When you hire a buyer’s broker they are supposed to SAVE YOU MONEY by reducing the price of a home (hopefully by more than they charge for their service). Recently someone asked which company delivers the biggest price reductions. We surveyed the data for 10 of the biggest (by transaction volume) buyer’s brokers and here’s what we found.

1. Jebb & Driggin Realty - 5.83%
2. Territory Real Estate - 4.14%
3. Buyers Choice Realty - 3.70%
4. Realtime Real Estate- 3.52%
5. Redfin* - 3.34%
6. John A. Keith* - 2.88%
7. The Buyers Network - 2.65%
8. Condo Domain - 2.50%
9. Fidelis, The Buyer’s Agent - 2.48%
10. Working Dog Real Estate - 2.11%

* Redfn and John A. Keith take entry-only listings.
** Rankings are based on transaction data that was collected from MLS Property Information Network, Inc. between 8/26/07 and 8/26/08.

There is nothing like getting a second chance to snag a property. Our editors sifted through properties that have come Back On Market (BOM) and found some steals. Click here to see single families and condo’s in Brockton, Norwood, Newton, Acton, Quincy, Jamaica Plain, and Natick, to name a few.

Hand picked by the Territory Team from all the open houses in Brookline this Sunday, this link takes you to properties we think are interesting deals. Click the house icon next to each property address to get the open house times.

Click Here to see 5 single families that caught our eye while perusing new to market single families. Needham, Natick, South Natick, Framingham, and Arlington are all represented.

A single and 2 condo’s caught our eye this week.

This gorgeous single family in Jamaica Plain has retained its original Victorian Glory. 4,000 square feet, total of 6 bedrooms and 5baths (in law suite included). Huge gorgeous master with origial pine floors and fireplace.

1bed/1bath 639 square foot condo at The Fenway with private parking included (plus near the train) for under $400,000!

Beautiful 2bed/1bath condo with gorgeous original detail and fully upgraded kitchen for under $440,000!

Do some agents arbitrarily choose not to show buyers FSBO listings? Mr. Melby in Milton says they do. According to him - and his supporters - FSBO owners tend to be “Kookie,” and represent “more work,” so are therefore not worth the bother.

Do some agents arbitrarily not show you listings because they don’t get paid enough? Mr. Melby in Milton says they do.

This admitted practice by real estate agents, spouted publicly on the Trulia Voices forum, started a heated debate which carried all the way over to Real Estate Radio USA’s August 7th show. Here is Mr. Melby’s quote from the Trulia Voices thread that spurred the dispute:

“Many real estate brokers also skip showing listings that offer only 2%. Why waste a buyer on 2% if other properties are offering 2.5% or 3%”

Not only did this quote expose Mr. Melby’s gross sales tactics, it also set off Territory’s very own Marla Mullen on a rant that landed her on Real Estate radio this past Thursday. She was given the opportunity to express live her opinion about why it is so difficult to trust any %-paid real estate agent (eh hem, that means almost all of them). (FYI, Mr Melby was also offered the opportunity to “defend” his statements but declined … pretty sure we can all guess why).

Click here to hear Territory’s very own “Shining Star” stick up for all buyers and sellers alike across the USA.

A special thanks goes out to Barry & Barry

Do you know what properties your agent is keeping from YOU? To guarantee your interests are protected and that you will have a fun and educational buying experience, sign up with Territory today.

Redin.com - our innovative cousin in Seattle, who offers a reduced brokerage service at a reduced price, has released a research report on the characteristics of homes that sell at the biggest discounts.  They suggest that identifying certain features during a home search may make it easier to find homes that will sell at a significant discount.  According to the research, homes sales that were in the top ten percentile of discount off asking price were…

• 83% more likely to be 90+ days on market
• 73% more likely to be described as fixer-uppers
• 52% more likely to have been seller-owned for more than 20 years
• 28% more likely to have already dropped in asking price

So here’s what you want to do. You want to search for 90+ high days on market, keyword “fixer-upper”, last sold 20 + years ago, and at least one price drop.  Ok go get em. Oh, a Territory disclaimer: A large discount off asking price does not necessarily indicate the home has sold below market value. Some agents/sellers like to “list em high” and “sell em low”.

Bankrate.com has released their 2008 closing cost study. They pegged the average closing costs in Massachusetts at $3,130.00

Nationwide, the average origination and title fees on a $200,000 mortgage this year totaled $3,118.  Fees in New York City were highest, averaging $4,016. North Carolina had the least expensive closing costs with an average of $2,650.

The primary driver of the mortgage crisis was the US government’s decision to encourage lenders to issue mortgage loans to people who were not likely to be able to pay them back.

They did this by subsidizing two companies (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) to purchase high risk mortgages at the same value as that of low risk mortgages. The subsidy was delivered in the form of a US Government backed insurance policy.

Prior to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for-profit banks would either refuse to issue high risk mortgage loans or they would charge interest rates high enough to account for the increased risk. The introduction of this government guarantee allowed banks to issue the high risk loans accompanied with low risk interest rates and then move them off their books by reselling them into the subsidized secondary market (operated by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac).

The motivation for the current $300 Billion Housing Rescue Bill is simply that the US Government doesn’t want to (or maybe can’t afford to) make good on it’s insurance policy. Instead it will prolong the bleeding as long as possible because it’s like a game of musical chairs. When the music stops whomever’s running the country is going to get stuck without a chair.

There is little debate that the original policy had socialist origins and rewarded fiscally irresponsible Americans at the expense of fiscally responsible Americans. Considering that the social security and medicare programs have the same philosophical origins the US may encounter a number of similar crises in the not so distanc future .

Today @ 4:20pm, Territory’s Co-Founder Marla Mullen will be interviewed on Real Estate Radio USA. Turn your speakers up and stay tuned.