Breaking up with a realtor

[mSooner]

Okay...I'd like some more advice about our new realtor. We signed a buyer's agreement with him so we're stuck with him for at least the next 60 days, but I want to know if how he handled our offer was standard. He was very helpful and great showing us homes, etc. so I'm not unhappy with him in that regard.

--I asked for comps on the house when we decided we were definitely interested, a few days before we were going to make an offer. He pushed back saying they take a long time to pull and we would do that "later." He gave them to us when we met him to make an offer, but it didn't give me the time to look at them like I wanted to. I like to look up every.single.address (all 50ish of them) up on Zillow, Sawbuck, etc. to see pics so I can get an idea of how the house was finished out. At the time, he said the homes were comparable in finish out, but now that I've looked them up, I disagree for the most part. 95% of the homes on the list were fully or partially updated, or at least nicely kept. The home we are looking at is a definite fixer-upper that is just plain dirty due to the tenants. We're okay with that, but we wanted to offer reflecting this.

--I was very clear with him up front that A. were not 100% sure we wanted to buy and B. Wanted to offer low on any house we felt was worth an offer. I've mentioned this multiple times. However, when we came to put together the offer, he balked big time at the price we wanted to offer. (12-14% below an already reduced list price) It was a definite lowball but we have our reasons:

• The house has been trashed by renters and doesn't show well at all. You have to look past a lot...we're willing to do that, but at the right price. It's going to require $7-$10k to get it in good condition and $15-25K to make it really nice.
• We spoke with some very talkative neighbors who let us know that the owners are selling because they are divorced, no longer live in DFW, and the house has gone downhill since they left. The neighbors indicated we should lowball. The renters are relatives who have decided not to purchase the home, which leads me to believe they will want to be on their way before the next school year (they have kids), possibly leaving the seller with a trashed house that would be hard to rent and a monthly liability.
• The house has been on the market for 2+ months...not horribly long, but starting to push it for this area.

At any rate, he told us if we offer to low, we risk offending the seller and they might not even respond or tell us to get lost. I know this happens, but we were honestly willing to take that risk given the info above. I cant imagine the owners would decline to even counter offer given their situation.

And we wouldn't be devastated...we can offer somewhere else, wait for another house, or just rent if we don't find something we like. But he made it out to be a big deal, roped in my poor husband, and I caved after really pushing hard. We offered a price I'm okay with, but it wasn't where I wanted to start. I also thought I had made our intentions crystal clear, but I guess not?

Then we asked when the seller has to respond. He reiterated that they don't at all if they don't like the offer. Now we are wondering, what keeps them from holding onto the offer indefinitely? I believe we can withdraw it if it takes too long, correct? I would have preferred that we require them to respond within 48 hours to force a decision, but is this unreasonable? I think we were too nice and I'm sort of pissed. Am I justified?


Is a realtor's reputation hurt by lowballing clients? Is our experience normal? I'm not completely unsatisfied, but I'm not satisfied either.

[Rakin]

You asked a lot of questions. Yes anyone can not respond or sit on an offer if they want as long as they want. How do you purpose "making" them respond? If they like the offer and think it's workable, they would be crazy not to get back to you ASAP. You can withdraw an offer at anytime until it becomes a contract.

Your agents reputation is not a factor or a concern, he works for you and should put down on paper what you want even if it's ridiculous or out right stupid.

It takes about 30 seconds to run a list of solds in a an area.

Keep in mind, even POS homes in Coppell usually sell well and get a premium compared to most areas.

What else ?

Roped in your poor husband ? Sounds like a victim mentality. Surprised your agent still wants you as a client.

[mSooner]

If they like the offer and think it's workable, they would be crazy not to get back to you ASAP. You can withdraw an offer at anytime until it becomes a contract.

That was what I wanted to know.

Yes anyone can not respond or sit on an offer if they want as long as they want. How do you purpose "making" them respond?

Putting an expiration clause on the contract (24 hours, 48 hours, etc.) I mentioned it, but our agent balked and made it sound like this wasn't an option or at least wasn't something we should do

Roped in your poor husband ? Sounds like a victim mentality. Surprised your agent still wants you as a client.

That wasn't my intention, but thanks for your sweet response. What I meant was my husband and I agreed on what we wanted to do in advance, but my husband doesn't like confrontation at all and got uncomfortable with the agent's pressure.

[Rakin]

No need to put an expiration clause in an offer. You can withdraw it at anytime and the sellers agent would encourage a fast response.

I always encourage people to sleep on an offer that they think is not workable. We always encourage a counter offer even if the original is way too low.

Buyers today have what I call "Buyer Brain Warp". They've been listening to the news on how bad things were and think everyone is in foreclosure. Coppell is just the opposite. Prices almost always go up in Coppell and the demand always has exceeded the supply.

Most of Flower Mound would not exist if those people could have found a home in Coppell.

[mSooner]

Most of Flower Mound would not exist if those people could have found a home in Coppell.

I can agree with that...my parents are some of those people. (though it was really lot size that drove them to Flo Mo)

I promise I am not an unreasonable bi***...if anything we are just super-hesitant and very unsure over how this all should go. This is the biggest financial decision we have made so far in our lives, so I don't think we are wrong in being very conservative and wary. Yes, we hired our realtor to guide us through this, but our last encounter just made me really uncomfortable and I value the advice of people on this forum, other real estate agents included.

[Rakin]

Yeah, I apologize for that comment earlier. You do ask well thought out and informed questions. All buyers should do their homework like you.

[loves2read]

Frankly I can see where you are coming from
I think some realtors (male or female)-- like other types of sales people-- aren't comfortable dealing with female spouse who is more involved/vocal than the male--even though many times that is the one who does most of the looking and research
Your post indicates your realtor is a male--I think he just defers to the male in the buying couple
Many sales people are used to men controlling the purse strings and give their attention there--

We made offers on 3 houses before buying our current one and set limits on response time--
we did not want the owners to stall on responding to our offer, thinking they could pull in others to compare with ours and set up bidding war--this was when the market was really hot and homes could see 3 offers the first day they went on the market--
we usually had set 48 hrs (I think) for the sellers to respond...which to me was too long--I would have preferred 24...my thinking is the sellers know their bottom line (you don't), if you have qualified for the mortgage and your price is in their target zone and time line works--there is really no reason to delay unless they are waiting for more offers to come in...
but the market was different 5-6 yrs ago...

there are realtors who don't like to lowball for whatever reason--and again the market kind of determines what a "lowball" offer really is...but you are the ones who have to hold firm...too bad your husband was swayed...frankly I don't think your realtor has any reason or really responsibility to make you offer more than you are comfortable..some owners are unreasonable about what they want from a house...but if you were upfront with the realtor and were willing to risk losing the house or having to resubmit a contract with higher price--what did it matter to the realtor...
ADDED:--whether or not the sellers or your realtor get a negative impression about you from how you drive this bargaining process is kind of irrelevant since you will have no contact after the sale is done...
the only issue might be if they gave neighbors bad impression of you--but the sellers aren't living here now anyway so that is moot...

do you have any idea if this realtor has any connection with sellers or sellers' realtor?

the info that you uncovered from the neighbors was important as to sellers' mentality IMO --
too bad your realtor was not really interested in what it implied...

and the fact that your realtor did not already have comps pulled for that house when you indicated you would make an offer is pretty unprofessional and irresponsible...comps do take short period of time--
AND from my point of view you do youself more harm than good going to sources like Zillow if you think you are getting comps--
those aren't what you need to use -- because TX does not require anyone to "report" the sales price of a home...RE agents have much more accurate info about sold homes/prices than other sites like Trulia or Zillow..I don't even look there...
but again I am not a RE agent--and certainly have not bought homes for investment like another poster has

[mSooner]

AND from my point of view you do youself more harm than good going to sources like Zillow if you think you are getting comps--

I don't look at the Zestimate, etc., I know that is crap. I was looking for pictures so I could tell whether the home had been redone, etc.