Realtors - Am I wrong to be pizzed??

[ImaPoser]

Dont underestimate the "non prequalified buyer" When I bought my place I showed up in my dirty "factory worker" clothes and the realtor took one look at me and all but told me to take a hike.

Same situation here. We wanted to be in a specific area, and when the house came on the market, we made an appointment to see it the next day. I came straight from work, still dressed like a slob. The owners of the house didn't bother to leave since they figured there was no way we were a serious buyer. We put in an offer the next day.


I wouldn't be too pissed about a realtor being a couple hours late. In the current market, I would just be happy that they got someone to come through.

 

[DonziGirl]

I don't think the owners of Tony's house saw it as "fix -r -upper". To them, everything was fine. And it would be if you liked blue... a LOT!



I'm just learning about the realtor process but mine warned me that her information is only so good as the other realtor (for the buyer). Sometimes it's the other realtor's that are inconsiderate, sometimes it's the buyers. I had a showing today. They were supposed to get there sometime between 5 and 6. I'm at Tony's this weekend so I have no idea if they showed up or not.

I think you have every right to be upset at the other realtor for being late, but not at yours.

 

[Tony]

Thanks for the replies everyone - and believe me, I see both sides of the coin.
Tony, I understand what you're saying, BUT, you walked into a place expecting to do work, and make the upgrades yourself, as a young man getting started - sure.
My house is already done. It was new when I moved in, and I just did all the upgrades.
I'm sure someone wil want to move in and make some changes, or make it "there own", but all the detail work is already in place. It's not a "starter home", or a project, or a fixer-upper.
I hope you don't take that the wrong way - I certainly don't mean it that way.
I had a couple come into the house and glance it over today that are the same age as my step-daughter and her boyfriend - let's be realistic, and they should be shopping for the rental that has been foreclosed down the street.
If they can afford my house, GREAT!!
I don't care who it sells to, I just need to make it go, so I can get to AZ.

I'm just pizzed that I'm exhausted from a weekend seeing family before I move, and coming back to having a realtor make an appt. and miss it by over an hour.

My place wasnt exactly a "starter" I bought it for the building and acerage but thats neither here nor there, and not every young home buyer is a trust fund baby. In this market take what you can get and be happy. Be fully prepared to get a lot of insulting offers, while you may not "have" to sell, many do right now and buyers are using it to their advantage. You may have slaved away and made the house perfect for you, thats not to say the next guy isnt going to gut the place and start over becase he wants something different. Good luck, were trying to dump Donzi's place right now. I'l be in and out of Cincy probably a handfull of times in the next few months, let me know if you need anything.

 

[Tony]

this is what happens when you each have a laptop on one end of the couch.

 

[MarylandMark]

In this market take what you can get and be happy. Be fully prepared to get a lot of insulting offers, while you may not "have" to sell, many do right now and buyers are using it to their advantage.

True true true!!!

I'm house shopping and my theory is if I'm not embarrassed by my offer than it is not low enough.

2.2M foreclosures last year; 6M+ predicted in the next 2.5-3 years...

My offers in the last 2 months:

$360K list price- I offered $230K. Neat smaller house, needs $150K to get it to where I want it.
$635K list price- I offered $380K. Needs $50K in updates (Kitchen).
$835K list price- I offered $600K Really like this one so went higher than the $540K I wanted to offer and needs nothing.

The one I looked at today is listed at $399K, down from $615K and I'm going to offer in the $280K range. It is still under construction and a short sale- needs about $80K to complete it.

All my offers come with a "commitment to lend letter" (not a BS pre-qual or pre-approval) as well as 1.5% earnest money deposit.

If you have a SERIOUS buyer you will know it

 

[MarylandMark]

this is what happens when you each have a laptop on one end of the couch.

Me and the GF do that all the time- send emails back and forth with friends when we are 2 feet away from each other

 

[Madpoodle]

ALL houses on the market are someone's starter house, you need to admit that and you'll be better off.. No matter how nice YOU think it is, how perfect it suits YOUR needs, someone else sees it as needing work to get it to THEIR liking. I learned a long time ago to look past the fluff (or lack of) and see a house's "bones". If the bones are good, the rest is just details..

 

[clayinaustin]

Personal opinion, and your welcome to it Clay.

You are correct. Realtors perform a very important function for most people. I have some good realtor friends, and I recommend them to my other friends.

But, I have never used one, and I probably never will.

 

[fund razor]

My Dad has been fisbo'ing since the 60s. I think that he pays an appraiser and a title company.
I was going to fisbo mine, but found a renter for now.

 

[Slandrew]

I hire Realtors on all my deals and I'm a realtor!:sifone:If you do hire a Realtor get the right to sell private for 1% You will learn fast it's not as easy as some on here portray it to be:boxing_smiley:

 

[tommymonza]

Inlaws have their house listed for 2.4 . The house is not some overvalued piece left over from the hype market, it is a true 2.4 house.
They are European and see things at a different perspective .At 1st they were mystified about the amount of people looking at the house and not having any follow up by the realtor .but now they feel that the realtors are just showing it to anybody. Most that are clearly not qualified to buy a home of that caliber.

Needless to say they are very fed up and ready to be done with the listing.

 

[bluellama]

I was selling my house on my own and the realty co. I bought it from (century 21) was bad mouthing it, telling the customers it was in a flood zone (on the lake) since then I have no use for them either.

Bobcat, was it in the floodplain?

Knowing that information, and not disclosing to a potential client would land my ass in a whole lot of hot water.

 

[mragu]

Buoy, If you listened to the people here who have stated that you should sell it yourself, you would not have been able to go away for the weekend
Personally I would have told the agent to come back another time. Like any profession there are good agents and bad agents. For the record, it is a national fact that a home sold by a realtor and an "unrepresented seller" (fsbo) has a NATIONAL AVERAGE of being sold for 15% less, which is great for buyers, not sellers. Factor on the 4-6% that a COMPETENT realtor EARNS when selling a home you are ahead 9-11%. THATS THE FACT JACK!!!!

 

[Bobcat]

Bobcat, was it in the floodplain?

Knowing that information, and not disclosing to a potential client would land my ass in a whole lot of hot water.

no, it was the same question I asked century 21 when I bought it from them 7 years earlier ( family owned business) I did not want to pay extra insurance. when I first put it up on my own they kept calling asking for the listing, it was only when people would stop by and tell me they were warned off the house by the realtors down the street, pretty unethical. it sold without them

 

[bluellama]

no, it was the same question I asked century 21 when I bought it from them 7 years earlier ( family owned business) I did not want to pay extra insurance. when I first put it up on my own they kept calling asking for the listing, it was only when people would stop by and tell me they were warned off the house by the realtors down the street, pretty unethical. it sold without them

You're right. That's very unethical. Our regulations, and the body that controls our industry seem to be a little more stringent than some of the associations in the States. Any type of misrepresentation can land you infront of the regulatory body.

Real Estate Council of Ontario ... http://www.reco.on.ca/

 

[Madpoodle]

mragu,

Curious how old the facts are, and what areas they are using for the numbers. I'm sure For Sale by Owner has their own figures to dispute yours.

Regardless, the decision is partially influenced by the area. The last house I sold, I was advised by two realtor friends NOT to list with a realtor, but to fsbo it and save the commission. There is a certain stigma placed on the house by the local realtors when you do it this way it seems, I had several try and hardball me. One of them told her client (after I told her if she wanted commission on it she needed to negotiate that with her client BEFORE she showed him the house) not to make me an offer, but wait and sweat me out. Didn't work out so well for him, when he found out I sold the house he came racing over trying to outbid the buyer, then he fired her and hired a friend of mine. Different time, different market, but something to consider even today.

I'm not going to discuss the last commercial property I FSBO'd, except to say the realtors were not only lazy and irresponsible, but they had NO clue what the real market value was, and would have cost me approx 80k to sell it at their "expertly appraised" value..

Plus their commission...

FSBO is not for everyone, you need to do your due diligence, price your neighborhood and market properly, and be ready to deal with some real winners. But, it can be done, and you can get market value for your residence yourself..

 

[DonziGirl]

This might be a bit of a high jack... but you say a realtor must saying something about the property being in a flood zone? Apparently my condo (even though I live on the 3rd floor) is in a flood zone because of a small creek nearby. When I bought my condo (from another realtor who owned the property), nothing was ever said to me by either realtor (mine or the owner/realtor) about it being in a flood plain. I did not have to get extra insurance, etc. Now, 5 years later, this is an issue. I guess banks have tightened down and now require the extra insurance.

The owner/realtor was in violation because nothing was ever said to me about this?

 

[bluellama]

This might be a bit of a high jack... but you say a realtor must saying something about the property being in a flood zone? Apparently my condo (even though I live on the 3rd floor) is in a flood zone because of a small creek nearby. When I bought my condo (from another realtor who owned the property), nothing was ever said to me by either realtor (mine or the owner/realtor) about it being in a flood plain. I did not have to get extra insurance, etc. Now, 5 years later, this is an issue. I guess banks have tightened down and now require the extra insurance.

The owner/realtor was in violation because nothing was ever said to me about this?

DG, I am speaking only to the regulations that govern Real estate sales in Ontario.
If your condo was in Ontario, and I, as the listing Realtor failed to disclose that the property had restrictions on it due to Flood Plain conditions, I could easily be sued for damages. A FSBO has no such disclosure requirements.
If the Realtor on the Buying side of the transaction failed to educate themselves about the area and the location, and did not discover that there were flood plain restrictions on the property, they could be sued for damages.
I do not know what the disclosure requirements are for your State, but it is proably worth looking into.

 

[Sean H]

I would've called for sure, but clients DO put you in a learch more than we admit. Especially out-of-town buyers. It takes more time and shiit happens.

good thing I called ya when we were late! :leaving: :sifone:

 

[bluellama]

NAR (National Assoc of Realtors) has some great information on FSBO vs Agent sales.
http://www.realtor.org/research/commentary_falling_fsbo

Type FSBO into their search engine, and all kinds of information pops up.