Tricky Family Friend Realtor Situation

Tricky Family Friend Realtor Situation

Jake ThompsonPro Member
Rental Property Investor · Albany, OR · Member since 2015 · 312 posts · 136 votes

Looking for some advice on a tough situation I got myself into. My wife’s step mom owns her own brokerage and I have been working with her on finding a property to house hack. Recently my wife’s best friend’s husband got his license and hung it at the same brokerage and we’ve been working with him/them to find a property.

So far they haven’t been meeting my expectations at all. He isn’t experienced, and neither of them are investors. Anytime I run into a potential issue he is quick to try and convince me to move on, rather than trying to help me find a solution. I don’t think he’s working very hard on my behalf when talking with the listing agents either.

Every potential deal I’ve found so far has been from looking on realtor.com and then reaching out for the full listing. The other day he suggested that I find a single family home to live in and use my cash from sale of another property to buy rentals. He doesn’t seem interested in what I’m trying to do by househacking.

The biggest problem is that I never had a discussion with either of them with what I expect out of a realtor, so it’s really on me. I just automatically agreed to work with them because they are family/friends. 

I guess I’m wondering what my next step should be. Should I get specific about what I need from them, or should I just fire them and move on? If the answer is to fire them, how would you recommend doing it so I don’t burn bridges? It puts my wife in an especially awkward position since her best friend and dad are married to the realtor/broker.

For what it’s worth, I have experience house hacking, have worked in property management, and have been pre approved by a lender and am currently making offers, not just wasting their time.

Thanks

0Reply
16 views

3 Replies

Jump to latestLatest
  • Property Manager · Milwaukee, WI · Member since 2014 · 113 posts · 144 votes
    6y

    Never rent to family

    Never employ family

    Never hire family

    Never do business with family

    So not really all that helpful thus far, but my father in law adopted this policy years ago, to which I was a bit offended he didn't contact me to sell a house but when explained, I respected the decision and couldn't agree more.

    Real estate transactions are complicated and involve often a significant amount of money.  Even the best agents sometimes have a deal go sideways.  Personal relationships are never worth risking over a commission.  

    It's going to be uncomfortable, they aren't going to be happy, but you need to have a conversation to discuss going in opposite directions.  When my father in law didn't use a friend of a friend to sell a house, she didn't talk to him for 6-months.  Better 6-months than never had a transaction gone bad...  rip the band-aide, have the conversation, move on.  

  • Jake ThompsonPro Member
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · Albany, OR · Member since 2015 · 312 posts · 136 votes
    6y

    Thanks @Matt Maurice, I already made the mistake first hand of renting to family and that went so terribly you would have thought thatI had learned my lesson. I wanted to support the business of friends and family I guess, but it makes things a lot more difficult when situations like this come up.

  • Rental Property Investor · Irvine, CA · Member since 2018 · 35 posts · 19 votes
    6y

    @Jake Thompson Buyer's agent does not need to be "exclusive" in my opinion, in this post I think you are asking the question more from a "how to deal with people" perspective.  How about this:  On your next deal, lay out your search criteria, and set the expectation that you also have "5 other good friends" who are agents and want to do business with you, and in order to "not get any friends / relative mad", you want to "be fair to all of them" and "give them a chance to work with you."  You can turn around and interview other agents and give them the same search criteria.  It does not matter whether it's step mom, best friend's husband, or someone off the street, you proceed with the person who comes back with the deal that matches your criteria.

Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.