Real estate General topic

[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