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OK Gents... you have your own thoughts set. EVERYTHING is my fault. I admit to it all. I was just looking to make real estate agents look bad. Yup thats it, you caught me. I am full of BS and going around trying to make people look bad.
Still neither of you have grasped the "when there are problems that is the best time to sell" idea, but that does not surprise me. You are so set on changing my mind instead of dealing with the problems I have had.
I did do research on the agency, not the agent, so shame on me. And No they were NOT related to a single transaction. And they were not from one area within North Carolina. I did state that from the beginning.
When you have everything ready to arrive at a certain date from over 1000 miles away, I and my wife were starting new jobs, and kids in new schools I needed thing to time out correctly.
I am done with this topic, as we are beginning to chase tails at this point.
I wish you folks luck.
Packer Fan did you change your name are you the original poster or did you just also have a bad experience? I am a bit confused on this thread so forgive me if this doesn't fit for your experience.
A couple of things there is a cost of repair congingency in the NC offer to purchase that basically states if after the building inspection, insect inspection and radon inspection the buyer obtains a reasonable estimate within 7 days of the inspections and the amount of repairs is equal or exceeds X amount the buyer has the option to terminate the contract and get their earnest money back. Did this occur in your transaction? I'm not a realtor in NC (have my license in MA but choose to not be a realtor) BTW but i am getting ready to work with an NC realtor and was sent all the documents up front to review.
Lastly, you said you researched the agency but not the agent. Why? My husband and I will one day (hopefully soon) put our home on the market in MA and move to NC and I researched the agent not the office. Just because the agency is good doesn't mean their agents are. Gosh I work in a real estate office and I know there are a couple of agents in my own office that I would NEVER list my house with.
I own a real estate agency in Morehead City and take the "letter of the law" quite seriously.
The residential disclosure form that has been mentioned has three categories that can be checked by the seller in regards to "known" deficiencies of a property. They are Yes (I know) No (I don't know) and No Representation (I'm not saying either way).
Please Note: A licensed NC Real Estate Broker is obligated by law to look after their clients best interest, even above their own.
Contact the Real Estate Commission immediately. If they are Realtors-Contact their local board immediately.
I filed a complaint with the NC real estate commission and they refuse to do anything to the listing agent even though the listing agent negligently omitted matters affecting the property. I have pictures of proof and a residential property diclosure with fraudulent mis representation. Here's the deal, this "agent" is on the board of realtors...so they won't do anything about it. (FYI I am also an agent in a different state so it has to be serious for me to file a complaint against another agent) I will not go into detail on everything on the contract or I will have to write a thesis! Let it be known that I have the documentation and photos to prove negligence. I will most likely sue the agent in court. If I win I will consider placing a full page ad in the Triangle relocation magazine showing the commissions lack of action and the courts decision along with my opinion of the matter. I will of course consult with an attorney to make sure I am not liable for slander etc... It is my opinion that the NC real estate commission is scared to do anything in matters related to financial loss. Because of this they are worthless.
The Real Estate Commission cannot make a ruling that the deposit is returned to you, unless the seller signs a release of earnest money deposit. However, what the commission would have done or should have done in your case, is if you have proven the listing agent was aware of these issues, found them at fault for willful misrepresentation provided you were not represented by your own agent. Further, if you made an inspection of the property yourself at any time, you should have put in your offer that you would not exceed repairs more than a certain dollar amount. If you did put that in the contingency repair portion of the offer to purchase and you provided estimates that exceeded that amount, then the seller should have returned the earnest money. However, please keep in mind that the commission cannot make a seller release your earnest money, so in that instance, they do not have the authority over a private citizen. Therefore, the only authority the commission would have had would have been in finding fault with the agent if he willfully misrepresented the property. You could very well be correct if there is an agent involved that is in the upper power of the real estate market. It is very common for a less known agent to be reprimanded for the very same thing a better known agent does with no reprimand.
Good luck, it does sound like you need the legal advice of an attorney, unfortunately.
It is best to attend a first time home buyers program to learn the facts regarding buying a home. It is always best to add a contingency in the contract that states the purchase is contingent upon a satisfactory inspection, etc. Sellers and owners will tell a lie to sell you a home they both know is not in good condition. Sellers will almost never inspection their property because they only want to sell it. I signed a contract to purchase a beautiful home in Virginia. I took the advice of my lender and requested a contingency in the contract which stated I would purchase the home if the inspection was satisfactory. The inspection costed $300 and it was unsatisfactory. There were leaks, foundation damage, defective furnace, 100 amp electrical box, defective appliances just to name a few. The owner said he would correct all the issues with the property but he would be unable to do it until 30 days after we closed. My lender said "don't do it" the seller will leave you hanging and there is nothing you will be able to do. So I didn't purchase the property and the contract was voided because of the contingency in the contract. There are unscrupulous realtors and sellers in the market. Sellers only want to sell their property and the realtor wants to get their commission. Sorry but thats the way it is and neither one cares much for the buyer. If the Real estate commission does take action, report these people to HUD. Report all of them because they have jobs to do and they are responsible. I have known realtors to lose their license for much less. It is not the best practice to purchase a home without a walk thru and an inspection. Sure you can have someone do it for you, but they won't see the things you are looking for. It is the law, that realtors and sellers must be honest and direct in informing you of any and everything they know about the property (Disclosures). However, the owner may elect not to disclose any thing about the property to avoid being sued. Most sellers will not disclose any information regarding their properties because they only want to sell it them to you.
Always add a contingency clause in your contract that states you will purchase the property only if the inspection is "satisfactory". You can also lower the amount of repairs you are willing to do if the sellers is stating the property is in good condition. If you have a contingency in your contract you won't have any problem getting your earnest money deposit refunded to you. Realtors are very tricky (some of them) so read every line in your contract and any other documentation before signing it. If all esle fails, go to court. You can file a case in court and you don't have to have an attorney. Just have all you facts, documentation, names, dates in order. I have filed numerous cases in court and won all of them because I was taken advantage of, and I proved it with documentation, receipts, names, dates, etc. The judge wants to know what happened from start to finish. Start at the beginning and go to the end. Tell the judge everything. If you are not able to pay the court filing fee, request a waiver.
I put in an offer on a home fall of 06. We were unable to walk through the home so we used the property disclosure report and a licensed home inspector to be our eyes for us. This is becoming common in buying homes out of state. We received the residential property disclosure report and there were no deficiencies noted. After inspection from our home inspector he told us that the property was a pile of !@#$. There was deferred maintenance everywhere and he discovered toxic mold (stachybotris). 4 roof leaks, leak in the wall from a bathroom to name a few. The amount needed to repair all deficient items was easily above $5000 (the max allowed amount) but the sellers refuse to release our deposit. The listing agent has over 20 years experience and is on the realtor board. I won't say which city or county to avoid naming names. Somebody with this much experience must have done a walkthrough of the property before listing it. This agent willfully/negligently omitted the property condition. In NC real estate law it states " A listing agent is held to a higher standard with regard to negligent misrepresentation about material facts about a listed property to a buyer than is a selling agent who is acting as a seller's subagent. This is because 1) The listing agent is in the best position to ascertain facts about the property, 2) the listing agent is expected to take reasonable steps to assure that property data including with the listing is correct and 3) it is considered reasonable for a selling agent (buyers agent) to rely on the accuracy of the listing data in most instances. It also states that the listing agent has a duty to insure that the residential property disclosure statement is filled out accurately even if the sellers do not fill it out accurately. As a result I am in litigation to try to get my deposit back from the sellers. Although it will cost me more than I will get back it is the principle of the matter for me. I filed a complaint with the real estate commission along with pictures proving he must have known along with the property inspection report. THE NC REAL ESTATE COMMISSION DOES NOT CARE ABOUT THE PUBLIC. IT IS MY BELIEF THAT THEY ARE IN BED WITH THE AGENTS IN HIGH POSITIONS. BEING IN A HIGH POSITION DOES NOT GIVE THE AGENT A RIGHT TO BE LAZY, SLOPPY OR DISHONEST! I will take this to court and i hope the judge will have more common sense than the real estate commission. I have come to the conclusion that if you use a real estate agent - don't! Unless you know through personal experience that they really have their !@#$ together. I say hire an attorney instead. If an agent tells you that you MUST be represented by an agent, that is a lie. (I checked the law). If they refuse to let you see a property because you don't have an agent and won't let them represent you, don't bother complaining to the commission because they probably won't do anything about it anyway. You can report it to HUD and the Federal trade commission. Hey, maybe I will become an agent, I will fail to do my job and nothing will happen to me. There are many good agents out there so I am not saying they are bad. I am saying that if there is a problem with an agent the commission won't do anything about it so cover your you know what! To the agents who will go up in arms over this post, I have ($)7,500 reasons why I don't care.
You used a property disclosure report (prepared by the seller) and a home inspector to be your eyes. The listing agent works for the seller and is under no obligation to inform you of the condition of the home prior to you offer, unless you agreed for him to represent you as a dual agent .You should have had a buyers agent (free by the way) to represent your interests and he would not have allowed you to put the offer in the first place. Who read your offer to purchase because in it you sign stating that you personally visited the subject property.(If it was a NC offer to purchase and contract form, not one made up by an attorney) If you came to me to see a property I would gladly let you see it because then I would get the entire commission, so I cannot understand who told you you must have an agent, because in NC if you are not a licensed agent you cannot receive a commission on the sale or purchase of real property. If your contract had a contingency that if the repairs exceeded a certain amount you could terminate the contract then there should be no issue and you will get your money back. There must be another issue because as a listing agent I would let my client know that they cannot arbitrarily hold up the return of the emd without consequences. For your information the NC Real estate commision does not get involved in commision, emd deposits or option money disputes, only licensed agents breaking the real estate LIC laws. Monetary disputes are handled by the courts and I am sure if things are exactly as you say you will have no problem getting your money back and your court costs
I filed a complaint with the NC real estate commission and they refuse to do anything to the listing agent even though the listing agent negligently omitted matters affecting the property. I have pictures of proof and a residential property diclosure with fraudulent mis representation. Here's the deal, this "agent" is on the board of realtors...so they won't do anything about it. (FYI I am also an agent in a different state so it has to be serious for me to file a complaint against another agent) I will not go into detail on everything on the contract or I will have to write a thesis! Let it be known that I have the documentation and photos to prove negligence. I will most likely sue the agent in court. If I win I will consider placing a full page ad in the Triangle relocation magazine showing the commissions lack of action and the courts decision along with my opinion of the matter. I will of course consult with an attorney to make sure I am not liable for slander etc... It is my opinion that the NC real estate commission is scared to do anything in matters related to financial loss. Because of this they are worthless.
The NC real estate commission does not deal with financial matters, ONLY licesees breaking the law.
The Realtor board only deals with ethics and really has no power but to throw the bum out of the orginization. Sorry for your bad experience but unless you have a long standing relationship with a realtor in the City you are purchasing the property, to buy sight unseen is a very Risky proposition, as you are now aware.
You are right! The NC Real Estate Commission only wants the money from agents for license renewals and class after class from the BIC to CE classes to make sure that the agent is aware of the punishment that can come down on them for misrepresentation.
Basically, the NC Real Estate Commission is a scam and a way for the public to be fooled that there is an agency that is out there to protect them from agents that don't play by the rules.
For Sale By Owner is the only way to go and it's easy too! Contracts and an attorney is all you need and you'll save thousands of dollars in commissions. Screw the realtors..... they are all scam artists!
Although, I do feel bad that this has happened to you, you can report the agent to the NC Real Estate Commission and they can suspend his license and perhaps revoke his/her license.
However, again, I have sold several homes and proeprties through FSBO without a problem and I wouldn't pay a realtor a dime of my money..... for what? What do they do to earn it? Take an offer to the seller and turn it over to an attorney? Doesn't take a rocket scientist to do that!
Signed with a realtor a year ago to sell my house. When the bottom dropped out of the financial markets in September it really scared me so I told her that I was going to take the house off the market for now and rent the house. I told her she could handle the rental. An individual phoned me from a separate ad that I myself had listed on househitz.com and ended up renting the house. This same realtor got one month's rent commission from me in the amount of $1600 plus 6% per month for the entire year. The renters love the house and began making noises about maybe wanting to buy it, but they couldn't pull it off during this realtor's contract and protection period. Not enough dp and some credit issues but they say they are still trying. I told the renters they could continue to rent for another year and fired my agent from the rental agreement. Now the agent keeps on harrassing me for firing her claiming I'm trying to beat her out of a commission. First off, the rental agreement states that I can remove without replacing her for any reason or no reason at all. Then on the purchase agreement, she's trying to say that these are her clients, that she found them. If they can't pull of the purchase within the confines of her contract, I say they're not her buyers. I don't think I should be indefinitely bound to this realtor. what say you out there?
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