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I don't care about her good intentions. I care about it's your house and your money, and her job is to execute your wishes. If you've told her you want out becuase you aren't comfortable, she should be getting you out. Not calling contractors and trying to line up repairs. I personally wouldn't allow her to represent me after this. But that's just me. You need to make the decisions that work for you. Best of luck on the next one.
Yet another post that justifies my respect for your opinion and expertise, Brandon.
As a non-realtor, I regularly learn from several real estate professionals on CD. I appreciate their time to share their knowledge, experience and opinions.
The real estate agent was trying to save the deal, making calls to repair companies, getting the seller on board to make any repair we asked for, etc, etc.
After speaking with her, I do think she had good intentions at heart, but I don't think she really understood how badly I wanted out of that deal. .
Quote:
Originally Posted by AZ8
So she was trying to save her commission.
!
Something I hate in the work world, is poor performers who try to cover up poor performance. A couple of things I've noticed over time is
a. Management tries to avoid dealing with them by putting it in terms of "good intentions"
and
b. Poor performers often spend way more work trying to paper over the original poor performance than it would have taken to do the job right the first time.
In this case, if she'd put as much effort into helping her buyers find the best house and best deal, she'd already have the commission, AND gain more buyers because people will talk about the good service. But in this case she lost the commission and probably will lose future work because word will get around.
You're right, WDIs were a terminating reason, and in this case, the termite report came back with a very scary line about there being damaged throughout and not being able to fully determine how deep the damages goes.
The seller would have likely treated for termites and repaired minimally, but there was visible damage to multiple beams in addition to joists. It's weird to me that structural engineers are not brought in on these things. It seems it's all up to the opinion of the pest guy, who may or may not be qualified to make those determinations.
There was also standing water in the crawlspace and encapsulation would be impossible due to inaccessibility issues in the crawlspace.
It was just all around bad.
If you still wanted the house you could of course bring in a structural engineer to assess. Where I live there are lots of old houses and most have had termite issues at some point. I haven't come across any with extensive damage.
If you still wanted the house you could of course bring in a structural engineer to assess. Where I live there are lots of old houses and most have had termite issues at some point. I haven't come across any with extensive damage.
Termites don't raise near as much concern as the conditions that encourage them.
OP states that the house was wet and showed significant damage to structural components, along with access issues in a crawlspace with standing water.
After having been in hundreds of crawlspaces, getting out of the deal clean doesn't sound reactionary to me based on the OP's descriptions.
I would agree that a structural engineer is possibly warranted, and might suggest my buyers get one out for a look. But I haven't spoken to the home inspector. Some inspectors are very credible. Some, I wouldn't believe a word.
A credible inspector could sway me either way, if I didn't get under the shack myself.
A Buyer is not really "protected" if the agent fails to do their job, but the agent would incur some liability if they received written notification of the desire to terminate the contract and failed to notify the Seller. Remember, the agent is not a party to the contract--it is between the Buyer and the Seller. It's imperative for the Buyer to notify the Seller of their desire to void the contract under the termination clause. If the agent fails to do so on behalf of the Buyer, the Buyer needs to make sure that the Seller is notified in writing by going directly to the Listing agent and also to the Seller, if that contact information is known.
Just another thread to add to many where agents are not party to contract except for their commissions. Their own behavior is why commissions should be removed from the entire transaction and lawyers/inspectors with no financial interest should be involved in overseeing the process. Using wanna be lawyers will get you into trouble every time.
Glad the OP was able to overcome the commission resistance and hopefully will use a FSBO going forward!
Just another thread to add to many where agents are not party to contract except for their commissions. Their own behavior is why commissions should be removed from the entire transaction and lawyers/inspectors with no financial interest should be involved in overseeing the process. Using wanna be lawyers will get you into trouble every time.
Glad the OP was able to overcome the commission resistance and hopefully will use a FSBO going forward!
You're regressing, Heidi. OP has to purchase before he sells, right?
Attorneys hire me for my skills, with respect for what I do.
The biggest issue I see was not so much the short timeline (because inspection windows are always short), it was that she was trying to control the outcome and she wasn't communicating with you. There are times when it's right and heroic for an agent to get on the phone and start trying to solve problems for you. But that wasn't asked-for in this case.
Did she attend the inspection? Did you?
I have had many clients who walked over inspection issues, many who asked for big repairs, and many who decided to stick it out as is. They all had their reasons and capabilities for dealing with the issues that were found. Some may have walked over issues that the next client would see as no big deal.
Bottom line is it's not up to us, as agents. If a client wants to walk because they don't like the contact paper used in the kitchen drawers, that may well be petty and we might try to educate them how easy such a thing is to fix, how no home is going to be perfect, how this place has everything else they wanted... but in the end, it's not our call to make. It's the client's call. And buyer should never have to call everyone in the office or make a scene to be assured their inspection response will be submitted in time.
A few things I read in these responses were a little (or a lot) off base. Buyer should never contact the seller's agent, or the seller directly about these things. Go to your agent's broker, and only the agent's broker, to solve this problem. In this state, depending on what and how you share with the seller, you can even risk forfeiting your earnest money if you divulge the results of your inspection without permission. Please don't do that. Not for the agent's sake...For yours. Without knowing the rules in your area, you don't know what not to say or do. Don't work with agents who you can't reach or who don't listen. That will keep this issue from happening again.
My two cents.
What rules? If you're talking about state law, that's one thing; if you're talking about trade group practices they are irrelevant to a buyer or seller. If a buyer has purchased an inspection and report it seems that they would be limited in its use only by the terms and conditions of the contract with the inspector. What am I missing here?
Last edited by kokonutty; 10-11-2021 at 01:08 AM..
What rules? If you're talking about state law, that's one thing; if you're talking about trade group practices they are irrelevant to a buyer or seller. If a buyer has purchased an inspection and report it seems that they would be limited in its use only by the terms and conditions of the contract with the inspector. What am I missing here?
Well, it DOES matter where the OP is.
At least in Oregon, it could be considered breach of contract for the buyer or their agent to forward an inspection report to the sellers unless the seller requests or agrees to the forward.
It seems a bit arcane, but that is clearly spelled out in the OREF Standard Residential Real Estate Purchase Agreement under "Professional Inspections":
"Buyer shall promptly provide a copy of all reports to Seller only if requested by Seller."
The forfeiture of EMD is a common remedy for breach, often the sole remedy to the Sellers.
Last edited by MikeJaquish; 10-11-2021 at 05:18 AM..
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