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I am going through my first homebuying experience and it is turning into a nightmare-- so much so that I am considering just backing out and renting for the foreseeable future.
Though I am not totally dissatisfied with my agents (I have a team of two who work together), I am beginning to feel like I am wasting their time. They work with a firm that sells lots of 1million plus properties and my transaction is much smaller. There have been a lot of things that have popped up very late in the deal which are requiring legwork and I am noticing a bit of resistance on their part for further negotiation to resolve some of them-- its like they value the relationship with the seller's agent more than my completing the deal. I am now seriously considering pulling out altogether (I have legal cause) and just renting a new place.
So what sorts of things would you consider time wasting from a buyer? When would you stop trying to advocate for your buyer? I also have a friend who had two agents dump him when he didn't put in an offer in the first two weeks of their working together. How long do you feel is reasonable to work with someone who has not yet shown interest in putting in an offer?
I live in DC, which is a very healthy market, so there may be some geographic differences as well.
I am going through my first homebuying experience and it is turning into a nightmare-- so much so that I am considering just backing out and renting for the foreseeable future.
There have been a lot of things that have popped up very late in the deal which are requiring legwork and I am noticing a bit of resistance on their part for further negotiation to resolve some of them-- its like they value the relationship with the seller's agent more than my completing the deal. I am now seriously considering pulling out altogether (I have legal cause) and just renting a new place.
Thanks!
Since you did not mention what the "things" that have popped up are it is pretty hard to tell if you have real concerns or are just getting cold feet. During the course of a home purchase buyers discover all kinds of things about their future home. Some of them are deal breakers, some are not. One of my bigger gripes with new clients is that they do not want to do any due diligence on their own, they just want to have the seller or listing agent reassure them that all is OK. In many cases the home is what it is, it may be something that the seller is perfectly comfortable with and has been for years. The seller is not going to change it to accommodate a buyer.
Your agents may be offering some resistance in part because you are starting to "nit pic" everything. Especially if you are out of your contingency period and they know that there will be no further negotiation. Why call or complain about something that is not going to change?
I somehow suspect your issue is now price, that you feel you may have offered too much and that if the seller somehow compensates you all will be OK. But a deal is a deal.
If you are not happy with the house the best thing to do is cancel. However, if you are looking for perfection you may never find it.
Not at all. I have another thread on this, so just didn't want to rehash it here. Basically monthly increases of over $100 in 2014 were not disclosed despite all indications that the seller was aware, and a $12k repair assessment (12K is an out of pocket expense for me, the buyer, not the total price) to the building was also not disclosed. These are significant and deal breakers. I have had an attorney weigh in that based on the contract, there is a real reason to get out of the deal. I have no problem with the offer price.
Interesting that you jumped to an immediate conclusion that I, as a buyer, was being "nit picky" instead of that perhaps the seller was not disclosing everything. I reviewed every document that was sent my way and asked a lot of questions. I made an offer in 2013 and am set to close in 2014. New year budgets and fee hikes were left out of the documents I got though I have asked for these: 2013 were accurate at the TIME of contract, but the contract states that the seller is responsible for disclosing anything that is implemented during the contract period. I only found this out during my meeting with the building's board early this week, told my agents, and now they are acting awkward about getting further credits because its "touchy" with the seller.
Last edited by confusedasusual; 01-11-2014 at 10:01 AM..
I remember your other thread and the other unit that would work was $60k more. I would expect my client to crunch some numbers, think hard about what they wanted to do. It would take 40 years of the new HOA difference in payments and the repair assessment to hit that $60k difference. It doesn't make the lack of disclosure acceptable, but you said in the other thread that even with these things it was still a good deal. Let the numbers help you decide if it is still a good deal or not. If not, then walk.
If the listing agent is struggling to discuss the disclosure issue with his client then I don't see movement forward being possible. Your agent can advocate until they are blue in the face, but the listing agent is the one that talks to the seller.
My question was more about the return on investment for an agent (though I appreciate the other advice).
If you have three buyers, one who is looking for a 1 million home, one for a 500K home and one for a 250K home, is your level of effort proportionally different based on the commission for the property?
How long does a buyer typically have to make an offer before you might determine that its not in your best interest to keep showing them properties?
Last edited by confusedasusual; 01-11-2014 at 12:20 PM..
My question was more about the return on investment for an agent (though I appreciate the other advice).
If you have three buyers, one who is looking for a 1 million home, one for a 500K home and one for a 250K home, is your level of effort proportionally different based on the commission for the property?
How long does a buyer typically have to make an offer before you might determine that its not in your best interest to keep showing them properties?
That's isn't an issue for me as much as buyer effort and movement forward. Some buyers just get stuck and can't move forward. If that is the $1M buyer in your scenario, I'd be more likely to terminate and work with the $500 and $250 buyers that are moving forward.
I put the most effort into the most serious buyers regardless of price range. A $1M dollar lookey loo does nothing for me.
That's isn't an issue for me as much as buyer effort and movement forward. Some buyers just get stuck and can't move forward. If that is the $1M buyer in your scenario, I'd be more likely to terminate and work with the $500 and $250 buyers that are moving forward.
I put the most effort into the most serious buyers regardless of price range. A $1M dollar lookey loo does nothing for me.
So how do you identify a looky loo? Is there a time frame in which you expect an offer?
And what if all three buyers were looking forward? Would you expend more effort on the more expensive sale?
I use my lookey loo sense to identify them. Serious buyers behave in a certain way.
I would expend more effort on the $250,000 buyer because there are more homes in that price range to see, in my area.
Don't real estate agencies pre-qualify buyers or ask buyers to show them pre-qualification from a mortgage company before taking them out to showings? That used to be a prerequisite.
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