Quote:
Originally Posted by Nikki Siam View Post
Yep, blame the person who hires an agent and thinks they are going to get some assistance. You know as well as I that what you are saying is not possible.
I called the internet provider when buying my current home and was told the highest high speed internet was available. Then when they came out to the house they bumped me down to the lower one. So how is a buyer supposed to know?
They would expect that a professional in the know about real estate would maybe know something about they area they are selling houses in.
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People expect a Realtor showing them a rural area property would know about things like the Internet availability to a particular home.
Impossible. Impossible for the following reasons.
1: What may be available along one road or to one particular property, may not be available along another road or to a particular property. When one looks at rural property, if you ask about a certain level of Internet the Realtor may not even know the meaning of the terms you are using referring to your needs. The reason they would not know, is what you are asking may be available in a large city you come from, but the people living in that rural area may not even know what it is as it is not in that area, or runs under another name.
In University Real Estate Law classes, we were advised the Realtor should refer you to the local providers, so you can ask the provider about the particular services available to that particular property. Example, the Realtor may say Cell Phone service is available to this property and be correct. But you may have a different service that is not available to that particular property. The other alternative, is to check if it is available using your own cell phone. Don't expect the Realtor to know answers to questions about cell phone service, from your provider.
Note some of the Realtors on this thread, hate septic systems, and don't want to sell property with septic systems. These are city Realtors, with a city Realtor mentality. Talk to a real country Realtor and they will tell you that you need to have the septic inspected. They send cameras down to inspect the entire septic system including the train fields. A well operatic system does not have problems, if it is treated with the respect it needs to keep operating correctly. I know. We are on a well and septic system. We had our septic system pumped and inspected 10 years ago, and was found to be in perfect condition and just keeps operating with no problems. We do not have a garbage disposal, as that is a major problem causer for problems.
Note that city Realtors hate wells in the country, period. Wells can be good or bad thing. A well may go dry in some areas of the country in the summer. A well may become contaminated, depending on the location, and other factors. We have a well. You drill through a hard rock and hit an aquifer at 35 feet, and our well goes down 60 feet so even if water level falls a little, we will have water. We draw from the same aquifer that the city uses with their well less than half a mile from our well. We have all the water we will ever need, including water to run an acre of underground sprinklers for landscaping.
A true story about septic systems, and heating problem to a home. It was located just outside the city limits, in an exclusive Brick Home subdivision. Really nice homes. My wife wanted one that came on the market, when the original owner sold business that was growing like crazy to a national firm, and retired real young, and had bought a small mansion to live in.
This home had the reputation that the septic system was no good, and had to be pumped every month. It also would not heat, and the entire heating system had to be replaced. It was a 15 year old home. The Realtors were not even showing it, and telling people the septic system would not work and the heating system did not work. It was priced so much below the market, I had to check it out.
Called the sewer service that had done the monthly pumping and asked him about the septic system. He told me that there was nothing wrong with it, except the owner had a huge above ground swimming pool year around, covering the entire drain field so it could not work, so it was pumped monthly. Told me there was no problem. I filed this away in my mind. I was an investment realtor and did not sell homes for personal use so I was telling no one what I found.
The heating system, would run but would not circulate air even with the fan system working well. I crawled under the house and inspected the furnace. I had a light and a screw driver with me. I found a long metal plate held by two screws. I took it off and found the filter. It had a inch and a half of compounded dirt on the intake side, that was like dried mud. Took it out, put the plate back on and the heating system worked perfectly. The furnace filter had never been changed in 15 years as they did not know where it was. I put the filter back, and went to my office and made an offer on the home. I got it approved within an hour. I then sent over my crew to repaint it inside, and put in a top grade of carpet throughout, and new flooring in the kitchen and baths. Suddenly we owned one of the nicest homes in town at a very cheap price.
When we were moving it, one of the best agents with near 20 years experience that lived across the street, came over to see me. He told me of the two problems. If it had not had the two problems he would have bought it, as it was nearly twice as nice as his house and his cost a lot more. I gave him a tour, and then showed him the furnace worked, and told him about the septic problem that did not exist. He said it was a good lesson to him, to check with the experts, and not guess.
Don't expect a Realtor to know things out in rural areas of the country, about things you have in the city such as high speed internet. He/she may only know dial up service, and when you ask about Internet he tells you the truth that it is available. Check with your provider, don't just listen to the agent. And the speed, may change around the different areas, depending on how much service they have on that branch line, and if overloaded the may cut you to a lower speed as the quote above tells about. Or you may find that there are no more hook ups available in that area, while a mile away there may be available hookups.
Things are different in rural areas, and rural areas of this country are much bigger parts of the country than the cities cover.
As things may change depending on slight changes in the terrain, some areas of town have one level of Internet and others another. Cell phones may work if you have one particular service, but not on others, and possibly not even be available a quarter mile from where it is available.
Don't expect a Realtor to have all the answers as to what services you can get at a particular home. 3 houses down, it may be altogether different from what is is at a particular home. Some homes may be able to get Internet hookups as that trunk is overloaded, but you may not be able to get it at another home, you may not be able to get the level of service you want, or they may want thousands of dollars to run any type of service to a home.
Don't expect a rural Realtor to have all the answers about services you require. Check with the providers yourself.
Same with cell phone service. It may work next door, but not on this property. It may be an altogether different service, and you will have to change providers. In the City the agents will know what is available. Out in the more rural areas of the country where it may vary between houses 1/2 mile apart, or in some cases next door, don't expect the agent to know everything about the services you need. Check it out yourself with the available providers.
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