Damned Realtors

hearingimpared

My wife and I have been house hunting for a long time now, we are currently renting. We found a house last Tuesday but the sellers couldn't let us in for whatever reason. They had an open house yesterday and we went through the house with a fine tooth comb. We have become very adept at house hunting over the past year. We decided right there and then that we were going to put a bid in, it was a perfect Cape Cod. When we told the seller's realtor that we were going to place the bid, she advised us to call our realtor right away. We did. Our realtor called the seller's realtor and told her we were going through the house again early today and then fill out the paper work and make the required down payment deposit.

So we go today, we comb the house again and found out that the owner's had a previous bid in that they were negotiating. We filled out the bid paperwork with a bid for their full asking price. When my realtor called the seller's realtor to tell her of the bid we were informed that she FU#%ING forgot to tell the sellers that we were going to put a bid in today and that the house was under contract as of last night.

Needless to say my wife is very disappointed and upset, and I am just so **** f@#ing pist :mad: :mad: off I could kick the sh#t out of the dog. The real killer here is that this house had a lower lever with an isolated room that was 26' X 22' . . . just the right size for my audio room and those 1.2 TLs that are waiting to be fired up.

Just venting!!!:mad:

PolkThug

Don't worry. There are more houses just like it.

hearingimpared

Ya know I think you are right . . . I'm just so tired of looking. The thing is we are looking to get out of this rat hole of Philly and move to Delaware where there is no sales tax and the real estate taxes are under (way under in some cases) $1k per year. So every time we are out house hunting we have to drive as little as 1 1/2 hours round trip to 3 to 4 hours round trip. I think I'm just tired.

Thanks for the encouraging words.
Joe

seo

Buying a houe can be emotional, but you want to try to avoid that, this is probably the biggest financial transaction of your life.

disneyjoe7

Been there Sad yes, but things happen for a reason... So sit back there's a 200% better house waiting for you.

hearingimpared

You're correct, but Incompetence at a time like that is inexcusable, we lost a home the seller lost out, I'm sure, on a few thousand dollars.

disneyjoe7

3 years ago, I sold a starter house had five offers on the table in 4 days all within $1k of each other. When finding new home we had 3 deals go south, all in one area. We ending up in a finer area 10 miles away and today I don't even wish to ever life where we started looking.

PS this house we paid full price +$500 won the deal, there was another offer on the table also.

Polkersince85

Realty sales persons can be dingy at times. That's one reason I got out of the mortgage business. Got tired of doing their job and mine at 18 hours a day. I would suggest talking to her and the broker with your hat in your hand and draw up the proposal anyway. The other deal could fall through and you may still be able to get the house. If not, the agent and broker may feel " obligated ' to you to find something you may like. You never know.

sucks2beme

anonymouse wrote:

Fire him/her and go with someone who is competent. Else at the very least negotiate to get half of his/her commission for this f up.

If I read this right, it was the seller's realtor that hosed the deal, not the buying realtor. It might of been an internal deal with another agent in the same office, and the seller's realtor was giving a lame excuse. Maybe the other buyer had a stronger offer/more cash upfront or a quicker close date.
The Mrs. is a realtor, and people call her all the time promising an offer that
never materializes. The buyer may of just went with what was on the table. Either way, the only houses that move that fast are the ones you really want.
There's always another one out there . Often the best ones come along right after one of these get away. Hang in there, it will happen!

dragon1952

The seller's realtor didn't want to share the commission no doubt. She (or her real estate office) probably had the buyer. Slimy ****...I've been there before too :rolleyes:

wingnut4772

Do not get mad. You should be happy. The heavens ran interference because that house was not for you. Who knows? Maybe it's haunted ...but there is something else out there meant for you. Everything is as it should be.

schwarcw

Sorry to hear about your experience Joe. I use to stay in Swedesboro, NJ a lot years ago. I liked the area and was very close to Philly.

DarqueKnight

Everytime this has happened to me there was something better around the corner and I was glad the previous deal fell through.:)

RuSsMaN

Ed Zachry.

You need a good realtor in your area, you let me know - it's what we do.

Cheers,
Russ

mrbigbluelight

That advice to hang in there is absolutely on the mark.

Take your hits, keep your head up, and something better will absolutely come your way.

That always works, btw. EVERYTHING is an opportunity if you let it.

Ron-P

Save yourself a lot of money and a lot of headaches and avoid using realtors. I've never used one and never will.

criverajr

Just take a break for a week or two, then start looking again. Realtors can be very helpful but the bottom line is the commission, they can be nice as pie but the commission is key.

CRJ

janmike

Sometimes things happen for a reason. The right one will come. I went through over 100 homes when I purchased my first home years ago. Hopefully a reason will surface why that house was not THE house. Good Luck.

billbillw

That's exactly the reason we didn't use a buyer's agent. I think they are useless, UNLESS you are buying from a great distance away and have no knowledge of the area you are shopping.

Before we got our house, we drove around the areas we were interested in, then went to the web. The internet has virtually every listing out there thanks to the MLS. (except for FSBOs).

When we found listings that we liked, we contacted the listing agents directly and asked to see the house. The listing agents do not mind showing the houses. In fact, they are the most qualified because they know more about the house, have met the owners, and spent time there. When we finally found a house we liked, we just submitted an offer directly to the seller's agent. Each state has a standard real estate contract and they are quite simple to fill out. We were also able to negotiate a lower price due to the fact that the listing agent did not have to share a commission with a buyer's agent. Because of this, the listing agents are usually more than willing to help you due to the increased commission.

markmarc

hearing:
Also remember that if you really do think the house is perfect, put in a backup offer, but with the contigency that you can pull it if you find something better. Right now, failed contracts are quite high from what my brother said (he's an agent in another state). My cousin did that and ended up with a home I'd kill for.

It's also fascinating to hear that the RE market is still moving there. In Portland, OR it's all but comatose in most areas. Our home has been up nearly 10 weeks, we have had only one showing, (they low balled us an offer so we countered, they never responded, not even a rejection call by their agent). Considering we had agents fighting over wanting to sell our place because we have taken such good care of it, it's been rather depressing. Our price is right in line with what a similar house went just three doors away in late May. Our two previous homes we averaged 3 showings a day.

janmike

I have always struggled with the Dual Agency thing.

hearingimpared

WoW I can't believe the spirituality on this site. I've been reading the reponses here to my wife and she is feeling soooooo much better and way more confident!!! Thanks to all of you.

billbillw wrote:

That's exactly the reason we didn't use a buyer's agent. I think they are useless, UNLESS you are buying from a great distance away and have no knowledge of the area you are shopping.

We live in Philadelphia, PA (filthydelphia is more like it) and are moving to "anywhere" Delaware so we need a buying realtor. What we do is when we are interested in an area, we drive there and check out the neighborhoods, police station, super markets etc. etc. and then send the homes off the internet to the realtor. She then takes us around. We know Delaware, school districts, flood areas, city RE tax places etc.

What is so enticing about Delaware is there is no sales tax, RE taxes are under $1000 per year some are as little as $100 dollars a year, and everything in general is less expensive.

Thanks,
Joe

BIZILL

Ron-P wrote:

Save yourself a lot of money and a lot of headaches and avoid using realtors. I've never used one and never will.

ditto

...oops. didn't see your above post. i still hate 'em all. can't stand having a realtor negotiate with my money when in fact, they are negotiating with their commission. every house that i utilized a realtor with i lost. went about it on my own and.............BOOYAH!