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Do not choose by the looks!…

          Do not choose by the name!… 


                 Certainly do not choose by the car the real estate agent is driving!

    I would say that the knowledge about the area is crucial to the extend that you will get the most house for your money if you are the Buyer or the best price if you are the Seller. A good Agent with matching experience will help you “MONIEFY” your decision. Don’t look for this word in the dictionary, it’s not there! Everybody hopes to make money ether by buying cheep or selling high down the road and this is what I call “MONIEFY”. When I say experience, I don’t mean in real estate anywhere, but in real estate for the place you are inquiring about. It doesn’t do much good if you hire somebody who worked for 20 years in Colorado and just transferred to Florida. Living in one-place helps a lot to better understand the diversity and changes the area is going through and could benefit you, the Client.

    Another very important qualification a Real Estate Agent must have is excellent communication skills. Since you are going to spent time together you don’t want to drag around a person who draws negative emotions from you.

    Then, ask about the Process. Evaluate His/Her knowledge and self-esteem. Ability to listen and not interrupting is critical as to finding out what kind of outcome is the Client expecting. Usually people who know what they are doing have calm personalities and good self-esteem. I see many agents making the mistake of imposing their opinion on Clients they find hesitant. Relying too much on their experience some times they disregard the wishes and ideas of the Client, which leads to bad results and misrepresentation. Look for knowledgeable communicative person and do not hesitate to ask him/her questions! Lot’s of them – until you become confident that the deal you are getting is the deal that you want!

                               - The Process
                               - The Scary of Paper work

     There are so many papers to be signed during the process of buying / selling, that even the real estate agents get confused some times. New forms come out every day and to keep up with it is not so easy. Most of it came from the real estate boom last few years, which uncovered many bald spots in the Transactions. The Real Estate Division is desperately trying to patch them in order to protect the participants from fraud and lawsuits. In many cases having the right forms at the right times make all the difference in the world to between winning and loosing from a Deal to a Law Suit. Since the business of Real Estate is nothing more than management of communications (for the most part), miscommunication is the biggest problem haunting it. I still can’t believe how many people in the business continue to get in trouble because of misunderstandings, which could have been avoided simply by having people talk to each other instead of assuming that telepathy and other extraterrestrial information flow exist.

                               - The Process
                               - How To Choose A Real Estate Agent

    First of all what you need to understand is that the Process I am describing here takes place in Las Vegas, NV and may not be as useful elsewhere in US. There is a number of people working on every single Real Estate deal towards a same common goal-to make the deal go through and close escrow. Some of these people you will meet and others you won’t, but every single one of them wants to finish this in a positive way, so they can get paid. SIMPLE AS THAT! And they know that they should work so, that everybody from both sides (Buyer/Seller) is happy or there is no deal, which means no payday and none of them wants to see that happening after all the time and money spend. Let me mention some of these team members so you better understand the next part of the PROCESS.

    First you choose a Real Estate Agent to help you find or sell a home and represent you throughout the transaction. Your Agent is your best friend. There is another just as good friend to you whom you may never see in person but he/she is watching every step of the way, because is legally liable for your Agents conduct – that person is your Agents Broker who gets paid part of the commission or a flat fee.

    Same structure is valid for the other side of the transaction (Agent, Broker, Client). Some times you may see the Broker working directly with the Client, but that is not a common practice. That’s why the Brokers hire Agents, so they don’t have to go out and do it themselves.

    So far we have the Real Estate side of the team (both sides Brokers, Agents, Buyer and Seller). Now let’s move to the Mortgage (Loan) part.

    If the Buyer doesn’t have the money cash (99% of the cases) will need to find a Lender (Bank, Mortgage Company, etc.) to finance the purchase. Usually, the Agent would pre-qualify the Buyer before they start looking at potential properties and this is the practice I prefer. It saves all of us valuable time. After finding a lending company, Buyer meets with a Loan Officer to help with the paper work and choose the right Loan, than the Loan Officer sends the paper work to the Processor. The Processor is somebody you may hear from if they need more information and then the file goes to the most important person on the Mortgage team, The Underwriter. If the file is complete and The Underwriter signs it off, the money is ready to go to Escrow.  The Mortgage team (Loan Officer, Processor, Underwriter) is getting paid partially by charging fees to the Buyers closing cost and partially by the Bank they got the money from.

    Then everything happens in Escrow (Title Company). Some states are using attorneys instead. One of the Buyers Agents job is to open Escrow with an Escrow Officer after the purchase contract was signed and accepted by both parties. Once Escrow is opened the Escrow Officer becomes the coordinator of the Process until it closes successfully. In order for that to happen, all the paper work gathered from RE Agents, Banks, Mortgage Co., etc., should be satisfactory to the standards of the State Law. One of the major roles of Escrow is to issue a Title insurance to the property, which means they made sure that all the liens and debts have been paid off prior to Close of Escrow, so the Buyer gets Clear Title and if someone shows up later and claims they had an interest in the property and were not paid to their satisfaction, they have to settle the dispute with the Title Company not with the Buyer. If the Seller did not pay his liabilities and did not disclose them prior to Close of Escrow, the Escrow may settle the claim and go after the Seller to recover the damages.

    Charging Buyer and Seller fees to their closing cost pays the Escrow Office, Title Officer and their assistants.

    Now I hope, you The Client, understood better the confusing sometimes Process of moving a Real Estate Transaction. And before we proceed to the next segment I would like to remind you that the above is mostly valid for the State of Nevada and especially for Las Vegas, where I work and live for 15 years. Most other states even though similar may surprise you with terminology, order and institutions different that the said above.

                               - The Scary of Paper work
                               - How To Choose A Real Estate Agent
 

Project:    Allure
Total Planned Units:   403
Builder:   Fifled Companies



Click here to see the floor plans




To get price information please, click here.

      The creation of this page has a very simple purpose. To ease the pressure and frustration, you as a home Buyer/Seller have, when it gets to purchasing or selling a home. And there is lots of it, especially for the first timers or those who have not done a transaction for a long time.

     I remember buying a house for a first time in downtown Las Vegas in early 90's. I couldn't figure, why the Real Estate Agent was trying to make me sign all these papers before I even decided on a house. Why don't we just look at houses and let it settle for a while? Well, the papers were not more then a formality and the houses I was interested in were selling fast, so it wasn't the agent, but my own frustration and lack of knowledge about the Process that made me feel uneasy. Now 15 years later being a Realtor myself, I would like to share my experience, not only as an Agent, but also as a person been on both sides of the game and understanding what people go through to make it happen.

                               - The Process
                               - The Scare of Paper work
                               - How To Choose A Real Estate Agent