Monday, March 31, 2008

Class for Chelsea first time home buyers


In two weeks we are having our next free home buying class.

The class runs about 90 minutes and is packed with information on the processes and problems you might face as a first time home buyer.

Click on the link above for more information.

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Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Maryland court rules that real estate agents can break law

I just heard the very unfortunate outcome of a two year court battle centered around a real estate company's obligation to disclosure their agency status.

The link above is an article on the history, but here is a short version:

The buyer hires a company to represent him as his buyer's agent.

Then the agreement expires and they don't tell him. They act like they are still on his side, but get him to sign a purchase agreement that puts him and his whole earnest money at risk.

When he finds out he has been scammed, he tries to stop the process, and he goes to court to get his earnest money back.

Now, 2 years latter, after the real estate agents admit that they broke the agency disclosure law. The court finds that the buyer still looses his earnest money along with tens of thousands of dollars in court costs.

Very unfortunate. And a strike against buyer's rights.

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Monday, March 10, 2008

Fake Buyer Agents - Now Fake Exclusive Buyer Agents

Most home buyers don't start out wanting to know about agency.

Usually they get interested if they get burned by a bad real estate agent or if they read the many consumer publications that advocate using a buyer agent or an exclusive buyer agent.

If you do research you will find that the definition of "Exclusive Buyer Agent" is a company who only represents buyers, never sellers. They never take listings.

However now there are some real estate agents who are falsely advertising "EBA" in hopes of tricking uneducated buyers. It is quickly becoming a national problem.

Julie Tuggle, a home buying expert from North Carolina recently posted an article here that goes into some detail here:

Will the REAL Exclusive Buyer's Agent Please Stand Up?

The bottom line, if you want to buy a home it is worthwhile to learn the real story about buyer agency.

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