MY Realtor has started Working for THEIR side.
I have been working toward a buying a house using a Realtor as my Buying Agent. Deal is supposed to close the end of this month January.
Summarizing, I made it clear to MY $#@!ing Realtor that I did NOT want my deal to proceed.
So far my Realtor has blamed me for missing a termite appointment - not my fault. & accused me of Renegotiating and being unethical (not true IMO - using inspections). Then without talking to me he went out and got quotes for paint. I need the paint to be done or else I can EASILY get out through the financing. Then he negotiated with selling Realtors - the sellers had already said NO to paint - to split the paint costs.
Just a few examples. He is currently communicating directly with my banker and bad mouthing me and trying to FORCE the deal through. Hmmm think he wants his commission.
& he is ignorant about the contract. He should have put in a repair amendment when some inspections were done. He is now confused when the final contract went through. An amendment was done now becoming the point that I had 14 days to conduct the inspection. I had the inspection done in this 14 day window. Ironically it was his inspector. I could have been more assertive here also. Inspection was done on the 19th and spending time with my family.....
Main issue with this deal is I did a ton of due diligence and after all the due diligence the numbers are BAD.
I know - don't work with another bad Realtor. & pick a good Lawyer? I am currently treating him like he is working for the Selling side - which is the way it used to be way back when. It was clear BOTH Realtors worked for the seller.
He is being a insert explicative here. He is telling me I won't get my earnest money back. & I paid for a VA appraisal/inspection already. Possible to get this money back? I still would like to shop for a deal using my VA loan.
Any way to get more money out of this deal? Lawyer on contingency. Leave it alone and write it off?
I am thinking my next step will be FORCE him to submit a repair amendment for everything I feel needs done. IMO clear in REALTOR provided contract - that heating/cooling structural electricity are included as inspection items. I could not see these issues til the inspector pointed them out. Hence he is saying I Reneged unethical etc. Listing did say "AS IS" my opinion listing can say whatever.
Without the seller negotiating this is a NO deal. I would be good with them putting it back on the market and if no one buys it - I am still interested in the deal. I think they probably can get it sold at the price point we are at.
Appreciate any suggestions. I will NEVER being working with buyer's agent again - probably;)
apologies for post length.
@Jay Hinrichs I agree with what you are saying. My intent was never to be buyer from hell. & these low end deals are PITA. I do know the people working on this deal are not making much money. If I knew the inspection items before I went into the deal, but I did not.
@Steve L. I agree I should have done things differently. & working to make a decision.
@Joel Owens @Joel Owens VA is definitely a different kettle of fish
I do still want the deal, but not if I have to pay $8k to work my butt off and lock up my capital...... I still think this is one of the best "deals" I've seen in the area. I'm not all that handy unless forced to - many rehabbers in the area get trapped into working for less than they make at mcdonals. It made me realize - Everyone always says oh midwest you can get a property for $40,000 and cash flow x. the problem is that the material and labor is about the same and the deals are so small and same amount of work to manage the rental that if you have to rehab for $10k after a tenant tears the crap out of it.........Whereas a $200k deal $10k is a much smaller percentage.
Are you living in the property? Even if your interest rate is 6%, it looks like your costs P&I would only be around $250/month. Even adding in insurance and taxes it seems cheaper than rent.
For owner occupied, it really comes down to do you like the property or not. If you were only buying for the possibility of making money, then I would consider under 1000 to break the contract as being a small price to pay. Consider it the cost of learning the lesson of the importance of deadlines with Real Estate contracts.
It may also come down to the crack in the garage. That doesn't seem like a DIY job at all. Any idea how much a repair would run?
The electrical issues seem significant, but not to the degree of being a complete deal breaker.
Originally posted by @Jay Hinrichs:
from my point of view your the buyer from Hell and I would drop you in a hot new York second.. what is this a sub 100k deal not worth all the grief from the agents point of view.
Get with the program and take some responsibility your a BP er you should know better and be more informed on how to actually transact business.
He probably did take advice from BP. "Just make offers, get it under contract", seems to be said a lot. Not exactly the best advice for beginners that don't know real estate sales. Makes for a good learning experience though.
Originally posted by @Kirk R.:I do still want the deal, but not if I have to pay $8k to work my butt off and lock up my capital...... I still think this is one of the best "deals" I've seen in the area.
Well I'm confused. You want the deal and it's one of the best deals in the area but you're trying to get out of the deal. Sounds like you want another deal, not this deal. I guess you want this house but not at this price.
@Scott Pigman "deals" in quotes because my feeling is that this area is not the best for flips/wholesales or even discounts. Pretty much maybe get 10% off. Then sell mostly through a Realtor for at 15% more than cost.
@John Whittle If I weren't going owner occupied, I would not be considering doing anything in this area.
This entire post is a bit confusing to me as it goes off on several tangents. Contracts and procedures vary state to state. Here in Florida, the inspection period is essentially the time to walk away for any reason whatsoever. There is no requirement to give a copy of the report to the seller and no option for them to make the required repairs and continue with the deal. The exception to this is with Fannie Mae Homepath properties. Fannie Mae requires the use of their Addendum and in their addendum it states that they must receive a copy of the inspection report and given the option to make the repairs. fortunately, fannie mae pretty much NEVER does repairs so it's still pretty much an out clause.
Here is why I'm confused, did you or did you not provide them the inspection report within the time frame that was given? if so, then they are on the hook to make those repairs or cancel the deal. Either way, is that not what you want? to get the repairs done and not have to pay for them yourself?
As for representation, that also varies state to state. here in Fl we have Single agency and transaction brokers. Transaction brokers simply represent the transaction, they do not have loyalty to you. Single agency is where the agent has full representation and essentially works for you. I always represent my clients with Single Agency unless the other side of the deal is also in my office than by law both agents become transaction brokers. If you have a single agency relationship with your broker, he should be doing your wishes, not going rogue going into properties and conducting repairs! That is about the craziest thing I've ever heard!!!
I'm still hugely confused about this whole deal. based on the peeling paint alone, you will not be able to get the loan and this deal is dead and your EMD is coming back to you. Are you telling me the Agent went ahead and painted the house?!! Also, what you describe with the electrical panel is also a pretty major repair, no way VA/fha loan goes through with that so again, the financing contingency should kick in and the deal dies and you get your EMD back. Am I missing something here?
I have a hard time believeing the agent is working so hard because he has "commission breath" and is dying to cash a check. 3% of 43k is $1290 and since he is a KW agent, he is certainly probably giving 30% of that back to the brokerage. we are talking about a $900 commission here. I pride myself on being an "investor friendly" agent and I will happily work small deals for people with small commission because i'm passionate about the investment space, but there are things I make clear upfront about how the transaction will go down and what my role will be and if additional services are desired, a retainer for my services is not out of the question.
this is why i dont recommend using buyers agents. do your own negotiating, an extra agent just makes room for laziness and confusion from having them to regurgitate what the sellers agent says. title/escrow company does all the actual work, buyers agent is just fluff for someone who doesn't understand how to buy real estate such as a first time buyer.
Originally posted by @Account Closed:
this is why i dont recommend using buyers agents. do your own negotiating, an extra agent just makes room for laziness and confusion from having them to regurgitate what the sellers agent says. title/escrow company does all the actual work, buyers agent is just fluff for someone who doesn't understand how to buy real estate such as a first time buyer.
Well considering there is no fee to you, the buyer, in 99% of cases, why wouldn't you want a professional representing you in the transaction? When I represent buyers, I am pulling detailed comps with ACCURATE data, not some ******** that Joe homebuyer finds on Zillow only to find out it's incorrect. The problem lies with inexperienced and/or shady professionals
Originally posted by @Steve L.:
@Kirk R. to me it sounds like you are not being a very good Buyer either.
The agent sounds like he is doing a lot of work himself and kick in commission to satisfy your concerns.
If you want to cancel just make up your mind and do it. You probably will not get your due diligence money back but I think in most cases you will get your deposit back unless you've missed some major dates.
Where I am buyers agents do not work this hard for one half of a commission on a $43K sale. I agree with Steve, cancel if you don't want the deal and let everyone move on.
Now MY (SARCASM) Realtor:
This morning my Realtor called the banker to request/make sure my loan commitment went through.
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email below - now starting to work through managing broker.
I feel you are not acting in my best interest. I feel you are trying to FORCE this deal through.
IL - Agency Duties – A licensee has a duty to perform according to the terms of the agency or brokerage agreement and to promote the client’s best interests by:
- Seeking a transaction that meets the terms of the agency agreement or that is otherwise acceptable to the client;
- To present all offers to the client unless the client directs otherwise; and
- To disclose material facts about the transaction that the agent actually knows and that are not confidential to the client.
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Think this is best comp that SOLD at $36,900.
Comp looks like it has much better finish and guessing it's not an electrical mess and near the amount of work/material.
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STOP Talking to my banker.
STOP negotiating with selling side! You never talked to me before negotiating and committing me to the painting on this property which company. Which paint. When. Which color. Additionally, you did not communicate a repair amendment to install the railings and pop off valve. HOW WAS THIS DONE? I unhappy with the railings that were installed. You seem more interested in your commission than "promoting the client's best interest."
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Probably should just bust deal at this point. Any other thoughts?
be glad you only have $500 in emd but if you don't get it back, managing broker should just pay it back to you.
Part of my Realtors response:
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As for working with your banker, I have to.
I haven't done anything that has committed you to this property. Only fix the items needed by VA.
You still have outs. Me doing that does nothing.
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Also understandably he is not happy with compensation for amount of work.
I don't understand why you keep fighting with your agent?
At this point, you have all the facts you're going to get, and you need to make a decision about whether you want to proceed or whether you want to terminate the deal. That isn't the agent's decision; it's yours.
If you want to proceed, it's the agents job to press ahead and try to get this deal done (and his making the repairs to help you get the loan is him just trying to get this deal done for you -- which is what he assumes you want). If you want the deal done, let your agent push ahead and do what's necessary. If you don't want to proceed with the deal, just tell the agent that you're ready to terminate and let him do it -- which will also let him cut his losses here and get back to his other clients.
The back and forth sounds more like you trying to absolve responsibility for wanting to back out of the deal. But, ultimately, that's YOUR decision and YOURS alone. You don't need to convince your agent that the deal is bad; you don't need to convince us that the deal is bad. If you feel guilty for backing out, that's just something you'll have to live with (though ultimately, it's just business and you shouldn't feel guilty).
Ultimately, it's your decision on how to proceed and you have all the information you're going to get to make that decision.
Go make it.
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#1 Innovative Strategies Contributor
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I've happily 'lost' a lot more than $500 + inspection costs for a lot less hassle than this. I would look at it as a small price to pay for a lot of education you won't soon forget. Carry on and replicate this mistake not!
The reason that your realtor is saying you are trying to renegotiate is that you are in fact trying to renegotiate. Just pull out of the deal.
But understand that your realtor does not appear to have done anything wrong here.
I don't understand what the problem is here he just told you you have out so why don't you simply exercise them and get out of the deal? What exactly is your end goal here? Its real estate everything is negotiable, but there are processes in place to go about doing that I'm not convinced that either you or your agent understand that.I also disagree with your agent that he has to work with your banker. I have very little contact with the letter what time representing buyers. Its not my area of expertise I shouldn't be dealing with it
DUN.
Cancelled asked for EM return.
I appreciate everyones' input and advice.
@J Scott - I very much appreciated your advice. I still do feel little guilty by the way this rolled and one of sellers being couple blocks away.
Although property was only tied up for little over a month and being a little bit overly positive the sellers probably had a little better Christmas and now hopefully will get more since it's tax time. And my Realtor did work hard at this deal not necessarily felt like he was moving direction I wanted.
I am counting the experience on this one as 5 "deals." If I had bought the property - Fairly confident I would have worked my butt of on this deal and may have actually been paying to manually labor (very similar to a health club membership). One of many things I learned was how I had to force myself to keep my sense of humor.
If the Property is still available in March - I may reevaluate the deal.
Thanks BPers.
Originally posted by @Kirk R.:
If the Property is still available in March - I may reevaluate the deal.
I wouldn't wait by the phone to get your call returned by seller, seller's agent or your agent, should you take another run at this property.
@Jay Phillips Really? Why? (sarcasm)