RE: Buying a house

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Hillwilliam -> RE: Buying a house (10/21/2011 6:25:42 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: tj444 quote: ORIGINAL: Iamsemisweet I have read about short sale fraud/scams where there is a "buyer" that gives a very low offer and the listing realtor (who is in on it) presents only that offer and keeps other potential buyers away, then they flip it and sell it for what it should have sold for in the first place (possibly to the same buyers the realtor kept away)... So, there are still scammy realtors out there... Banks are getting wise to that finally. I've prevented a couple of those. Prior to commiting to a short sale, a bank will get a second opinion of value from either another broker or an appraiser. Last summer, a bank hired me to look at a house that was going to be a short sale. Original listing price was about 90K (I thought the house was worth about 80) a week prior, the LP had been reduced to 30K (kind of a big drop huh?) Lo and behold, the same brokerage came out with a buyer for 29K. They asked me to go look at the place (I do about 300 of these/year for banks) and I told em A: it was worth about 80K and B: I was suspicious of the timing and amount of the recent price reduction. When people scam banks, we pay for it.

Iamsemisweet -> RE: Buying a house (10/21/2011 7:40:18 AM)
In the short sales I am involved with, the bank always sends an appraiser. I think the process has gotten a lot tighter and squeezed out the scammers.

Iamsemisweet -> RE: Buying a house (10/21/2011 7:45:35 AM)
For some reason, the banks I dealt with were reluctant to commit to a price before there was an offer. That has changed a lot in the last year. Like said, the process is tightening up. They are also much more flexible. I did a deed for lease on my house. I don't think they would have done that a year ago. [/quote] Ive closed short sales in 6 weeks from contract to deed signing. It's all in getting the bank to commit to taking a certain price BEFORE anyone writes the offer. Most agents do it Bass Ackwards. They get an offer and then try to ask the bank to take it. I get the bank to commit to the sale before I even get the listing signed. [/quote]

tj444 -> RE: Buying a house (10/21/2011 10:16:20 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Iamsemisweet Finally, I spent years counseling people on how to sell their own home, because I thought realtors were completely unnecessary when the market was hot. I encourage people, especially people who are underwater in their houses to hire realtors now.. My attitude, and the market has changed. I could go on and on. Anyone could who could fog a mirror and make an "x" was becoming a realtor, or a mortgage broker 10 years ago. The stupid, incompetent, dumb ass ones are gone. Sure, there will always be scammers, but there is even less of them than there was 3 years ago. Law enforcement is coming hard after them. The realtors I meet now are the serious ones, not the dabblers, they are good marketers and they have systems in place to be efficient. The quality in my market has improved. I don't know about other markets. I have sold my own house before and i got more for it and faster than a realtor. I know that cuz i did have it listed with a reator but my written agreement with her was that if i sold it myself that she would get no commission. I had it sold before she even had the realtors open house. The market at that time was lukewarm so it was harder to sell then but i was sorta determined... lol I do agree that when the market is hot, every tom dick or harry gets into selling real estate, they do it part time having a real job elsewhere even in places where that is against the rules. It doesnt hurt to know what realtors should be doing for you, either buying or selling, so that you can tell if a realtor is one of the good ones. But really, the good ones are good negotiators and that is hard to know when you walk into their office and first meet them.

Hillwilliam -> RE: Buying a house (10/21/2011 11:15:10 AM)
Here's something I tell people about picking an agent. (or any professional) If you pick someone strictly because they're the cheapest, you will get what you pay for. If you pick your agent strictly based on cleavage, you'll probably get what you deserve. By the way, for every Realtor horror story, I've prob got a dozen client horror stories. 2-way street there. Maybe I'm jaded. We've been here 41 years and noone has ever even tried to sue us nor have we ever been disciplined in any way by the state. I hate the idiots in this business even more than you folks do because they cost me money. ED for punctuation.

tj444 -> RE: Buying a house (10/21/2011 12:49:54 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Hillwilliam Here's something I tell people about picking an agent. (or any professional) If you pick someone strictly because they're the cheapest, you will get what you pay for. If you pick your agent strictly based on cleavage, you'll probably get what you deserve. well,.. i would not pick an agent based on cleavage since other females are not my thing... lol I dont really think the thing about picking an agent cuz they are the cheapest fits since most listings offer the same commission.. That opinion would be more true (generally since exceptions exist) in other areas like dealing with tradespeople, etc but in my experience, the poor/bad agents tend to get the same pay as good ones do.

Hillwilliam -> RE: Buying a house (10/21/2011 12:54:53 PM)
Actually tj, each commission is negotiated separately. I've seen as high as 10% and as low as 2 (with a discounter). I give a break to repeat customers and builders/developers. Banks selling foreclosures tell me "I'll pay this. If you don't like it, I'll go elsewhere". I'm the broker so I have the authority to negotiate soemthing that isn't typical for the company. As for picking because of "cleavage" why do you think so many female agents have semi-cheesecake 'glamour shots' on their business cards? Especially the part-time soccer moms.

LafayetteLady -> RE: Buying a house (10/21/2011 3:25:14 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Hillwilliam Here's something I tell people about picking an agent. (or any professional) If you pick someone strictly because they're the cheapest, you will get what you pay for. If you pick your agent strictly based on cleavage, you'll probably get what you deserve. By the way, for every Realtor horror story, I've prob got a dozen client horror stories. 2-way street there. Maybe I'm jaded. We've been here 41 years and noone has ever even tried to sue us nor have we ever been disciplined in any way by the state. I hate the idiots in this business even more than you folks do because they cost me money. ED for punctuation. LOL. Actually the realtor I chose is very pretty and has good cleavage. That has nothing to do with why I picked her, though. As the buyer, I'm not concerned about her commission. I chose her because I worked with her before on a rental for someone (she didn't actually find the person a place), and I like her personality and the fact that she listens to what I request as wanted/needed. To me, that is one of the most important things needed in a realtor. Years ago before my mother died, we were looking at houses. A nice kitchen was/is important. We had a realtor that showed us a house with a really crappy kitchen. I told her point blank that was a non-negotiable item at the start, and when she did that, she was told if she did it again, we would find someone else. I have NO problem letting a realtor (or any hired professional) know that I expect them to do what I ask as long as it is within the limits of the law.

tj444 -> RE: Buying a house (10/21/2011 4:42:46 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Hillwilliam Actually tj, each commission is negotiated separately. I've seen as high as 10% and as low as 2 (with a discounter). I give a break to repeat customers and builders/developers. Banks selling foreclosures tell me "I'll pay this. If you don't like it, I'll go elsewhere". I'm the broker so I have the authority to negotiate soemthing that isn't typical for the company. As for picking because of "cleavage" why do you think so many female agents have semi-cheesecake 'glamour shots' on their business cards? Especially the part-time soccer moms. The cleavage thing,.. i havent seen those cheesecake ones, most of the realtors cards, pics on websites etc that i recall have been sorta bland and businesslike head shots.. i know realtors can and do negotiate their commissions but that wasnt always the case, there was a ton of opposition to those discount brokers and and all that when they first appeared. Didnt that even go to court or something? There was a big kerfluffle about it tho. I know commercial real estate usually has a higher rate, i think 10% is the norm there (from what i have seen). But for residential real estate nearly all the listings i have seen were for the standard rate/commission. That doesnt mean that it doesnt get negotiated down during the offer/counter-offer process, but advertising a lower rate isnt normally advised since the theory is that realtors will steer their buyers to the listings that offer the normal or higher rate. Some people set their listings up to attract as many buyers as possible by offering a higher selling commission. I am not sure if that works or not (perhaps you know) but i have seen that as well...

Hillwilliam -> RE: Buying a house (10/21/2011 9:36:08 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: tj444 quote: ORIGINAL: Hillwilliam Actually tj, each commission is negotiated separately. I've seen as high as 10% and as low as 2 (with a discounter). I give a break to repeat customers and builders/developers. Banks selling foreclosures tell me "I'll pay this. If you don't like it, I'll go elsewhere". I'm the broker so I have the authority to negotiate soemthing that isn't typical for the company. As for picking because of "cleavage" why do you think so many female agents have semi-cheesecake 'glamour shots' on their business cards? Especially the part-time soccer moms. The cleavage thing,.. i havent seen those cheesecake ones, most of the realtors cards, pics on websites etc that i recall have been sorta bland and businesslike head shots.. i know realtors can and do negotiate their commissions but that wasnt always the case, there was a ton of opposition to those discount brokers and and all that when they first appeared. Didnt that even go to court or something? There was a big kerfluffle about it tho. I know commercial real estate usually has a higher rate, i think 10% is the norm there (from what i have seen). But for residential real estate nearly all the listings i have seen were for the standard rate/commission. That doesnt mean that it doesnt get negotiated down during the offer/counter-offer process, but advertising a lower rate isnt normally advised since the theory is that realtors will steer their buyers to the listings that offer the normal or higher rate. Some people set their listings up to attract as many buyers as possible by offering a higher selling commission. I am not sure if that works or not (perhaps you know) but i have seen that as well... I'll give you an example. 3 years ago, ther was a broker on TV around here advertising "I'll sell your house for 2%." Every time I saw one of his listings on the MLS, he was offering a 2.5% co-op. You do the math. they're gone now.

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