is very common and doesn't weaken our seller position really. - Our home will hit the MLS next Wed/Thurs Purchase of a Home - We're taking the family (5 total) to Phoenix tonight and will look at homes with a top agent (by sales numbers) Friday/Saturday - I asked if she would work for us for 1% commission (our upper limit is $1.25M). She said it's still common in Phoenix to see 2.5% average buyers commission offered by the seller. She offered the "Friends and family discount" where we will split that. If it's below 1%, we'll make up the difference on our own. We're accepting the deal and are signing the agreement this morning before we fly down. FYI, I did bring up that I had heard/read that some agents steer away from listing that don't offer enough. That made her a bit uncomfortable but in a way that she knows we'll be looking for that so I don't think it will be an issue. I don't believe she'll do it. - Even though I'm experienced buying homes (5 so far), I need someone in Phoenix to help us engage in a competitive way when hot properties come on. We can't fly down for every single one and my need her to make the final call. If we were down there already, I would have no problem working as an unrepresented buyer and found out many listing agents are ready to do that. - We won't be buying/getting financing until we get a rent back and have our funds from the sale of the house as we noticed that if we come to a volume lender with a large equity stake rather than the standard 20/80, we see rates as low as 5.2% with excellent credit. We were originally looking at either a bridge loan, or just coming up with a 10% down on a second mortgage, but have opted for this instead.

We're just a few hours away from today's Happy Hour Call! While the priority is always answering the most pressing questions of those within the community, I'll also have a sample Purchase & Sale Agreement ready to look at together. I figure this will be helpful as it'll allow me to talk through the elements of a bona fide offer, contingencies, and some of the strategies I recommend implementing to protect yourself. Hope to see you all at 4pm PT today! Here's the link: https://meet.google.com/sqe-edyx-ces

Today Mauro & Larissa successfully close on their new home in Provo, Utah! I've been working with Mauro & Larissa since early February. They didn't join the Skool group, but found me on YouTube and we started working together one-on-one. While they initially had some trouble with resistance from listing agents, we were able to push through. In early-March, they found a home they like and were prepared to act quickly and confidently. After touring with the listing agent and expressing their intentions to self-represent, they were able to negotiate $20k off the list price (3.5% below list) by not having a buyer's agent. Not to mention the repairs totaling about $1k the sellers agreed to have completed. We had a few hiccups to work through, like the seller's wanting a rent-back period and our need to ensure that Maruo & Larissa were protected for that. We discussed negotiation strategies upfront and during the inspection period. The listing agent also wasn't the greatest or the most clear in communications, so there was a fair amount of pressing for more details and clarification. All in all though, things went great and Mauro & Larissa were thrilled about both the money they saved and the control they had over the process. Once they've moved in, I'm hoping to record a podcast and/or have them on an upcoming Happy Hour call to share more of their experience! In the meantime, wish them well as they get settled in their new home!

What about if you want to sell your own home? I have done this three times now, and used a real estate attorney. The buyers also used an attorney, and it was done very efficiently. Both parties saved money, and the lawyers each got a few hundred dollars for their time and the contract creation. Are there any pitfalls that anyone can see in this scenario? Has worked fine for me.

Thanks so much @Nick Aufenkamp for a fun and super helpful happy hour session today. I'm so glad I attended and appreciated all your thoughtful consideration of my questions, and even more so, the time you spent listening to my current situation and background. Will be back for more happy hours and hope to share some finding as I hit a few open house info gathering appts this weekend. I encourage everyone to attend a meetup with Nick and the rest of the DIY Homebuyer community to listen, learn, and ask questions.