Question on ethics dealing with realtors (house, friendly, deal)

[Old Gal]

Originally Posted by alkaleka

Or, having both sides of the transaction gets the listing agent more money than if she has a buyer who is working with another agent. Then she has to share the commission.

I hope that isn't the case but then things do happen.

[alkaleka]

Originally Posted by Old Gal

Sometimes, there is more than money involved, i.e. fast closing, contingencies, etc.

We were just discussing in another blog here how this situation happens a lot when you are a buyer and are working with an agent. Many here have said they lost out on a home because their offer was rejected, only to have the home sold for less to someone else--later. The listing agent waits for a buyer who has no agent, so s/he can earn the total commission. Not very ethical, IMO. Hopefully, most agents are more ethical than that. I would never consider buying without the help of a buyer agent who has my back.

[coastal chic]

Originally Posted by Salty Dave

FYI

From our experiences if you do not deal directly with the listing agent you will probably end up losing a good percentage of the homes you inquire about.
Not sure what happens but we lost about 12 that way.

I have never found this to be the case. I don't think an agent could possibly have that much power over the mind of the seller. What DOES happen (often), is the seller receives an offer very quickly after listing the house, for less than asking, which they reject because they believe a better offer will come. A better offer never comes. Then they get desperate and take a lower offer later. Happens all the time. I have found the saying that the first offer is usually the best offer to be true most of the time. Sellers are getting greedy again.

[Old Gal]

Originally Posted by alkaleka

We were just discussing in another blog here how this situation happens a lot when you are a buyer and are working with an agent. Many here have said they lost out on a home because their offer was rejected, only to have the home sold for less to someone else--later. The listing agent waits for a buyer who has no agent, so s/he can earn the total commission. Not very ethical, IMO. Hopefully, most agents are more ethical than that. I would never consider buying without the help of a buyer agent who has my back.

I'm not going to say it is impossible. Just like any other business there are a few unethical people out there that might do that. I think most agents are more ethical than that. Also, please remember, sometimes other circumstances play a role. With what the Florida real estate market is just now coming out of I would be willing to bet that weirder things have happened.

[TamRE]

In the state of Florida agents work as a transaction broker unless they sign a single agent agreement. You can basically work with whoever you feel comfortable with. Some people prefer to go directly to the listing agent for any homes they are interested in. To me that is much more cumbersome and takes up more time for the buyer and the agent. When you work with one agent they get to know your wants and needs and can help narrow down selections for you. If you go with the listing agent then you are setting up appointments each time you want to look at something different. Where if you work with the same agent, they can show you several homes back to back within the same day. Selecting an agent to work with has nothing to do with ethics. Agents who are designated as Realtors though follow a code of ethics.

[Macgregorsailor51]

We used/looked at 4 different Realty Sites and didnt know about this board before we bought.. It took awhile to close on a home because it took us awhile to find what we really wanted WHERE we wanted it.. Once we found it ....we made an offer THAT DAY and followed that with an earnest check the following day. Our Sale/Purchase was a cash transaction so it went just as fast as the ducks got in a row.. Communication for us was a KEY Element.. as was response time and KNOWLEDGE of the area.. For us that she was a boater helped a LOT..

Originally Posted by Old Gal

03,a realtor you can communicate with, are comfortable with, is responsive and you trust.

[03bluecoupe]

wow, a lot of replies pretty quickly! I had a response all typed out and ready to hit send before I had to get dinner going and the cat decided that'd be a great time to walk across my laptop keyboard. Needless to say, she has a remarkable knack for hitting the wrong key and - POOF - bye bye note.

So, I'll try again.

A realtor recently sold a home to friends of ours. They were very pleased with her, her drive, etc... So when we went down in January, we stopped by to get a couple of local maps and ended up speaking with her for a half an hour or so. Very nice woman and seemed genuine enough and has an excellent track record. I'm just not sure if it's wise to put all of our eggs in one basket but it sounds like that may be the way to go. NOTHING against her, I'm just not up to date on buying a house, it's been a while. She does send my wife listings from time to time but we haven't really given her the "GO full steam ahead".

When we come down in a month or so we will have a pre-approval letter/document and will be able to write a down payment check on the spot if we see something that's "our house".

I have a file of "Must haves", "it'd be nice to haves", and "eh, if it has it; ok" kind of things in it that we'll provide to realtors. We don't want to waste their time or ours by showing us things that we know we wouldn't be interested in.

Thanks for all of the replies and advice, it sounds like maybe we should stay with her. I really don't wanna do anything unethical - just looking for our "perfect" retirement home. If such a thing even exists (that we can afford. lol )

[Old Gal]

03, keep something in mind or something in mind rarely does "perfect" exist. Most every house you see is going to need something unless you custom build. Just be prepared. We will be having some things done to our hopeful new place but we are very happy.

[SeaRay35]

Heard of many happy dealings with SoFlGal, so I would reach out to her!

[Old Gal]

Originally Posted by SeaRay35

Heard of many happy dealings with SoFlGal, so I would reach out to her!

I totally agree! Another happy client here.