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Old 03-18-2015, 10:39 AM
 
Location: Englewood, FL
1,464 posts, read 1,834,119 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by macrodome2 View Post
We did something similar to Cardiff. We'd already picked out the neighborhoods we were interested in. I watched the new listings each day. When the house popped up, I asked our realtor to go take a look to make sure there wasn't anything we couldn't see in the pictures- funky smells, neighbor issues, etc. We had already rented a house for a month in the same community and were very familiar with it.

When she said everything was fine, we put in an offer and negotiated the contract. Once the contract was negotiated we came down to see it. We put that we had 20 days to come to see it and we could back out with no reason. We saw it the day we came down and our realtor set up the inspection for the next day. We closed 2 weeks later.

You can only trust a real estate agent so far. Even under the best of circumstances, you have to remember that in most cases the agent is working for a commission. I wouldn't trust anyone with that important decision, or substitute the agent's opinion for my own judgement. After all, the agent doesn't have to live there. No slight against agents, but it's my opinion.
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Old 03-18-2015, 11:24 AM
 
2,407 posts, read 3,169,236 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kiggy View Post
You can only trust a real estate agent so far. Even under the best of circumstances, you have to remember that in most cases the agent is working for a commission. I wouldn't trust anyone with that important decision, or substitute the agent's opinion for my own judgement. After all, the agent doesn't have to live there. No slight against agents, but it's my opinion.
That's why we had a clause in the contract that we go say no once we got there for any reason. You are right they do work on commission, but it was not in her best interest to oversell when we had to pay for the trip just to see the house. So what we were risking was the cost of a trip if we decided to back out.
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Old 03-18-2015, 11:58 AM
 
Location: SW Florida
1,217 posts, read 1,217,799 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by macrodome2 View Post
That's why we had a clause in the contract that we go say no once we got there for any reason. You are right they do work on commission, but it was not in her best interest to oversell when we had to pay for the trip just to see the house. So what we were risking was the cost of a trip if we decided to back out.
Was your offer at or below asking price? How long ago did you do this if I may ask? Since it has changed to a sellers market, houses are sometimes selling in a couple days and we might need to do this too.Thanks.
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Old 03-18-2015, 12:04 PM
 
2,076 posts, read 3,090,425 times
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You can see from the 3rd chart that sale price as a percentage of ask price has gone up. in 2011 it was about 93% and now it is about 96-97%.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/saras...ate-stats.html


In California, property often sells for over asking price, so it took Hubby and I a while to get used to not offering asking price in Sarasota.

That said, if the property is way over priced, these percentages mean nothing.
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Old 03-18-2015, 12:22 PM
 
Location: Sarasota/ Bradenton - University Pkwy area
4,577 posts, read 7,454,361 times
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As an agent, I have had buyers write purchase contracts without seeing the property first. Most of those were investors that were familiar with the communities and the style of properties, so between the numerous photos I took and the extensive home inspection reports (which was also a contingency to opt out of the contract if the buyer wanted to do so), those buyers were ok with the rather unorthodox process of buying without seeing first. Because they were investors, it was about numbers, not emotions.

I have also had buyers purchasing new construction that didn't see the actual home until after closing. But those buyers had been to the community, toured the models, plus received photos from me as construction progressed.


However, buying a resale home you will occupy, either on a full time or part time basis, without seeing it first is not something I would recommend to most home buyers. Agents can take multiple photos and videos to send you, but those visuals do not replace an in person visit by the buyers. Most buyers go by how they feel about a home, whether it "talks" to them. I can show a buyer 4 homes in the same neighborhood, with very similar layouts and lawns, but one home will stand out to the buyer and the others won't. All 4 homes had the features that the buyer said they were looking for, so what made that one home special?

Yes, we agents work on commission. But we also want happy home buyers who refer us to their friends and family as referrals are an important part of our business. The difficulty is that we agents do not know the buyer personally, only through emails and phone calls, perhaps you made one previous trip here and we spent a few hours with you. We've never visited your current home/ neighborhood, we don't know your personal style, your history, your family. We can only go by what you tell us you want in a home here in FL.

Sometimes what a buyer tells us they want turns out to be quite different from what they actually buy. A good agent pays careful attention to a buyer's feedback as they tour listings together, learning a buyers likes and dislikes. By eliminating that part of the process a buyer can end up with a home that matches everything on their "must have" list but still falls short once they actually close on the purchase and move in.


We will soon be heading out of the winter season, and short term rental rates typically drop after season is over. It may make more sense for some buyers to take advantage of the seasonal adjustments to those short-term rental rates to come down for a couple of months and spend time learning the ins and outs of the neighborhoods you think you'll like to see if in reality you do, to visit homes in those neighborhoods to see if the reality matches the photos on the Internet.

As you explore and learn your way around the Sarasota area you may find that what you really like in the way of neighborhood and home turns out to be quite different than what you thought you would want. And wouldn't you rather reach that conclusion before you buy a home rather than after?
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Old 03-18-2015, 12:34 PM
 
Location: Rotonda Florida
1,393 posts, read 1,543,655 times
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I'm with you Sunshine, that's why "da Boss" and I are coming down and spending June and July there. We liked the area when we were there but out thoughts are the 2 months will let us see more of the area/s, do some additional investigation, and the biggest (for us) will be to see what she and I think of the summer. We already know we like the winter.
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Old 03-18-2015, 01:55 PM
 
Location: Englewood, FL
1,464 posts, read 1,834,119 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 03bluecoupe View Post
I'm with you Sunshine, that's why "da Boss" and I are coming down and spending June and July there. We liked the area when we were there but out thoughts are the 2 months will let us see more of the area/s, do some additional investigation, and the biggest (for us) will be to see what she and I think of the summer. We already know we like the winter.
Great idea!
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Old 03-18-2015, 02:45 PM
 
Location: Sarasota/ Bradenton - University Pkwy area
4,577 posts, read 7,454,361 times
Reputation: 5968
Quote:
Originally Posted by 03bluecoupe View Post
I'm with you Sunshine, that's why "da Boss" and I are coming down and spending June and July there. We liked the area when we were there but out thoughts are the 2 months will let us see more of the area/s, do some additional investigation, and the biggest (for us) will be to see what she and I think of the summer. We already know we like the winter.
Smart idea. July will definitely give you a taste of what you can expect thru August and September as well. Some people can't stand summers here, other tolerate them quite well. It's best to know which group you fit into before making a purchase.
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Old 03-18-2015, 04:50 PM
 
2,407 posts, read 3,169,236 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FLHfan View Post
Was your offer at or below asking price? How long ago did you do this if I may ask? Since it has changed to a sellers market, houses are sometimes selling in a couple days and we might need to do this too.Thanks.
Sent you a DM.
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Old 03-18-2015, 05:13 PM
 
2,407 posts, read 3,169,236 times
Reputation: 4346
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cardiff by the Sea View Post
You can see from the 3rd chart that sale price as a percentage of ask price has gone up. in 2011 it was about 93% and now it is about 96-97%.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/saras...ate-stats.html


In California, property often sells for over asking price, so it took Hubby and I a while to get used to not offering asking price in Sarasota.

That said, if the property is way over priced, these percentages mean nothing.
We worked off of the $ per sq ft that had sold in the community over the past 6 months. We weren't interested in % of ask because as you point out if the property is over priced the percentage is meaningless.
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