Posted by Brian (UT) on September 28, 2005 at 21:57:33:
Natalie
One of the reasons I thought there might be a misunderstanding rather then a totally incompetent agent (plenty of those) was I once represented a state of washington’s real estate brokers purchase of a home in california and when I filled out the required agency disclosure statement he stated that he was familiar with it because his state had a similiar requirement, so even a new agent should be familiar with agency.
Even agents with a weeks seniority knew they could write-up a contract or accept a contract that had already been written by a buyer or their agent on their listings and present it as the sellers agent, and did not need to creat a dual agency relationship. No california law requires requires a specific contract be used, but the law requires I present any contract that isn’t outright frivolous on it’s face.
I submitted many contracts that did not conform to the california Association of realtors approved contract. I would just take the buyers contract and go over it item by item by filling in the approved contract item by item so the seller could compare and counter if needed.
Had a fun weekend looking at FSBOs for fun. Had to remind myself why I usually don’t play in this market
2bed, 1Bath, .33cre lot. They want 260K in Lynnwood. A 4Bed 1bath just sold for 260K and 3bed ramblers go for 240-260. I offered 180K
A 2bed condo - wants 100K - with a 5K plumbing assessment coming up and recent sales of 90K. I offered 70K and didn’t get yelled at.
And Realtors sometimes count too! Talked with a realtor listing a home with some water issues. Comps are about 325K w/o problems. They want 350K. I called him up and had to convince him that it was “Legal and ethical” to accept a bid on a house from a non-realtor. He had it in his head that it was illegal for me to submit a bid. I asked him how he thought houses were sold before realtors were around… Offered 300K and he was insulted I’m tempted to call his broker and report him for violating fudicuary duty by attempting to not allow me to submit a bit.
Fun weekend of disappointment. It comes with the territory though.
I will never again make an offer without knowing exactly what the seller wants in term of the bottom line. It’s much easier to deal with them once you know what they want or need.
2 reasons - 1 by law he is not required to do so as I only offered the bid over the phone and did not actually hand him a piece of paper. 2 - he never called back with results
Twas not the best of deals anyways, but it was close to my house and would have rent cash-flowed even at that price. I’ll call back next weekend and try again until I get my bid accepted or someone else overpays.
Re: FSBOs smoking crack on prices - Posted by Natalie-VA
Posted by Natalie-VA on September 26, 2005 at 20:33:10:
Mike,
He may not be required by law to present a verbal offer, but if he is a member of the National Association of Realtors, he is violating their code of ethics. You could report him to the local association. I know that’s not the point of your post…I just hate bad agents giving the rest of us a bad name.
Re: FSBOs smoking crack on prices - Posted by DP (ON)
Posted by DP (ON) on September 26, 2005 at 16:36:25:
Why don’t you just ignore this clown and go straight to the owner? I assume by your use of the word “bid” that this is an REO. Go to the bank and ask if they’re aware that their agent is not presenting all offers, and you’ve decided to present your’s directly (which under these circumstances is 100% legitimate).
From Windermere - which means he must be (right?) I’m sorry, but he was so unprofessional that I was tempted to report him to his broker anyways. Here’s a synopsis of the full conversation:
I called and said hi and asked if the house had any offers yet. He said no, but I was welcome to come to the open house on Sunday. Fine. I said, no need as I’d already seen it and wanted to submit an offer. He stated that he would be glad to refer me to a fellow agent to use to submit the offer. I said no thanks, I’ll do it myself and either earn him an extra 3% of have the sellers keep it. Then for the next 10 minutes we went round and round about how he can’t ethically enter into dual-agency and that he doesn’t even think it’s legal for me to submit a bid. Furthermore, he couldn’t dream of accepting an offer from me without asking his clients if it was ok with them and his office. After a little longer (letting him know that I’ve done this many times already - even without any agents involved), I finally convince him half-heartedly that it may indeed be ok - If it’s still ok with the sellers - if I can submit a bid. BUT, he can’t represent me in this (thank the lord.) My offer is very strong in terms (as per previous post), but 10% below their ask as they are overpriced and the place has damage, which I got him to agree to. He then goes on to tell me the sellers will never accept my offer. I ask him to please check as I know there’s a divorce involved and time is of the essence. He says “he’ll get back to me.” I’m to frustrated to continue and look for the next house on my list.
Code of ethics violations? Maybe. Near criminal lack of knowledge? Definately. Giving other agents a bad rep? Yep.
Nope - not an REO. Standard listing. The owners are never around when I am so no luck there yet. I understand there is a divorce in process (a buyer’s agent running an open-house was a wealth of info right up to the point where she realized I didn’t want an agent) and that a quick close would be nice. I offered minimum 20% down, 7500 earnest, no finance cont., and only an inspection contingency as there was obvious water damage in a downstairs closet abutting the kitchen. I also stated that I may pay cash from a 1031. Can’t get much better than that on terms.
Like I said, I’ll try again with an actual physical contract next weekend so that he’s forced by law to show it. Then I’ll raise hell if he tries to keep the 6% for himself. He hasn’t earned 1% in my opinion…
Re: FSBOs smoking crack on prices - Posted by Mark (SDCA)
Posted by Mark (SDCA) on September 27, 2005 at 12:19:13:
This person is so stupid he doesnt deserve the entire 6%. You should have said that you would be happy to bring your agent in and have him take the other 3%, leaeving only 3% for this agent and his broker.
This guy obviously skipped out on the Sunday session of his weekend realtor class.
Re: FSBOs smoking crack on prices - Posted by Brian (UT)
Posted by Brian (UT) on September 28, 2005 at 12:03:19:
Mike
What do you got to do with the commission, did you sign the listing agreement?
You want to deal, put it in writing, do you accept verbal offers on properties your selling? If you do your a very nice guy and some day a buyer will ask you to drop your pants and bend over.
I’m not hearing the full story here but if you want to put in just a verbal offer on any property I had listed when I was a Realtor, I would have told you I only deal with serious buyers and serious buyers put it in writing. Handshakes are for diamond dealers and Arizona ranchers, for anyone else, put it in writing.
Brian
P.s. If you weren’t trying for some of the commission why didn’t you have the helpful buyers agent present an offer, it wasn’t going to cost you anything?
Re: FSBOs smoking crack on prices - Posted by Natalie-VA
Posted by Natalie-VA on September 28, 2005 at 14:49:26:
Hi Brian,
Most listing agents will want the offer written on their local contract. When an unrepresented buyer calls, it’s the listing agent’s job to write it up.
The agent apparently thinks that he will be representing Mike by doing this. He dead wrong. The agent needs to go back to school on agency law.
I wasn’t trying for commision - I was trying to talk with the agent about putting a legit offer on the place. I was and still am dead serious. If he had asked me to put it in writing, I would have been all over it. If he had asked to write the offer up himself - I’d have let him do that too and earn himself some extra money. I was just trying to save us both a little time by being nice and talking with him first - and to get a feel for his client’s position.
Instead, he was confused and ill-informed. He didn’t want an offer from me unless I was represented by and agent - preferably one from his office. Like I said, if the place is still on the market a few days from now (and odds are it will be), I’ll call back and try again.
And if another investor comes to me with a verbal offer on a place of mine, I’ll gladly verbally bargain with him until we come to an agreement - then we’ll sit down and put it on paper.
I’m tempted to call his broker and report him for violating fudicuary duty by attempting to not allow me to submit a bit.