Indianapolis, IN Area Real Estate Blog: Carmel, Fishers, Geist, Noblesville, Westfield, Indiana

What do you do if you are a home buyer and you can't find a Real Estate Agent willing to negotiate to rebate part of the commission they are going to receive back to you, the home buyer? The question was asked on fatwallet.com, and the responses about real estate agents unwilling to share their commission with home buyers are right on the money.

I think the short answer should be "KEEP LOOKING" until you find HowToBuyAHome.com, but of course that is just my opinion.

Lets just say that you would like to get a rebate, that sound pretty good but you still want Full Service, is that right?" (Google "Realtors that rebate commission" and you will find quite a few.) As far as "Customer Service" goes, the one thing most of the individual Realtors are willing to give you if you use their service will be the opportunity to do most of the work yourself before you call them to show up to write the offer, go to the closing, collect the commission and give you a Rebate. (Like they're doing you a favor. Huh?)

You really want to take your time and read the small print on most of the "Rebate Agreements" that are out there, especially the part about minimum commissions.

Or you could read about a few of my clients' experiences and see if these people feel the way that you would like to feel after everything is said and done, and you are living in your new home. Every one of these people got some sort of discount or rebate or combination there-of, (I worked out a really nice discount package for clients that had a house to sell first before they could buy their next house,) yet most of them were so happy with the level of service that they received they didn't even mention the discount or rebate. But if I told them I wanted it back, I'd bet they would yell pretty loud.

Another house in the Springs of Avalon in Fishers makes it onto my Pick of the Week list. While it's a nice house, with good bones and location, I am not quite as excited about this house as I was about last week's pick in the same sub-division - BLC# 21151611. That house, while in a higher price range ($330s,) showed very aggressive pricing (which is why I included the comparables.)

This week's house, a five year old Pulte home has a great location in low traffic area of the sub-division. It's comps show that it is priced correctly for the market (no discount,) which means that if we like it, we'll have to get a better deal on it or we keep looking. I would like to see my clients buy this house for the mid to high $230's. That having been said, this house stood out when I did a search in Fishers in the $230 to $250 price range.

Also, it is my opinion that in this price range you need to buy a house with a full basement instead of a house on a crawl space or slab. Some of the houses that I looked at were bigger, but had no basement. Over the years, I have found that people that buy a bigger houses with no basement are usually back looking again in about 3 to 5 years, and they always say the same thing, "NO STORAGE!"

BLC# 21147985 - this 5 year-old Pulte Home in the Avalon of Fishers Sub-division is
a Stand-Out in the $230 - $250,000 Price Range

Features and amenities of this 4 bedroom / 3 bath home include:

• Hardi-Plank siding (very low maintenance)
• 9 foot ceilings on the main level
• Good use of space
• Upgraded cabinets and appliances
• Hardwood flooring
• Living room, family room, and a separate office
• Eat-in kitchen with breakfast nook
• Basement (a little over 1/2 has been partially finished [framing, drywall and electrical are done] - floor covering, paint and trim needed to finish it off

Great covered porch awaits new homeowners.

Interior includes an impressive entry way with the open stairs and a gourmet kitchen.

I will be showing this house this weekend to a couple of my clients. If you would also like to see it, just give me a call. This isn’t my listing, and I’m not getting any kind of compensation for telling you about this house, so if we get together to look at this house, I will be representing you the Buyer, and only you the Buyer.

If you are interested in taking a look at this property, and have not already hired a Buyers' Agent, give me a call at (317) 446-1605. I'll be glad to take you on an inspection tour. For more information about this great home, go to our Property Search page and enter 21147985 in the Listing Number search box.