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Old 01-30-2019, 02:01 PM
 
2,129 posts, read 1,763,955 times
Reputation: 8758

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EVERY single time I've ever had to deal with a realtor, they annoy the he!! out of me.

They insist on taking me to houses that are either more than I told them I wanted to spend, in neighborhoods that are too white, have features that I don't care about at best and actively DO NOT WANT at worst (like a "formal dining room", what a waste of space!). They nearly always ignore every single thing that I tell them matters to me, such as having a large yard for gardening, wanting as open a floor plan as possible, and NO GREY that can't be affordably covered up. And new carpet or old, I will have to replace that, so don't try to use it as a "selling point". It is the OPPOSITE of a selling point.

The last one dragged me to look at half of a duplex (which I did not want) equipped with old peeling vinyl coated particle board fake walnut kitchen cabinets that she insisted on calling "nice" and "newer"; the next door neighbor had junk all over the yard; there were (I am not kidding) 13 cars parked nose in all the way around the court (not counting cars legitimately parked in driveways and garages). When I mentioned the junky yard, she told me the interior of the house was SO NICE (it was NOT) that I wouldn't WANT to spend any time outdoors anyway! RIGHT! Because YOUR LIVING ROOM is the perfect place for your garden, too!

This place also had had all the sliding closet doors replaced with oversized hollow-core swing doors, so that now the closet spaces in every room were mostly behind the wall AND you had to leave space for that ginormous door to swing open. Plus one of the doors was nailed shut, which made me want to call the cops and ask if anyone in the neighborhood had disappeared in the last 5 years or so.

I turned that place down flat and she went into a major snit over it.

This go-round, I test-drove the realtor my son had used to get some info on a property near his home that had some distinct oddities regarding the disposition of the backyard and the property line. Instead of answering my question, she not only just reiterated the original description I had given her of the yard, she did it in a TEXT message to MY SON rather than contacting me. Wont be working with her.

I'm really tired of the buying experience being all about what the realtor likes rather than what *I* want and need. How the he!! do you find a decent realtor?

By which I mean they MUST consider MY likes and dislikes and NOT try to lecture me EVEN ONCE about how I should accept something for the sake of a putative future sale. You are not selling me a house I don't want, no matter how you try, so whatever feature it is that you think is such a great selling point is obviously NOT when it makes me not want the house. Like those aforementioned grey walls, flooring, cabinets, and sometimes even ceilings. I do not want to get the hard sell even once. Do not attempt to emotionally manipulate me EVEN ONCE. I don't get emotionally attached to properties I've never lived in. If the current property gets sold before I "decide", so what? Its likely there are 2 or 3 others I like as well or nearly as well, and if not, there will be soon enough. (This is a really slow market, too, and housing prices there are pretty nearly flat.)

I only care about things that make the house easier for ME to live in. I don't care whether or not some nebulous future potential buyer will like it or not.

And they need to deal with ME, and not my son. *I* will involve my son if and when I feel it is appropriate. You don't get to work on him behind the scenes because he is more easily manipulated than I am, LOL!
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Old 01-30-2019, 03:03 PM
 
Location: Rochester, WA
14,341 posts, read 11,842,080 times
Reputation: 38552
Why aren't you taking a more active role in selecting the homes you want to look at?


The days when a Realtor takes you out looking at homes that are a complete surprise to you are LONG over.

Since you made this post, I can assume you have a computer and access to the internet. Ask your Realtor to send you listings in your email and YOU look through the pictures and talk them over together and YOU decide which you want to see.

That's how we usually do it.

We are not mind readers... the good news is, it's never been easier for you to take an active role in your own home search, too. We learn more and more about our clients the more homes we look through, but sometimes you all surprise us, and you like something we never could have predicted.

Last edited by Diana Holbrook; 01-30-2019 at 04:05 PM..
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Old 01-30-2019, 03:05 PM
 
Location: Northern panhandle WV
3,007 posts, read 3,112,776 times
Reputation: 6796
I understand what you mean. However I have never used an agent to find me properties. I see something either in person or in an internet search that I like and ask to see that. I would never allow an agent to select properties for me to view.
It is kind of like buying a wedding dress, I would not allow the consultant to select dresses for you to try, I would be out there selecting what I liked to try on. Same idea.

For real estate I may or may not hire a buyers agent, never used to exist when I started looking, but now I probably would, though now that I think of it I did not use one for the retirement house I am in now, found it online when I was living in CA and house is in WV. Sent husband to WV to inspect house there and made offer to the seller's agent the same day.
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Old 01-30-2019, 03:58 PM
 
Location: DFW
40,929 posts, read 48,896,276 times
Reputation: 54915
Gee... Don't you look at the photos before you go look at the home.

They have this thing now called the Internet. We post photos and map locations. You can even Google Earth to see backyards and whats in the neighborhoods.

But it's just easier to complain. Guess I'm being Obnoxious.
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Old 01-30-2019, 04:06 PM
 
Location: planet earth
8,620 posts, read 5,597,657 times
Reputation: 19638
First of all, since there are so many Realtors, you GET to choose one you like. Why would you hire someone you don't even like?

Once you find a Realtor you like, hopefully they will sit down with you and find out what you want AND what your budget is. I am guessing they might have shown you the home with 13 cars because maybe it was only one of the ones available in your price range.

As for gray paint - how can a Realtor prevent that? That's kind of crazy that you can't grasp that you might have to paint walls if you don't like the paint color. Same with flooring. Again, if you only want to look at new homes or turn-key homes, then tell them that - if there are none of those in your price range, tell them you don't want to look at anything that doesn't have your specific requirements, and you might not be looking at anything!

Good luck!
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Old 01-30-2019, 04:16 PM
 
Location: On the Chesapeake
45,002 posts, read 59,991,288 times
Reputation: 60547
I wonder what the responses would be if she'd said "neighborhoods that are too Black"?


Past that, we haven't bought a house for over 30 years but have looked periodically. We never had an agent show us a house that was much outside our parameters except for small things like 2.5 baths instead of 2.
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Old 01-30-2019, 04:22 PM
 
Location: planet earth
8,620 posts, read 5,597,657 times
Reputation: 19638
Quote:
Originally Posted by North Beach Person View Post
I wonder what the responses would be if she'd said "neighborhoods that are too Black"?


Past that, we haven't bought a house for over 30 years but have looked periodically. We never had an agent show us a house that was much outside our parameters except for small things like 2.5 baths instead of 2.
What's funny is that agents cannot "steer" clients - cannot talk about any protected classes at all - ever.
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Old 01-30-2019, 08:33 PM
 
Location: Phoenix, AZ
6,320 posts, read 4,791,343 times
Reputation: 17918
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pyewackette View Post
EVERY single time I've ever had to deal with a realtor, they annoy the he!! out of me.
Then quit whining and stop using buyer's agents.


Do your own looking online and deal only with listing agents when you find something that appears to fit your parameters.
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Old 01-30-2019, 09:18 PM
 
3,154 posts, read 2,036,902 times
Reputation: 9288
Quote:
Originally Posted by North Beach Person View Post
I wonder what the responses would be if she'd said "neighborhoods that are too Black"?
I caught that too, but only thought "LOL, how can a neighborhood be "too white"?" But maybe the buyer is a person of color who would feel more comfortable with a shared culture, who knows. On the other hand, they could be someone who places an inordinate value on having "diversity". Personally, I never understood that point of view, I'm way more concerned with things like crime, appreciation, taxes, services, etc.. Discrimination is not always a bad thing, it's what keeps you from eating green bologna and trying to kiss strange Dobermans on the nose.
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Old 01-30-2019, 10:53 PM
 
2,129 posts, read 1,763,955 times
Reputation: 8758
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rakin View Post
Gee... Don't you look at the photos before you go look at the home.

They have this thing now called the Internet. We post photos and map locations. You can even Google Earth to see backyards and whats in the neighborhoods.

But it's just easier to complain. Guess I'm being Obnoxious.
Glad you're self aware enough to see that! Actually LOTS of houses have no photos posted, or only exterior shots.

I do give the realtor a list of properties I want to see WITH THE SPECIFIC instruction that anything he/she wants to add needs to be along the same lines.

This admonition has ALWAYS been ignored.
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