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Old 05-15-2014, 01:14 PM
 
Location: Mass
974 posts, read 1,907,952 times
Reputation: 1025

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Without looking at your other posts, OP, I KNOW you didn't grow up in New England or by the ocean. If you had, you wouldn't be comparing ( and preferring!) North Reading and North Andover to Swampscott or Marblehead.

Sounds like a better agent might help you with narrowing down these decisions. Good luck!
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Old 05-15-2014, 01:41 PM
 
33 posts, read 40,233 times
Reputation: 12
Quote:
Originally Posted by flowbe202 View Post
Without looking at your other posts, OP, I KNOW you didn't grow up in New England or by the ocean. If you had, you wouldn't be comparing ( and preferring!) North Reading and North Andover to Swampscott or Marblehead.

Sounds like a better agent might help you with narrowing down these decisions. Good luck!
Grew up in Ohio and now live in Michigan...

We know they are totally different (swamp and marble vs n. reading and andover)
but we like both situations... and coming from Michigan both are ?AMAZING options.. if you have never been to michigan.. think of Hell... and michigan is 3 steps worse than that...lol
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Old 05-15-2014, 01:43 PM
 
58 posts, read 157,077 times
Reputation: 39
We currently have a knowledgeable agent that has helped advise me on offers on 2 different homes. Our 2nd offer was accepted - allowed the house to be taken off the market before its first open house with an offer of $5k above asking. A good agent should help you construct your offer and explain to you the pros and cons of going in at certain values.
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Old 05-15-2014, 02:11 PM
 
Location: Columbia SC
14,280 posts, read 14,823,288 times
Reputation: 22230
Rame

Might help if knowing where you will be working. Marblehead and Swampscott can be tough to get in and out of for a commute.

You said North Reading and North Andover. You might want to throw Andover in the mix also.

Local joke is those that say they are from the "Andover's" are always from North Andover, not Andover.
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Old 05-15-2014, 02:18 PM
 
33 posts, read 40,233 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by johngolf View Post
Rame

Might help if knowing where you will be working. Marblehead and Swampscott can be tough to get in and out of for a commute.

You said North Reading and North Andover. You might want to throw Andover in the mix also.

Local joke is those that say they are from the "Andover's" are always from North Andover, not Andover.
I will be traveling a lot because I run engineering projects on-site... so for me.. no problem.. ( I can leave early for the airport to miss traffic)

My Wife will be working in Peabody... right by Boston Children's

we made the drive from peabody to swampscott at rush hour... wasn't too bad.. under 30 min.
also made the drive from north reading and was acceptable as well..
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Old 05-15-2014, 02:53 PM
 
Location: Mass
974 posts, read 1,907,952 times
Reputation: 1025
New Englanders aren't good with the "middle states" - we know the states exist because every 4 years the media heads out to those locales, but don't believe anyone really lives there the rest of the time.

If you've never lived near the ocean, I vote for the "Marble and the Swamp". You've lived through hell, time to treat yourself. Friends and family will be more likely to visit, too.
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Old 05-16-2014, 06:34 AM
 
33 posts, read 40,233 times
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Small update...

We found a house on line.. looks perfect... had our realtor look at it.. he said exactly what we were looking for!

They are only taking offers on monday until noon... there is no way we can get there by then
BUT
we are willing to make an offer $7k over list sight unseen.. contingent on inspection only AND we can fly out there on Wednesday to "see the house" to show them how serious our offer is..

The sellers realtor said "no, WE won't be entertaining that offer even if it is the best" "WE aren't selling to someone that is out of town" without even asking the actual sellers...

Is that even legal?...lol

is that normal and we should expect this difficulty?

maybe we need a different realtor...
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Old 05-16-2014, 07:26 AM
 
Location: Needham, MA
8,547 posts, read 14,075,507 times
Reputation: 7944
Quote:
Originally Posted by rameleg View Post
Small update...

We found a house on line.. looks perfect... had our realtor look at it.. he said exactly what we were looking for!

They are only taking offers on monday until noon... there is no way we can get there by then
BUT
we are willing to make an offer $7k over list sight unseen.. contingent on inspection only AND we can fly out there on Wednesday to "see the house" to show them how serious our offer is..

The sellers realtor said "no, WE won't be entertaining that offer even if it is the best" "WE aren't selling to someone that is out of town" without even asking the actual sellers...

Is that even legal?...lol

is that normal and we should expect this difficulty?

maybe we need a different realtor...
First, if I were the listing agent I would have said the same thing. Except, I would have worded it: "I will advise my clients not to entertain such an offer." I wouldn't have put it the way that agent did because unless they have written instructions from their client saying they won't be entertaining offers from people who haven't seen the property then it's not the agent's decision to make. Maybe if your offer included an immediate $20K deposit and had absolutely no contingencies at all, it would get some attention but otherwise there's no point in even looking at it. Why sell to someone who might back out once they see the house when there are so many other people who will buy it? I've given this advice to clients on several occasions. Accepting an offer from someone who hasn't seen the house in person is not a wise decision and often doesn't work out well for the seller.

Second, did your agent tell the listing agent that you hadn't seen the house? If they did, then that was a bone headed move. I would assume this listing is having an open house. It's impossible to know who has come and gone during an open house. Not everyone signs in on the sheet. If your agent didn't say anything the listing agent and seller probably would have assumed that you went to the open house and didn't sign in. Then if your offer is the best, you would have gotten the house and you could see it at the inspection. I would never tell anyone my client hadn't seen the house in person unless directly asked because I know their offer will be thrown in the trash if I say that.
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Old 05-16-2014, 07:33 AM
 
33 posts, read 40,233 times
Reputation: 12
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikePRU View Post
First, if I were the listing agent I would have said the same thing. Except, I would have worded it: "I will advise my clients not to entertain such an offer." I wouldn't have put it the way that agent did because unless they have written instructions from their client saying they won't be entertaining offers from people who haven't seen the property then it's not the agent's decision to make. Maybe if your offer included an immediate $20K deposit and had absolutely no contingencies at all, it would get some attention but otherwise there's no point in even looking at it. Why sell to someone who might back out once they see the house when there are so many other people who will buy it? I've given this advice to clients on several occasions. Accepting an offer from someone who hasn't seen the house in person is not a wise decision and often doesn't work out well for the seller.

Second, did your agent tell the listing agent that you hadn't seen the house? If they did, then that was a bone headed move. I would assume this listing is having an open house. It's impossible to know who has come and gone during an open house. Not everyone signs in on the sheet. If your agent didn't say anything the listing agent and seller probably would have assumed that you went to the open house and didn't sign in. Then if your offer is the best, you would have gotten the house and you could see it at the inspection. I would never tell anyone my client hadn't seen the house in person unless directly asked because I know their offer will be thrown in the trash if I say that.
Mike you are very helpful!!

Yes our realtor told them that we haven't viewed the house... there is an open house on Sunday... That's why I'm wondering about a new realtor...lol

as far as making them feel more comfortable, we were going to offer:
--we could offer the entire down payment as earnest money
--our realtor will view it at the open house and face time us live
--we will have a close friend that will be in the area monday view the home and face time us to view it live
--we can fly out on Wed. to view the home and schedule inspection the same day

are any of these offers worth a damn or are we just wasting our time?
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Old 05-16-2014, 07:52 AM
 
33 posts, read 40,233 times
Reputation: 12
Mike,

Could you recommend someone as a buyers agent? Either yourself or someone else?
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