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I thought I had found a great real estate agent. Personable, answered my list of very sticky interview questions professionally, and is readily available for showings. Knows the area we are focusing on extremely well.
That's part of the problem. Every seller in the area -- even those listed with other agents --seems to be a friend. And when push comes to shove, this RA seems to advocate more for the seller/friend than for us. Exg -- when I remarked that a house this RA was showing me was overpriced by about 20K AND needed new carpet, RA replied that the sellers were asking less than they paid for it 3 years ago and were going to have to bring money to the table.
As if I cared! It went even further -- RA stated that if I bought this house and put in hardwoods, that the value would "catch up in a year or two" !!
RA also gets very vague when I ask pointed questions, like: "Why would a seller replace ductwork?" Answer: "I don't know."
Really??
Now, this RA has been in business a loooonng time -- shouldn't they have an idea of why this is necessary?
I'm relying on this RA to be my advocate, yet I'm not getting any useful advice or direction. It's like they don't want to do or say anything to kill my interest and a potential deal, and I'm beginning to feel I can't trust this RA.
Buying a home is stressful enough without dealing with this.
Our buyer's agreement runs out in a few weeks. I don't really want to stay with this agent, but the thought of having to start over and find a new RA just makes me want to cry.
Get another agent, anyway. You'll probably cut down on the heartburn and get a better result. Plus, you will have learned a little more about how to weed out the bad apples.
I just went through the same thing. Hired the agent who sold us the house, and he's actually my neighbor. He had my listing for 6 months and nothing happened. Lots of problems popped up like not getting the listing on the boards for 2 weeks after I signed the papers, lack of a paper trail; later I found out that there were even forms that were supposed to be signed by me that I never heard of, etc, etc. He couldn't seem to get the pictures on the listing after weeks of calling. Rarely heard from him. So I called him up and asked him to come over and told him in the calmest way possible that I was sorry to make the decision, but I was going to end our contract (it was an open-ended deal) and hire another agent. He actually took it a lot better than I thought he would, after a little blame-dodging. I didn't spend any time making excuses as to why the decision was made, just said I was sorry, but the decision was one I had to make for myself.
I had already gotten the name of a new agent from my financial advisor and had interviewed her, so there was going to be no grass growing under my feet in between agents.
This new agent is a dynamo: I have exchanged dozens of emails with her, got copies of all the forms I signed, etc., etc. I'm really happy I changed, and looking at it as a business decision is a tremendous help for me.
Give it some thought; you can use the remaining time on your contract to interview new agents and be ready to go at the appropriate time. Just my opinion, of course, but why be miserable when you can move ahead?
If you have signed a contract you might have a tough time getting out of it--so far your agent has not really done anything that is probably really unethical...
the fact that that particular seller was selling for less than purchase price probably means they have a bottom price they won't go under--could be your realtor was just telling you if you want the house you might not get much more of a reduction...and how did you know that house was overpriced--did you have comps to compare it with that were accurate?
an agent is not really supposed to speculate--like suggest why would duct work be replaced--because the agent does not know--speculating about reasons can come across as a "knowledgeable response"--meaning it IS the answer---if the agent tells you something that you base your response on--and it is not correct--the agent can be accused of dealing in fraudulent info--which IS an unethical act...
an agent is not going to tell you--this is the house for you or this is the best deal you can get...
a better way to phrase that would be--Can we find out WHY they replaced the duct work???
maybe they had the entire system replaced--
maybe it was so old, they thought the house would not sell with it IN--
maybe they got a rebate for doing it--
maybe there was mold or holes in it
lots of conjecture but nothing accurate--
an agent can get you comps and share them and help you understand what the recent market is doing...
can maybe tell you f some of the homes were more remodeled than others or if she knew there were reasons for discrepancies in prices
YOU make the offer price--if you go in too low, your realtor is probably going to tell you that you risk being rebuffed and alienating the sellers...not everyone is selling in distress...
First, sorry that you are running into this trouble. It sounds as if you're looking in a particular neighborhood where the agent probably lives and is active in the HOA or local activities to know every seller! If not, I don't know how she can know the sellers personally.
A reason for an owner to change ductwork could be mold caused by condensation, could be that someone was a smoker and they wanted to get rid of the smell. Or you can just ask the sellers why they changed the ductwork. I agree with LTR, a lot of speculation. Start with the seller's disclosure which doesn't tell everything about the home anyway, but it's a good start.
If you already know that you don't want to work this agent anymore, you can ask to terminate the contract now so she nor you invest more time into it. Because if you end up buying a home she showed you, she will still be owed a commission.
Your agent is supposed to point out to you negatives about the home such as those we encounter by buyers. Most people don't like the master bedroom upstairs but it's great for others, lots of people would pass on a home if there wasn't direct access from the kitchen to the formal dining, some could care less, backs to a busy street, it's not a good thing here, but some people are moving from a city and they had a train in their backyard, etc. etc. things that we encouter and hear on a daily basis from buyers. We still need to point those negatives to you that would become objections when it's time for you to sell and let you make an informed decision.
First, sorry that you are running into this trouble. It sounds as if you're looking in a particular neighborhood where the agent probably lives and is active in the HOA or local activities to know every seller! If not, I don't know how she can know the sellers personally.
A reason for an owner to change ductwork could be mold caused by condensation, could be that someone was a smoker and they wanted to get rid of the smell. Or you can just ask the sellers why they changed the ductwork. I agree with LTR, a lot of speculation. Start with the seller's disclosure which doesn't tell everything about the home anyway, but it's a good start.
If you already know that you don't want to work this agent anymore, you can ask to terminate the contract now so she nor you invest more time into it. Because if you end up buying a home she showed you, she will still be owed a commission.
Naima
All very good points Naima. We are looking in a particular neighborhood. Inventory is low and we've been outbid on the few houses that have come up in our price range. I realize that market conditions aren't her fault -- ! -- nor is my growing weariness with the search process and my mounting fear that I might have to compromise on what I want in a home.
Re the ductwork issue -- is it really wrong to offer possible reasons, such as you did above? Mold was my suspicion from the start, why couldn't she just say, "yes, possibly mold" instead of "I don't know" which is a). highly unlikely, and b.) highly calculated.
We aren't going to terminate the agreement, it's due to expire in a few weeks anyway. Good point about the commission on anything she's shown us should we buy, although I think it's highly unlikely that this will happen (if we like it, we would have bought it by now!)
but what about the "overpricing" issue--many people shopping for home might think that homes on market are overpriced and yet they are still selling--that means the market decided they were "fairly" priced...
if you want to buy in specific area and have lost out on past listings, you can tell the market in that area is still a sellers' market more than a buyers' market...
and IF you want that area, you may have to pay more than you think is fair--
that is your OPTION--you don't have to buy any house you don't want to, of course...
my husband and I looked for home on resale market for long time--because we did not have any reason except our desire to move--so we could afford to be choosy about what we saw on the market...
our agent WOULD take us into homes that were overpriced or not really what we were looking for because she did not have OUR parameters memorized like we did...
but she did know the neighborhoods and builders and positives/negatives about both that 20 yrs in the business cultivated...
I wanted her insight about resale if there were things I thought might be problems--(never buy a house without considering resale)...
but frankly I never let her positives outweigh MY negatives--if you know what I mean--
IF you are concerned about the duct work being replaced--you will get an inspection--just make sure that you get a QUALIFIED inspector
the first time we had house under contract we used an inspector she suggested who was had an engineering background--someone that many of the Relo agencies used--who was supposedly very picky and did comb the property to find any problems...
the second time we had house under contract we used a second company--this guy was more from the general inspector school--NOT an engineering background...and probably less qualified--
but that was our fault-- WE had the option to choose anyone we wanted to get--we were just not that prepared
SO do your due dilligence NOW--get some referrals for inspectors who do have background in construction/engineering--who maybe are licensed HVAC or electrician or something in construction with real experience in addition to having the certifications to be inspector...
this guy only ran the HVAC--he did not do an INSPECTION of it--totally different thing--
he did find some problems with the house we bought but they were more surface than serious..
so far nothing serious has developed--so keeping our fingers crossed they don't...
Being upset because an agent wouldn't speculate why the ductwork was replaced is insane! I would never answer a question like that as it's beyond my scope of expertise. The response will always be, "I can ask" or "let's get a copy of the disclosure notice and see what it says."
Speculating mold, especially, is a HUGE no-no. Why would someone even mention that word? Home inspectors don't typically even use that word because it goes beyond their own expertise. They usually use words like "black substance" and say further investigation should be considered.
We do have comps -- very recent ones, in fact: 2 houses, in the same neighborhood, with the same square footage and amenities and in better condition, sold for $20K less than the home she tried to foist upon us.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FalconheadWest
Being upset because an agent wouldn't speculate why the ductwork was replaced is insane! I would never answer a question like that as it's beyond my scope of expertise. The response will always be, "I can ask" or "let's get a copy of the disclosure notice and see what it says."
First, extremely rude of you to say this - very glad you are not my realtor. Second, if you had bothered to read through my original post, you would know that this isn't the only issue I'm upset about.
All very good points Naima. We are looking in a particular neighborhood. Inventory is low and we've been outbid on the few houses that have come up in our price range. I realize that market conditions aren't her fault -- ! -- nor is my growing weariness with the search process and my mounting fear that I might have to compromise on what I want in a home.
Sounds like the homes you really want are in fact not overpriced at all.
You have to keep in mind that houses do not have anything comparable to an MSRP or Dealier Invoice price. In addition to the price being "what the market will bear" it's also a matter of finding the right match between all the seller's unique conditions and all the buyer's unique conditions. We just went through a existing home sale and purchase last summer and can sympathize with the emotional stress you're probably feeling. It helped for me to not think so much in terms of 'overpriced' 'underpriced' 'good deal' 'bad deal' etc. Unfortunately, lot's of times you end up having to proceed on incomplete information - inform/educate yourself of course, 'know thyself' (know what you want, need, can afford, basically all the things you can control), but don't freak out over the things you cannot control or know. Good luck.
I guess you could look at MLS photos to know if the prior homes that sold for less were updated or not...so you could have good reason for saying the home you were looking at was overpriced...
unless the others were a foreclosure or distress sale--like divorce--and the current house is not...
and it could very well be that the RE agent you are using does have compromised feelings about some of the homes you are seeing even if she is not from the office with the listing...
frankly I think you should end the relationship now--
if you use a word like FOIST there are so many negative connotations tied to that meaning that IF you bought a house working with that agent and later anything wrong turned up you would always have the belief that the agent was complicit in deceiving you...
better to start fresh..
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