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Old 05-19-2010, 01:39 PM
 
Location: Olympia
1,024 posts, read 4,121,433 times
Reputation: 846

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Am I the only one who is bothered that the listing and selling agents are not on speaking terms?
What good is having representation when the two agents don't speak to each other?
This seems unprofessional to me and may lead to alienating the two parties the agents should be bringing together. Nine addenda, 2 inspections, the buyers attending their inspections and not sharing the report is not out of the ordinary.
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Old 05-19-2010, 01:48 PM
 
7 posts, read 10,426 times
Reputation: 10
Thanks for all of the replies. This whole situation seemed odd from the beginning. The buyer and agent requested that the seller (me) not be present during the first home inspection which set off red flags. Then with the buyers agent not turning over the report seemed odd as well. The buyers agent originally provided the inspection items in an addendum and was requesting that all items be corrected by owner. We stated that we would not correct any items unless we received a copy of the report. Then they revised the addendum to state that they would not hold us responsible. This set off red flags again which meant that maybe all of those items were not on the inspectors report. Maybe this was a wish list created by the buyer and agent. Our agent has been in the business for 40 years and has stated that he has not seen this type of behavior in a buyer ever. He also told us that the buyer will not return his calls.
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Old 05-19-2010, 03:23 PM
 
Location: Central Texas
20,958 posts, read 45,166,931 times
Reputation: 24736
Often, the inspector will prefer that the seller not be present for the inspection. Why? Nothing nefarious, simply that many, if not most, sellers, if present at the inspection, will follow the inspector around, trying to point out things, explain away things, etc., in general making it more difficult for the inspector doing the job he's being paid to do for the buyer. Or they'll get very upset at the things the inspector is finding that are wrong with their house that they either didn't know about or hoped no one would notice, and take that out on the inspector, arguing with him that problems that are clearly there do not exist or "don't matter" and shouldn't be put on the report.

So asking that the seller not be there for the inspection shouldn't have set off any red flags. Most times the seller is not there for the inspection, in fact, if they've been prepared properly by their agent, because it is not in their best interests to have every problem pointed out to them by the inspector, at which point in most states they are required by law to disclose everything the inspector found. It's an essential part of the agents' job to be the buffer that keeps emotion out of the deal, and it sounds like neither of them are doing that.

As stated, the seller almost never gets a copy of the inspection report unless it is necessary to illustrate what needs to be fixed, and in most cases only those pages that are necessary for that purpose, again because it is in the seller's best interests not to get a copy of it.

As for the addendum, buyers almost always request that something be repaired. Sometimes they'll ask that everything be repaired, and negotiate down from there if the seller doesn't agree to fix everything, to having those items that they are most concerned about fixed. That's not unusual at all. It is rather odd that they wouldn't provide a copy of the inspection report when you requested it in order to see exactly what needed to be fixed and how, but nothing else up to that point is odd at all - it's all pretty standard, in fact, and I'm surprised that your agent hasn't run into it in their 40 years of practice.

If the buyer has an agent, then your agent should NOT be calling them and they shouldn't be returning his calls - THAT is a violation, your agent should be contacting them through their agent and not directly, and he should know that.

And I am, indeed, concerned that the agents are "not on speaking terms", if that's the case. That's unprofessional, and probably the one thing that does verge on being a violation of ethics in all of this story. Whatever their relationship, they're ethically and legally bound to serve the interests of their respective clients, and that of necessity requires being on speaking terms.
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Old 05-19-2010, 04:08 PM
 
Location: Tempe, Arizona
4,511 posts, read 13,525,379 times
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My Realtor association's contract must be one of the few that do require the buyer to give a copy of all inspection reports to all parties.
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Old 05-19-2010, 04:23 PM
 
Location: NJ
17,574 posts, read 45,968,514 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rjrcm View Post
My Realtor association's contract must be one of the few that do require the buyer to give a copy of all inspection reports to all parties.
That seems like it would put the seller at a big disadvantage when negotiating items from the inspection report. If they buyer knows the seller now has to disclose something in the future it would give them an edge on things.
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Old 05-19-2010, 04:30 PM
 
Location: Cary, NC
2,407 posts, read 10,652,706 times
Reputation: 1380
Quote:
Originally Posted by Donut hole View Post
Thanks for all of the replies. This whole situation seemed odd from the beginning. The buyer and agent requested that the seller (me) not be present during the first home inspection which set off red flags. Then with the buyers agent not turning over the report seemed odd as well. The buyers agent originally provided the inspection items in an addendum and was requesting that all items be corrected by owner. We stated that we would not correct any items unless we received a copy of the report. Then they revised the addendum to state that they would not hold us responsible. This set off red flags again which meant that maybe all of those items were not on the inspectors report. Maybe this was a wish list created by the buyer and agent. Our agent has been in the business for 40 years and has stated that he has not seen this type of behavior in a buyer ever. He also told us that the buyer will not return his calls.
It is not odd to request that the seller not be present during the home inspection. And at least in my area, buyers are not legally obliged to turn over any report that they have ordered and paid for. It is not surprising that the buyer is not returning phone calls from your agent -- your agent should not be contacting the buyer directly but instead be calling the buyer's agent.

The two agents should be communicating; anything less than that is unprofessional.
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Old 05-19-2010, 04:35 PM
 
Location: Tempe, Arizona
4,511 posts, read 13,525,379 times
Reputation: 2200
Quote:
Originally Posted by manderly6 View Post
That seems like it would put the seller at a big disadvantage when negotiating items from the inspection report. If they buyer knows the seller now has to disclose something in the future it would give them an edge on things.
I think the logic here is that everyone is entitled to full disclosure of material facts about the property.
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Old 05-19-2010, 04:52 PM
 
7 posts, read 10,426 times
Reputation: 10
Sorry to be unclear, the buyer's agent will not return our agent's phone calls.

Also, it was written in our contract that we are to receive a copy of the original inspection report in the event that we are to fix items resulting from the inspection. What we received was a bullet list of items that the buyer wanted us to fix. Upon asking for the report, they then changed their position and said we were not responsible for any of the items. This seemed odd to us and our agent.

The agent also does not respond to our agent and waits until an hour before response deadlines to respond to addendums. The buyer's agent then makes false claims about not knowing anything about our agent trying to contact them, even though we see the emails that are cc'd to us.

What strikes me as odd is why would anyone think it is acceptable for an agent and his buyer(s) to show up on my property without any notice, sometimes at an early morning hour and sometimes at a late evening hour anytime they feel like it. Am I emotional at this point? Well, yes. I have an uninvited guest at my house on a weekly basis. Not to mention, vendors who the buyer has set up to stop by and the health department. No messages are left anywhere, not with us, not with our realtor, and not with their message board.

I realize in the real estate business everyone assumes the 'seller' is bad and out to get the buyer but we are good honest people who just want to work work with reasonable people to sell our house and fix anything that is wrong. At this point we feel like we are being harassed.
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Old 05-19-2010, 05:01 PM
 
Location: Salem, OR
15,490 posts, read 40,178,438 times
Reputation: 17302
Just because your agent is sending emails it doesn't mean that the buyer agent is receiving them. I have found many an agent have bad email addresses or you get some old timers that never check their emails.

So, I would have YOU, the seller, draft a letter stating that the buyer and their agent are not to be on the property without an appointment. Send it certified mail to the buyer agent.
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Old 05-19-2010, 05:03 PM
 
Location: Tempe, Arizona
4,511 posts, read 13,525,379 times
Reputation: 2200
You could try having your agent talk to the other agent's managing broker about your concerns (assuming they are different people).
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