Unprofessional real estate 'professionals'

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docmirror

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Cowboy - yeehah!
So, I'm shopping again for another property. Actively shopping with a lot of resources. Of course, I'm hooked into the regular sites on line, and also some specific foreclosure sites that aren't as popular doing my diligence in finding the right deal. Also checking out FSBOs on my own.

Most of the SFDs are sold through an agent, even places that are short sales, or foreclosures are handled through a local agent. That's fine, the agency program in RE sales has a long established history and they do some good work.

Now, in the past 2 years I've bought two properties and I'm in the market for another and the people I'm working with in the current RE market are mostly useless. I've had to dig out details on a sale that the seller's agent should know, or be able to get me in a few hours. I waited for days for int pics of a property, and finally I got tired of waiting so I drove over there and knocked on the door. I told the guy that I knew I was out of line just walking up without notice through the agent, but I've been trying to get int pics of his house for days. He was pretty hot, and that's not going to be a good conversation pretty soon.

Next guy promises to find me 'every available listing' in my market, and he'll be right on it, buys us lunch and has a 500 watt grin. I've sent him four listings so far, that he hasn't found. Went and looked at two of them, and I'm considering an offer on one.

Am I alone here? Do I think that an agent which is sucking up 6% of my RE money should actually have to do their job? Am I asking too much of a sellers agent that they give me what they say they'll give me?

At this point, I'm reduced to contacting the listing agent directly, and running around with them on their listing alone. Now, I'm looking at funding a full commish on a sale I'm bringing in! Since I don't have a RE license in the state I'm looking at, legally I can't participate. But - I've already said that I'm taking my part of the sale on a lower than normal price, and won't be moving much. Business is business.

Makes me want to shop the FSBO market exclusively but the pickings can be slim. Also checking out a few direct sales by short sellers(bank) where they have a comm RE dept to save some. Frustrated buyer...
 
Funny you should say that. I was suppose to close on a property Friday. I talked to the buyer's loan officer today to find out he did not apply for the loan within the 7 days as required by the contract. The loan officer told the buyers agent they could not possible closeon the date they picked because of the late application.

I declared the contract null and void and sent a demand letter for the earnest money deposit.

Agents are just plain lazy these days.
 
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I'm not quite sure what value RE people provide in this day of easily, publicly accessible listings.

Sure, sheperding the paperwork is worth something. Maybe a few grand?

But I have a tough time paying anything near 6% to someone for driving me over and unlocking a door.
 
Last time I had a property for sale I just found the buyer myself and did an as-is sale through a lawyer.

Salesmen, agents, brokers, etc whether you're talking about a toaster, a car, an airplane, or a home have consistently been obstacles to me buying/selling what I want for the price I want on my schedule rather than helpful. I'm becoming a huge fan of the direct method wherever possible.
 
Sadly, the FSBO market is pretty thin in most places, including the area I'm shopping. I think some areas have higher amount of FSBOs. Right now, the only decent properties are for sale by agents.

I sold two as private sales, had no troubles. Rarely sell as I'm an investor, but I can't find a property I want outside of the MLS mess.
 
Need a thread "Observations about real estate sellers - 2014".

Sounds like a familiar problem, sellers not providing the information needed. Airplanes are houses, all the same. Communication and information.

I had a house for sale on craigslist for six months. Never came close to getting an offer. Listed with an agent, raise the price $5000, and had it sold within 15 days.

It hurts right the commission check, you can't argue with the effectiveness.
 
The re agents I have used have been friends or clients. They realize the personal relationship aspects and work for me, although I would search myself at times.
 
I repeatedly fired real estate agents until I found one worth the commission and more.

We had a nice working arrangement over many years. He was connected tightly enough in the community that he knew which owners were even thinking about selling/moving and I frequently had exposure to properties before they even listed. He felt no need to share his commission with another agent if he could do all the advance work.

Also, I am not sure how CA works, but I utilized him as a buyer's agent, so he was truly representing my interests, not the seller's.

Do not stand for poor service. Fire away until you find someone who will work for you and earn it.
 
Unprofessional or lazy?

Sounds like lazy to me...

I have been on a buying spree for about 4 years...I also build about 5-10 houses a year...depending on how fast they sell...my listing guy has sold 50% of HIS listings...he works his arse off...

I have thrown a bone to another agent or two who have seen it as a gift for listing commission and neither sold the listing before it expired...lesson learned...

Listed it with my regular guy...BAM...gone in less than 30 days...

Sounds to me you need to find a busy agent because no one else will have the time to work for you...
 
My recent dealings led me to the conclusion that there is very little "professional" about the real estate market. I'm jaded enough as it is, but how truly awful everyone in real estate was, was mind boggling. We wound up buying a FSBO without an agent. That went VERY well. Unfortunatley the mortgage broker was AWFUL. Wound up losing his license shortly after, I have no doubts about why he did.
 
Isn't real estate agency one of the classic places where the "90% of the work is done by 10% of the people" adage is applicable?

When I last bought property, the only services my RE buyer's agent provided was in opening the master lock so I could view the property. I had to find the listings, and I corrected several things in the paperwork he generated during the process.

I chose him at random, because I was in a new location and didn't know where to go for references. Today, I know of 3 or 4 high-quality agents I wouldn't hesitate to use for either buying or selling, but I only know them from seeing their work with friends and family.
 
When my now husband and I were looking for this house everyday I was scouring the listings to find what I wanted. Sure the RE agent sent us some but none were really "quite" right. Wasn't planning on really looking where we eventually bought but time was running out (Bought house in January - married in April) So yeah sometimes you have to do the legwork to get it in a timely manner.
 
They love to get the listing plant a sign and wait for the check. The last house I listed they wouldn't put a sign in the yard because the ground was frozen. :rolleyes:

I told him to buy a 3 pound rubber mallet and pound the damn thing in like every one else does. He couldn't be bothered.
 
Point and counterpoint...

We recently sold a second nearby house we had bought as an investment with the goal of renting it out.

The investment part did not work out - we listed it for what we paid for it, prepared to take a bit less to free up the money we had in it.

Listed it with a local broker. He advised us of what improvements and repairs were cost effective in getting it sold.

The first week it was listed, our broker was in Hawaii doing a triathlon. I kinda complained to his assistant, a friend, who said with the MLS there wad no need for him to be physically present to get the house sold.

Anyway, a buyer appeared in about a week with a low offer. We negotiated to an acceptable price through the broker, and we had a signed contract with deposit in nine days! Closing went without a hitch.

On the one hand, it did not seem the broker did very much to justify a 7% (about $14,000) commission.

On the other hand, the house got sold very quickly at what we thought was a fair price.

Could we have done it ourselves? I suppose. But even if we saved the $14k, had the process dragged on we would have been exposed to more insurance and taxes and maintenance. As it was we quickly got the money in hand and invested and working for us.

As an aside, we earmarked a small portion of the proceeds to procure a tow vehicle and a travel trailer. The 2011 Ford Flex is in hand, and we're picking up a 21' CampLite trailer within a couple weeks. Road trip!
 
There doesn't seem to be much of a measuring stick for agents in this town. I picked a guy and asked him if he had a side job, and how many closings he had in the past 6 months. He gave the right answers so we gave him a try. First week on the job he went for a basketball tournament and turned us over to another agent in the office. The blush was well and truly off the rose at that point. When he got back 5 days later, he sent us three listings that we had already found, and one that was unsuitable.

We tried to put an offer on a house, and it was under contract. We asked if we could put in a backup offer, and never heard another word from him about it. We get rather terse texts but he will answer the phone when it rings and blather for a few minutes. He's gone, and we're doing the listing agent deal now. I had one flat out tell me the other day when I asked about sq footage in the listing that "they never measure the rooms, or put that in the MLS". So, I got the tape measure out, and we went room to room, added it all up and even allowing for some differences in calcs, the house was listed 25% over what was really there. I complained, and she said she would 'look into it'. WTF? Where does the agent get the info on a 30 YO house? I seriously doubt the builders sq ft estimate is around any more, and if they are going to get it from the sellers, it better be accurate.

We were driving out of town, and found a very nice little community tucked away on a ridge with about 35 houses in it. The place was clean, had a modest view, and lot sizes were pretty generous for spec homes. They didn't show us anything in there, and I later found two listings in our price range. Done with that agent, and on to the next.
 
If you're going to buy/sell more than one house it makes sense to me to just get your own license. You'll have to do much of the research, due-diligence and work yourself but that's not a bad thing if you're talking investment houses where resale is in the plan..... Even if you then use an agent, you'll get a referral commission back and you'll know the industry.
 
jbarrass said:
If you're going to buy/sell more than one house it makes sense to me to just get your own license. You'll have to do much of the research, due-diligence and work yourself but that's not a bad thing if you're talking investment houses where resale is in the plan..... Even if you then use an agent, you'll get a referral commission back and you'll know the industry.
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Sadly, my R/E license in my old state is hard to transfer to the state I'm looking in. This seems to be pretty prevalent in all states where I've shopped. I've looked at getting my agent license in the new state and the regs are pretty tight. First deal breaker is that I have to take up residency in that state to apply for the license. Not gonna happen.
 
Geico266 said:
They love to get the listing plant a sign and wait for the check. The last house I listed they wouldn't put a sign in the yard because the ground was frozen. :rolleyes:
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First house I bought when I was 25 left a lasting impression. There were 6 people involved (me, x wife, seller husband and wife 2 lawyers) and the closing agent. The 4 brokers showed up from their afternoon of shopping on Michigan Ave (the Mag Mile here in Chicago) and plopped themselves down at the table that had 7 seats prior to everyone arriving. Closing agent looked at them and told them to move..... two actually protested...
 
My experience with professionals in the mortgage and real estate industry is underwhelming. Of course, as an insurance professional, my experience with insurance professionals is also underwhelming.

Conclusion: gotta' find the good folks in any industry, and in some industries the bad outnumber the good.
 
G-Man said:
I'm not quite sure what value RE people provide in this day of easily, publicly accessible listings.

Sure, sheperding the paperwork is worth something. Maybe a few grand?

But I have a tough time paying anything near 6% to someone for driving me over and unlocking a door.
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I used a lawyer for a few hundred bucks.
 
Henning said:
I used a lawyer for a few hundred bucks.
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Hmmm, he has a way of breaking a broker contract with the sellers property? That - I would have to see. Everything so far that's been worth offering on is under sellers broker/agent contract. Pretty strict rules about agency in all states. Well tested to stand up. I've even heard of a judge forcing a brokers commish after the end of the contract term if the buyer was active during the contract term and viewed the house that sold. Many contracts these days have a 90 day claw back for a buyer who waited until the listing expired to make an offer.
 
In my state, it takes 40 hours of instruction to obtain a Real estate license.



In my state, it takes 2000 hours of instruction to obtain a Beautician's / Barber's license.


Guess which mistake grows back in 6 weeks?
 
We just bought a college condo for our youngest, I found a couple properties listed and sent emails to the two agents. Although Athens is less than a two hour drive, I don't know anyone in the RE business there. One girl responded in less than an hour and the guy responded the next day that he was out of town. The young lady was on the ball, she knew the area, I explained what we wanted and she emailed me 2-3 times per week. We met her and looked at condos one afternoon, found one we liked and wrote an offer the following day. She couldn't have been more professional, gave us names for painting etc, made sure our son knew to contact her with any questions. Overall it was a very positive experience! :D
 
And people can reproduce without even a permit! :mad2: Those mistakes last a long time!:D

JoseCuervo said:
In my state, it takes 40 hours of instruction to obtain a Real estate license.



In my state, it takes 2000 hours of instruction to obtain a Beautician's / Barber's license.


Guess which mistake grows back in 6 weeks?
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docmirror said:
Hmmm, he has a way of breaking a broker contract with the sellers property? That - I would have to see. Everything so far that's been worth offering on is under sellers broker/agent contract. Pretty strict rules about agency in all states. Well tested to stand up. I've even heard of a judge forcing a brokers commish after the end of the contract term if the buyer was active during the contract term and viewed the house that sold. Many contracts these days have a 90 day claw back for a buyer who waited until the listing expired to make an offer.
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What broker? I don't use them. Any properties I have bought have been direct from the seller and seller financed or cash, screw brokers, screw banks, plenty of deals out there where you can avoid both.
 
Henning said:
What broker? I don't use them. Any properties I have bought have been direct from the seller and seller financed or cash, screw brokers, screw banks, plenty of deals out there where you can avoid both.
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Well, in the case of most buyers, about 88% of all properties for sale are under broker contract. I guess if I want to limit my buying to FSBO that could work, but I'd be limiting my avail properties way to small.
 
PPC1052 said:
This strikes me as unconstitutional protectionism.
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Well, there is a non-res process but it's onerous for a few deals in the state:

Non-Resident Agreements

A non-resident active licensee may apply for a license but they must have the following. 1) a minimum of two (2) years applicable active experience out of the previous five (5) years as a sales associate or broker, 2) provides a certification of licensure verifying such and indicating that the license is in good standing in their state or jurisdiction of licensure, 3) completes all appropriate forms and pays all required fees, which includes approval on the background check and 4) successfully pass the required examination.
*****************************************
My out of state agent license is inactive cuz I don't wanna pay the annual fee to that state, and I'm not active in that state cuz I don't live there anymore. One of those 'it could be done' deals but not quick and not easy.
 
docmirror said:
Well, in the case of most buyers, about 88% of all properties for sale are under broker contract. I guess if I want to limit my buying to FSBO that could work, but I'd be limiting my avail properties way to small.
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You find a property you like, and you tell the seller, "If it doesn't sell when your current listing runs out, give me a call before you resign." You'll likely get a better deal since there is no commission involved.
 
Henning said:
You find a property you like, and you tell the seller, "If it doesn't sell when your current listing runs out, give me a call before you resign." You'll likely get a better deal since there is no commission involved.
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Will get you sued in every state. Been tried and tested and the state RE commission will come down on you like a ton of bricks. They will put a lis pendis on the transfer, they'll sue the seller, the buyer and any lender, or escrow that is involved.
 
Geico266 said:
Agents are just plain lazy these days.
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I am not surprised based on some of the other agents we have to work with. I've been working in the business for a while and mostly work with investors. I have a few clients that make a living off of me and are happy to buy with me and resell a few months later and pay me 5-6%.

Continuing education should be more strict and should involve more topics on law, not just general topics that take up 1/2 days in a classroom.
 
Henning said:
You find a property you like, and you tell the seller, "If it doesn't sell when your current listing runs out, give me a call before you resign." You'll likely get a better deal since there is no commission involved.
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And you say pilots are cheap! :D
 
docmirror said:
Will get you sued in every state. Been tried and tested and the state RE commission will come down on you like a ton of bricks. They will put a lis pendis on the transfer, they'll sue the seller, the buyer and any lender, or escrow that is involved.
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:confused: How, when the listing is up, the listing is up, the contracts have a finish date on them. I didn't say to have them not sell, I said "if it doesn't sell, call me". The broker will have to have credible offers that were declined in order to sue, plus they would have to know about the prior deal.
 
Just like any sales business, there are really good agents and really bad ones and most are in between. I am a firm believer that to sell, you need to list it with a busy agent. We have a local woman, that aside from being drop dead gorgeous, she is a worker! She lists, shows and sells houses. She isn't looking for a date or part time income, she is a very professional agent. My sister listed her house with her and she sold it in 30 days, one of my employees was looking to buy, she found him a house in a couple weeks.

Mike5250 said:
I am not surprised based on some of the other agents we have to work with. I've been working in the business for a while and mostly work with investors. I have a few clients that make a living off of me and are happy to buy with me and resell a few months later and pay me 5-6%.

Continuing education should be more strict and should involve more topics on law, not just general topics that take up 1/2 days in a classroom.
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If you want to find a good Agent you ask the other successful businesspeople in your life. Learned that long ago.

Our seller's agent on the old house was a referral from our Insurance Agent.

They take care of each other. If new homeowners need insurance, guess who he recommends?
 
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