Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
His actions seemed fine. It was your fault not getting a third party cma or appraisal and/or setting your own price. I’ll bet he didn’t strongly discourage the appraisal. Probably said something like “you can go ahead if you want to waste your money”. Being sceptical in real estate is always wise. Sounds like you ended up ok.
There is really no way to know if he was unethical or just incompetent. I do lean a little toward the unethical side though. Be glad you dodged a bullet.
My dad was a broker in a small town for 30 years. In the last 10, he realized the only way to make any real money in real estate in that town was to put an ad in the paper saying he would buy your property. When a seller called, he would say your property is worth $x but I will give you $x-y% for it. They could opt to list it or sell it to him or neither. Then he would either rent or sell it on a land contract. But he was honest about what it was worth.
His actions seemed fine. It was your fault not getting a third party cma or appraisal and/or setting your own price. I’ll bet he didn’t strongly discourage the appraisal. Probably said something like “you can go ahead if you want to waste your money”. Being sceptical in real estate is always wise. Sounds like you ended up ok.
He was a third party of whom I asked for a third party CMA and he either lowballed or he was incompetent - take your pick. He should have been upfront that he was a buyer (albeit a buyer with no ability to pay) and not a seller’s agent. If he had been honest, I would have moved on with some one else right away. He actually said no appraiser could appraise it because it was a unique property and refused to offer up any appraiser’s names. Any way I am sure he gnashes his teeth whenever he thinks about the $112K commission the selling agent received this summer. She double-ended the transaction with one of her own buyers!
Last edited by Spokaneinvestor; 08-30-2019 at 08:17 AM..
His actions seemed fine. It was your fault not getting a third party cma or appraisal and/or setting your own price. I’ll bet he didn’t strongly discourage the appraisal. Probably said something like “you can go ahead if you want to waste your money”. Being sceptical in real estate is always wise. Sounds like you ended up ok.
If you’re going to essentially call every post a lie, I see no point in why you’d even want to respond. You have no earthly way to know and no reason to speculate. Obviously he was skeptical and ditched that agent and got a good one. But hey...talk about trying to blame the intended victim.
Back to the actual question:
Given the information that the OP has given us, it sounds pretty shady on the listing agents part.
Standard of Practice 1-3
REALTORS®, in attempting to secure a listing, shall not deliberately mislead the owner as to market value.
If this listing agent said there were no comps to be found and yet there were, and he then offered a very low price for the property for himself instead of listing it like the seller asked, it seems unethical.
OP: Out of curiousity, what was the price the agent offered and what was the eventual selling price?
Last edited by mistyriver; 08-30-2019 at 08:16 AM..
If you’re going to essentially call every post a lie, I see no point in why you’d even want to respond. You have no earthly way to know and no reason to speculate.
Given the information that the OP has given us, it sounds pretty shady on the listing agents part.
Standard of Practice 1-3
REALTORS®, in attempting to secure a listing, shall not deliberately mislead the owner as to market value.
If this listing agent said there were no comps to be found and yet there were, and he then offered a very low price for the property for himself instead of listing it like the seller asked, it seems unethical.
OP: Out of curiousity, what was the price the agent offered and what was the eventual selling price?
It was a large and unique property in a very small market so I don’t want to name prices — too easy to figure out at the exact property in question. To answer your question, the first agent’s estimate of listing price was 58% of the ultimate price that the property sold at in a arms length all cash no-seller financing transaction.
One thing that puzzles me: why would you ask him to do a CMA if he expressed an interest in buying it? Ethics aside, the conflict of interest was obvious, not hidden. The agent was clearly not going to represent your best interests if he wanted to purchase the property.
If you’re going to essentially call every post a lie, I see no point in why you’d even want to respond. You have no earthly way to know and no reason to speculate. Obviously he was skeptical and ditched that agent and got a good one. But hey...talk about trying to blame the intended victim.
Back to the actual question:
Given the information that the OP has given us, it sounds pretty shady on the listing agents part.
Standard of Practice 1-3
REALTORS®, in attempting to secure a listing, shall not deliberately mislead the owner as to market value.
If this listing agent said there were no comps to be found and yet there were, and he then offered a very low price for the property for himself instead of listing it like the seller asked, it seems unethical.
OP: Out of curiousity, what was the price the agent offered and what was the eventual selling price?
There is always a way to comp. Some agents just aren’t very good at it when it’s something unique. I wouldn’t say he deliberately misled. Even the OP recognizes that it’s difficult to comp. Ultimately what matters is how much someone is willing to pay.
One thing that puzzles me: why would you ask him to do a CMA if he expressed an interest in buying it? Ethics aside, the conflict of interest was obvious, not hidden. The agent was clearly not going to represent your best interests if he wanted to purchase the property.
I'm glad that everything worked out for you.
He didn’t express an interest in purchasing until after I asked for a CMA. He was familiar with the property for several years prior to me asking him about listing it. He should have known he was interested in purchasing and said so prior to engaging in a listing discussion.
There is always a way to comp. Some agents just aren’t very good at it when it’s something unique. I wouldn’t say he deliberately misled. Even the OP recognizes that it’s difficult to comp. Ultimately what matters is how much someone is willing to pay.
I would generally agree there is always a way to comp until you get into properties above $1MM with one of a kind attributes. After that it is more of an art and less of a science although, on this property, the income approach would have yielded a more accurate number.
At a $1MM plus price tag, in this market, properties tend to be unique and your average flunky residential agent can’t figure it out. What I should have done is realized that at the anticipated price level, type of buyer and type of market when selling an entire waterfront rural subdivision with multiple homes, I needed an agent that deals with high dollar properties and high net worth buyers who have capacity to close. Ultimately I found that agent or that agent found me.
I am sure the agent that first looked at the property does well selling your average run of the mill 500K starter home. Where he jumped track was trying to buy the property without having the ability to pay for it and setting asking price by guess and using what he wanted to pay as a market value. A competent, ethical agent would realize they were out of their element and competence level and abdicate to a better agent.
At the end of the walk around, he tells me he wants to buy it. I say do a CMA and lets see where the value lands.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spokaneinvestor
He didn’t express an interest in purchasing until after I asked for a CMA. He was familiar with the property for several years prior to me asking him about listing it. He should have known he was interested in purchasing and said so prior to engaging in a listing discussion.
Okay. Thanks for clarifying what you wrote initially.
Unfortunately, I don't know what was truly in his mind when he first sought to list it.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
