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After we moved to Albuquerque we rented one of those brand new houses south of I-40 near Coors unknowingly after the property management area assured us it was a safe area.
We saw three evictions on that street, two arson attempts, one dead body behind the house and some very obvious drug dealing. Apart from that it was great!
So....i didn't know there was such a thing as a "buyer's agent"....How do you find one? I haven't seen this adveertised anywhere....
I will send you a DM with a referral of one that worked for us and worked very well.
Essentially, a "buyer's agent" is just a regular realtor, however, he/she isn't the person trying to sell the house.
So that's how you have to think about it. So if you see an ad for a house, obviously the folks trying to sell it have contracted with the person(s) in the ad - eg: their realtor(s) - to market and sell their house. So if you see "House X" and it is being sold by "Realtor Y from Coldwell Banker" or what have you, just think what his/her vested interest is - it is to sell that house!
So if you deal with that person yourself (not a real estate professional), they'd try their best to sell you that house. It is their job.
However, if you have a real estate agent yourself representing YOUR interests, that person's perspective is different - they will want to help you buy a house, sure, but A house, not THAT house. So instead of being sold to directly by a real estate professional, the house seller's real estate professional will have to sell to not just you but also YOUR real estate professional.
Remember, you don't pay your realtor until the commission from the purchase of your home. So that person *works for you* and your interests. Its a big difference than the person trying to sell any particular house who is working in the interests of selling that house specifically.
As for how you find a good realtor to work with to buy a home, I would certainly suggest referrals if you get them from friends / colleagues, etc., folks that you know / trust that have had success with particular realtors. However, truly, nearly any realtor will work with you in buying a home, so just call a CB or a few different firms and speak to a few different realtors to "interview" them and see who you'd most feel comfortable with.
I do know that there are some EXCELLENT regular posters here on the ABQ CD Forum that are realtors as well, who I would presume would be excellent to work with as another option. Talk to a few folks and see who fits your personality the best.
Yeah, my wife and I in 2006 were looking for a bigger house and looked at many new homes in the Southwest, around the 98th and Unser area.
I think the other more seasoned ABQeans have give very sound advice. For a year or two, I was convinced that there were many decent enough, nice enough neighborhoods in the newer and growing areas of the Southwest, especially for the reasonable prices. However, over time, I have become convinced that I was wrong, and I am glad that I ended up not buying there.
If for no other reason, as yukon pointed out, it is so new and barren still, it is one of the few unaesthetically pleasing areas of the town. Moreover though, it is so freaking far from most anywhere else (including even basic grocery stores, etc., in most cases), you'd end up logging many, many miles on your car - for all sorts of even basic things - that it likely would become quite tedious (and this for a town that in generally has very short commutes / little in way of commuting).
But yeah, I would concur that even neighborhoods that I saw - that *on the surface* looked nice enough - when digging a little deeper, you could see the elements of real shadiness. Why expose oneself to a crime or sketchy element like that, especially when there are so many other much nicer and affordable reasonable places to live in ABQ? Just not a place a newer resident of the town to likely try to cut their way to get good footing in.
I do certainly know / realize / fully appreciate where you are coming from. The sizes and newness of the houses in relation to their amazingly low prices are very tempting...like a siren's song. Believe me, it even woo'd me. However, remember, pricing like that in comparison is priced for a reason.
Thank you to all those who have given honest and candid responses.
(I'm choosing to ignore the sarcastic ones... )
Obviously, we do NOT want to be in an unsafe or crime-ridden area. My husband will be traveling a lot and gone many nights. I will be home with kids until such time as they decide to leave home (High school junior and senior next year) then I will be home alone. I want to not only FEEL safe but BE safe!!!
Perhaps you can understand the confusion - a bad neighborhood looking "good". That doesn't happne in Tulsa . When you driveinto a bad part of town, you KNOW it.... You get out!!! ugh!!!
I will take the advice of those more knowledgeable than myself and totally take the southwest region off my radar screen. I just wanted to confirm that my previous information was correct and I had not misunderstood it. Thank you for your patience!
I'm thinking we shoudln't even drive into the SW quadrant either....is that right? or is it safe during daylight hours? just wondering....
I'm thinking we shoudln't even drive into the SW quadrant either....is that right?
That is a rather broad brush you are trying to paint with. The SW quadrant is fairly sizable and would include much of Downtown, the Zoo area, and the National Hispanic Cultural Center, not to mention quite a few local favorite eating establishments. So, I wouldn't necessarily go to that extreme.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rgmacm
or is it safe during daylight hours? just wondering....
First let me say that I am one of the strongest proponents of newcomers NOT setting up digs in the SW Mesa/Westgate area. That being said, I personally have no problem whatsoever traveling anywhere in ABQ during daylight hours. This includes the SW Mesa, the "War Zone", and the South Valley. (Most folks, myself included, don't have a lot of call to go to these areas unless they actually live there.)
BUT... there is a big difference between driving through/visiting areas like these and actually setting up shop and living there, particularly if you have kids.
So... to answer your question: I don't think you should necessarily block off the SW parts of town as "forbidden" zones. Just use common sense and don't linger in the less savory areas of town, particularly after the sun's gone down.
Remember, you don't pay your realtor until the commission from the purchase of your home. So that person *works for you* and your interests.
Just to clarify - You don't pay the buyers agent as long as you find a home which is listed on the MLS or one which offers a consideration to buyers agents (all homes on the MLS do). The seller agrees to pay a commission to the Broker listing the house who in turn offers a percentage to an agent who brings them a buyer.
As a buyers agent I would not get paid a cent until after closing/funding. That means you can bet your bottom dollar I would work my butt off for the buyer making sure they were 100% happy and found the home they fell in love with.
Another thing to take into consideration is that some buyers agents require you to sign a form agreeing for you to use them for X # of months. Once you have signed this form you are obligated to use them and you can not talk to another Realtor as long as this is in effect, even if you are unhappy with the service they provide you will more than likely be expected to honor that contract. There have been posters on here who have emailed me questions but because of this rule I am forbidden to answer them.
First let me say that I am one of the strongest proponents of newcomers NOT setting up digs in the SW Mesa/Westgate area. That being said, I personally have no problem whatsoever traveling anywhere in ABQ during daylight hours. This includes the SW Mesa, the "War Zone", and the South Valley. (Most folks, myself included, don't have a lot of call to go to these areas unless they actually live there.)
BUT... there is a big difference between driving through/visiting areas like these and actually setting up shop and living there, particularly if you have kids. Chap
Northwest other than Rio Rancho. (I don't have anything against Rio Rancho except its distance from my husband's commute....uhmmmm - El Paso at it's furtherest point.... ugh!!)
For that reason, we're leaving Rio Rancho as our absolute last resort. I guess if we had to move there, we would, but would like to exhaust all other options first.
If you had to put the above 3 areas in a list of Best to Worst (or "least best" ha!!) what would the order be?
Based on:
-crime/safety
- traffic/time involved in getting to the interstate
- house values/resale value (There's always the possibility that I will miss "home" and family so much I will want to sell and return to Oklahoma...I need to keep that option open....sorry, but it's the truth....)
- At least some GRASS! - even if it's only a 12 x 12 plot ha!! You can take the girl out of Oklahoma, but you can't take Oklahoma out of the girl. (please don't be offended by that...that's certainly not my intention....
Last edited by rgmacm; 07-29-2009 at 10:43 PM..
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) 
changing gears - what about other areas?
ugh!!)
