Should You Sign a Buyers Representation Agreement With the new MLS Rules, all agents must have a Buyer Representation Agreement before showing a client any home ( If agent shows a home without an agreement, they may be fined $500.00 and possibly lose their license ) , with a couple of exceptions. During and Open House Showing the agents own listing In each of these cases, the agent is considered representing the Seller. If during one of these showings, the buyer wants the agent to help them buy the home, then a Buyer Representation Agreement is required. Before signing a Buyer Rep Agreement is the time to talk about what the agent will provide. Term Do not feel pressured meeting an agent for the 1st time and sign a long term agreement. The first meeting with a buyer, I have a 1 day agreement. This gives the buyer and me some time to get to know each other. They can see if I am the right fit for them and if their needs are something I confidently help them with. Terms can be for 1 day, a week, 3 months. They also may specify a particular house. Until I get a good working relationship with a buyer, I prefer to keep the terms as short and specific as possible to give buyers time to evaluate my services. Fees Fees are Negotiable. ( That is what this whole rule change is about) Fees may be paid from the Sellers contribution to buyer Fees may be paid by Buyer directly to agent Fees can be a percentage of sales price, a flat fee or be defined as al-carte services. Did I say they are negotiable? Area The defined area the agent will cover. Do not sign an agreement with Texas, or other wide geographical boundary. Good example would be N.W. Houston, specific subdivision or Metro area like Cypress, Katy, Woodlands. Can also be defined Zip Codes or School Districts. Services the agent will provide Full service will be more common. Limited services are also an option. Examples are; How many homes will be shown Days of the week and hours agent can be contacted How many offers negotiated Comparable sale information provided It is critical to sign a Buyers Representation Agreement with ONLY the agent you wish to work with. If you sign multiple agreements, you may be liable to pay an agent who did not write the offer and negotiate the deal a commission.

How Much Equity Do You Have In Your Home It’s easy to get the value of investments by Stock Reports, Bank Statements, IRA reports and such. But there is not a report for the equity you have in your home.  Online companies ( the E-Realty companies )  do not want you to know the real value of your home so they can make their offer with room to take your equity as their profit. Online Real Estate Companies like Open Door, Offer Pad, Zillow and others take advantage by providing an “algorithm’ of what they want your home value to be.  Will offer to buy your home based on their value then resell at a higher price. This “Higher Price” is the equity you earned but left on the closing table.  It’s the money that pays the Middle-Man.    E-Realty companies advertise ease of sale, no hassle, guaranteed closing.  These are all well and good, but how much of your home’s equity will it cost you.  When you add a middleman into any transaction, there is going to be more cost and less profit.  There are times the Middleman makes more money than the sellers. The best way to get a value for your home is to have a local Real Estate company come to your home and show you comparable sales.  Value is calculated based on seeing your home’s amenities, condition, location and other factors that a biased algorithm will not. The Myth of Hassle-Free Transaction Online companies want you to think selling your home is complicated, but it isn’t.  If you are worried about ease of sale, no hassle, guaranteed closing, a good Real Estate Agent is your best ally.   We watch transactions from negotiating best offer and follow the sale thru repairs and regularly check buyer’s loan progressing smoothly. In other words, we make the sale of your home Easy and Hassle Free as possible and provide a better chance to get the full equity you have earned.    Take the middleman out and don’t leave your equity on the closing table. .

As you may have seen on the news, New MLS rules going into effect will greatly change how homes are sold and purchased this August. Since there was a great amount of conflicting or just plain wrong information.  I want to give you a summary of the new changes this August with a quick outline of Then and Now. Please understand that all agents are required to get a Buyer’s Representation Agreement before showing any home.  Without a signed Buyer Representation Agreement, the agent can be fined $500.00 and lose their license. This agreement is negotiable on Fees, Time Frame, Area and other factors.   Then:   Sellers would list their home and the listing agent would advertise the commission paid to buyer’s agent on MLS. A class action lawsuit was filed by buyers saying this did not give them ability to negotiate how much of the home price they paid went to their buyer’s agent There was never a “set Commission rate” . The Commission rate was posted on the MLS . Now      Listing agent will not be able to post rate seller to pay Buyer or buyer’s agent on the MLS but there is a new field with amount seller may provide to buyer concessions. Now     Seller and Listing agent will discuss what, if any, concession will be made to Buyer or buyer’s agent Then:   Buyer’s agent received commission rate posted on MLS.  Buyers may or may not have had a Buyer’s Representation Agreement that would contract the buyer’s agent to work for them in finding a home.  Set a time frame and area the agreement would be in effect Now:     Buyer’s agents are required to get a Buyer’s Representation Agreement (BRA) before showing any homes that will contract the buyer’s agent to work for them in finding a home.  Set a time frame and area the agreement would be in effect It will also Provide opportunity for agent and buyer to discuss fees.  The buyer may negotiate with the agent to be paid 3%, 2%, 1% or a set dollar amount. It may also specify what services the agent will provide. It can be the Full service they do now, or can be from reduced services, (as an A-La-Cart services menu). The services can be paid up front, during or at closing. Outline how the agent will be paid Fees from seller if posted by Listing agent on their website or flyer. (fee cannot be posted on MLS) If the Fee is greater than or equal to the amount negotiated on their Buyer Rep Agreement, all fees for the Buyer’s Agent is paid from Sellers posted fee. If the Fee is less than Sellers Posted fee, the Buyer to pay difference.   Before signing a long-term agreement, get to know the agent and be comfortable with the services, knowledge and experience they will provide you

Claiming Texas Homestead is important and will save you money. If you bought a Texas home in 2021, now is the time to file for you Texas Homestead Exemption.  A quick estimate would be approximately 15-16% of you total Tax Bill. If your taxes are 8,500, Homestead saving would be approx. 1,360 annually or about 113.00 per month.  The basic rules of filing for the Homestead Exemption are Complete the Form and mail After Jan. 1 2022 and Before April 30th 2022 Enclose copy of your Texas Drivers License showing your current property address The property is used as your Primary residence.  (Investment/Rental properties are not allowed )   In 2013 the requirement for a Vehicle Registration with the primary address was dropped from Requirements  Once you complete the form you will never need to refile again. Just a Note for recent home buyers. As with all the other junk mail you received after you close on your new home. You most likely will get mail with offers to file your homestead for a fee.  They will have you provide the same information you would also provide on the Free Form.  So just throw away the spam, junk mail for Homestead and file your own for only the cost of a stamp and envelope. If you had not filed in previous years and are filing now, then you may be eligible for back years, but this is a case by case and you need to ask nicely. Sometimes there are special instances that may have caused you to not file.  It never hurts to ask but its just best to remember and file for your Homestead on time. What does filing for Homestead do for you other than lowering taxes? It generally protects a primary residence from forced sale -- that is, having to sell the home to pay off creditors. The exemption was designed to help a surviving spouse and children keep their home. It also protects a debtors residence if the debtor files for bankruptcy.   Click the following link to download one from HCAD. https://www.hctax.net/Forms/11-13.pdf