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It turns out the reason is that the states that are experiencing neg real estate numbers are the states that have boomed in the last 5 years. Florida and CA lead there. Real estate is a very regional business.
The mortgage thing is another issue which does effect the country as a whole but the morgage lenders were cowboys the last 5 years who finally got bit in the butt by the vary practices they were operating on to get as many people as possible into the house regardless of their ability to be able to afford the mortgage.
Last edited by MRVphotog; 08-30-2007 at 12:35 PM..
Finding each property and then if it looked at all interesting, calling the listing agent for my questions.
I was surprised at how many listing agents I have spoken with who sounded like they had never stepped foot onto the properties that they were listing.
I would say: "your listing says that this property is waterfrontage, where is the water?" and I would hear "I have never actually seen the place, the seller told me that it has water, so I listed it with waterfrontage" [or something near enough to that].
I recall one near Liberty, that had a dried creek bed running through a thicket, across one corner of the property. And that turned out to be the 'waterfrontage'. LOL
In all of those trips, I did meet one realtor up in Howland, who did offer to take me out in his vehicle to go and look at a property. That was a relief! Oddly he also was very knowledgeable about that property and genuinely appeared to have been on that property previously. That was very odd.
Fortunately I was finally able to find land that we are very happy with. 1/4 mile of riverfrontage, 42 acres and I got it for $900/acre.
forest, my friend, I think we have found something to agree on. The listing agent has fiduciary responsibilities to the seller and is the LAST person you should be speaking with particularly if you are not intimate with the local market that you're researching. Maine does practice Disclosed Dual Agency (the same agent representing both sides) as long as both the buyer and seller consent in writing. As somebody who lists and sells, I would be the first to recommend a buyer find their own agent to fully represent them if they were new in the market or a first time home buyer.
[quote=MRVphotog;1391135
The mortgage thing is another issue which does effect the country as a whole but the morgage lenders were cowboys the last 5 years who finally got bit in the butt by the vary practices they were operating on to get as many people as possible into the house regardless of their ability to be able to afford the mortgage.[/QUOTE]
Hope those cowboys got a big bite in their butts....
How could they justify so easily pre-qualifying customers who were doomed to fail by taking out interest only mortgages and other exotic type loans????
I did a lot of driving though. Driving all over, each day, with a stack of MLS sheets of places to go look at.
We did the same, mostly because we didn't want to waste anyone elses time. There were many that we just pulled up in front of, that we knew we would not be happy with.
If something looked interesting we would then call the listing broker, inform them that we would have our own agent do any negotiating if we liked what we saw after a walk-through, and make arrangements for it.
Oddly enough, the place we finally settled on had been one that we had eliminated previously because it was more than we wanted to spend, but the buyer agent we had retained brought it to our attention (not knowing that we had already discarded it) while we were looking at another property. We had described in detail the sort of place we wanted and that one fit the qualifications- and the price had dropped to something that was more to our liking than it had been before.
Well done, Zymer! You could have made it even easier by just giving your buyer agent the MLS #s and letting her/him run with them.
forest, my friend, I think we have found something to agree on. The listing agent has fiduciary responsibilities to the seller and is the LAST person you should be speaking with particularly if you are not intimate with the local market that you're researching. Maine does practice Disclosed Dual Agency (the same agent representing both sides) as long as both the buyer and seller consent in writing. As somebody who lists and sells, I would be the first to recommend a buyer find their own agent to fully represent them if they were new in the market or a first time home buyer.
Hmm, I dealt with numerous buying agents in Maine who would each provide me print-outs on properties that they recommend I go look at. I go to the first property, and walk around a bit, and then I call my agent. He tells me to go ahead and call the listing agent; since he has never seen said property he has no answers for me, so perhaps the selling agent would. Standing on the property that I am interested in, I call the listing agent, and try to determine if he has ever stepped foot on the property and what he can tell me about it. Then I drive on to the next property to look at it.
I played this routine, all day long, each day, for a week, during each trip that I made. While driving around Maine looking at properties. I have done this routine with multiple realtors as my buyers agent. And I have been directed to call the listing agent repeatedly.
So what exactly are you suggesting?
I am not exactly or a first time home buyer, I have owned MFRs in other states.
I suppose that I was new in the Maine market. It took me a while to discover the real method of acquiring land in Maine.
Well done, Zymer! You could have made it even easier by just giving your buyer agent the MLS #s and letting her/him run with them.
Well, we were looking through a number of counties/areas and did not always have someone signed to represent us in the particular area, but we wanted the selling agents to understand that we *would* have one when/if it was time to deal. We knew that we didn't know enough to do it on our own.
In an interesting turn of events, we had identified a property in Aroostook County that we really liked. We had driven past this particular place more than two dozen times and had liked what we saw from the road, but it had not been for sale. When we noticed one day that there was a 'for sale' sign in front of it we pulled in and the owner showed us around.
It was even better than we had expected. We signed a buyer's agent. We made plans to look at it again because we wanted to take some measurements and check on property lines but before we got up there our agent called us. He was a really nice guy, and the seller's agent had browbeat him into not representing us because she wanted one of her own agents to do it so that she could keep the entire commission in-house.
This struck us as being just plain WRONG, and if this agent (seller's agent) was going to behave in such an unscrupulous manner then we did not want to deal with her at all. We had been *done* looking, we were tired of looking, but my wife got angry and decided that we would go see some other properties because we were not going to do that deal if we could not have the representation we wanted.
By the time we got the mess straightened out and convinced both agents that we wouldn't do the deal at all if that was how it was going to go down, and again made arrangements to see it a second time, my wife had lined up several more to see.
We saw them on the way up, and our agent in the Bangor area said she had one more that we ought to look at- it turned out to be the one that we had discarded months earlier because it was too expensive (we wanted to keep it to a relatively low figure, so that when we finally sell our current house we can pay off most or all of the note). My wife loved it...even more than the one in The County. On the way back down we put in an offer.
If that other agent hadn't tried to pull a fast one we would have bought the other house.
Hmm, I dealt with numerous buying agents in Maine who would each provide me print-outs on properties that they recommend I go look at. I go to the first property, and walk around a bit, and then I call my agent. He tells me to go ahead and call the listing agent; since he has never seen said property he has no answers for me, so perhaps the selling agent would. Standing on the property that I am interested in, I call the listing agent, and try to determine if he has ever stepped foot on the property and what he can tell me about it. Then I drive on to the next property to look at it.
I played this routine, all day long, each day, for a week, during each trip that I made. While driving around Maine looking at properties. I have done this routine with multiple realtors as my buyers agent. And I have been directed to call the listing agent repeatedly.
So what exactly are you suggesting?
I am not exactly or a first time home buyer, I have owned MFRs in other states.
I suppose that I was new in the Maine market. It took me a while to discover the real method of acquiring land in Maine.
forest, if you didn't exercise a written Exclusive Buyer Representation Agreement then you did not have a Buyer Agent, you had a transaction broker, who by law cannot represent either party in a transaction. You were a "customer" and not a "client."
This is from the Maine Real Estate Commission, "Until you enter into a written brokerage agreement with the licensee for client-level representation you are considered a "customer" and the licensee is not your agent. As a customer you should not expect the licensee to promote your best interests or keep any information you give to the licensee confidential, including your bargaining position." This information is on the Maine Real Estate Commission's Real Estate Brokerage Relationships Form and HAS to be provided by a licensee to a consumer whenever there is a "substantial discussion about real estate." It is very difficult for an agent like me to work in a "customer" relationship, it's like working with one hand tied between my back, but if that is the consumer's desire and I want to work with them, I have no choice. Understandably, many consumers are reluctant to sign a document upon the first meeting with a licensee, it is common to "feel eachother out" during the first day together to see if there is grounds to continue the relationship.
This is the law in the state of Maine (and many other states that allow Buyer Agency). Prior to this, BOTH agents represented the seller and you can imagine who's interest got pushed aside!
He was a really nice guy, and the seller's agent had browbeat him into not representing us because she wanted one of her own agents to do it so that she could keep the entire commission in-house.
This struck us as being just plain WRONG, and if this agent (seller's agent) was going to behave in such an unscrupulous manner then we did not want to deal with her at all. We had been *done* looking, we were tired of looking, but my wife got angry and decided that we would go see some other properties because we were not going to do that deal if we could not have the representation we wanted.
By the time we got the mess straightened out and convinced both agents that we wouldn't do the deal at all if that was how it was going to go down, and again made arrangements to see it a second time, my wife had lined up several more to see.
We saw them on the way up, and our agent in the Bangor area said she had one more that we ought to look at- it turned out to be the one that we had discarded months earlier because it was too expensive (we wanted to keep it to a relatively low figure, so that when we finally sell our current house we can pay off most or all of the note). My wife loved it...even more than the one in The County. On the way back down we put in an offer.
If that other agent hadn't tried to pull a fast one we would have bought the other house.
This is plain wrong and you had a case that the Maine Real Estate Commission would be very interested in. I am thankful that you found the right property in the Bangor area. Your agent did a terrific job and should be recommend to others!
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