Buyer's Agent Issue...

The long and short of it is that my MIL is planning on giving us our down payment money so we are officially house hunting! YAY! I planned on going with my cousin who is an independent agent and has 30+ years of experience. I come to find that my SIL has just gotten her license and it was "assumed" that we would be using her. I spoke to my cousin...no hard feelings...fine...we are now "working" with SIL. She is doing this very part-time and is in essence "practicing" on us. Short of checking Zillow and MLS everyday, are there other things I can do to be proactive and help move this process along so to speak? Am I able to call up listing agents and arrange showings and then mention that I am working with a buyer's agent or does my SIL have to arrange it to preserve her commission?

Re: Buyer's Agent Issue...

First - just an aside - but you should speak with a mortgage lender if you haven't. You can get a gift for a down payment (for a conventional loan, you need to have a certain % of your own money, but FHA down payments can be all gifts), but there are specific rules and procedures on how to do it, and you want to make sure everything else (credit, debt-to-income) puts you in a good position to buy. You will need a preapproval to make an offer on any property.

Unfortunately, you can't call listing agents directly if you have an agent. If you do, and mention you have an agent, the listing agent will likely say "well why isn't your agent calling?" Plus, if she is representing you as a buyer's agent, a listing agent really shouldn't speak directly to you (kind of like how an attorney can't speak to another attorney's client without the other attorney being present). But why can't you just tell your sister-in-law which properties you are interested in, and then have her research them, call the listing agent, etc.?

To make the process go more smoothly, I would recommend looking into who you plan to use as a home inspector and a real estate attorney, as you really need to move swiftly to contract once you have an accepted offer, esp. in this competitive market.

I would just take it one step at a time and see how sil does. Just because she isn't experienced doesn't mean she won't give it her all and find out answers to what she doesn't know. Every real estate agent (just like every accountant, attorney, doctor, etc.) needs a first client! I know with my first client, I went above and beyond to make sure I did everything correctly, and I had even more time to devote to that client because I was just starting out and wasn't handling multiple clients. So maybe it will work out great!

Good luck!

Re: Buyer's Agent Issue...

I love listingbook.com and used it to find both of our houses. Our agent would find us properties, but we knew what we wanted better than her, so she was able to suggest properties and we were able to comment on them. It also lets you "favorite" properties and leave notes on them for your agent (SIL in your case) and she can set up the appointments. She has to sign you up for it. I would also suggest going to a bunch of open houses. Make sure to tell them you're working with an agent though. We bought our first house after looking at an open house. Good luck!!!!