I have had my home for sale for a while now, understandable of course. I finally get an offer on the house and when I looked at it I couldn't believe it. Buyer wants me to pay all closing costs, mine and theirs, their home warranty policy, replace all kinds of shit in the house, (not just replace, but to their specifications which would mean no limit since it's my money after all) and the bottom line is that I would have to come to the closing with over 4 grand of MY money to hand that over. Since when does a home seller PAY to have someone buy their home and walk away with nothing, nada, zip?
The realtor told me it was a "good offer" - I asked for WHO? For you maybe. I sure didn't see a reduction in your commission on that offer.
What are these idiots thinking?
As to the young kids just starting out today, stop asking for everything, if you want something then earn it like I did, if you need closing costs paid for then find the money yourself. If you know you are only approved for a certain amount then don't be looking at homes that are selling for 40 grand more then what you are approved for.
And, realtors, if you want a deal to happen so damn bad then YOU pay for something out of your big fat commission of over 9 grand. You get 9 grand and I get nothing? I lose 50 grand that I have invested in this home? How is that even in your realm of thinking?
Needless to say the offer was rejected on the spot.
If young kids don't even have 5 grand in their pockets to buy a new house then what the hell are they doing to do when they have to actually furnish it? They need to stay in their apartments for another year or two and not be in such a fucking hurry to act grown up, when it's clear by what all they asked for that they are spoiled little brats and they are NOT grown up yet. Hell I am surprised they got a marriage license.
Fuck this - I would rather burn this fucker down then walk away with less then nothing. I am already losing my ASS on it - no way am I am walking away without a penny.
The third time in a god damn week a realtor called to set up a time to see my house and doesn't show or call to cancel!!! I guess common courtesy isn't a part of alot of people's lives these days is it? I am either always 15 minutes early for any appointment, whether business or pleasure related and if I do get stuck in traffic or get hung up at home for some reason I call or text to let someone know that I will be a few minutes late.
We are currently trying to sell our first house and have realized the whole system is a pain for the seller.
It's great if you're a buyer, the real estate agent is free. If you're a seller (we're doing FSBO) we still have to pay the buyer's agent fee of 2.5% and as the seller, we basically get no benefit for that.
The other problem we have is how houses are appraised by real estate agents. We've had a couple say our townhome is over priced. After comparing with other houses in the area, ours is maybe 3k above the others with similar floor plans. The reason for this is our house has had about 13k in upgrades (remoleded kitchen, energy efficient windows, nice flooring) which none of the other houses have. But none of the upgrades count for anything! All the real estate agents look at is square footage and location, nothing else. The system should really be upgraded to itemize all the upgrades to count by some percentage towards the selling/appraisal price and included in the MLS.
When it comes down to it, realtors are just middle men, they suck up money with little benefit to buyer or seller. When you buy or sell all you have to do is a little homework, it's not hard to do. You just need to do some comparisons, ask a few questions and get an inpsector (for the buyer). As a seller, you just put it on craigslist, MLS (a broker will do it for $200) and put an add in the local paper. Then you just show your house.
I don't like the way the realtors take away the pricing power from the sellers or the buyers. They determine the price to a large extent, taking money away from the consumer.
reading through these posts from people who have made a mess of their financial lives by buying property at the wrong time and trying to sell it at the wrong time and blaming others is a joke. but i guess if i dumped a couple of hundred thou in "equity" in the last 24 months i'd be bitter too. signed a successful happy and financially comfortable nyc real estate broker
seriously the bitter homeowners on here who call us "kids" are just mad that they either can't afford to survive in their house so they feel the need to try and bash others...young professionals who actually know how to negotiate better since we are getting all our closing costs..and the seller is paying! or they bought at the wrong time despite the warnings and feel its "unfair" lol. I am happy to be buying up short sales and foreclosures, i ask for closing costs..just to remind you that you obviously don't know how to make proper investments and coming up with 4-5 grand to close..well its a great offer, probably with the same rationalization that the house you bought in 2005 is "affordable" for you..all I have to say to the people complaining about "kids" buying homes..don't be jealous, maybe you should take up a part time job at burger king too cause obviously you aren't good at your job either if you are forced to sell....OOOOOHHHHHHH damnn
My realtor only wanted the easy deals. I fired him last week! I am an investor rehab properties know the area that I am buying in - deliver an awesome product and I received a low appraisal of $15,000 hit $14,500 because my property was in the 4700 block and not the 4600 block. Waited 41 days to get a second appraisal $25,000. Realtor was absolutely useless I called the Appraisal and he said that since the 1960s 'those people' that live in the 4700 block are not as good as the people that live in the 4600 block. The owner of the mortgage company who also was the Underwriter - agreed with the appraisal. The appraiser was bias and proves that he is prejudice because the deduction of $14,500 for location of my property. Also, I think the lender did not want to give a minority a loan - I filed a complaint with HUD. I had experts and professionals look at the house and the area and they all said the deduction is ridiculous. Hired a new realtor he called buyers agent and they are now going through another lender not FHA - but My Community Program which is better than FHA - cheaper than FHA. My realtor was like 'I told you so' and couldn't understand why I fired him. The house was on the market 7 days we had 2 offers - there are more recent settles $10K higher than my house - no appraisal issues - and my house is totally rehabbed. Most Realtors are LAZY and INCOMPETENT!
I am a Realtor in S. Florida and I must agree with about 99% of what is being discussed here against real estate agents; brokers are even worse. I got into real estate in the 80's and was so disgusted with it then, I decided to let my license lapse. 20 plus years later, I was shopping for my home and went through 10 different Realtors before I found one that actually was worthy of the commission. It was then that I figured this whole crap with the RE industry has to change. I was encouraged by my wife to get relicensed so that I would be in a position to spare other buyers and/or sellers the frustration of dealing with inept, lazy, and money grubbing agents/brokers. Needless to say, I don't think I can be a part of the scumbag brigade that permaeates the real estate sales industry.
I am not going to trash all Realtors. There are some good ones out there, same goes for Brokers, but the majority are lousy representatives of what is supposed to be a profession.
In fairness to the real estate process, some of the comments mentioned in the posts were inaccurate. Market value done by a competent Realtor will yield similar results to those of an appraiser. We call them CMAs since you need a separate license to do appraisals.Banks contact Brokers to render opinions of market value on REO properties (foreclosures)which isn't much more than a CMA but banks refer to these as BPOs (Broker's opinion on price).
Bottomline, 6% is a bit high especially when you deal with higher priced homes. With the exception of ultra luxurious properties, the marketing of a 250K home is the same as the marketing of a 500K home. What is even more amazing is that the seller isn't just paying the commission, sometimes they get hit with a transaction fee (few hundred bucks)and the buyer gets hit with a similar fee at closing.
I completely agree that most Realtors (agents and brokers) are worse than the and sleaziest car salesman out there. The Boards and the NAR have all these ethics requirements and training, but truthfully, it is all a bunch of crap. The only thing real estate brokers are interested in is making mega money at someone elses espense. They don't care about you, your home, your finances, or anything else other than getting your listing and making a commission even if you walk away with nothing.
The silver lining in this whole thing is that the real estate industry will be changing dramatically within the next 5 to 10 years. Realtors as we know them today will be as extinct as the dinosaurs. With the way technology is progressing, brokerage firms will become obsolete. A large, national broker shut down in my area; they got too big for their bridges. I guess too much overhead mixed with a good dose of greed did them in.
For Sale By Owner will be back with a different business model as soon as technology allows it. They too got greedy and expanded way too fast ultimately leading to their demise. They will pop up again, however. It is the way of the future. Over 75% (at least) of real estate buyers look for properties online and that percentage will only get larger with time. I predict that the number of realtors nationwide will be cut in half within the next 10 years and there will be a new way of selling and buying real estate. You saw it here first.
Please people, why are we even worried about what a real estate agents comission is. Fire 'em before they get statrted cheating you out of your equity. I have bought or sold six pieces of property in my lifetime. Each time we simply hired a lawyer and paid a fee of just a few hundred dollars. No muss, no fuss, Agents are equity sucking parasites riding along on your deal, providing no service at all. Remeber, 1).a five dollar FSBO sign from Lowe's will do more work than a real estate agent. 2)The house will sell itself. 3)perform your own market analysis by visiting the local tax assessors website. and 4)an agent will prevent you from selling a home.They are your enemy and the enemy of America. How realtors have escaped the ire of public attention following the financial collapse of the United States baffles me. The banking industry is culpable, to be sure, and has been under the mcroscope for "giving away free money." The agents simply capitalized on this phenomenon and artificially manipulated the market to the boon of increased comissions for themselves. The costs of housing materials did not warrant spiraling high prices. Oddly, since the crash, I have seen an agents add that even bragged of "Keeping prices high in the coastal region!". As if this was her claim to fame. Cut her out of the picture. Buy houses from true Owners (not Owner/agents). Let the agents find legitimate jobs, earning an honest living that they can be proud of, at the end of the day, when they look in the mirror.
I have a lot of equity in my house, which I just sold on Friday. I don't think it's right to pay a realtor to pimp for homeowners. What do they bring to the table but self-interest? Honestly. They don't care about doing what is best for their clients--they do what is best for their wallets.
I did a FSBO, listing my house on MLS for $100. Of course, I paid the agent who brought the customer 3%. We had a lot of activity and a lot of offers on our home, and negotiated every one of them. It's not hard to do.
Someone mentioned it was the "kids" who want the closing costs. I didn't find any of that. It's the FHA buyers who want you to pay their closing costs. They're only putting down 3.5%. Should you be buying a home for such a small personal investment?
The biggest and most irritating part of the RE industry is that it's a monopoly controlled by the inmates. We tried to see homes that we found listed on the Internet, but nearly every single agent (save for one) would not show us the house without an agent. Of course, they offered to be our agent and get the full 6%. Talk about greedy. They would rather lose a buyer than show one of their listings for 3%.
When we did hire a realtor, we worked out a deal for 1.5%, with her giving us 1.5% back at closing. With a $500K house, she was still walking away with a big paycheck--more than $7,000 for two weeks worth of part-time work.
Realtors are the biggest scammers. They have absolutely NOTHING to contribute to buyers or sellers that we cannot do or research ourselves!
I was actually going to start my own blog, but after Googling, I found there were already smart people out there writing about the same things!
PS The biggest problem is in RE is that there is no transparency. Realtors can say and do whatever they want. They speak for you and they speak for the other side. Who knows if they accurately communicate your wishes?
Three months after we hired her, she was ALMOST able to spell my name. She was SO CLOSE to being able to competently change the price of our home eight weeks after we asked her to.
But hey, she really tried. She often returned our e-mails within 48 hours. That's pretty good for a realtor.
She and her staff literally couldn't work out a price per square foot suggestion on our house (multiplying our square footage by a dollar/SF amount to come up with a suggestion for a price point).
At one point, they were unable to even SEE. An open house listing stayed on our realtor.com page for WEEKS after we asked them to remove it (two months after it was over), and my wife literally had to draw a big red circle around that part of the page in Paint to illustrate for them what we were talking about.
So, far from just being scummy or a middle man (woman), our realtor (Sandy Luedke of Ideal Real Estate Group) and her associates literally displayed difficulty with spelling, basic arithmetic, or the competence of your average middle school student.
It was FAR easier having our house on the market ourselves, where we could simply change something when we wanted it changed, look up feedback for our showings (something our awesome realtor was NEVER able to pass onto us with any consistency), and represent ourselves and our home with some modicum of professionalism and class -- something the realtors of the world seem to have serious difficulty with.
It's not just OUR realtor either. Buyer's agents who have actually shown our home have repeatedly treated us and our property like crap...showing up 2 hours before showings and knocking on our BEDROOM door while we were still sleeping...showing up AFTER their showing window and staying for 2 hours...failing repeatedly to do simple things like lock doors or turn off lights...asking us to jump through hoops with additional information and then not even having the common courtesy to leave feedback after repeated requests...and on and on.
That said, we've worked with a commercial real estate agent who seems worth every penny (that market is a mess online). But residential realtors are U-S-E-L-E-S-S!
If you are going to use a mortgage broker, make sure they did not BK anytime in the last 7 years. I dealt with one who screwed everything up, could not keep her appointments, was defensive and finally rude What a mess !
I have had my home for sale for a while now, understandable of course. I finally get an offer on the house and when I looked at it I couldn't believe it. Buyer wants me to pay all closing costs, mine and theirs, their home warranty policy, replace all kinds of shit in the house, (not just replace, but to their specifications which would mean no limit since it's my money after all) and the bottom line is that I would have to come to the closing with over 4 grand of MY money to hand that over. Since when does a home seller PAY to have someone buy their home and walk away with nothing, nada, zip?
ReplyDeleteThe realtor told me it was a "good offer" - I asked for WHO? For you maybe. I sure didn't see a reduction in your commission on that offer.
What are these idiots thinking?
As to the young kids just starting out today, stop asking for everything, if you want something then earn it like I did, if you need closing costs paid for then find the money yourself. If you know you are only approved for a certain amount then don't be looking at homes that are selling for 40 grand more then what you are approved for.
And, realtors, if you want a deal to happen so damn bad then YOU pay for something out of your big fat commission of over 9 grand. You get 9 grand and I get nothing? I lose 50 grand that I have invested in this home? How is that even in your realm of thinking?
Needless to say the offer was rejected on the spot.
If young kids don't even have 5 grand in their pockets to buy a new house then what the hell are they doing to do when they have to actually furnish it? They need to stay in their apartments for another year or two and not be in such a fucking hurry to act grown up, when it's clear by what all they asked for that they are spoiled little brats and they are NOT grown up yet. Hell I am surprised they got a marriage license.
Fuck this - I would rather burn this fucker down then walk away with less then nothing. I am already losing my ASS on it - no way am I am walking away without a penny.
The third time in a god damn week a realtor called to set up a time to see my house and doesn't show or call to cancel!!!
ReplyDeleteI guess common courtesy isn't a part of alot of people's lives these days is it?
I am either always 15 minutes early for any appointment, whether business or pleasure related and if I do get stuck in traffic or get hung up at home for some reason I call or text to let someone know that I will be a few minutes late.
Thanks for the info
ReplyDeleteif i ever deicide to get out of nyc and buy a house in the burbs this blog has been useful
if you get a chance pop on over to my new blog and read my story
the reformed hooker
Realtors are truly scum
ReplyDeletedirty little burger flippers
they couldn't make it in fast food
so they screwed up America with their 6%
I have never used a Realtor or Mortgage Broker.
I have had sex with a young real estate lawyer, she was lousy in bed
We are currently trying to sell our first house and have realized the whole system is a pain for the seller.
ReplyDeleteIt's great if you're a buyer, the real estate agent is free. If you're a seller (we're doing FSBO) we still have to pay the buyer's agent fee of 2.5% and as the seller, we basically get no benefit for that.
The other problem we have is how houses are appraised by real estate agents. We've had a couple say our townhome is over priced. After comparing with other houses in the area, ours is maybe 3k above the others with similar floor plans. The reason for this is our house has had about 13k in upgrades (remoleded kitchen, energy efficient windows, nice flooring) which none of the other houses have. But none of the upgrades count for anything! All the real estate agents look at is square footage and location, nothing else. The system should really be upgraded to itemize all the upgrades to count by some percentage towards the selling/appraisal price and included in the MLS.
When it comes down to it, realtors are just middle men, they suck up money with little benefit to buyer or seller. When you buy or sell all you have to do is a little homework, it's not hard to do. You just need to do some comparisons, ask a few questions and get an inpsector (for the buyer). As a seller, you just put it on craigslist, MLS (a broker will do it for $200) and put an add in the local paper. Then you just show your house.
I don't like the way the realtors take away the pricing power from the sellers or the buyers. They determine the price to a large extent, taking money away from the consumer.
reading through these posts from people who have made a mess of their financial lives by buying property at the wrong time and trying to sell it at the wrong time and blaming others is a joke. but i guess if i dumped a couple of hundred thou in "equity" in the last 24 months i'd be bitter too.
ReplyDeletesigned
a successful happy and financially comfortable nyc real estate broker
seriously the bitter homeowners on here who call us "kids" are just mad that they either can't afford to survive in their house so they feel the need to try and bash others...young professionals who actually know how to negotiate better since we are getting all our closing costs..and the seller is paying! or they bought at the wrong time despite the warnings and feel its "unfair" lol. I am happy to be buying up short sales and foreclosures, i ask for closing costs..just to remind you that you obviously don't know how to make proper investments and coming up with 4-5 grand to close..well its a great offer, probably with the same rationalization that the house you bought in 2005 is "affordable" for you..all I have to say to the people complaining about "kids" buying homes..don't be jealous, maybe you should take up a part time job at burger king too cause obviously you aren't good at your job either if you are forced to sell....OOOOOHHHHHHH damnn
ReplyDeleteMy realtor only wanted the easy deals. I fired him last week! I am an investor rehab properties know the area that I am buying in - deliver an awesome product and I received a low appraisal of $15,000 hit $14,500 because my property was in the 4700 block and not the 4600 block. Waited 41 days to get a second appraisal $25,000. Realtor was absolutely useless I called the Appraisal and he said that since the 1960s 'those people' that live in the 4700 block are not as good as the people that live in the 4600 block. The owner of the mortgage company who also was the Underwriter - agreed with the appraisal. The appraiser was bias and proves that he is prejudice because the deduction of $14,500 for location of my property. Also, I think the lender did not want to give a minority a loan - I filed a complaint with HUD. I had experts and professionals look at the house and the area and they all said the deduction is ridiculous. Hired a new realtor he called buyers agent and they are now going through another lender not FHA - but My Community Program which is better than FHA - cheaper than FHA. My realtor was like 'I told you so' and couldn't understand why I fired him. The house was on the market 7 days we had 2 offers - there are more recent settles $10K higher than my house - no appraisal issues - and my house is totally rehabbed. Most Realtors are LAZY and INCOMPETENT!
ReplyDeleteI am a Realtor in S. Florida and I must agree with about 99% of what is being discussed here against real estate agents; brokers are even worse.
ReplyDeleteI got into real estate in the 80's and was so disgusted with it then, I decided to let my license lapse. 20 plus years later, I was shopping for my home and went through 10 different Realtors before I found one that actually was worthy of the commission. It was then that I figured this whole crap with the RE industry has to change. I was encouraged by my wife to get relicensed so that I would be in a position to spare other buyers and/or sellers the frustration of dealing with inept, lazy, and money grubbing agents/brokers. Needless to say, I don't think I can be a part of the scumbag brigade that permaeates the real estate sales industry.
I am not going to trash all Realtors. There are some good ones out there, same goes for Brokers, but the majority are lousy representatives of what is supposed to be a profession.
In fairness to the real estate process, some of the comments mentioned in the posts were inaccurate. Market value done by a competent Realtor will yield similar results to those of an appraiser. We call them CMAs since you need a separate license to do appraisals.Banks contact Brokers to render opinions of market value on REO properties (foreclosures)which isn't much more than a CMA but banks refer to these as BPOs (Broker's opinion on price).
Bottomline, 6% is a bit high especially when you deal with higher priced homes. With the exception of ultra luxurious properties, the marketing of a 250K home is the same as the marketing of a 500K home. What is even more amazing is that the seller isn't just paying the commission, sometimes they get hit with a transaction fee (few hundred bucks)and the buyer gets hit with a similar fee at closing.
I completely agree that most Realtors (agents and brokers) are worse than the and sleaziest car salesman out there. The Boards and the NAR have all these ethics requirements and training, but truthfully, it is all a bunch of crap. The only thing real estate brokers are interested in is making mega money at someone elses espense. They don't care about you, your home, your finances, or anything else other than getting your listing and making a commission even if you walk away with nothing.
The silver lining in this whole thing is that the real estate industry will be changing dramatically within the next 5 to 10 years. Realtors as we know them today will be as extinct as the dinosaurs. With the way technology is progressing, brokerage firms will become obsolete. A large, national broker shut down in my area; they got too big for their bridges. I guess too much overhead mixed with a good dose of greed did them in.
For Sale By Owner will be back with a different business model as soon as technology allows it. They too got greedy and expanded way too fast ultimately leading to their demise. They will pop up again, however. It is the way of the future. Over 75% (at least) of real estate buyers look for properties online and that percentage will only get larger with time. I predict that the number of realtors nationwide will be cut in half within the next 10 years and there will be a new way of selling and buying real estate. You saw it here first.
Please people, why are we even worried about what a real estate agents comission is. Fire 'em before they get statrted cheating you out of your equity. I have bought or sold six pieces of property in my lifetime. Each time we simply hired a lawyer and paid a fee of just a few hundred dollars. No muss, no fuss, Agents are equity sucking parasites riding along on your deal, providing no service at all. Remeber, 1).a five dollar FSBO sign from Lowe's will do more work than a real estate agent. 2)The house will sell itself. 3)perform your own market analysis by visiting the local tax assessors website. and 4)an agent will prevent you from selling a home.They are your enemy and the enemy of America. How realtors have escaped the ire of public attention following the financial collapse of the United States baffles me. The banking industry is culpable, to be sure, and has been under the mcroscope for "giving away free money." The agents simply capitalized on this phenomenon and artificially manipulated the market to the boon of increased comissions for themselves. The costs of housing materials did not warrant spiraling high prices.
ReplyDeleteOddly, since the crash, I have seen an agents add that even bragged of "Keeping prices high in the coastal region!". As if this was her claim to fame. Cut her out of the picture. Buy houses from true Owners (not Owner/agents). Let the agents find legitimate jobs, earning an honest living that they can be proud of, at the end of the day, when they look in the mirror.
I have a lot of equity in my house, which I just sold on Friday. I don't think it's right to pay a realtor to pimp for homeowners. What do they bring to the table but self-interest? Honestly. They don't care about doing what is best for their clients--they do what is best for their wallets.
ReplyDeleteI did a FSBO, listing my house on MLS for $100. Of course, I paid the agent who brought the customer 3%. We had a lot of activity and a lot of offers on our home, and negotiated every one of them. It's not hard to do.
Someone mentioned it was the "kids" who want the closing costs. I didn't find any of that. It's the FHA buyers who want you to pay their closing costs. They're only putting down 3.5%. Should you be buying a home for such a small personal investment?
The biggest and most irritating part of the RE industry is that it's a monopoly controlled by the inmates. We tried to see homes that we found listed on the Internet, but nearly every single agent (save for one) would not show us the house without an agent. Of course, they offered to be our agent and get the full 6%. Talk about greedy. They would rather lose a buyer than show one of their listings for 3%.
When we did hire a realtor, we worked out a deal for 1.5%, with her giving us 1.5% back at closing. With a $500K house, she was still walking away with a big paycheck--more than $7,000 for two weeks worth of part-time work.
Realtors are the biggest scammers. They have absolutely NOTHING to contribute to buyers or sellers that we cannot do or research ourselves!
I was actually going to start my own blog, but after Googling, I found there were already smart people out there writing about the same things!
PS The biggest problem is in RE is that there is no transparency. Realtors can say and do whatever they want. They speak for you and they speak for the other side. Who knows if they accurately communicate your wishes?
ReplyDeleteOur realtor was awesome.
ReplyDeleteThree months after we hired her, she was ALMOST able to spell my name. She was SO CLOSE to being able to competently change the price of our home eight weeks after we asked her to.
But hey, she really tried. She often returned our e-mails within 48 hours. That's pretty good for a realtor.
She and her staff literally couldn't work out a price per square foot suggestion on our house (multiplying our square footage by a dollar/SF amount to come up with a suggestion for a price point).
At one point, they were unable to even SEE. An open house listing stayed on our realtor.com page for WEEKS after we asked them to remove it (two months after it was over), and my wife literally had to draw a big red circle around that part of the page in Paint to illustrate for them what we were talking about.
So, far from just being scummy or a middle man (woman), our realtor (Sandy Luedke of Ideal Real Estate Group) and her associates literally displayed difficulty with spelling, basic arithmetic, or the competence of your average middle school student.
It was FAR easier having our house on the market ourselves, where we could simply change something when we wanted it changed, look up feedback for our showings (something our awesome realtor was NEVER able to pass onto us with any consistency), and represent ourselves and our home with some modicum of professionalism and class -- something the realtors of the world seem to have serious difficulty with.
It's not just OUR realtor either. Buyer's agents who have actually shown our home have repeatedly treated us and our property like crap...showing up 2 hours before showings and knocking on our BEDROOM door while we were still sleeping...showing up AFTER their showing window and staying for 2 hours...failing repeatedly to do simple things like lock doors or turn off lights...asking us to jump through hoops with additional information and then not even having the common courtesy to leave feedback after repeated requests...and on and on.
That said, we've worked with a commercial real estate agent who seems worth every penny (that market is a mess online). But residential realtors are U-S-E-L-E-S-S!
If you are going to use a mortgage broker, make sure they did not BK anytime in the last 7 years. I dealt with one who screwed everything up, could not keep her appointments, was defensive and finally rude
ReplyDeleteWhat a mess !