What happened to all the skilled realtors?

[altus2006]

It is necessary for everyone to do their homework if buying in the Phoenix area. My experience has been that many Realtors either don't know about some of these things or don't care as long as they can sell a house.

First, this area has some real issues with poor soil which can be either the expanding, shrinking type or the collapsible type. Get the maps online so that you know which areas of the Metro area to avoid or at least to ask for a soil check if you decide to buy in these areas. If you buy a house built on poor soil, you may end up with a cracking, unlivable, unsaleable home as thousands of people have.

Queen Creek has fissure areas, so a person may end up watching their home being swallowwed up by one some day.

Arizona has a very lax builder warranty program and unless a new law making builders responsible for longer home warranties is passed in November, we are still at their mercy if the homes we buy need fixing after the current puny 1 year warranty period is over.

Check deep to find the builders who have lawsuits filed against them or are financially unstable and which are building using shoddy construction materials and cheap, unskilled labor. Watch out for the "arbitration clause" in new home contracts. By signing one of these you will be giving up your right to sue the builder for crummy workmanship and be subjected to expensive, builder biased arbitration. There is a lot of builder info on this forum to help you get started on your own search.

Once you have enough information to purchase a home in this area, start looking for a Realtor and grill them to get a idea about how much they know about the area in which you are interested in buying. One place to look is at Open Houses because you can get a feel for how people friendly they are and if you like their knowledge of property that they are trying to sell.

Check out the police reports for the various areas in which you are interested. This will give you some idea of the criminal activity in the area. Also, driving by the selected areas at night will tell you more about who lives in the subdivision and the number of cars parked on the lawn is also telling.

Like the original poster, I am also unimpressed with the quality of people selling homes in the area and am very grateful that I have spent hours researching as I am less able to be snookered when buying something.

altus2006

[Gretchen B]

Originally Posted by Stevyp

Over the past 16 years I've owned 2 homes, and each time I had the joy of working with a skilled realtor (FL / TX). Now that I'm relocating here, I have to wonder if they've all become lazy or if there is just no skill anymore.

The reason I question is this:

In the past, I'd sit down with the realtor and have a nice talk about "what I want in a house / neighborhood". They'd seem to listen to me, maybe ask more questions and dive into trying to determine what would be a great fit. From there, they'd send me listings to review and tour and more often than not, really come close and hit the mark completely in finding my dream home.

Now it seems like every realtor I've tried (4 so far in 3 weeks) are just lazy idiots. I have to wonder why I'd want to even work with one and not just do all the work myself as that's what it seems like I'm doing. I tell them what I want in my neighborhoods / schools / community / house with the assumption (since it worked in the past) that they're listening to me and have an idea of what's in the area. Sadly each of them simpley put up the automated listing finder (no clue what it's called) and just have that service send me random homes. Right off, it's safe to say that 70% don't come close to interesting me, and aren't anything like what I talked about. The rest, well that seems to be completely up to me to say let me see 1, 2, 3. At that point, it seems that the realtor is just there to open the door and let me in. When I ask about any details, they have no clue of the community or anything else.

It just get's so frustrating. What happened to a realtor working to a) find your dream home b) EARNING a commission.

I miss the calls "hi, I think I found just what you're looking for. Lets meet and let me show you" rather than "have you seen anything that you'd like me to show you?" (sadly the 2nd isn't even a call to me...I always make the call)

Anyway, just want to rant a bit as week 4 and probably going to contact another realtor and play the endless game of realtor-russian-roulette.

Stevyp - I applaud you for not accepting mediocre (if it's even that good) service. So many times buyers just work with an agent by default - either the one whose name is on the sign of a house that looks interesting . . . or the agent that happens to be on floor duty when you call an agency. Not that you might not get a good agent that way, but you still need to interview the agent and find out how they are going to work for you.

You are not asking too much!!! You're only asking for good service, which should be the norm, not the exception. I'm sorry to hear about your frustration. As a Realtor(R) it frustrates me, too, because that lack of caring and service makes the rest of us look bad.

I'm not located in the Phoenix area, but I have worked with a couple of agents down there that seem to make customer service a priority. So I know there are at least a few down there in Phoenx.

PS: You don't suppose this is a weather related thing, and it's just too darned hot to work in Phoenix in the summer??? Why don't you move up here to Prescott, and I promise to bend over backward to "find your dream home", and "EARN my commission".

[Beena]

Realtors went from spoiled in 03-06 to desparate in 07-08.

None of which makes for a real brilliant group of human beings.

And yes every divorced cougar in Scottsdale who wanted to keep her 10am spa appointment went and got a license.

[CheyDee]

Originally Posted by Stevyp

Over the past 16 years I've owned 2 homes, and each time I had the joy of working with a skilled realtor (FL / TX). Now that I'm relocating here, I have to wonder if they've all become lazy or if there is just no skill anymore.

The reason I question is this:

In the past, I'd sit down with the realtor and have a nice talk about "what I want in a house / neighborhood". They'd seem to listen to me, maybe ask more questions and dive into trying to determine what would be a great fit. From there, they'd send me listings to review and tour and more often than not, really come close and hit the mark completely in finding my dream home.

Now it seems like every realtor I've tried (4 so far in 3 weeks) are just lazy idiots. I have to wonder why I'd want to even work with one and not just do all the work myself as that's what it seems like I'm doing. I tell them what I want in my neighborhoods / schools / community / house with the assumption (since it worked in the past) that they're listening to me and have an idea of what's in the area. Sadly each of them simpley put up the automated listing finder (no clue what it's called) and just have that service send me random homes. Right off, it's safe to say that 70% don't come close to interesting me, and aren't anything like what I talked about. The rest, well that seems to be completely up to me to say let me see 1, 2, 3. At that point, it seems that the realtor is just there to open the door and let me in. When I ask about any details, they have no clue of the community or anything else.

It just get's so frustrating. What happened to a realtor working to a) find your dream home b) EARNING a commission.

I miss the calls "hi, I think I found just what you're looking for. Lets meet and let me show you" rather than "have you seen anything that you'd like me to show you?" (sadly the 2nd isn't even a call to me...I always make the call)

Anyway, just want to rant a bit as week 4 and probably going to contact another realtor and play the endless game of realtor-russian-roulette.

I could have written your post. I worked with realtors multiple times in NY and TX and had similar experiences to yours. Then I moved to AZ and found it was a complete 360 here.

The most frustrating was when I found listings that just came on the market, (since I virtually did all the work myself), and felt they were "hot" enough to see right away and the realtor said she would not be available for a couple of days. What good is that? If they were indeed hot listings they would be gone by then - and many of them were.

The realtor I used also couldn't instruct me on how bidding on foreclosures worked. I didn't expect her to tell me what to bid, but I did expect her to tell me the bank was accepting multiple offers and I should bid what I felt I was willing to pay for the house, rather than the lowest bid, unless I felt I wanted to take a gamble and get it for a "song".

I could go on and on but won't - since you already have the idea.

I am sure there are many good ones out there; sadly, you just have to sift through so many who are not before you find them.

Good luck with your search.

[dookieboy]

[quote=CheyDee;4575035]
The realtor I used also couldn't instruct me on how bidding on foreclosures worked. I didn't expect her to tell me what to bid, but I did expect her to tell me the bank was accepting multiple offers and I should bid what I felt I was willing to pay for the house, rather than the lowest bid, unless I felt I wanted to take a gamble and get it for a "song".


She couldn't instruct you because she probably did not know how.

[CheyDee]

My point exactly. Shouldn't she have known, especially considering all of the foreclosures in the area? Or, at the very least, should she not have admitted she did not know and tried to find out?

[VillageLife]

I am a realtor in the California area.Started selling in 1990.Now one out of 2 people in California is a realtor.When you show them property,you get a run around. You ask them if he/she is a realtor.They would say yes,I have so and so or my sister is. The ones that are not,would call other agents for advice without telling me.Sometimes after working hard with them,they would make an offer with someone else if that agent has not responded in 30 min. So it goes both ways. If the buyer is honest and would be there for the agent then life would be easier.
Luckily I have my own group of buyers and investors.

[aiwei]

I went through 3 agents before I found one that is a keeper. The 1st one was too busy to return our phone calls. The 2nd one was too sarcastic to my liking and would not make herself available over the only weekend we were here looking for homes. The 3rd one was very nice but did not know the East Valley at all (she is from the West Valley and did not tell us) which was stressful. Finally I found the current one who is great in all aspects, so far. Now, we have put an offer in on a house and are waiting for the acceptance.
I agree that too many agents are not skilled enough to negotiate today's market. We as buyers really need to take things into our own hands, so to speak. Buyers have got to ask tons of questions and take notes. The more you learn and know, the easier the process would be.