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I got an email from my agent today. I guess my agent was going to send it to my lawyer. But he probably hit the reply button and sent to me.
From: (My agent)
To: (Me)
(My lawyer's name),
I know (My name) is high maintenance, but I think we'd all like to get this deal done.
(My lawyer's name), could you make some time for him today to explain the "on or about" clause. Charge him accordingly...
(My agent's name)
The lawyer was referred by my agent. A big mistake!
Now I want to fire both of them. Am I over reacted?
You are right.... big mistake.
Do you have an agreement with the realtor and/or the lawyer yet ? Going through this process is very very stressful. Take a deep breath and relax first.
Are you in contract ? If yes then it might be tough to shake off the realtor. I don't understand why is the lawyer going to charge you extra for explaining the clause.... usually they charge a flat fee for a minimum amount of work to get the contract signed, order title and get you to the closing table.
The next time you speak to the realtor, just ask him if he thought you were high maintenance ? That will give him a good hint.
Ask yourself how did you feel about the realtor and the lawyer before you saw this e-mail. If you were not comfortable anyway and if you do not have a contract with either party, then fire them.
I am of course advising you to do this assuming that you have been reasonable and not a pain in the you know where !!
We are not in contract. We have signed a disclosure with the agent but did not sign anything with the lawyer.
We are first time home buyers. Of course we have many questions about words and the processes. If we know everything about buying a home, we wouldn't need them.
Our agent told us to do an inspection ASAP after our offer was accepted. We hired the inspector he recommended and did it on the next day.
After that, he told us to hire a lawyer and give him the lawyer's name on the same day we did inspection. We followed his advise and hired the lawyer he recommended. On the same day.
He told us that we will get a contract within 24 hours but we have waited 3 weeks! That's fine. It's not his fault. But I guess it's reasonable to ask him about the progress every couple days.
Now I feel he works with the lawyer behind our back. Very frustrated experience indeed.
Getting the contract back is really dependent on the sellers attorney, so your lawyer cannot do much other than request them to expedite it.
My first question to you.... there was nothing to discuss after the inspection ? I mean was everything perfect in the house and the seller does not need to do anything ? If yes, then its great.
Now, asking every couple of days for status.... Hmmm its a tough call.... some people mind it and some don't so you should have got the hang of it by now anyway. If you know a friend who purchased a house recently speak to them so that you get a rough idea about the entire process.
Don't get frustrated, you still have to deal with your broker / loan officer in the future !!
If it were me and I wasn't already locked into dealing with those 2, I would reply and include both on the email.
Dear (agent and lawyer)
I apologize for being high maintenance. I never realized that you telling me I would have a contract in 24 hours really meant 3 weeks. It is my own fault for trying to follow up to get a straight answer.
I will not waste any more of your precious time and I will now find another agent and lawyer to handle my transactions. I hope you do not bill me accordingly for reading my email.
Okay if you have an accepted offer I wouldn't change agents and attorneys at this point. I'm assuming since you did a home inspection you have an accepted offer.
I would talk with your agent though. First time home buyers are high maintenance because they have no idea what they are doing. It's also why some agents should never take first time buyers on as clients. You really do need to have patience with first timers because you are rookies and have a million questions. There are agents that specialize in first timers because they have the right personality to deal with all of their needs. It's okay to be high maintenance. This is a big purchase.
While I think it is rude for the agent to call you high maintenance (because it does have a somewhat derogatory meaning), I think it was more inappropriate to tell the attorney to charge you accordingly. We are not an attorney state out here so they aren't involved with our transactions, but my understanding is that most attorneys charge a flat rate for the review of the contract. I would hope that people that take on first timers walk into the transaction knowing they will be working a bit harder just because there is so much more education to do. You guys just don't know. I am personally bothered that an agent would tell an attorney to charge you more. The attorney and you would need to discuss that.
So...I'm a blunt person. I would print out the email and ask the agent to meet over coffee or something and hash it out. If the agent is not the principal broker for the company, you could call the principal broker and ask that a new agent be assigned to you. It depends on how assertive you want to be.
If you have had a good relationship with your agent up to this point, then I would talk with your agent directly. If you have had numerous problems and this is the last straw then talk with their principal broker and ask for a new agent. Honestly, life is stressful for many these days and it could be that the agent wrote that email on a super busy, crappy day, and was venting a bit. It doesn't excuse it or make it okay, but real estate agents are mere mortals and make mistakes too.
We are not in contract. We have signed a disclosure with the agent but did not sign anything with the lawyer.
We are first time home buyers. Of course we have many questions about words and the processes. If we know everything about buying a home, we wouldn't need them.
Our agent told us to do an inspection ASAP after our offer was accepted. We hired the inspector he recommended and did it on the next day.
After that, he told us to hire a lawyer and give him the lawyer's name on the same day we did inspection. We followed his advise and hired the lawyer he recommended. On the same day.
He told us that we will get a contract within 24 hours but we have waited 3 weeks! That's fine. It's not his fault. But I guess it's reasonable to ask him about the progress every couple days.
Now I feel he works with the lawyer behind our back. Very frustrated experience indeed.
I deal with this every day. First I want to say I do concur with what SF said that some agents should work with 'experienced buyers' only, as well as telling the attorney to 'charge accordingly' was completely inappropriate.
You were told you would have a contract on or around 24 hours - big difference between say 1 week delay and 3 weeks. We, as well, put in offers 'on or around X date' so both attorneys involved realize there are timeframes - if not, then nothing would ever close. Recommending an attorney isn't necessarily bad - we recommend several, though don't get kick backs and they are attorneys we and/or our clients have had successful dealings with. They screw around, well, they never get another referral from either of my offices. I just reviewed a contract today where the only mistake was a simple grammatical error (contract was in English). There have been some I've essentially had to rewrite the contract (needless to say those types of attorneys aren't on our recommended list to begin with).
IMO what the agent should be doing, or their BIC, is to be riding both attorneys (or if there is another agent involved) that there are timeframes and get their butts in gear. Down here that's the only way to get a transaction closed. If I have to write the other agent and both attorneys, then that's what I do - after this many years though, most of the attorneys see my name on emails and realize right away what's going to happen if they screw around (and it isn't pretty).
I would suggest you have a heart to heart with your agent, and possibly include the BIC, about the email, as well as why all the delays - what are 'they' doing to expedite this, as well as why are they advising 'you' should be charged accordingly. It's the agent's job to follow up. IMO your agent should have written a totally different email to the attorney and that is 'get moving and get the other attorney moving'. This is why I wish we could just close through title companies instead of having attorneys involved, but that's JMO.
I would go to the realtor's broker with the email and discuss the issue and that you don't want to go forward with this agent. I assume there are more agents working there and after you have switched I would send her an email back stating that if she doesn't like her work or can't coop with the workload (haha, in todays market...workload, the word alone is hilarious) she needs to pick up trash next to the road...nice relaxing, outdoors.
Good Luck...btw, the lawyer didn't do anything wrong ...the realtor send it, not the lawyer and a lawyer wouldn't be a lawyer if he would write something like that.
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