Two real estate videos on how to buy a home – which is better?

The second video seems to diminish the job of a Realtor and it seems it’s preparing people to do everything themselves and then “Show Off” their skills to the Realtor. As I’m sure everyone knows this can lead to tremendous headaches, delays and all kinds of time wasting details that in my opinion could have the potential for a bad situation.
I’m all for people educating themselves and being fully prepared for the home buying process. However Realtors are professionals who are hired to consult not be order takers or tour guides. Rather than have a video saying “ask friends and family for a Realtor” how about putting as much time and effort into finding a PROFESSIONAL REALTOR and one who’s extremely CREDIBLE than having to do all the other things the second video mentions and then think you can negotiate commissions because you (Believe) have the knowledge.
I would like to STAND UP and Rally Realtors to start raising what it means to be a Realtor. As long as the public looks upon our profession as something that’s an OPTION rather than a REQUIREMENT this will always happen. Also as long as our states let ANYBODY take a two week course and a test to help somebody buy the most important asset of their life this will always happen.

I wouldn’t put either one on my website.

#1 seems a little too basic, and I don’t agree with the part about qualifying for a home price – I would rather have my clients qualified for a house payment (our varying tax rates and HOA dues make a huge difference from neighborhood to neighborhood, so qualifying for a $200K house could really mean anything from $170K to $230K.)

#2 in addition to negotiating your agent’s commission “because you are so knowledgeable”, also suggests finding your own home inspector and not going with the agent’s recommendation. That suggests that the agent is not a trustworthy source. If you don’t trust your agent, you shouldn’t be working with them.

I think Herman may be right that these were done as college intern projects.

I vote for neither video. Love the tip for the consumer to “negotiate the commission” and to show off their knowledge to the agent. I figure watching a two minute video should give them enough expert knowledge to be worth thousands of dollars of my commission, right? I think I’ll let my accountant, doctor, dentist, financial planner, etc. know how much I learned on the Internet and ask them to take a hit on their fee.

Anyone in the industry that doesn’t see the value they bring to the transaction should go ahead and give away their family income (share the commission) because the buyer read something on the Internet…which we frequently have to “un-teach” or put into a real world context. Now don’t get me wrong…I LOVE a buyer who is involved and knowledgeable and I’m certain working together as agent and customer produces a better result.

True professionals who are at the top of the industry EARN their fee. There are always consumers who conduct business based on price and others who want a fair price but also seek knowledge, reputation, value, professionalism and many other things instead of price alone. After the transaction, do you think most consumers remember the fees they saved or the quality of the service, experience and guidance? People do compare price but my experience is that the bargain shoppers quite often aren’t thrilled after the sale when they consider the value for their dollar.

Information without context and organization is chaos. Learning how to buy or sell a home in a two minute video shows the mindset of too many people these days. Sure, you can learn how to start off on the biggest financial decision of your life with ten tips in a two minute video, right? Silly! So I can Google “buy a home” and get a couple million results and probably many different opinions.

Both videos were terrible! Let me clarify, the video’s were definitely professionally made, but the message they give to the public is horrible. They’re telling buyers how to take control where it’s really the Realtor who needs to take control.

Buyers who view this information are the ones who spend 1-2 years+ searching for a home and definitely a waste of one’s time to work with.

Also, the second video tells the buyer to “workout a deal” with the agent and have them discount their commission… wow

Lani, I liked number one better and put it on my blog before I wrote this comment.
Of course it’s not perfect, it’s a couple minutes of information explaining a process that can takes months.
Vicki, hit the nail on the head. There is way too much focus on sales price and not enough on monthly payment (that applies to our whole industry). Loan programs vary, so do interest rates and property taxes, so a homebuyer should focus on the payment for each home they view, more than the price.
As a lender, I can tell you that the price is only important to us if it matches the appraised value. We use the monthly payment as our starting point.

Of the two, I like #1. But as someone said previously, I don’t think either are very good.