Real estate agent RANT!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WHOA! Lots of realtors on this post early...or maybe the same person. I am not unhinged and not someone who has posted before about realtors having too much value. My main point is that it seems like this arrangement makes it more difficult for me, the current tenant, to buy the place since nothing is offered to a buyers agent (only in our case, for other buyers it would be 3%) and thus we would have to pay out of our pocket to have fair representation. To me, a 50/50 split would still make sense, so if owner wants to offer 4% it would be 2% to buyer agent and 2% to seller agent.

And, I'm preoccupied with this because how much commission the seller agent makes effects how much the owner asks for the home since he has to pay, and also because not using an agent or paying for one out of pocket may put us at a disadvantage. How is that hard to understand? Not saying realtor does no work , but no MLS listing, no open houses, no showings etc...that's a lot less work than a typical sale I'd think.

You have misdirected anger. The seller has chosen to offer compensation only to his agent. The seller chose that arrangement, not the agent. The seller may feel you don't need a buyer's agent since one of their primary purposes is finding you a place and here, you are already living in it You either want to buy the house at a mutually agreeable price or not. If you feel like you need assistance, pay a real estate attorney for a few hours of advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love how OP explains how selling to her is SO EASY and would just require paperwork: why do I get the feeling nothing about selling to this OP is easy???

Owner is selling property in the middle of their lease. That raises all sorts of questions for OP, I can see why they are annoyed -- why can't owner just wait for lease term to end. I'm sure owner would stick it to OP if he tried to break lease under diff circumstances.

OP here - exactly. We also learned that owner doesn't want to lose rent , so it's unlikely we could break the lease before the house sold if we found a better living situation. It's not our dream house, but with low inventory currently and not wanting to move with an infant, we could make it work for now and plan on renovations in the future. But price has to be right.

[Anonymous]

*affects

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WHOA! Lots of realtors on this post early...or maybe the same person. I am not unhinged and not someone who has posted before about realtors having too much value. My main point is that it seems like this arrangement makes it more difficult for me, the current tenant, to buy the place since nothing is offered to a buyers agent (only in our case, for other buyers it would be 3%) and thus we would have to pay out of our pocket to have fair representation. To me, a 50/50 split would still make sense, so if owner wants to offer 4% it would be 2% to buyer agent and 2% to seller agent.

And, I'm preoccupied with this because how much commission the seller agent makes effects how much the owner asks for the home since he has to pay, and also because not using an agent or paying for one out of pocket may put us at a disadvantage. How is that hard to understand? Not saying realtor does no work , but no MLS listing, no open houses, no showings etc...that's a lot less work than a typical sale I'd think.

How paranoid are you, anyway? I'm not a real estate agent. And this is only my third post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WHOA! Lots of realtors on this post early...or maybe the same person. I am not unhinged and not someone who has posted before about realtors having too much value. My main point is that it seems like this arrangement makes it more difficult for me, the current tenant, to buy the place since nothing is offered to a buyers agent (only in our case, for other buyers it would be 3%) and thus we would have to pay out of our pocket to have fair representation. To me, a 50/50 split would still make sense, so if owner wants to offer 4% it would be 2% to buyer agent and 2% to seller agent.

And, I'm preoccupied with this because how much commission the seller agent makes effects how much the owner asks for the home since he has to pay, and also because not using an agent or paying for one out of pocket may put us at a disadvantage. How is that hard to understand? Not saying realtor does no work , but no MLS listing, no open houses, no showings etc...that's a lot less work than a typical sale I'd think.

You have misdirected anger. The seller has chosen to offer compensation only to his agent. The seller chose that arrangement, not the agent. The seller may feel you don't need a buyer's agent since one of their primary purposes is finding you a place and here, you are already living in it You either want to buy the house at a mutually agreeable price or not. If you feel like you need assistance, pay a real estate attorney for a few hours of advice.

Not angry, just annoyed. But this is a good point that I hadn't considered. Need to stop taking it personally. Thanks

[Anonymous]

OP If you want the house and it is in a desirable neighborhood, you might just have to shut it and buy. Or start looking. You are not in a strong position here. GL.

[Anonymous]

Besides worrying about where to live if there's a new owner, don't forget the owner can have open houses, inspections, renovations as other buyers come into the picture.

And it's spring. If I were an owner planning to sell, I would do it when the market was hottest, not base it on a lease schedule, unfortunately.

[Anonymous]

OP, let him put the house on the market. Make it VERY difficult to show-refuse a lockbox and say by appointment only. Don't clean or pick up at all.

Don't leave the house during showings--follow the buyers around being "helpful"--"This room gets very hot during the summer/the neighbors have a zydeco band and they practice on Sunday mornings/I hope you are planning on private schools b/c the local one is terrible/this is the room with the asbestos" etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, let him put the house on the market. Make it VERY difficult to show-refuse a lockbox and say by appointment only. Don't clean or pick up at all.

Don't leave the house during showings--follow the buyers around being "helpful"--"This room gets very hot during the summer/the neighbors have a zydeco band and they practice on Sunday mornings/I hope you are planning on private schools b/c the local one is terrible/this is the room with the asbestos" etc. [/quote

Why are you advising someone to act like an asshole? Is your character defect inherent, or did it develop over time?

[Anonymous]

Not angry, just annoyed. But this is a good point that I hadn't considered. Need to stop taking it personally. Thanks

Pssssst... One of the benefits to agents in this process is that they keep things impersonal between the parties. Lawyers are also good at this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, let him put the house on the market. Make it VERY difficult to show-refuse a lockbox and say by appointment only. Don't clean or pick up at all.

Don't leave the house during showings--follow the buyers around being "helpful"--"This room gets very hot during the summer/the neighbors have a zydeco band and they practice on Sunday mornings/I hope you are planning on private schools b/c the local one is terrible/this is the room with the asbestos" etc. [/quote

Why are you advising someone to act like an asshole? Is your character defect inherent, or did it develop over time?

The landlord was the original ass here, he decided to sell their house mid-lease after assuring them he would not (IIRC the original thread correctly). Anyone who expects tenants to put up with a house on the market is a jerk. Why make it easy for him? They are not legally obligated to make his life easy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, let him put the house on the market. Make it VERY difficult to show-refuse a lockbox and say by appointment only. Don't clean or pick up at all.

Don't leave the house during showings--follow the buyers around being "helpful"--"This room gets very hot during the summer/the neighbors have a zydeco band and they practice on Sunday mornings/I hope you are planning on private schools b/c the local one is terrible/this is the room with the asbestos" etc. [/quote

Why are you advising someone to act like an asshole? Is your character defect inherent, or did it develop over time?

Owner started off being a PITA by selling mid-lease and refusing the OP to use a buyers agent - I thought a bunch of realtors defended the value of a buyers agent in negotiating and safeguarding the process? The whole finding the property in the age of the internet, hat better not be the primary value of buyers agent. But now since a realtor is getting 4% without splitting, suddenly they are singing different song.

My take away is that realtors like any arrangement where as much money is wrung from the buyer as possible.

But OP, yeah, do it by the book but don't bother accommodate the owner since they are really trying to shiv you. Let him market it as a property with an active legal lease and see how he does when the potential buyers are tripping over toys and can't get to utilities because that's where you store all the to donate baby clothes and dirty diapers.

When does your lease end? You may consider meeting a real estate attorney beforehand to ensure hey can't kick you out prematurely. What state are you in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Not angry, just annoyed. But this is a good point that I hadn't considered. Need to stop taking it personally. Thanks

Pssssst... One of the benefits to agents in this process is that they keep things impersonal between the parties. Lawyers are also good at this.

This. Get your own representative. You're hyper-focused on something that doesn't concern you- the agent and his client. Who gets what money in none of your business. The owner has a house, which you want. Either buy it or move on. Why do you think you're entitled to have a say in how the profits pan out? Frankly, for all we know the landlord is selling the house because they're tired of dealing with you. Anyways, why don't you try being half-way professional and hire your own help to get you through the process?

[Anonymous]

Also, refuse showings whenever inconvenient. We were house hunting and there was a tenant-occupied house we wanted to see and the restrictions were "showings by appointment only on weekdays from 5-530 pm" or something like that. We also had an appt to see a house that was in foreclosure (or maybe a short sale?) and tenants were living in it, and half the rooms were padlocked and the listing agent was like, oh well, guess we can't see those. (???)

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote]Not angry, just annoyed. But this is a good point that I hadn't considered. Need to stop taking it personally. Thanks[/quote]

Pssssst... One of the benefits to agents in this process is that they keep things impersonal between the parties. Lawyers are also good at this.[/quote]
This. Get your own representative. You're hyper-focused on something that doesn't concern you- the agent and his client. Who gets what money in none of your business. The owner has a house, which you want. Either buy it or move on. Why do you think you're entitled to have a say in how the profits pan out? Frankly, for all we know the landlord is selling the house because they're tired of dealing with you. Anyways, why don't you try being half-way professional and hire your own help to get you through the process?[/quote]
So they have to pay a buyers gent out of pocket, probably even if they don't win the property, because the owner is being unreasonable and listing agent uber greedy? They are trying to stick it to OP so they will move out before lease requires. That's what this whole game is about, or fooling OP to overpay by njot allowing buyers agent.

1) owner says property is going to be sold mid lease. No real idea how that will affect tenants, claims it is up to new owners

2) but hey if OP wants to buy property before it's listed, here is our ridiculous price, but you have to act fast and you can't consult a real estate agent bc we are playing games and won't pay them.

Yeah, total shiv.