Don’t Make This Mistake Buying a Home in DC, Maryland or Virginia!
Big news these past couple of weeks. Plaintiffs won a class action suit against the National Association of Realtors plus several real estate brokerages. Sellers may not pay buyer agent commissions anymore and everyone is FREAKING OUT! What will happen to buyers? What will happen to the buyer’s agent?
First, let me say I grew up in Connecticut on the NY border. Connecticut, New York and New Jersey are some of the states where it was customary the buyer paid the commission and once the buyer found a house, an attorney stepped in to do the negotiation. It is not like that in DC, Maryland or Virginia. Real Estate Attorneys work in the background - they pull title, prepare the legal documents and conduct closing. They are not involved in negotiation and they do not represent the buyer or the seller. They represent the transaction.
So what is everyone saying out there? Let’s take a look!
𝟏. 𝐁𝐮𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐏𝐚𝐲 𝐁𝐮𝐲𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐀𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐇𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐀𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲𝐬!
DC is an attorney-heavy town. There are people here who say “Find the house online and hire an attorney to handle the paperwork and closing.” I have great respect for attorneys. I was raised by one. But when it comes to expediting a process and getting it done, this may not be their forte. In New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, contracts can take 90 days to close. In the DC area we close in less than 30.
If you hired an attorney, you will pay hourly for them to write a contract. Realtors use form contracts that are written to be equally fair to both parties. If a listing agent received two offers - one on the standard contract documents they are used to seeing from buyer’s agents and one with newly written language from your attorney, what will the agent do? Advise their client to have an attorney review your contract. The seller won’t want to incur a cost just to have someone interpret your contract. You may have a better offer, but still lose the house.
The other day on the crazy mom message board, someone posted that they bought a condo instead of a townhome and they didn’t understand there was a difference. They actually bought a townhome-condo which do exist and are a different type of ownership than a fee-simple townhome where you own the land beneath you. There were two alleged attorneys on the thread commenting that there’s virtually no difference between a condo and a townhome. I don’t know where they got their degree, but they need to remove Legal Zoom from their bookmarks. This is horribly incorrect information to tell someone that a condo and a townhome are virtually the same. I can’t believe a real attorney is espousing this.
𝟐. 𝐈 𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞, 𝐈’𝐥𝐥 𝐇𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐀𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐀𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐭.
Could an attorney do the contract and negotiation part? Yes, they are more than capable of it.
But will they hold your hand through inspection and financing? Do they know how lenders work? Or the right amount of days for each contingency? Maybe, but probably not. Realtors who live and breathe this every day know exactly how to navigate the process so you don’t lose time or worse - lose your deposit and lose the house.
Sales is not a one size fits all situation. When things don’t go as planned, and they never do, Realtors get creative in figuring out how to get you what you want while protecting you and protecting your deposit.
Attorneys typically work in an office. But that isn’t how real estate works. It’s a physical job that requires showing up. It’s time in the car, it’s late nights on the phone, it’s being available even when your kid is first learning to walk or ride a bike or swim and missing it because a client needed something. There’s no retainer being held or hours billed for any of this by the way.
𝟑. 𝐈 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐎𝐰𝐧, 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐃𝐨 𝐈 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐅𝐨𝐫?
Thank you internet. It’s brought information right to the palm of everyone’s hand. Many people will find their house online. When clients think they found “the house,” they decide to buy with emotion but back it up with logic. They unconsciously block out the negatives if they even notice them at all.
Finding the home is just the tip of the iceberg in the home buying process.
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If you have any questions about this video, leave a comment! If you have questions about real estate in DC, Maryland or Virginia, my contact info is below.
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Melissa Terzis
📲 (202) 253-9105
📩 Melissa@MelissaTerzis.com
🌐 www.dcrealesta...
TTR | Sotheby's International Realty
1515 14th St NW
Washington, DC 20005
Office: (202) 234.3344
- Melissa Terzis | DC Real Estate Mama