How Your Realtor Gets Paid For Representing You as a Buyer

Sunday, July 22nd, 2007 at 6:49pm. 742 Views, 0 Comments.

If you are a first time home buyer, then you may or may not be aware of how we get paid to serve you.

In a normal situation, the agent who is representing the buyer gets paid a percentage(usually half) of the fee that the seller is paying his or her agent. So in most situations, the seller is being charged 5-6% of the sale price of the home, and usually half of that is what the buyer's agent receives for his/her work.  Out of that, we must pay our broker a percentage and we must pay taxes as well. As a home buyer, you won't actually pay me anything to represent you.

We don't get paid until your deal closes, which is why it is important for me to establish an understanding of the commitment I am making to my client from the outset.

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Acorn and Cal HFA Financing For First Time Buyers In Oakland and The East Bay

Friday, July 13th, 2007 at 12:09pm. 541 Views, 0 Comments.

The Bay Area market is one of the highest priced markets in the country, so naturally it's more difficult for first time buyers to afford to buy here. Luckily, there are several programs that are being offered by various lenders that allow the borrower get a much better interest rate than they normally would.

Two of these programs are ACORN and Cal HFA. Acorn is a non-profit organization that works with chosen lenders to provide below market interest rates to borrowers. Currently the Acorn program offers an interest rate on a 30 year fixed loan that is approximately 1/2 of a point lower than the current market rate. This means less interest charged to you, which in turn means that you have more purchasing power than you would otherwise have. There are…

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MLS Market Stats for Oakland: 2006-2007 Comparison

Wednesday, July 4th, 2007 at 3:22pm. 512 Views, 0 Comments.

Oakland MLS Statistics

Mar. 2006-Mar.2007 Comparison

Here is an overview of the Oakland real estate market, comparing the most important market stats between 2006-2007.

Category                                    2006                                    2007

Active                                      1,541                                   1,481

Status to Pending                   324                                       274

Status to Sold                          295                                       261

High Price                                 $3,650,000                         $3,150,000

Low Price                                  $129,000                            …

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