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Thread summary:

Relocating to Virginia, need to sell home in Highland Creek, trouble selling home, on market long time, property advertisement, credit crisis, qualified buyers, homes on market, competition

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Old 12-26-2007, 09:00 AM
 
10,004 posts, read 11,065,805 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Barchetta View Post
Realtors in Charlotte crack me up. They all say the same thing.. there is no problem in Charlotte.. maybe elsewhere there is but not Charlotte. Hell even the head of their little cult had an article in the paper saying just that. Apparently she hadnt pulled up current homes on the market as of late.. LOL!

Umm HELLO.. this country is in a MAJOR MAJOR world of hurt.

My advice to people on the market.. pull your home.. cancel all your plans.. be happy you have a home. Wait at least 6 months and re-evaluate. Unless you have something special sales are hard.. You will take a large loss right now unless you get a dumb buyer with a dumb agent (the later are plentiful).

Trust me, I just bought one of these homes on the market 200 days! I felt bad offering what I offered and I got it.

Anyway...lots of agents lurking here spewing the same ol'e.. dont listen. They are all scared becaused they know there is gonna be a HUGE shakedown in the real estate AGENT market.. the strong good ones will survive.. the bottom dwellers who got their licenses cuz they couldnt be successful doing anything else will not make it because they have nothing to offer the market... same advice goes here.. if you have nothing special to offer no one will want to work with you..

Edit: IF you decide to go it and keep your home on the market.. you better get a stager in and listen to every word he/she says.. EVERY WORD.
Hmmm..even if true this was a little harsh
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Old 12-26-2007, 09:33 AM
 
63 posts, read 180,122 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Barchetta View Post
Anyway...lots of agents lurking here spewing the same ol'e.. dont listen. They are all scared becaused they know there is gonna be a HUGE shakedown in the real estate AGENT market.. the strong good ones will survive.. the bottom dwellers who got their licenses cuz they couldnt be successful doing anything else will not make it because they have nothing to offer the market... same advice goes here.. if you have nothing special to offer no one will want to work with you..
This seems like strong medicine, but nonetheless accurate.

My wife bought our place here while I was still across the country, and she had to do all the work herself. I say "all the work" because the agent she worked with apparently knew nothing about the property, the laws or much else.

Brief example (by no means the worst offense or the best example): There is a satellite dish behind our home, belonging to the neighbors in our townhome row. It is clearly behind *their* home, connected to *their* home. My wife (who doesn't really understand this satellite TV stuff) noticed the dish in an initial inspection and mentioned it to the agent. He looked over and said, "Oh, yes, the home comes with a satellite TV system". It wasn't a deal-closer for us, just a curiosity, and needless to say there was no satellite TV system included with the home or in the deal.

Once I got here, I looked at the satellite setup behind the neighbor's home and marveled at how anyone who considered himself to be a professional could make such a statement unless he was desperate to make a sale. He was absolutely horrible, panicking when the seller changed the terms at the 11th hour and telling my wife she would be in breach of contract if she didn't do exactly what the seller demanded (she wasn't, we didn't, and we bought the place as initially agreed to--I think that pretty much explains the accuracy of his read of the situation). There were times when she wondered if he was working for the seller or for us.

The post-sale "thank you" gift included a Charlotte restaurant guide--used, with some of the coupons inside already torn out and used, perhaps because the book was old and the coupons expired a few months after we received the book.

The advice on staging is excellent, by the way. It will cost you some money, but if it helps you get your home sold months sooner, it is well worth it. The seller needs to find a way to break through the clutter of all the homes on the market, and don't forget there are new developments out there with developers dropping their pants to get those new homes sold. Many folks would rather be the first owners of a place than buy a resale. There is a lot of competition for that resale market, so get a good stager and get your home looking ready to move into.
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Old 12-26-2007, 10:21 AM
 
Location: South Charlotte
1,435 posts, read 5,744,887 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Glaetzer View Post
This seems like strong medicine, but nonetheless accurate.

My wife bought our place here while I was still across the country, and she had to do all the work herself. I say "all the work" because the agent she worked with apparently knew nothing about the property, the laws or much else.

Brief example (by no means the worst offense or the best example): There is a satellite dish behind our home, belonging to the neighbors in our townhome row. It is clearly behind *their* home, connected to *their* home. My wife (who doesn't really understand this satellite TV stuff) noticed the dish in an initial inspection and mentioned it to the agent. He looked over and said, "Oh, yes, the home comes with a satellite TV system". It wasn't a deal-closer for us, just a curiosity, and needless to say there was no satellite TV system included with the home or in the deal.

Once I got here, I looked at the satellite setup behind the neighbor's home and marveled at how anyone who considered himself to be a professional could make such a statement unless he was desperate to make a sale. He was absolutely horrible, panicking when the seller changed the terms at the 11th hour and telling my wife she would be in breach of contract if she didn't do exactly what the seller demanded (she wasn't, we didn't, and we bought the place as initially agreed to--I think that pretty much explains the accuracy of his read of the situation). There were times when she wondered if he was working for the seller or for us.

The post-sale "thank you" gift included a Charlotte restaurant guide--used, with some of the coupons inside already torn out and used, perhaps because the book was old and the coupons expired a few months after we received the book.

The advice on staging is excellent, by the way. It will cost you some money, but if it helps you get your home sold months sooner, it is well worth it. The seller needs to find a way to break through the clutter of all the homes on the market, and don't forget there are new developments out there with developers dropping their pants to get those new homes sold. Many folks would rather be the first owners of a place than buy a resale. There is a lot of competition for that resale market, so get a good stager and get your home looking ready to move into.


That is hilarious, sad, and frightening at the same time.

How much time did you and your wife put towards finding/interviewing an agent?
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Old 12-26-2007, 12:02 PM
 
Location: Charlotte-Harrisburg
252 posts, read 875,580 times
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Market is rather slow now and there is a lot od inventory. However there arte buyers and most of the ones looking now are serious, butr looking for a "DEAL". There is tons of inventory in Highland Creek and if your home is in the 300 range you are competing with the builders and all of the incentives they are offering right now. The banks have tightned up and the no or low money down borrowers and those with low credit scores are out of the market. The qualified buyers are still out there, they are just a little nervous because of all the negative press about the market. The number of buyers who are really able to afford homes has not changed, its the buyers who should not have been able to purchase a home in the first place because they were not prepared, that has gone away. Hang in there, the Real Estate market always has been and always will be cyclical.
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Old 12-26-2007, 01:43 PM
 
63 posts, read 180,122 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlottean View Post
How much time did you and your wife put towards finding/interviewing an agent?
Sadly, none. She was short on time, he was the listing agent on a property she went to look at one day, and he subsequently took her around to look at other properties. When she saw this house, everything clicked for her. We weren't difficult in any way, until he began getting terribly squirrelly in his representation. Then we refused to sign docs until information was corrected or clarified, since she was being buffaloed into signing docs without adequate explanation or information.

Part of the hysteria at the time approaching close was that the seller insisted on changing the closing date to be before the end of the month (which was then a week away), instead of the 10th of the following month. We did what we could to accommodate, but the selling papers did have the escrow date of the 10th in the document, so we had no obligation to comply. It was then when OUR agent began to go psycho, telling my wife she would be sued for being in breach of contract if she didn't agree to hastening the closing date. Unfortunately, the lenders were working on the original schedule and we had to crack the whip on them to try and make the date, still not understanding why were were doing all this heavy lifting instead of the agent. My wife and I know have come to believe that the seller was close to foreclosure, and (we theorize, though we may be wrong) if he defaulted before the sale took place, the sale would be void and the agents would not get commission on the sale. As I say, we could be wrong, but there was a lot of last-minute trouble in getting the transaction closed faster than previously agreed.

I was discussing this sale with my wife, and she reminded me that the satellite dish IS in the sales document. So is a reference to the HOA fee being much less than it is; the rate was increased in March and the paperwork wasn't written up until late May, but the older amount was in the papers. We didn't know and neither agent noticed or said anything about the difference.

We received a perfunctory Christmas card from the RE broker for this RE office, along with one of his business cards. We assume this was for us to pass along as a reference. We laughed when we saw it, and it went into the shredder.
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Old 12-26-2007, 01:50 PM
 
Location: South Charlotte
1,435 posts, read 5,744,887 times
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From your statements you have made about the transaction I don't think anyone would blame you one bit! I think a lot of people make the mistake of just jumping into a representation agreement with an agent/firm. On the other end the agent doing the same thing.

Either way there were other issues that should have never been there..good service or not.

It amazes me sometimes how appreciative most people are when I take the time to explain our agency laws and representation choices to them upon the first meeting. So many are confused and it really helps clear the air, set standards, and expectations in place.
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Old 12-26-2007, 03:13 PM
 
Location: Charlotte, NC
550 posts, read 1,799,358 times
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Mine has been on the market for nine months in Greensboro. new paint, new carpet, great neighborhood and $15,000 less than others in the neighborhood. I have no idea why it hasn't sold...
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Old 12-26-2007, 03:51 PM
 
782 posts, read 3,779,216 times
Reputation: 399
Default Stay away from new construction right now

I see new builders droping the prices from 40,000 up to 100,000 causing an uproar.Think all the people who brought a house for 400,000 a year ago, now can buy the same house for 325,000 now.Their are some people walking out of their homes.These builders really don't care.All they are trying to do is get rid of inventory homes and close out the land that they have purchase.Exisiting homes is also taking a hit,because of the price drop of new homes.This is what i'm seeing.
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Old 12-26-2007, 04:58 PM
 
Location: Denver
89 posts, read 310,556 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dakota4791 View Post
Mine has been on the market for nine months in Greensboro. new paint, new carpet, great neighborhood and $15,000 less than others in the neighborhood. I have no idea why it hasn't sold...
That's all good.. but if it isn't staged its not going to sell. STAGE IT.. this means:
Most if not all of your "crap" will go into storage.. NOTHING is left laying out.. all photos: GONE.. the house will look like you just had some furniture delivered and no personal items.. it sucks but if you want to sell this is what you will need to do.. take it off the market; stage it; put it back on with 0 DOM.


I agree with the previous posters nightmare.. I just sold my place I DID ALL THE WORK! ALL OF IT.. It was a total joke.. you agents really need to start to actually WORK.. you should be ashamed of yourselves. My agent routinely let dates come and go within the confines of the contract without pushing my buyer to get things done.. that is just the tip of the iceburg.. I could go on and on..

My current agent here, while a dear older woman is useless to me.. in fact, she almost sold me a home I really did not want or need because she only knew one area of the city.. I had to go out on my own and figure out for myself what was best for me.. R I D I C U L O U S.
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Old 12-26-2007, 05:01 PM
 
Location: Denver
89 posts, read 310,556 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jp03 View Post
Hmmm..even if true this was a little harsh
Harsh? My listing agent cost me $20k due to not pricing my home correctly when it entered the market.. It sold for EXACTLY what I told her it was worth (way less than she "calculated")... if we had entered the market during the hot season at the right price I would have sold for quite a bit more.

Harsh? Yeah. THAT is Harsh.. I dont know about you but $20k is a lot of money to me..

these agents need to get R E S P O N S I B L E. Putting a house on MLS and sitting back and waiting is NOT responsible.
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