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I really LMAO at some of the descriptions. In my experiences,
Poor= Run far far away. If you decide to move forward, however, your home inspector will need 5 days to sort through the mangled garbage that was once a house
Fair=You have to rip up the 30 year old carpeting and eventually remodel the disgustingly filthy 40 year old kitchen and bathrooms.
Good= The house was redone 30 years ago. Think avocado green appliances.
Excellent= The carpets are only 10 years old and the kitchen and bathrooms were redone in the late 80's to early 90's.
Cozy=tiny shack
Mr./Mrs. Clean lives here= Look, this is how clean you'll be able to keep your house when you're 75!
Needs TLC= Bring a mask and gloves!
And I agree with others. No inside pictures means the house is a wreck. .
I also LOVE when realtors will include not pictures of the house, but pictures of parks and beaches near the house. WTF is that about?
LOL.... that is so funny !! let me add some to the list....
"just bring your furniture"....
"best value in town"....
"do not eyeball this... looks much better in person".... this one cracks me up !!
Since then, I realized that all agents are driving super luxury cars. Seems like a nice profession where you can make good money without any significant education or any coherent knowledge of your area.
The "super luxury cars" are leased and written off on their income taxes as a business expense. Why? In order to impress potential buyers like yourself (" she ... was driving a brand new Mercedes so I thought she knew what she was doing").
As for education, in NYS all you need is to take a 75 hour course and pass a test. However, this is a commission only job, so if they demanded a college education, that would severely cut down on the potential workforce.
"Close to All" - crappy place in town on main road, expect people to park in front of you house. Either that or you're in front of the train station.
"Cozy" - You can Moderator cut: language please
shower and shave at once in the bathroom. And don't bother buying a big screen tv, it'll look huge when you're sitting a foot away!
"Needs TLC" - Maybe you ought to just look at the land and build new.
"Low Taxes" - Anything under 10K, which I don't consider "low" by any stretch of the imagination!
Last edited by nancy thereader; 03-20-2009 at 03:31 PM..
So in essence, choosing a real estate salesperson is like spinning the roulette wheel in Vegas. Then you people actually complain about the negative perception of your profession? What do you expect when any moron can sell real estate?
The "super luxury cars" are leased and written off on their income taxes as a business expense. Why? In order to impress potential buyers like yourself (" she ... was driving a brand new Mercedes so I thought she knew what she was doing").
As for education, in NYS all you need is to take a 75 hour course and pass a test. However, this is a commission only job, so if they demanded a college education, that would severely cut down on the potential workforce.
I lease my car so I can write it off. But I lease a Honda Accord, for 2 reasons: 1. it's what I can afford monthly and 2. I do not want to drive around in an expensive car specifically because I DO NOT WANT TO look like I make a million bucks at this profession (and I certainly don't). I drive what anyone else drives, live within my means, and if a buyer likes that, great. If they don't, too bad. I deal with so many down-to-earth, middle class people and a luxury car would not fit into that world.
Yes, we take a 75-hour course and TWO tests: one for the trainer/institute and one for the state. These were not simple tests either. We take continuing ed as well. And when licensed with a reputable broker/agency we take ongoing courses throughout the year. Some of us even have college educations. And some of us even have post-graduate (I have my masters). Sure, there are some who should not be in the profession, but the majority deserve to be here.
How to look for this? I am a first time buyer and I met this lady in one of the open houses. She offered us to be our agent, she said she had experience with first time buyers and she seemed like a nice lady and was driving a brand new Mercedes so I thought she knew what she was doing.
She showed us many houses. She was good at that, but when it comes to answering our questions she was clueless. Like we saw one place we liked but thought that the price was high. I asked her what she thought about the price and she said it was priced to sell. I went back home and checked and saw that the house was on the market for more than eight months with several reductions. Three months after they made another reduction of 15K and finally they decided to pull their house off the market.
Another time, another house, she again suggested it was fairly priced. One week later, they did a 25K reduction.
Whenever I ask about possible renovations, how much changing the carpet or changing the bathroom floor would cost us and she was completely clueless. I thought you are supposed to know everything about houses if you are an agent.
Since then, I realized that all agents are driving super luxury cars. Seems like a nice profession where you can make good money without any significant education or any coherent knowledge of your area.
Hi- If this agent were truly 'working for you', she would have had you enter into a buyer broker agreement and then she'd be able to share comps with you and advise on pricing. But just because she may have driven you around and showed you several/many homes, she was always working for EACH seller/homeowner. Unfortunately, this is not always made crystal clear.
If you want an agent to work FOR YOU, you must sign a buyer broker agreement with him/her. Then we can share comparables, advise on pricing, and negotiate on your behalf.
And most of us do not make a ton of money and some of us have an extensive education!!!
You need someone you can trust, that's for sure. The best way to find this is to use someone referred to you. Same as any other profession, really.
Best of luck to you.......
YES, it does make all of YOU, incompentent, dishonest. You know that people think this way, as well.
Are you, REALLY, Shocked ?
I don't think you would be, and I'm sure you figure it into your calculating sales "pitch".
Please, don't think that people are that naive, to think you are part of some honorable...profession, when you know you encounter it every day.
Especially, now, and in this Economy ?
I'm sure that your...profession...will NOT act ANY better than you ALL have. The competition has to be more heated.
It's a question of the "chickens coming home to roost" for your...profession.....only it's worse out there for the unsuspecting people, who genuinely need a house, but can't, because of your collective...profession's... historic, GREED and AVARICE.
YOU, have, outdone, yourself, once, again, LONGISLANDMIKE. I, do, have, to, wonder, what, it, is, you, do, for, a, living, yourself. Just, curious. As, I, have, stated, once, before, on, this, site, I, live, by, my, referrals, and, will, only, get, referrals, if, I, do, right, by, all, of, my, clients.
I'm, sorry, am, I, punctuating, too, much?
Hi- If this agent were truly 'working for you', she would have had you enter into a buyer broker agreement and then she'd be able to share comps with you and advise on pricing. But just because she may have driven you around and showed you several/many homes, she was always working for EACH seller/homeowner. Unfortunately, this is not always made crystal clear.
If you want an agent to work FOR YOU, you must sign a buyer broker agreement with him/her. Then we can share comparables, advise on pricing, and negotiate on your behalf.
And most of us do not make a ton of money and some of us have an extensive education!!!
You need someone you can trust, that's for sure. The best way to find this is to use someone referred to you. Same as any other profession, really.
Best of luck to you.......
We did sign that paper. And she sent comparables in one instance. After I told her to do so. But her usual advice was "it is priced to sell".
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