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I'm curious what the experts have to say about this, as my buyer's agent is not very impressive, either. What type of service should you expect?
EVIE - I have no idea why you are offering this buyer's agent an extra incentive when he isn't working that hard for you. It's not like this guy will be able to push a lower offer through just because he has extra incentive. If he has been lousy so far, I doubt he'll suddenly come alive with some crazy mad negotiating skills. It completely depends on how motivated the seller is and what they're willing to accept. Your agent should submit any offer you want to make. The rest is dependent on you and the seller being able to reach an agreement.
I agree your agent should offer more guidance, but ultimately YOU need to feel comfortable with your offer.
If you are deciding between multiple houses, ask your agent to find out how much the current owners paid for the houses and how long the've owned them. This is public info. Someone with lots of equity might be more willing to deal than someone who bought in the past couple of years and might have to bring money to closing if they accept a lower offer.
I would not like to be approached about a tiered commission incentive. My level of service is not influenced by commissions. I pride myself at exceptional service and wouldn't waiver for any high, or low commission in the world. My reputation is worth gold and it gets me repeat business and referrals. If there is a buyer's agent bonus, I pass it on to my buyers.
As for the incentives? I don't talk about bonuses or incentives that are being offered out unless I know they need to be brought into the picture to help my buyers obtain their goal and I believe it will help a meeting of the minds be successful. .
Very interesting - so if you are representing me, and you are offered thousands of dollars in bonus or whatever, you don't think I need to know this? I'm sorry, am I not the client? You just pick and chose the information you want to keep from the person who is spending hundreds and thousands of dollars and their life savings? Good to know.
In my case, it is all making perfect sense finally. This is the place the we were hesitant about because it needed a lot of work. Our agent said it was just cosmetic.
Well, yes, the horrid paint is cosmetic. But the kitchen and two bathrooms are from the 70s, and the floors on the top floor need to be redone. THAT IS COSMETIC! A kitchen and two bathrooms! Yeah, it's only a flesh wound.
And -- when we went back to the house specifically to see if there would be an issue with narrow stairs and not being able to get furniture up, we realized the top landing was very,very small and narrow (3x3). He said he was sure it wouldn't be a problem, that he would hate to see us not get a place just cause of a little bitty thing like not being able to get any furniture on the top floor! Arghhh!!!
Sorry for the rant, but this just infuriates me! How can you possibly trust anyone with your life savings given the lack of transparency in this process?
Very interesting - so if you are representing me, and you are offered thousands of dollars in bonus or whatever, you don't think I need to know this? I'm sorry, am I not the client? You just pick and chose the information you want to keep from the person who is spending hundreds and thousands of dollars and their life savings? Good to know.
In my case, it is all making perfect sense finally. This is the place the we were hesitant about because it needed a lot of work. Our agent said it was just cosmetic.
Well, yes, the horrid paint is cosmetic. But the kitchen and two bathrooms are from the 70s, and the floors on the top floor need to be redone. THAT IS COSMETIC! A kitchen and two bathrooms! Yeah, it's only a flesh wound.
And -- when we went back to the house specifically to see if there would be an issue with narrow stairs and not being able to get furniture up, we realized the top landing was very,very small and narrow (3x3). He said he was sure it wouldn't be a problem, that he would hate to see us not get a place just cause of a little bitty thing like not being able to get any furniture on the top floor! Arghhh!!!
Sorry for the rant, but this just infuriates me! How can you possibly trust anyone with your life savings given the lack of transparency in this process?
I am totally disgusted.
It sounds like the agent was pushing you to buy rather than listening to you in order to determine if the house fit your needs. It's unfortunate that you had that experience.
It was good to see you today and thanks again for showing us around.
We really love the houses we have seen - there are so many that would really work for us. Our top two places at this point are [Property A] and [Property B]. Where do you think we can get the best deal?
Thanks,
Xxxx
From: BA
It is tough to say until we put in an offer. I know you would like either one. It seems as though Property A is pretty motivated considering the bonuses they are offering for agents to sell it. Again, it comes down to the whole value thing. Would it make you happy to be in a house that you really like for less money? If so, then go with the cheaper property, Property A. If you don’t mind spending more money to be within walking distance to a really cool town, then you should buy Property B.
Well, I don't what earth shattering information you wanted, but he's right. It's impossible to find out how motivated a seller is until you make an offer. If you'll tell me what you want to hear so I can understand better what you expect, then I'll let you know if it sounds reasonable or not.
BTW, he did something very good: didn't try to make a decision for you or influence you. It's a matter of which house YOU choose and YOU like and then try to get a deal. If you don't get it then move to the next choice.
Last edited by Brandon Hoffman; 01-15-2008 at 01:18 PM..
You asked a question that seems reasonable, but the question you could have asked is "You you do some research on these properties as far as:
1. DOM
2. Absorption Rate
3. Liens
4. Listing history
5. Neighborhood values
6. Taxes..." or whatever
Then you need to do some analyzing. You make the decisions. If both houses fit your basic needs, which one *feels* better? Which one is closer to the things you want? What about community amenities? Proximity to schools, highways, stores, transportation...
You never know which might be the better deal until you start negotiating. Go with your gut, back it up with facts...make the best decision you can with the information you have.
No - I'm not confident at all!!! We have made it very, very clear that we see this as a buyer's market and we are looking for a deal. This guy shows us around places and he doesn't know squat about them. Doesn't ask one freaking question before showing it. Reads straight from the MLS - not an single word of added value out of his mouth - even on a second showing. He just wants to know if we're ready to make an offer.
Well, we are about ready to make an offer. But here was the question of the day - here is the email exchange:
From Us:
Dear BA,
It was good to see you today and thanks again for showing us around.
We really love the houses we have seen - there are so many that would really work for us. Our top two places at this point are [Property A] and [Property B]. Where do you think we can get the best deal?
Thanks,
Xxxx
From: BA
It is tough to say until we put in an offer. I know you would like either one. It seems as though Property A is pretty motivated considering the bonuses they are offering for agents to sell it. Again, it comes down to the whole value thing. Would it make you happy to be in a house that you really like for less money? If so, then go with the cheaper property, Property A. If you don’t mind spending more money to be within walking distance to a really cool town, then you should buy Property B.
I mean - am I crazy here!?!?!? This is all I get from him? This is really all that we can expect!! If this is it, please let me know so I can drop my expectations accordingly.
Evie, I'm not really sure what to make of this. Your tone on the posts seems quite in contrast to your tone in the email with the agent.
You thank him for showing you the houses (the number of houses seen is not mentioned).
It seems at this point you have narrowed the selection down to two homes. It may be reasonable that if you haven't expressed any particular interest in a home that you've seen that he wouldn't think you would want to discuss offers.
As to the statement in the mls that the "seller is motivated". I would not interpret that as meaning that the seller is willing to give away the farm. All it's hinting at is the seller wants to sell the home and is inviting offers.
The sellers agent could be saying, sure my seller is motivated, s/he wants to sell this house and buy a large one down the street, but if she doesn't get the price she wants, she will keep this.
Your agent is correct in that you will not know what the owners will take until you make an offer.
Also, you have stated that you want a "deal". I'm assuming that you want to lowball and get the home far below market value. This would mean that the comps won't be of any value to you because the comps probably won't support your price.
Perhaps there is a communication gap somewhere between you and the agent. It does not seem to be pushing you in one way or another. He pointed out a couple of factors that you could use in making your decision. He is not making it for you. And if you're going to lowball, then he has no way of suggesting a price for you to offer. Any lowball offer must come from your mind, not his. Then it's up to him to try and get that price for you.
You asked a question that seems reasonable, but the question you could have asked is "You you do some research on these properties as far as:
1. DOM
2. Absorption Rate
3. Liens
4. Listing history
5. Neighborhood values
6. Taxes..." or whatever
Then you need to do some analyzing. You make the decisions. If both houses fit your basic needs, which one *feels* better? Which one is closer to the things you want? What about community amenities? Proximity to schools, highways, stores, transportation...
You never know which might be the better deal until you start negotiating. Go with your gut, back it up with facts...make the best decision you can with the information you have.
I Agree - we already asked him for all this - we told him we want all the possible information to make informed decision and he has been a disappointment. That is part of the reason why I intentionally left the question vague. Wanted to give him a chance to step up to the plate. All we get is "Let's make an offer." It's such a bunch of crap.
Sorry to be so negative but this is supposed to be HIS JOB!!! Isn't that what you guys get paid for? Isn't that why you have exclusive access to the data to help us poor little uninformed buyers make a decision and negotiate the deal??????
When all you get is someone trying to sucker you into a fixer-upper because they are getting secretly greased by $6k on the back-end, well it really makes you hate the entire process.
When all you get is someone trying to sucker you into a fixer-upper because they are getting secretly greased by $6k on the back-end, well it really makes you hate the entire process.
His letter didn't show that he was trying to sucker you into anything. You gave him 2 homes that were your choices. He seemed to be giving you information to help you decide which.
From the letter you posted, both your statement to him, and his to you, I really can't see any reason for the animosity I'm hearing. What am I missing?
It sounds like the agent was pushing you to buy rather than listening to you in order to determine if the house fit your needs. It's unfortunate that you had that experience.
That's all you can come up with Bill? You are always so quick to jump on your soapbox and start quoting your "Code of Ethics" and spout a bunch of rosy nonsense about win/win strategies and yet this is your response to a very serious ethical question posed by Evie regarding hidden incentives for buyer's agents that completely compromises their integrity and fiduciary responsibility to their client - THE BUYER?
Why are there incentives from sellers to buyers agents at all if you are so bound by this alleged code of ethics to represent your client - THE BUYER?!?!? Why do you hide these incentives from your client - THE BUYER? How is that "being honest with everyone?" As a lawyer, I would be disbarred and probably prosecuted if I allowed my client to offer an incentive to opposing counsel in order to settle a matter favorably. How is what you do any different?
Are you defending this practice? Your silence on the issue, to me, implies tacit consent. Please - speak up.
If I sound angry, it is because I am angry. I have read a lot of postings on this board defending realtors, yet this practice is despicable. I have had similar experiences as Evie with buyer's agents and I am so frustrated and fed up with the entire real estate agent industry. Where are the BUYER's agents?!? Who is looking out for me?
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It completely depends on how motivated the seller is and what they're willing to accept. Your agent should submit any offer you want to make. The rest is dependent on you and the seller being able to reach an agreement.
