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We moved from this area several years ago to a place where there was a more affordable cost of living. There were no jobs. We lived there until we ran out of money, then we came back.
I spent 7 months living with my in-laws before I convinced my husband to rent a place.
I am not looking for a steal. I am looking for reasonable. Factored into reasonable has to be the insane cost of homeowner's insurance (varies widely, but my neighbor pays an additional $500/month for coverage on top of her mortgage) and property taxes. This is one reason we are keeping our price point on the low side. We have to be able to afford it after we buy it.
My agent is working pretty hard for me. Of course, she has not had a closing in months and her listings are just sitting there. She has been looking at short sales very hard.
I guess what I find so frustrating is that I have never made an offer and not gotten the house. I make reasonable offers for the size/location/condition of the property. Suddenly reasonable is no good.
I am not an investor. I am not looking to make a killing, I am looking for a place to live without getting in over my head.
The truth in my market is that home prices are way out of line with salaries. Have prices come down, yes. Have they come down enough? Not even close.
Who is buying homes around here? Desperate people who are not smart enough to rent and Realtors. Who is buying the most houses around here? Banks. About a dozen a day in this county.
Evey, I was offering advice to help keep you and others like you from jumping to an arena where you have no experience; so why is that a reason to hate realtors?
The wholesalers play a very important role in buying foreclosed properties. For just one moment forget that they happen to be realtors, whom you have chosen to hate.
They are "business people" who are in the business of buying foreclosed properties to resell at a very small mark up. When you come into their arena and bid against them for these properties, you are their competition, and you can well expect that they are going to be fierce competitors. No matter what business one is in, you are going to try to run the competitors out.
So if you want to compete for a property at that level, then get an education and do it, whether you are buying one property or a dozen. But when you go in and try to cut the middleman out, just be aware that you're going to face fierce competition because that is how they make their living.
The wholesalers depend on volume and they sell at a very small mark up. If you want to buy a foreclosed property you can get with a good agent who works in an office that has foreclosed property and who can find you a good deal. But then you'd have to pay that agent a commission, and I guess that's another reason to hate realtors -- because they expect to be paid for the work they do
I am not an investor. I am not looking to make a killing, I am looking for a place to live without getting in over my head.
Probably not the best place to make that statement...You seem to be blaming Realtors for a lot of this. Can you justify your statement please or at least explain why Realtors are to blame for your frustrations and the markets in some locations?
How is a business person in any arena to be blamed for being competitive. They are trying to procure deals for themselves for a living, they aren't out there to make your life more difficult. When you choose to enter a business arena of any sort, be it stocks, car auctions, you can expect competition and they are there for themselves only, not to try and protect the lamb in the lions den. You seem to feel as if you are owed something and I just don't get it.
...They recognize the newcomers and will bid you up and drop out forcing you to over pay before you even know what's happening...
If someone did that to me, regardless if he/she was a realtor or not, I'd probably not like the person very much.
Maybe that's what Evey meant when she said, "another reason to hate Realtors?" Don't take it too seriously, for every "hateful" realtor, there are many more wonderful ones out there. Looks like Evey's found herself one that's working very hard for her. Good luck!
Sorry guys, I can tell that this group of Realtors is a better group than what many, many people have to work with in real life. I am sure that I am not the only one who has had bad agents who were paid handsomely for doing very little.
JMHO, but I don't think Realtors should be in the business of buying and selling homes. That seems like a conflict of interest to me. I want someone to help me buy or sell, not someone who is in direct competition with me. It is hard to trust the advice of someone when you question their motives.
The fact that there is such a thing as a "wholesale division" in any Realtor's office is appalling to me.
If you try to get involved in buying foreclosed properties at the courthouse steps, be prepared to have your lunch eaten by the professional wholesalers who have been in that business for many years.
We have a wholesale division in our office and our wholesaler has been doing this for 20 years and he laughs at how the new comers are there, not having a clue as to what they're doing. They just hear that they can get a steal by going to the auctions, but what many of them find out is they're walking into a lions den.
They recognize the newcomers and will bid you up and drop out forcing you to over pay before you even know what's happening.
It's a business where you must have experience and knowledge, not just cash, because you'll lose your cash pretty fast if you don't know what you're doing.
It's just like all the investors who came out of the woodwork in 2005-6 and thought they'd make a killing buying up properties while they were sky rocketing. They didn't know what they were doing and they lost their shirts.
Bill
I know someone who tried to do this, they went and bid on a property, won it on the courtroom steps, and then "discovered" that the property had $30,000 in back taxes owed on it that did not get wiped away at the closing.
I tried to tell him but nooo..
He's in the process of losing every dime he put into the property as its facing another tax auction.
Both you buyers are working a busted principle. It does not make any difference what people list for...you basically ignore that. What you care about are what the comparables sell for.
I have seldom seen REPOs listed far from the comps lately and, in a number of cases, well below.
List prices moving vast sums over years happens...but does not mean anything other than a seller getting more realistic.
So tell us what the comps are on these places you are missing...not what the lists are.
Unfortunately for me, I have a very specialized need in a property I'm looking for. I'd be ok if the agents would just follow up with me when they would drop the price of their properties. Every single property that I have made an offer on, has sat on the market for over a year after I made an offer (with the exception of one), and every single one of them has sold for less then I have offered.
I tell the agents, I'm interested, call me when the price drops, and they never do follow up. I assume that they think that I dont know the values of these properties and just throw my number away. (what agent would take a $199K offer on a $299K property serious (which ended up selling for $184K)). By time I realise the asking price drops on them, they are under agreement.
I need to find a better way to track properties that I make offers on.
Location: Sitting on a bar stool. Guinness in hand.
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REOs rule
Personally I like buying REOs. And to be honest I not a super expert or anything. But have not had much of a problem in my experience. Usually from past experiences the bank/lending company allowed me to have a home inspector come in and look at the house before I bought. So I knew what I was in for when I bought.
The reason I like buying REOs it that I don't have to deal with buyer that feel they "deserve" a particular price. Bank usually want to get that property off there book Pronto because of possible up keep or taxes for the property. And if you offer a low but reasonable price they usually will take it. Well actually I should restate that. If the property has been sitting for awhile they will take the low price you offer.
So far so good for me. Hope a lot of you guys have had the same luck I have.
Sorry guys, I can tell that this group of Realtors is a better group than what many, many people have to work with in real life. I am sure that I am not the only one who has had bad agents who were paid handsomely for doing very little.
JMHO, but I don't think Realtors should be in the business of buying and selling homes. That seems like a conflict of interest to me. I want someone to help me buy or sell, not someone who is in direct competition with me. It is hard to trust the advice of someone when you question their motives.
The fact that there is such a thing as a "wholesale division" in any Realtor's office is appalling to me.
Evey, how do you consider it be a conflict of interest for people who have a license to sell real estate to buy and sell properties for their own account?
A real estate agent is required to disclose that they are an agent on the first contact with a person with whom they will make an offer to purchase, or to sell a property for their own account. That's because the agent is presumed to have superior industry knowledge and the other party should then make sure they are represented by another realtor, or an attorney, to balance the equation.
What else would you think should be required, and why?
Do you think people who have a license to sell stocks should not be able to buy and sell stocks for their own account?
What you're saying does not make sense at all.
If an agent couldn't buy or sell real estate for themselves, then how could they own and sell their own home?
And why should real estate companies not be able to have a wholesale department, or a department that buys and sells tracts of land?
There are realtors who buy the model homes from builders and lease them back to the builder (to provide the builder with more cash flow, and an investment for the agents) and then sell the models when the project is built out.
Would you disallow that?
The wholesale department helps many people. The wholesaler has experience at buying these foreclosed properties, and can tell the value in a moment. He doesn't want to deal with the general public because most don't know what they're doing when it comes to buying a foreclosed property, whether in competition with him on the court house steps, or from him after he buys it.
They prefer to deal with realtors who will either buy and resell to an investor at a small mark up, or will charge a fee to help investors and end users locate and evaluate the property and get it financed and closed within 24 hours.
This is a valuable service to those who recognize that it's best to pay a little bit more than the auction price (where they are completely out of their league) and have an agent to help prevent them from buying a pig in a poke.
It sounds as if you would like to limit your competition, and is that legal in a free society?
It sounds like you have either had a bad experience with realtors, or just don't want to pay the realtor fees.
I would suggest that before you began with an "I hate realtors" campaign that you learn exactly what the services are that a realtor provides. It is much much more than just listing and selling your home, or locating one for you to buy. If it were that simple then no one would need realtors, but it is much more than that.
You are right about one thing. The average realtor on this forum is a cut above the rest. These people are dedicating a portion out of their busy day to respond to questions and provide good advice to people on the forum.
And they have the patience to listen to the realtor bashers and realtor haters at the same time.
Unfortunately for me, I have a very specialized need in a property I'm looking for. I'd be ok if the agents would just follow up with me when they would drop the price of their properties. Every single property that I have made an offer on, has sat on the market for over a year after I made an offer (with the exception of one), and every single one of them has sold for less then I have offered.
I tell the agents, I'm interested, call me when the price drops, and they never do follow up. I assume that they think that I dont know the values of these properties and just throw my number away. (what agent would take a $199K offer on a $299K property serious (which ended up selling for $184K)). By time I realise the asking price drops on them, they are under agreement.
I need to find a better way to track properties that I make offers on.
It sounds as if you don't have an buyers agent working for you. I would suggest hiring one. The REO agents don't care for the most part and aren't going to even bother writing your info down much less return a phone call. I know a few that list a lot of REO's and I don't even expect them to return a phone call much less answer it. A buyer's agent, if you make a mutual commitment, should be able to put you on a mailing list that emails you price notifications and alerts you to other deals out there also, such as short sales or just properties that are priced to sell.
Don't worry about insulting an owner. They may be happy to work with you and you could save someone from a foreclosure which is much better than buying a buying a foreclosure if you get the same deal.
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REOs rule
