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Obviously that is not the case as the OP already stated that while looking online on his own, he continues to run into stumbling blocks as all the potential properties are already off the market once he attempts to move forward. Many things have changed in 30 years - I assume real estate (and the its logistics) is one of them.
She not he . Well it was a disaster in some ways. My daughter and I drove to another county that we are interested in near to the beach. Its the only county in Florida with affordable land near the water. Anyway my car broke down. The only place I have heard about for car repairs that has a good reputation for not ripping people off and doing a great job ( there must be others I just haven't heard about them) was 80 miles away. Luckily we are safe the car acted funny and we pulled into a 24 hour pharmacy store. I have AAA but didn't see the point of calling when the mechanic shop is closed on the weekends. We spent the night there. I was tired and upset and scared I need my car. I don't know what is wrong.
We spent the night in the parking lot watching homeless people and people coming for a dvd from a redbox come and go. The next morning I called AAA who has now brought us to the closed mechanic shop. They will be open tomorrow. The claim on their site to call for an appointment but the didn't answer the phone or have a message machine I hope they can take me . There is a health food store next to it for food and the repair shop has free wifi. Here I sit not knowing what to do . I have made a decision though. I need to be either near a bus route or within walking distance to a good grocery store and other civilization or maybe both for a house. Some of them we looked at had neither.
I had some business cards from local realtors I found on a gas station bulleting board. Next door to the pharmacy was also a realty office. I strange one though. Her listed phone number was a 900 number !
Anyway I called the numbers this morning from the pharmacy parking lot . One of them a husband and wife team boasting that they were " million dollar producers" didn't even return my call.
The others answered the phone. No sympathy for our situation. One guy just wanted to get rid of me like I was some kind of weirdo, the other lady told me that next time I was in town to give her a call . They both claimed to be busy with " appointments" on a Sunday morning and could not possibly see me at all that day or help me at all.
I also wrote back last night to a realtor from my area who wanted to " choose "for me another realtor in the new county I drove to even though he clearly didn't know anyone there. He just wanted to make sure I used his realty Coldwell Banker. When I refused to go with anyone he didn't even personally know he has refused to reply to me. Not even when I wrote about my car breaking down. He had seemed so nice. I guess he is not.
I have had it. Unless its a Fannie mae Freddie mac or Hud home have where I have to have the bid put in by an agent I will not be using a realtor. I don't need this.
I will probably have to sleep in the car again tonigh to be ready to see the mechanic in the morning. I don't live around here I will try to find a hotel but they all look too expensive. And I guess nobody cares. my daughter is crying and upset, I feel upset too, all my money is for this house I cant afford to use it for a new car, but my daughter and I are safe, we will figure out the rest.
Last edited by vanguardisle; 06-29-2014 at 11:13 AM..
Finding a realtor by pulling cards off a drugstore wall is not the way I would have suggested finding a realtor.
And telling them know you and your daughter are sleeping in a car for a couple of days????? In the summer heat of Florida????? Yeah, I would have blown you off, too. Frankly you sound like a kook and possibly negligent parent.
For Christ's sakes, you can't afford a hotel room? If that's the case, you can't afford a house. HUD, Fannie Mae or otherwise.
you should always use an independent inspector who is not recommended by the sales person.
I'm sure some agents can't be trusted, but in our case, the inspector our agent recommended turned out to have great reviews on other sites, and is the inspector of choice of our town's notoriously picky historic preservation society. In the two homes we had under contract, in the first case, we ended up withdrawing from the contract over issues the inspector found. In the second, the seller had done his own pre-listing inspection, but our inspector found a number of issues that the seller's inspector had missed. In both cases, our agent encouraged us to be very aggressive in pursuing credits or fixes for defects and in the first case encouraged us to walk away entirely. It sure didnt seem like our agent was after a quick deal at any cost.
I had the same frustration. Had to fire my realtor a couple days ago and am looking for a new one. It's a bit of a scummy profession overall.
One of my co-workers recently bought a house. I told him to wait, save up that 20% down payment, and make SURE you're in the right spot but he didn't listen. Paid 40k more for a home that is in not good condition (with a 30k remodeling loan on top of that). It was listed in 2013 for 149k and he paid 190k for it. Why? Because he didn't research it enough on his own (a bit young and a bit naive) and there was no one in the process looking out for his interests (though granted as an adult you have to look out for you and yours).
His realtor? Foreclosed upon, and declared bankruptcy in 2010 and 2011 respectively. I recommend looking up your real estate agent in court records.
Many are not there to help you, just to get the commission. Who's looking out for the buyer? No one, because there is a conflict of interest in the whole process. Even with lawyers the guy is one your side. A realtor has an incentive to get the buyer to pay more.
Oh, and if you ever hear something like: "Make sure the offer you put down isn't too low or the seller might get offended!"...run. Just run.
Really? I didn't know it was my job to make sure the seller of an asset wasn't offended. And how it it in my interests to pay thousands or tens of thousands of dollars more? If the real estate agent seems like they're rushing you or putting pressure on you to close, just find another.
I'm sure some agents can't be trusted, but in our case, the inspector our agent recommended turned out to have great reviews on other sites, and is the inspector of choice of our town's notoriously picky historic preservation society. In the two homes we had under contract, in the first case, we ended up withdrawing from the contract over issues the inspector found. In the second, the seller had done his own pre-listing inspection, but our inspector found a number of issues that the seller's inspector had missed. In both cases, our agent encouraged us to be very aggressive in pursuing credits or fixes for defects and in the first case encouraged us to walk away entirely. It sure didnt seem like our agent was after a quick deal at any cost.
Yeah, not bad. There are some who build their business based on reputation and word of mouth. Then there are most of them....
Finding a realtor by pulling cards off a drugstore wall is not the way I would have suggested finding a realtor.
And telling them know you and your daughter are sleeping in a car for a couple of days????? In the summer heat of Florida????? Yeah, I would have blown you off, too. Frankly you sound like a kook and possibly negligent parent.
For Christ's sakes, you can't afford a hotel room? If that's the case, you can't afford a house. HUD, Fannie Mae or otherwise.
Oh shut up! for your info we are now in a hotel finally ... I have been through so much . And for your info my daughter is a legal adult not a child.
And if the price of housing had not gotten so ridiculously high I would have money for a hotel but to even think of getting a house these days you need every dime. I have saved for years for this .
As for spending the night that is because nobody came to help us. You have to do what you have to do in life when you have no decent friends or family to help you .
The only reason we made it to a hotel is because someone called the cops that we were sitting in front of the mechanic's shop when it was closed ( I was told the owner was out of state and was monitoring his shop somehow and just wanted to know what we were doing there) and the officers searched for a cheap hotel nearby one of them gave us a ride. They cared at least.
I feel embarrassed treated like dirt ( I was a customer not a vagrant) . Only police cared about me but it was embarrassing to have to deal with it . Maybe I should just give up entirely looking for a home. I feel like giving up on everyone for friendship or trust.
I don't know what my next step should be anymore.
Last edited by vanguardisle; 06-29-2014 at 01:41 PM..
a good inspection ( and the person doing the inspection can also let me know what the home is worth so I don't need an appraisal or an agent's advice
Wrong, Inspectors only understand condition of the property. They are not trained to give you a value. In fact in most states, if they give you a value, they can lose their license to inspect properties. Placing a value on a property, and finding problems are two different fields of education.
Let's look at Realtors, and what they have to consider.
1: You are trying to buy something at the bottom of the barrel, and it cannot have serious costly problems to solve, and as you have found that property will be very, very hard to impossible to find. You are looking, and looking and everything gets sold out from under you. It is a near helpless situation.
2: If you and your agent eventually, find something you can/do buy, that agent by the time they draw their commissions will be working for less than minimum wages for the hours that were involved.
3: An agent has their knowledge, connections and time to sell. They are not going to really take on a near helpless cause, as they cannot afford to devote time to it. If they are any good, they are going to have other clients they want to devote their time to, that will bring them in a lot more than minimum wages for the time they will spend.
When you called agents when in a broken down car, and explained what you were looking to acquire, and what you had to limit yourself to, they told you they had appointments and could not help you at the time.
Realtor code for: What you are trying to accomplish is impossible here, and I am not going to take the time and gas to run you around with no probability of earning some money. I don't work for free, and don't spend money for gas, when I know I will not get a return on my time and money invested.
Questions that you need to answer.
1: Are you paying cash, or will you use financing to buy the home.
2: If you are using financing, have you gotten pre-approved for a loan, so you really know the maximum you can pay for a home.
If you are using financing, without pre approval you are already out of the home buying game in the price range you can afford to be in. There are going to be multiple offers, and only the pre approved and cash buyers will even be considered.
You keep seeing posters blaming Realtors for everything. But how many of them would offer to work free for a couple of days a week. Not many for sure. They want to get paid a decent hourly rate, for their time spent working, and if they have to use their car they want to get enough to cover their their auto and other expenses. Realtors that are well established and really know what they are doing, want to get paid for their time and expenses. They don't want to work for Free. 40 years ago when I first went into the business, I determined I needed to make $100 an hour or more for every hour worked (in today's dollars) to bring in an income and cover expenses. That I sat as a goal. That included time spent for any purpose, not only just working with clients. I went into commercial/investment/farm and ranch brokerage.
Many of you will think that Realtors should treat all potential clients with the same care and devotion. Actually a Realtor cannot afford to do this. My clients I worked with, bought and sold property after property with me. For them I gave 150% effort, and knowledge. I moved property around the country, and as far away as Belize and Costa Rica, buying, selling, and exchanging. My clients are living and working in the United States, In the middle east oil countries, and as far away as Malaysia. I assure you I did not take on lost causes that could not bring in the income I needed to make. My time had to be devoted to clients that I could earn my money handling their needs.
This is exactly why, you are getting blown off by Realtors such as when your car was broken down. If you want to buy a home, sit down with a long time Realtor specializing in low end homes in your area. Really discuss with them what you can do, what you want, and how you can pay for the property. Then ask them if there is a possibility to get what you want at a price you can afford. The answer will be Yes or No. If yes, then let them tell you what you can get, and how to get it. There is not going to be a big choice in homes. You will be lucky to find one or two. Quit running around wasting time, and when one says they can help you, let them tell you when they have found the home you can afford.
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. Well it was a disaster in some ways. My daughter and I drove to another county that we are interested in near to the beach. Its the only county in Florida with affordable land near the water. Anyway my car broke down. The only place I have heard about for car repairs that has a good reputation for not ripping people off and doing a great job ( there must be others I just haven't heard about them) was 80 miles away. Luckily we are safe the car acted funny and we pulled into a 24 hour pharmacy store. I have AAA but didn't see the point of calling when the mechanic shop is closed on the weekends. We spent the night there. I was tired and upset and scared I need my car. I don't know what is wrong. 
