Real estate General topic

[ultrarunner]

Sometimes the middlemen can kill a deal or even work against it if they have ulterior motives like selling to a friend.

I bought a home that I could not get a viewing… contacted the estate and said such and the doors opened.

Another home the week of closing with everything in the sellers called and said sorry it didn’t work out???

I’m dumbfounded… seller worked as a mortgage broker and heard underwriting at Well Fargo killed it saying they missed seeing the home was on 5.9 acres and they do not lend over 5 acres… how can you miss is something I still can’t comprehend.

I call the lender and learn and then call my agent who says yes… it’s true and not enough time to find a new lender…

I respond screw it… I’m paying cash and we close on schedule!!!

I called in every favor I had to scrape together the cash to close.

Within 30 days all were paid back with the proceeds from my new first loan…

None would accept interest and most were not related such as my former boss and a friend whom I restored his Model A…

 

[WinterDeere]

Every agent and broker should tell their sellers to have any inquires directed to them. You're hiring a pro for a reason.

I've maintained good relationships with both the buyer of my prior house, and the prior owner of my current house.

The guy who bought my old house called me maybe twice in his first few years there, to ask how something worked or if I knew the history on some detail.

The guy who I bought this house from asked once if they could stop by to measure moldings or compare paint swatches, as they tried to copy of the the details that had added here into their new home. Likewise, I've called him a few times to ask what a various switch does (one took us maybe 6 years to figure out! ), or if he remembered where various utilities were buried.

Make a fair and honest deal, and usually everyone on both sides can stay happy. I still see the guy from whom we built this house a few times per year, I'm a regular customer of one of his businesses, and his grandkids are in many activities with my kids.

 

[paulsharvey]

I think the separation is good for a couple reasons; 1) You work out a side deal while you have an agent, that agent has every right to come after you for breach of contract and collect their %. 2) business is business, and the buyer or sellers sob story just doesn't matter, this a game of numbers; 3) there is always the chance that someone does or says something thats a liability (in written disclosure they said X, but verbally they admit Y happened, think leaks, or repairs).

But, I dont mind meeting him after the money is in my account, and walking through breakers, roughly where the water supply comes to house from well, and how it runs to the garden and shed. Im nearly 100% sure he's going to want to exchange contact info, and... I probably will give him my number and most likely a less used email address. I can always block him later if he asks a dozen things, or i get complaints.

 

[paulsharvey]

Unrelated to my sale, but real estate. Yesterday I spent like 10 hours driving subdivision roads for work, in a very large development, down each stinking cul-de-sac, every road, while looking at work details, so, not just a relaxing cruise.

After a couple hours; and maybe the 9th "Woodland Mills Circle Lane, whateve" i was thinking, 1) every house looks almost the same; this group of cul-de-sacs, every house is brick (faux brick i assume), this one is all stucco, this one is hardi, every yard is nearly identical, ect. 2) maybe 1% or less of the homes did you see any sign of life, yeah, cars there, but no sound, no people outside, nothing. 3) These neighborhoods aren't for me; the houses were nice, but I think I'd go crazy. Yeah, so.etimes I hear the biker bar, and maybe its a bit annoying, or i get annoyed that someone doesn't pick up the trash that the stray dogs tore up, but each place is Different

 

[ultrarunner]

Many of my purchases and several of my sales occurred without brokerage or agents…

I did have one where the seller called a Realtor friend that charged 1% to Shepard the deal and actually helped me greatly by making one change to the purchase agreement regarding rent back if not vacated after 30 days from close of escrow… step daughter was a mess and primary reason for selling and moving to retirement community.

 

[grsthegreat]

Unrelated to my sale, but real estate. Yesterday I spent like 10 hours driving subdivision roads for work, in a very large development, down each stinking cul-de-sac, every road, while looking at work details, so, not just a relaxing cruise.

After a couple hours; and maybe the 9th "Woodland Mills Circle Lane, whateve" i was thinking, 1) every house looks almost the same; this group of cul-de-sacs, every house is brick (faux brick i assume), this one is all stucco, this one is hardi, every yard is nearly identical, ect. 2) maybe 1% or less of the homes did you see any sign of life, yeah, cars there, but no sound, no people outside, nothing. 3) These neighborhoods aren't for me; the houses were nice, but I think I'd go crazy. Yeah, so.etimes I hear the biker bar, and maybe its a bit annoying, or i get annoyed that someone doesn't pick up the trash that the stray dogs tore up, but each place is Different

Haha. Reminds me of the time i went into a very exclusive golf club resort area here in town. Manned entry gate, the whole works. Cottages started at 2 million. The house i was wiring cost 14 million. One main architect was involved. He was from Colorado. Every house looked the same. All stone and wood.

I asked myself…if i lived here and came home drunk….id never find my house. They all looked the same.

Not for me.

Plus…i despise golf.

 

[paulsharvey]

I actually texted my wife and said, "I think i hear pickelball and white folks boiling unflavored chicken breast to dip in low sodium, low fat, ultra mild ranch"

Sorta like the old "paddle faster, I hear banjos"; but i feel much more at home in around the banjos

 

[WinterDeere]

After a couple hours; and maybe the 9th "Woodland Mills Circle Lane, whateve" i was thinking...

Hell comes with vinyl siding.

Every time I drive thru any modern development, even the up-scale ones of million-dollar homes, I think I'd probably turn suicidal if I ever found myself living in one.

 

[paulsharvey]

We got closed on the sale of the old house and property. Im happy with the number, not excited, not disappointed, just happy to be done with it, and think I did OK. Gonna take that money, and roll it into new home, and refinance, and get rid of PMI, and refinance for a full 30 year term, to get payments down to a more reasonable level.

I still am going to meet the new buyer to show him shut offs, breakers, ect.

 

[ultrarunner]

When I sold a home to a young couple they were thrilled I offered to show them features like how the sprinklers were set up, how to light the furnace pilot and give them manuals for the appliances, etc…

5 years later they still forwarded the occasional letter and very happy I introduced them to the neighbors…

I still visit friends on the block and if we happen to see each other in passing we wave… sold in 2004

 

[kenmbz]

When I sold my last house the buyers made some weird and very specific requests, some were bad enough that we got pretty upset. Whole house warranty, guarantee that the skylights didn't leak. Guarantee the 25 year roof that was 7 years old didn't leak and a dozen more that I don't remember but were just unusual.

We talked to their agent and finally came to a deal after almost walking away.

I met the new owner a month later at the supermarket.
He told me the agent was the one asking for all the requests and not him.
We got along great and I went over their once to show him stuff and pick up some mail that did not forward for some reason.

Some agents are just jerks.

Out agent wanted us to list at a lot less than we wanted. We refused and got within 5K of our asking, so would have left a lot on the table if we had followed her advice.

 

[WinterDeere]

Our agent wanted us to list at a lot less than we wanted. We refused and got within 5K of our asking, so would have left a lot on the table if we had followed her advice.

Some agents list below market to move houses quicker. They make up for taking a slightly smaller commission on each unit, by selling a lot more houses.

A story on that theme: My wife and I are both engineers, and I'm the guy who makes spreadsheets for every purchase, analyzing all the options and pricing. So yeah, we had already done all of our own comp's before even calling a real estate agent to list our last house, which was common enough to have valid comparable data. We knew exactly what it was going to be worth, in the market of that time.

We called three agents to come see the house and talk with us, figuring we'd choose to list with the one that seemed the best fit. One of these agents wanted to list the house almost 30% below market price, and when we showed him the data we had collected which disagreed with his listing assessment, he got real pushy saying something like "everyone thinks their house is worth more than it is."

We did some research on his other listings and marketing after he left, and it was all about, "I sell more houses faster than any other agent in our region." Yeah, no kidding, he screws sellers by under-pricing the place, and makes up for those slightly smaller commissions by moving twice as many houses as anyone else. It's easy to sell stuff, when you price it way below market.

In the end, we chose another agent, who wanted to list the house about 10% higher than what we had already figured it was worth. Our final settlement price was exactly what the comp's work we had done predicted, to the dollar.

 

[paulsharvey]

I didn't have to do it, and I haven't seen anyone bring it up, but coworkers selling higher end houses; Termite Bond... Apparently that is becoming a common demand, the seller provide a termite bond, which from my understanding, requires a documented history of routine termite treatment, then you purchase a bond to provide to the buyer, that covers future termite issues?

 

[MinnesotaEric]

When I sold my last house the buyers made some weird and very specific requests, some were bad enough that we got pretty upset. Whole house warranty, guarantee that the skylights didn't leak. Guarantee the 25 year roof that was 7 years old didn't leak and a dozen more that I don't remember but were just unusual.

We talked to their agent and finally came to a deal after almost walking away.

I met the new owner a month later at the supermarket.
He told me the agent was the one asking for all the requests and not him.
We got along great and I went over their once to show him stuff and pick up some mail that did not forward for some reason.

Some agents are just jerks.

Out agent wanted us to list at a lot less than we wanted. We refused and got within 5K of our asking, so would have left a lot on the table if we had followed her advice.

To ask is one thing, to press the issue is another.

My assumption is the buyers were represented by a "friend" who is new agent who just got out of real estate school or somebody who ONLY has represented sales on newly constructed homes (which can happen in special circumstances with a person who has had a limited broker licensee representing a building contractor who is transitioned their license to an residential agent or who transitioned to a full broker license).

 

[ultrarunner]

Some agents list below market to move houses quicker. They make up for taking a slightly smaller commission on each unit, by selling a lot more houses.

A story on that theme: My wife and I are both engineers, and I'm the guy who makes spreadsheets for every purchase, analyzing all the options and pricing. So yeah, we had already done all of our own comp's before even calling a real estate agent to list our last house, which was common enough to have valid comparable data. We knew exactly what it was going to be worth, in the market of that time.

We called three agents to come see the house and talk with us, figuring we'd choose to list with the one that seemed the best fit. One of these agents wanted to list the house almost 30% below market price, and when we showed him the data we had collected which disagreed with his listing assessment, he got real pushy saying something like "everyone thinks their house is worth more than it is."

We did some research on his other listings and marketing after he left, and it was all about, "I sell more houses faster than any other agent in our region." Yeah, no kidding, he screws buyers by under-pricing the place, and makes up for those slightly smaller commissions by moving twice as many houses as anyone else. It's easy to sell stuff, when you price it way below market.

In the end, we chose another agent, who wanted to list the house about 10% higher than what we had already figured it was worth. Our final settlement price was exactly what the comp's work we had done predicted, to the dollar.

One very popular strategy in a sellers market in the SF Bay Area is to list below and the buyers will bid it up… seen it so many times and often the sale price is a new high for the area.

 

[ericm979]

One very popular strategy in a sellers market in the SF Bay Area is to list below and the buyers will bid it up… seen it so many times and often the sale price is a new high for the area.

When we sold our last house nearly 30 years ago our broker did that. We got a higher price than we'd expected, and the house was not anything special. The buyer contacted us a couple times and left phone messages that sounded like he was mad he'd over payed. We didn't call back.

He probably got over his mad in a few years when the prices there shot up. It's now worth 4x what we sold it for.

 

[ultrarunner]

A builder friend sold a spec home he built and it had multiple offers… he was floored at the bidding.

Anyway… not too long later the market cratered and a lawsuit was filed… buyers said pressured… buyers also had a punch list of defects… like 2 windows had fogged, house numbers not of required size, garage remote didn’t work, etc… all quickly addressed.

It took time to go to court as court ordered mediation and buyers held firm they wanted a 100k plus court costs on the 600k purchase.

Buyers remorse because instead of building equity they opposite happened.

By the time it reached the court the builder said judge… I am willing to take the home back if buyer vacates in 30 days and home not damaged.

The judge said unwinding the transaction is fair and was about to rule and the buyers decided they wanted to keep the place and disappointed they were not getting money…

It didn’t hurt prices were already trending up and this is a nice neighborhood…

 

[WinterDeere]

That's insane. I had no idea a buyer could ever gain any traction with a lawsuit, upset after they offered too much on a house! Was someone forcing them to make an offer?

 

[ultrarunner]

Well they got traction saying banks lent buyers money when they should not have and then the buyer said it’s bank fault for making the loan and take your house back.

Honest truth… remember the redlining settlements that opened the floodgates to loans to everyone…

Have a heartbeat get a adjustable mortgage!

Problem is when rates dropped these buyers couldn’t refi because property values tanked…

Folks that wanted to refi found they didn’t have equity.

I wanted to refi and capture one on the sub 3 percent loans and my lender referred me to TARP bailout… what the heck?

I ended up just paying it off and glad to free from them…

 

[paulsharvey]

Only way I could really see that, would be buying an unfinished home, undercl construction, and having "workmanship" issues, or a contract that was unclear on finishes? Just, I paid too much sounds pretty ridiculous for a law suit