Buyer's agents

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

My partner and I are hoping to buy a home in a few months (and man, that time keeps getting shorter). We're looking here in Somerville among other places. Can anyone recommend a good buyer's agent who they think would be good to help a pair of first-time home buyers to get the most for their money and find a good place to call home?

Comments

[ron_newman]

Here's a previous such discussion.

I expect that surrealestate will pipe up shortly ;-)

My friend Rona Fischman is a buyer's broker who lives in West Somerville and is very familiar with the surrounding area.

[ryanwanger.livejournal.com]

I am a buyers agent. Of course, that recommendation doesn't mean much since it's coming from myself! But, if you're thinking about buying in the Davis area, check out my blog which details a lot of the recent condo conversions and other development projects going on in the area.

http://davissquaredevelopment.blogspot.com

[electricube.livejournal.com]

Off-topic, but have a look (http://cos.livejournal.com/55052.html)...

[rising-moon.livejournal.com]

I second the Rona Fischman recommendation. She is fierce and fearless.

John Lynch at William Raveis

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

I know I always recommend him in these discussions, but I'll do it again:

My friend John Lynch at William Raveis. He's a great guy, despite the cheesy website. If you call him, tell him Cori sent you (so I can squeeze a drink or two out of him ;-).

http://www.johnlynchhomes.com/ (he's the guy on the left in the pic.

[afty.livejournal.com]

My wife and I worked with Joanne McDonnell and Linda Montieth from Coldwell Banker on Highland Ave when we bought our condo. They were great, very helpful and really seemed to enjoy their work. Because they work as a team, one of them is always available should you need to get in touch or get things done quickly. As first time home buyers, they were very helpful in explaining the process to us and making sure everything (making the offer, home inspection, hiring an attorney, closing) got done correctly and on time.

[ceo]

Jerry Ficklin, at the Coldwell Banker office on Mass. Ave. 617-515-8331.

[kalliejenn2.livejournal.com]

i was just going to suggest surrealestate!

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

You know, a lot of people have mentioned surrealestate. Oddly enough, even with that username, it never crossed my mind before today that she actually worked in real estate. :)

[ron_newman]

Her LJ name was not surrealestate back when that previous discussion occurred. However, when she changed her LJ name, LJ magically changed all the references to it in all posts and comments.

[water-childe.livejournal.com]

surrealestate helped my husband and I buy our house.
She's excellent. You could not hope for better. :)

cool blog

[winterhill.livejournal.com]

I just checked out your blog and enjoyed looking thru the pictures even though 1. I am a home-owner (in, erm, Winterhill) and 2. I should be working.

Thanks for the link.

[fenicedautun.livejournal.com]

I can't give a recommendation for a buyer's agent, but my real estate lawyer was awesome. Melissa Morrow with Walsh & Sweeney. Neither the buyer or seller agents were great at drafting P&S agreements that I liked, but Melissa spent a lot of time making sure I got what I needed (even while I was traveling for business).

[lissie930.livejournal.com]

We worked with Kendall Luce out of the Huron Ave office of Coldwell. She's awesome! We also have a 2BR condo for sale (with her as our seller's agent) in Union Square in Somerville RIGHT NOW (MLS #70718895), you know, if you're interested! :)

[rethcir.livejournal.com]

Buy something near the future Green Line corridor. In 2014, you can rent it to yuppies and sleep on the piles of money you'll be making.

[t4e-ds.livejournal.com]

I'm currently working with Dave Shorey who's with ReMax in Central Square. He came highly recommended and he's been amazing. Other realtors may do this as well, but one thing I really found useful as a first time home buyer is that he brings a crack team to the table - housing inspection company, mortgage agent, attorney - and they're each exceptionally competent at what they do. It's made the buying and negotiating experience very stress free. His website is at http://www.davidshorey.net/

[timteru.livejournal.com]

I second that! surrealestate has been amazing and has helped us sort through all the complications we've faced so far. We're first-time buyers currently negotiating a purchase. She's done so much to help us understand the process, work with us on evaluating our options, and get things moving forward. We love working with her, and we recommend her highly.

Also she's vegan! w00t!

[obie119.livejournal.com]

Raym de Riis and his partner Donna Reed (yes, I know) are fantastic. Their number is 781-729-7290. Tell them Karin sent you.

And Ryan, that blog is awesome!

Re: cool blog

[ryanwanger.livejournal.com]

Glad you liked it. I would love to be able to cover other areas, but I'm only one man, and there more than enough going on to keep me busy!

However, I sometimes feel like, on average, Winter Hill might have more varied and interesting homes than Davis does...

Re: cool blog

[winterhill.livejournal.com]

Houses here range from really crummy 70's era vinyl-sided monstrosities to 1900s Queen Anne victorians and everything in between. I think it's a more diverse area, to be sure, with a cool mix of income levels, ethnicities, families, old-timers, yuppies and everything in between. I lived in Davis Square for years but when I was ready to buy a home, Winter Hill offered more bang for my buck.

As for your inability to cover all of Somerville, can't you just clone yourself?

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

We know various folks in common, too. Feel free to drop me a line if you'd like to meet over coffee and talk about the home buying process, the current market, and such.

(Also, since I'm a mod, I can delete any recommendations that *aren't* for me... ;)