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.
I didn't check your link; however, wasn't that 10 to 1 by what buyers wanted?
The closest we came to buying a house was a home that was occupied by an adorable 80-year old couple who stayed in one of the spare bedrooms-turned-office during the showings. Their house was immaculate, though not professionally staged, and they favorably answered our questions re the HOA, as the agent could not answer our specific questions.
That couple, both congenial, educated professionals, added to the house's favorable ratings. If we had decided to buy in that community at that time (too early for us, since my husband was still working here in the SF Bay Area), that's the house we would have bought, except for it being so high up a steep hill, too steep to bicycle to the community pool/gym/clubhouse.
When I was the executor of my Mom's house, I was never present during the numerous Open Houses.
The day I did go to the house to show it, I spoke to the prospective buyers (and maybe their agent) and I sold it (with my listing agent) that evening.
So I think it greatly depends on the type of sellers you have.
1. Not asking our RE agent to ask the sellers to please, PLEASE let us see the house on our own. The sellers were present the first time we toured the house, and the second. And every time thereafter - including during the inspection. This made it really uncomfortable to really walk through the house and take it in.
2. Not looking at the floors more carefully. And in general not asking more questions about the floor.
We had been told at first it was hardwood - we assumed it to be solid wood (yes, coming to find out now, solid wood is unlikely in Florida. Did not know this at the time.) During appraisal, found out it was engineered. Wish I had also asked more questions about refinishing. It was thrown around so freely "oh you can refinish these to any color you want" as if refinishing is an easy stress free process. I know it's still real "wood" - and on its own may not have been enough to turn us against the house - but combined with everything else, it might have.
I have others, but those are the main 2.
What do you regret?
Don't get upset with the flooring, as the same thing happened to us.
Listing agent stated on the listing description the home had " Hard wood flooring throughout" and when we first saw the home we took their info as fact and didn't think nothing of it. Fact is, it wasn't "solid" hard wood flooring but was engineered wood flooring. My Wife was pissed after we moved in and she saw extra planks in the basement that the owner left. The wood on the flooring planks were so thin.
Anyway, we do love the home and the flooring looks great, albeit engineered and not solid.
When I bought and sold my first two houses as a young adult I thought salespeople were honest. In time I learned to avoid their hassles and never believe a word they say. Wood floors, what a joke. If they claim that you are probably getting cheap foreign plastic.
Heck, I have had agents insert me into email loops with their buyers. Generally agents who had little training or supervision, and ergo, little clue what they were doing.
We got an email loop (we are sellers) with the actual buyer. It is so tempting to write and say we are not the bad guys this is what the agent did. But I have not. Is that weird he gave us buyers email? Agent is sadly buyer & seller agent so we feel rather dismissed. He was much more for the buyer.
I didn't check your link; however, wasn't that 10 to 1 by what buyers wanted?
The closest we came to buying a house was a home that was occupied by an adorable 80-year old couple who stayed in one of the spare bedrooms-turned-office during the showings. Their house was immaculate, though not professionally staged, and they favorably answered our questions re the HOA, as the agent could not answer our specific questions.
That couple, both congenial, educated professionals, added to the house's favorable ratings. If we had decided to buy in that community at that time (too early for us, since my husband was still working here in the SF Bay Area), that's the house we would have bought, except for it being so high up a steep hill, too steep to bicycle to the community pool/gym/clubhouse.
When I was the executor of my Mom's house, I was never present during the numerous Open Houses.
The day I did go to the house to show it, I spoke to the prospective buyers (and maybe their agent) and I sold it (with my listing agent) that evening.
So I think it greatly depends on the type of sellers you have.
Yes, it was 10-1, buyers wanted sellers out for showings. The link just goes to the thread with the poll.
My 76 year old grandmother sold her house in 2006 before last crash. She lived in that house since 1949. Raised all 14 kids there.
When she sold it, she was present at every showing. She interviewed (i guess you can say..) everyone who walked through that house. If she didnt like the person, no matter how good the offer was, no sale. No investors were allowed.
She ended up selling to a family of four and they loved her. She lowered the price for them and they became great friends. My grandmother left a $200-300 gift basket with champagne, wines, photos and stories to the new occupants on the day of the closing. The buyers were supposively so happy… but story is, my grandma didnt want any investors or pompous businessmen.. she wanted a nice family to take care of the home and make memories in the walls her late husband built in the 1940s.
The house was more than money, since she won a case in the supreme court.. she had plenty… she wanted to enrich the homes future. The people still live there with their now high school aged kids. If this every happens to me, i would totally 100% respect that. Theg dont have to sell to you and if it annoys you, leave.
My parents didnt do that, they only did the no investors allowed. But i think its cool
My 76 year old grandmother sold her house in 2006 before last crash. She lived in that house since 1949. Raised all 14 kids there.
When she sold it, she was present at every showing. She interviewed (i guess you can say..) everyone who walked through that house. If she didnt like the person, no matter how good the offer was, no sale. No investors were allowed.
She ended up selling to a family of four and they loved her. She lowered the price for them and they became great friends. My grandmother left a $200-300 gift basket with champagne, wines, photos and stories to the new occupants on the day of the closing. The buyers were supposively so happy… but story is, my grandma didnt want any investors or pompous businessmen.. she wanted a nice family to take care of the home and make memories in the walls her late husband built in the 1940s.
The house was more than money, since she won a case in the supreme court.. she had plenty… she wanted to enrich the homes future. The people still live there with their now high school aged kids. If this every happens to me, i would totally 100% respect that. Theg dont have to sell to you and if it annoys you, leave.
My parents didnt do that, they only did the no investors allowed. But i think its cool
Wholesome story lol
Sounds like a good way to get sued. I'll bet same sex couples, etc. know their rights a lot more than your grandma. Always take the most solid offer. A relative turned down 600k from a demolisher to sell to the tenant for 500k. They got a call five days before closing requesting 30k to reseal the basement. But the tenant had lived there for a decade and never reported any problems with moisture.. They rejected her request and she still miraculously closed.. So doing the right thing cost them 100k and a very anxious close. I'll bet they sell to the guy with the bulldozer next time.
Location: On the "Left Coast", somewhere in "the Land of Fruits & Nuts"
8,852 posts, read 10,461,442 times
Reputation: 6670
Quote:
Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke
You are so polite.
If a seller won't allow me to see the house without them there, I just act like they aren't there, which includes climbing under the kitchen cabinets, testing the water pressure, looking in all the closets, testing the closure on built-in drawers, pulling up a floor vent to look at the side of wood flooring, and moving area rugs..
If the seller is offended or thinks I am rude, too bad for them. Their choice to be there and hear all the comments and I am not going to politely not look at the house and end up with flaws I should have seen before making an offer.
They are selling a very expensive item. Buyers want to look at it before buying. But I guess, hey, if they watch me like a hawk I won't seal any of their precious little porcelain shoes out of their collection.
Bought and sold a fair number of properties prior to retirement, many of them 'fixers', and due to the 'nature' of these kinda places, the seller is usually 'motivated', so the Purchase has usually been the easiest part.
But if there was ever gonna be a 'problem', it seemed to invariably occur with the Sale... flaky agents, faithless and occasionally outright dishonest 'buyers', small town cozy 'arrangements' between Realtors®, supposedly 'neutral' Escrow Agencies and their 'repeat customers', etc.... and my fav, the rude so-called professionals who often behave like they're doing me a 'favor'. Or maybe I'm just 'old school', but IMHO no one's ever 'entitled' to rude behavior, let alone in someone else's home.
Though in a competitive market with multiple offers and little 'supply', sometimes folks 'attitude' can even make a difference... since it's always good to be able to choose whom we want to deal with.
I don't have a problem with most of what you want to do; however, why on earth are you looking in all the closets?
I can understand if the master bedroom is advertised as having a walk-in closet, you might want to go inside, if the closet was not adequately photographed, but otherwise, if a home is still occupied, closets may have personal belongings in them that are not for prying eyes.
Didn't we just have another thread about buyers being creepy by peeking into closed cabinets, etc.?
Why do I look in closets? First to make sure the doors actually open. Second to see the size of the closet. Just because there's a closet doesn't mean it will work for what I plan on putting in it.
Yes I look in kitchen cabinets. I do this to make sure they open and that they're actual cabinets and not just fronts hiding something such as a pillar filled with plumbing to the second floor. I also want to see what type of craftsmanship the cabinets are. I don't want off the shelf big box store cabinets.
Sounds like a good way to get sued. I'll bet same sex couples, etc. know their rights a lot more than your grandma. Always take the most solid offer. A relative turned down 600k from a demolisher to sell to the tenant for 500k. They got a call five days before closing requesting 30k to reseal the basement. But the tenant had lived there for a decade and never reported any problems with moisture.. They rejected her request and she still miraculously closed.. So doing the right thing cost them 100k and a very anxious close. I'll bet they sell to the guy with the bulldozer next time.
You're not required to sell your home to anyone. You just can't discriminate. Nowhere did it say the homeowner discriminated against a same sex couple. She didn't want an investor to buy her home. It was her home not a house to her. You do not have to take the most solid offer. Your one example is a defect with the house not what happened with the grandmother at all.
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.
