I Just Fired My First Client - EVER (agent, Realtor, listing)
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Bringing up a slightly old topic but was perusing the MLS for a friend and saw a bunch of houses that I had put offers on (or wanted to) that sold in the last few months and it got me thinking about my related story as a buyer being dropped by my buyer's agent.
My agent was recommended to me because she lived and worked in the area I most wanted to buy in, and I figured she would have insight on and be familiar with the current market there. She was very nice; I think she was on leave from her job but agreed to help my husband and I with our search anyways. We signed her documents so she would feel secure that we were her clients and were serious about purchasing a house. We had an awesome loan officer and prequal/preapproval all completed and were ready to go.
I've been looking at houses in my county for about 3 years now (I don't know that she knew this, she just knew we wanted to buy now). We went looking for properties around spring season each year and came up empty handed even after making 10+ offers. There was a lack of properties in our range and we bid on what we could and still got beaten by cash offers. This year, inventory was still low but there were more standard sales than ever, so we thought we'd give it another good try.
It started off fine. In the area we wanted to be, there were only a few properties available so we saw those. Made an offer on one; seller rejected it (was a standard sale but seller needed a certain amount to keep it a standard sale and not a short sale...we didn't feel that their needed price was worth the size and condition of the home). Waited some more...not many new houses in that area came up for sale. The real estate agent wasn't very proactive, so I would browse the MLS on my own and look for new neighborhoods that might also be a fit for us. I'd pick a few houses in the neighborhood for sale, and go drive by ahead of time at several times of day to see if it was something we'd be interested in. If not, I wouldn't bother the agent about it. I nixxed a few of these neighborhoods for things like neighborhood has trash everywhere, cars are parked on every inch of the street, the house I came to look at is nice but the neighboring houses are run down, etc.
I found a few neighborhoods that worked, and using appropriate comps in the neighborhoods, I was able to find a few that had been on the MLS for a while, but were listed a bit above their current market value as per the comps. (Yes, I realize that previewing a home/neighborhood and doing the comps is a realtor's job, but I was enthusiastic). I would email her about what we were looking for and homes when they came up. I admit I was probably the annoying client who emails about 5 times a day with listings I'd like to see. The thing is, I put my time and effort into making sure those were the ones I wanted to see (by driving over ahead of time, a couple times a day to preview the house exterior and neighborhood) and things move fast in our market if it's priced appropriately. So, in her defense, I was probably overeager and annoying.
Today I view the MLS and see a few homes that recently sold that we viewed and that I wanted to make an offer on. One in particular, the house was listed at $366k when we viewed it (it had also been listed at $345k, 340k, 330k, and 320k...all over the place). I did the comps and it was more like $305k. We viewed the house; it was in bad condition and needed a ton of work/overhaul. I told my realtor that I wanted to offer $300k and showed her the comps, one of which was fully renovated and right next door for $315k. She then went and pulled all of the most expensive comps she could find, ignoring any others, to justify the $366k price. Now seeing this house on the MLS, it sold for $299,500.
Almost every house we offered on or looked at is like this. I said $330k for one, she said $350k. Sold for $330k. I said $315k for one, she said $360k, sold for $320k. The house I ended up buying, she said $359k, I ended up buying for less than $330k.
She "fired" us on the same day we wanted to make an offer on the house I eventually bought. I'm pretty sure her reasons were that I was annoying with emails (this post is long, I'm sure I had some long emails, too) and that in her opinion I was lowballing every offer. I asked her for clearance to purchase the home with the listing agent, since she was firing us, and it was fine with her. Bought the house for much less than the value she assessed through comps.
Listing agent got a win/win, my former realtor thought I'd never buy a house because I lowball everything.
My comps were realistic. A lot of them were last 30 days, within reasonable square footage (+/- 300 or so), adjusted for condition and location (she knew about as much about this or less than I did, since I spent more time going out to houses alone). She got a comp from a listing agent once that was an active listing and showed that to me as a comp. Really?
It's just semi-infuriating that for a lot of houses we saw before we liked and wanted to offer on, she didn't write offers for us (or ignored my emails) because even when I gave her the comps she thought we were lowballing. And then, those houses went for close to what I wanted to offer. Kinda makes me wonder "what if."
She was a nice lady, and I don't fault her if she doesn't like reading long emails. But honestly I was doing 90% of the work, all I needed her for was to open the door and write offers for me.
Bringing up a slightly old topic but was perusing the MLS for a friend and saw a bunch of houses that I had put offers on (or wanted to) that sold in the last few months and it got me thinking about my related story as a buyer being dropped by my buyer's agent.
My agent was recommended to me because she lived and worked in the area I most wanted to buy in, and I figured she would have insight on and be familiar with the current market there. She was very nice; I think she was on leave from her job but agreed to help my husband and I with our search anyways. We signed her documents so she would feel secure that we were her clients and were serious about purchasing a house. We had an awesome loan officer and prequal/preapproval all completed and were ready to go.
I've been looking at houses in my county for about 3 years now (I don't know that she knew this, she just knew we wanted to buy now). We went looking for properties around spring season each year and came up empty handed even after making 10+ offers. There was a lack of properties in our range and we bid on what we could and still got beaten by cash offers. This year, inventory was still low but there were more standard sales than ever, so we thought we'd give it another good try.
It started off fine. In the area we wanted to be, there were only a few properties available so we saw those. Made an offer on one; seller rejected it (was a standard sale but seller needed a certain amount to keep it a standard sale and not a short sale...we didn't feel that their needed price was worth the size and condition of the home). Waited some more...not many new houses in that area came up for sale. The real estate agent wasn't very proactive, so I would browse the MLS on my own and look for new neighborhoods that might also be a fit for us. I'd pick a few houses in the neighborhood for sale, and go drive by ahead of time at several times of day to see if it was something we'd be interested in. If not, I wouldn't bother the agent about it. I nixxed a few of these neighborhoods for things like neighborhood has trash everywhere, cars are parked on every inch of the street, the house I came to look at is nice but the neighboring houses are run down, etc.
I found a few neighborhoods that worked, and using appropriate comps in the neighborhoods, I was able to find a few that had been on the MLS for a while, but were listed a bit above their current market value as per the comps. (Yes, I realize that previewing a home/neighborhood and doing the comps is a realtor's job, but I was enthusiastic). I would email her about what we were looking for and homes when they came up. I admit I was probably the annoying client who emails about 5 times a day with listings I'd like to see. The thing is, I put my time and effort into making sure those were the ones I wanted to see (by driving over ahead of time, a couple times a day to preview the house exterior and neighborhood) and things move fast in our market if it's priced appropriately. So, in her defense, I was probably overeager and annoying.
Today I view the MLS and see a few homes that recently sold that we viewed and that I wanted to make an offer on. One in particular, the house was listed at $366k when we viewed it (it had also been listed at $345k, 340k, 330k, and 320k...all over the place). I did the comps and it was more like $305k. We viewed the house; it was in bad condition and needed a ton of work/overhaul. I told my realtor that I wanted to offer $300k and showed her the comps, one of which was fully renovated and right next door for $315k. She then went and pulled all of the most expensive comps she could find, ignoring any others, to justify the $366k price. Now seeing this house on the MLS, it sold for $299,500.
Almost every house we offered on or looked at is like this. I said $330k for one, she said $350k. Sold for $330k. I said $315k for one, she said $360k, sold for $320k. The house I ended up buying, she said $359k, I ended up buying for less than $330k.
She "fired" us on the same day we wanted to make an offer on the house I eventually bought. I'm pretty sure her reasons were that I was annoying with emails (this post is long, I'm sure I had some long emails, too) and that in her opinion I was lowballing every offer. I asked her for clearance to purchase the home with the listing agent, since she was firing us, and it was fine with her. Bought the house for much less than the value she assessed through comps.
Listing agent got a win/win, my former realtor thought I'd never buy a house because I lowball everything.
My comps were realistic. A lot of them were last 30 days, within reasonable square footage (+/- 300 or so), adjusted for condition and location (she knew about as much about this or less than I did, since I spent more time going out to houses alone). She got a comp from a listing agent once that was an active listing and showed that to me as a comp. Really?
It's just semi-infuriating that for a lot of houses we saw before we liked and wanted to offer on, she didn't write offers for us (or ignored my emails) because even when I gave her the comps she thought we were lowballing. And then, those houses went for close to what I wanted to offer. Kinda makes me wonder "what if."
She was a nice lady, and I don't fault her if she doesn't like reading long emails. But honestly I was doing 90% of the work, all I needed her for was to open the door and write offers for me.
Maybe you should get a license yourself since you seem to like the work involved.
It took you 3 years to find a house and you made 10 offers that were rejected. That's pretty much a definition of an unmotivated buyer. At some point you needed to realize that at 10 offers you are obviously coming in too low. So I'd say that you were way off on your idea of what those houses were worth and I can see while your agent chose to no longer work with you.
I always inquire about how long a buyer has been searching for a house and if it's a long time then I ask why they have taken so long. I'd never work with a buyer who has been looking for 3 years unless their situation has changed to where they really need to actually buy a house.
There's nothing wrong with you taking as long as you want, but it's unprofitable from a business standpoint for an agent/broker to try and work with someone who lowballs properties and is willing to take years to actually buy something. So that's when I part ways with a buyer. It can be politely done because the buyer just has different goals. They want to take a long time and I need to run a business. It's too bad that you didn't disclose to your agent that you had been looking for such a long time. That would have allowed them to try and figure out why you still hadn't purchased something.
...That's pretty much a definition of an unmotivated buyer. ......I'd never work with a buyer who has been looking for 3 years.
Well, the person is going to buy a house, but maybe not from you, which means no commission. I guess your just an unmotivated realtor. For a buyer like this, its easy to setup automated MLS listings and keep in touch via email. No need to constantly call or bother a buyer like this one.
A good commission can be made without spending much time with certain types of clients.
Bringing up a slightly old topic but was perusing the MLS for a friend and saw a bunch of houses that I had put offers on (or wanted to) that sold in the last few months and it got me thinking about my related story as a buyer being dropped by my buyer's agent.
My agent was recommended to me because she lived and worked in the area I most wanted to buy in, and I figured she would have insight on and be familiar with the current market there. She was very nice; I think she was on leave from her job but agreed to help my husband and I with our search anyways. We signed her documents so she would feel secure that we were her clients and were serious about purchasing a house. We had an awesome loan officer and prequal/preapproval all completed and were ready to go.
I've been looking at houses in my county for about 3 years now (I don't know that she knew this, she just knew we wanted to buy now). We went looking for properties around spring season each year and came up empty handed even after making 10+ offers. There was a lack of properties in our range and we bid on what we could and still got beaten by cash offers. This year, inventory was still low but there were more standard sales than ever, so we thought we'd give it another good try.
It started off fine. In the area we wanted to be, there were only a few properties available so we saw those. Made an offer on one; seller rejected it (was a standard sale but seller needed a certain amount to keep it a standard sale and not a short sale...we didn't feel that their needed price was worth the size and condition of the home). Waited some more...not many new houses in that area came up for sale. The real estate agent wasn't very proactive, so I would browse the MLS on my own and look for new neighborhoods that might also be a fit for us. I'd pick a few houses in the neighborhood for sale, and go drive by ahead of time at several times of day to see if it was something we'd be interested in. If not, I wouldn't bother the agent about it. I nixxed a few of these neighborhoods for things like neighborhood has trash everywhere, cars are parked on every inch of the street, the house I came to look at is nice but the neighboring houses are run down, etc.
I found a few neighborhoods that worked, and using appropriate comps in the neighborhoods, I was able to find a few that had been on the MLS for a while, but were listed a bit above their current market value as per the comps. (Yes, I realize that previewing a home/neighborhood and doing the comps is a realtor's job, but I was enthusiastic). I would email her about what we were looking for and homes when they came up. I admit I was probably the annoying client who emails about 5 times a day with listings I'd like to see. The thing is, I put my time and effort into making sure those were the ones I wanted to see (by driving over ahead of time, a couple times a day to preview the house exterior and neighborhood) and things move fast in our market if it's priced appropriately. So, in her defense, I was probably overeager and annoying.
Today I view the MLS and see a few homes that recently sold that we viewed and that I wanted to make an offer on. One in particular, the house was listed at $366k when we viewed it (it had also been listed at $345k, 340k, 330k, and 320k...all over the place). I did the comps and it was more like $305k. We viewed the house; it was in bad condition and needed a ton of work/overhaul. I told my realtor that I wanted to offer $300k and showed her the comps, one of which was fully renovated and right next door for $315k. She then went and pulled all of the most expensive comps she could find, ignoring any others, to justify the $366k price. Now seeing this house on the MLS, it sold for $299,500.
Almost every house we offered on or looked at is like this. I said $330k for one, she said $350k. Sold for $330k. I said $315k for one, she said $360k, sold for $320k. The house I ended up buying, she said $359k, I ended up buying for less than $330k.
She "fired" us on the same day we wanted to make an offer on the house I eventually bought. I'm pretty sure her reasons were that I was annoying with emails (this post is long, I'm sure I had some long emails, too) and that in her opinion I was lowballing every offer. I asked her for clearance to purchase the home with the listing agent, since she was firing us, and it was fine with her. Bought the house for much less than the value she assessed through comps.
Listing agent got a win/win, my former realtor thought I'd never buy a house because I lowball everything.
My comps were realistic. A lot of them were last 30 days, within reasonable square footage (+/- 300 or so), adjusted for condition and location (she knew about as much about this or less than I did, since I spent more time going out to houses alone). She got a comp from a listing agent once that was an active listing and showed that to me as a comp. Really?
It's just semi-infuriating that for a lot of houses we saw before we liked and wanted to offer on, she didn't write offers for us (or ignored my emails) because even when I gave her the comps she thought we were lowballing. And then, those houses went for close to what I wanted to offer. Kinda makes me wonder "what if."
She was a nice lady, and I don't fault her if she doesn't like reading long emails. But honestly I was doing 90% of the work, all I needed her for was to open the door and write offers for me.
I must admit I found myself proactive just as you. My agent would present a few homes yet I would find 10+ more on my own via MLS.
I couldn't fathom how anyone would miss 10-15+ listing within her area of operation and I, 650 miles away (being military I thought this must be the Civilian way of conducting business, lackluster). Anyhow we attempted to offer 30k under the listing on a property which she indirectly refused to submit claiming lowballing and we never heard from her again (no returned phone calls,emails,etc). Much to my surprise that home sold for 42k under listing. Realtor's lost
Eventually (6 months later) I've found and purchased a home nearly double the size, for a fraction less with better Comps. Note, we possessed a realtor and I brought more listing the table than she. I should have received her Commission!
she indirectly refused to submit claiming lowballing and we never heard from her again (no returned phone calls,emails,etc). Much to my surprise that home sold for 42k under listing. Realtor's lost
Typically when submitting low ball offers I find its best to use a young realtor. They are typically very motivated by money and will do whatever it takes to make a sale. As realtors get old they typically only want to do the easy deals for easy money and will simply refuse deals that require time or tough negotiations.
Well, the person is going to buy a house, but maybe not from you, which means no commission. I guess your just an unmotivated realtor. For a buyer like this, its easy to setup automated MLS listings and keep in touch via email. No need to constantly call or bother a buyer like this one.
Do you have any experience as an agent or broker? You'd be out of business soon if you work with a lot of buyers like this. Qualifying a buyer or seller to see what their motivation is is a basic part of providing brokerage services. And counseling them is a also a part of providing competent services.
There's much work that needs to be done other than just setting up an automated search. Who is going to show the houses to this buyer for 3 years?
Furthermore, there are plenty of unmotivated buyers who never end up buying a house or can't qualify. So, no- they may not eventually buy a house.
Typically when submitting low ball offers I find its best to use a young realtor. They are typically very motivated by money and will do whatever it takes to make a sale. As realtors get old they typically only want to do the easy deals for easy money and will simply refuse deals that require time or tough negotiations.
You don't think the same of the older Realtor? I thought she was after a few additional bucks which ultimately cost her a COMMISSION. I will keep this in mind for a future purchase.
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