All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

@Tim Moore - LOL. Yes, the wife will want the nice duplex in the nice neighborhood - mine too. She asks me all the time why I just wont sell my city stuff and buy in the burbs where we live.

@Brie Schmidt

"Depends on your state, In IL and WI agents can practice "dual agency" meaning they can represent the buyer and seller in the same transaction and get the full agent. Most agents I know will not do it even though it is allowed. It opens up so many doors to liability and getting sued it just is not worth it.

I am licensed in IL and WI and I would never do it. I also agree that a buyer without an agent is seen as not being serious

As far as returning calls, that can be common agent to agent. I stalk people on a weekly basis to get appointments sometimes"

I guess I never thought of the liability angle. As an appraiser, we have a lot of liability stuff to worry about, but I just let that worry go by doing the right thing in the first place and let the chips fall where they may (and I have E&O). That said - LOL - I will never understand or forgive an agent who can't answer the phone or return a phone call - never.

Spend it baby! Just kidding, but not entirely. Pay your taxes. Build your capital expense account. Re-invest profits. Eventually you will have enough money to invest and pay yourself too.

Bravo to your success!

@Russell Brazil

"What if the listing agent isnt really the listing agent but rather the owner of a team as is the case for many listings? In that case you would want to call the alternative agent whose information is listed in the private section of the MLS. Some teams have hundreds of agents, whose listings all have the name of the team owner on them wgo probably has zero idea about any of those listings. Im a solo agent, but the vast majority of my office are teams"

LOL. Okley dokley then.

@Russell Brazil

"Or you could have hired your own agent to show you the property. My experience is that if someone wants to see a property I have listed, and they do not have an agent, there is close to a zero percent chance that buyer is a serious buyer."

And I completely get that, and I did finally ask someone else. But I have two questions then. First, as an agent, do you ever not call people back after they have left numerous messages - phone, email and text? And second, I always call the listing agent direct because I figure they would prefer both halves of the commission - is that not true? Would you prefer to split the money and then work with a peer?

I think the burning car story is a bit far-fetched. However, Wells does not exactly have a good track record of honesty and maybe dealing with them is in fact cause for pause. Remember how they created thousands of false accounts not so long ago? Remember the robo-foreclosure scandal before that?  Those were not urban legends and not small little ethical boo-boos either. I'm not saying I believe the homeowners story, but when you put it all in perspective, there is certainly legitimate reason for pause. Too much drama for me - I would walk.

Seems to me there are houses in every direction. Why not just find another one?

What gets my goat is when a realtor wont show the property any more or even bother themselves to return a phone call. I had one I was interested in a bit back, I called and called and called. I finally called the agency and asked if the agent was sick or out of town - "No, she's just really busy". I asked if there was someone else who could show the property and there was, so we set an appointment. I get a call that night from the agent who I set the appointment with and she says "I finally got hold of the listing agent who says they stopped showing about a week ago", to which I said "gee, I called to see it over a week ago". I was tempted to call the owner and let them know the realtor wasn't showing the property to all interested buyers, but decided to just let it go.

Of course I have no idea what the real story is, but my suspicion (at least my impression) is that the realtor was playing games and maybe had a friend she would have preferred to score the property. Maybe that's just cynical on my part, but when a realtor can't even return a call to a buyer, it just seems very odd. I dunno. Maybe she is just that good and has too many buyers in her life. I can say for sure she will never list a house of mine or get a reference from me either.

If your parents have saved money for you or are wealthy and want to help, that's a beautiful thing. I would take issue with your parents going into debt to fund your college.

I would suggest doing both. Be the fisherman who puts out more than one pole.

You city dweller you! LOL. Well and septic are how its done as soon as you get out of the city. Maintenance is nearly none. You do need to be careful to only flush degradable materials. You can add a bio-eater every so often to help out the system. So long as you take care of the system, it will last a very long time with no monthly fee and no regular pumping. Same goes for the well. Get them both tested. Ensure your renters understand how to use a septic.

Downside is that you own them and if they do fail, its on you. Septic is big bucks because it is buried. Well is expensive because of the drill rig needed. Then again, if you live in the city, you will pay higher taxes and possibly get a special assessment when it comes time to replace those systems too.

On the upside, you own them. Some people like the idea of backing up the well pump with solar, wind or a hand pump, then being completely off the grid when it comes to water and waste.

PS - The back tax amount was less than $1000