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Realtor

Discussion in 'General Discussions' started by genuinemommy, May 3, 2018.

  1. genuinemommy

    genuinemommy Moderator Staff Member

    Share your experience with realtors.
    Have you ever bought or sold a home with one?
    Do you think that some companies tend to be better than others?
    How did you find one that meets your needs?
    How do you break the ice and make things work?
    Do you yourself have any experience as a realtor?
    Share whatever you want regarding realtors.
    ____---___---_____---____
    We met with a realtor today.

    Tt called her. Because we are thinking about maybe selling this summer. We're still considering the option of renting it out, or just holding on to it because Tt will be in the area often for work.

    I don't like her. She took too much of our time to say nothing. Pretty sure all realtors are this way.
     
    Last edited: May 3, 2018
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  2. rogue49

    rogue49 Tech Kung Fu Artist Staff Member

    Location:
    Baltimore/DC
    Don’t be so sure...not all realtors are created equal.
    It’s important that you click with them
    You may be working with them for some time
    In addition to result

    There’s no rule that says you have to take the first one
    You can talk with a variety
    Just don’t sign exclusivity until you’re ready
     
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  3. omega

    omega Very Tilted

    I am fine with my realtor. When we first traveled to Colorado many moons ago, my wife at the time and I had set up a realtor. She took us out to lunch and then it took a couple of homes to figure out what we were looking for. But we trusted her opinion on what area to live in. When we're got divorced years later we used her to sell our house and then we both used her to buy our own separate houses. So rogue49 is right, find who works for you.
     
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  4. genuinemommy

    genuinemommy Moderator Staff Member

    I improved the opening question. It felt too much like a blog and not enough like a discussion. I hope the questions are worthwhile.
    Thank you, both, for responding. We have another scheduled for Saturday. I doubt I will like him, either.
    Tt and I were hoping to find someone who could guide us through some minor improvements that we could make to bring the most bang for our buck on our home, but this realtor basically said we won't make more than we bought it for no matter what we do, and we will probably sell it for less than we bought it for. Which is really shocking and frustrating news. But at least she was blunt. She also advised us to get it on the market asap so we're the first home in our neighborhood to hit the market for the season. We are not ready to move out tomorrow, which is basically what she implied.
     
  5. Lindy

    Lindy Moderator Staff Member

    Location:
    Nebraska
    I used a Realtor to buy my duplex in Somerville (Boston suburb.)I was looking for a distressed property to refurb. I told her what I wanted and she had several to show. I didn't use a Realtor when selling after moving to Lincoln. I sold to one of my tenants.

    If a Realtor picks up on the idea that you are "iffy" about when or whether you are going to sell you won't be high on her priority list. They work on commission, and if you neither an active buyer or seller, there is nothing in it for them.

    You could try looking on Zillow or Realtor.com to see what some comparables in your area are going for and how long they are on the market.

    If you do sell, you will probably pay out at least 10-15% in commission, staging, closing costs, etc.:(
     
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  6. genuinemommy

    genuinemommy Moderator Staff Member

    Thanks for responding, Lindy.

    How did you manage the sale with no realtor? The concept of managing all of the details on our own is daunting.

    We have found some comparable properties. We figured it would sell for $30K more than the stack of comps she gave us. I got the impression that with her strategy of getting us to lose money on the sale and be the first listing in our neighborhood for the year, that she was strategically trying to drive down the prices in our neighborhood. It seemed oddly calculated. I would have asked her more about her comps if I had a chance.

    We want to sell this summer. We're pretty confident that we want to move on. We just want to take a couple of months to make improvements before we sell, since it feels like we have only done minor upkeep. And to get that idea shot down so quickly was frustrating. She kept bringing up the fact that a 2nd story master suite like ours is uncommon in this part of Texas, and the homes with that layout sell for much less. That's something that we cannot fix in the time we have. Sure, with our giant backyard we could add a wing that is another master suite, but we wouldn't want that ourselves . Even where our room is now, we feel like it is too far from the kids. I often sleep in their room with them.

    When the realtor stopped by yesterday, our AC had just broken and Tom couldn't get the part locally (he was able to get it fixed today). She saw a chaotic home with kids playing, with no AC in 85°F humid heat. She saw some fun touches that she liked (our cayenne walls in the front entry, our crown molding throughout, our giant backyard) but she sat there talking to Tt for 2+ hours while I watched the girls. We also had a painter over at the time, painting over repairs from Harvey, and the fumes were unpleasant. I kept hoping Tt would trade with me so I could chat with her and get some of my questions in, but no luck. I will probably call her myself to follow up.

    I find it odd that she would spend so much of her time on a potential client. And only speak to one of us. And when she shook my hand she did the usual thing that inevitably happens here in the South when someone with a manicure shakes my hand. That grossed out look of, "Do I really have to touch your hand?"
     
  7. Lindy

    Lindy Moderator Staff Member

    Location:
    Nebraska
    I'll say a few things, but we have houseguests and are leaving for Omaha and the Berkshire-Hathaway Shareholders meeting early Saturday. So I need to get to bed soon.
     
  8. genuinemommy

    genuinemommy Moderator Staff Member

    Lawyers involved, that makes a lot of sense. I suppose we could manage something like that if we needed. The lawyers are doing the work that I was most concerned about.

    I'd rather not give too many specifics about the finances here, since this is a thread in GD...

    We thought the value of the home was higher and realtoe thinks we'd be lucky to get what we paid. We have a 15 year mortgage. The home is closer in value to the lower number you gave.

    Homes in this neighborhood with a different floorplan (more square footage, still a 2nd story master) have been going for more. It's confusing because in the older non HOA neighborhood beside us the homes are upwards of double the value for homes with lots our size - because they are being bought up by businesses.
    Our neighborhood is working class. It is not zoned for the worst schools, but also not the best. Most of the homes are rental properties. Some are owned by the people who have lived there since they were built. Others are first time home buyers who are ethnic minorities.

    The neighborhood is unique because it has an HOA but it is in a wacky unincorporated space.

    I'm trying to convince Tt to switch to a 30 year mortgage and rent it out while we are away, if we are away for a couple of years for a postdoc. Then sell it if we're not coming back. I don't want to fully give up this place unless it is apparent that we are moving on. He doesn't want to deal with renting a property. He doesn't have any desire to live here again if we leave, because to him it would be going backwards.

    He wants us to essentially be homeless this summer, with no mortgage, just living with random family until I get a job offer and we know what we're going to do with my career, if anything. If we find that we're going to be living in this area in the Fall, he wants to live in a different, higher end part of town, with a more expensive house payment, that is more in line with his perception of our financial situation. A part of town that I can't stand, where we won't have much chance of paying off a mortgage.

    I don't like the instability if his plan. I want a home base, even if someone else is living in it for a while. And if we live in this general area, it would be hard to convince me to choose a different home. I have invested too much of myself into our garden and our friendships with neighbors.
     
    Last edited: May 5, 2018
  9. POPEYE

    POPEYE Very Tilted

    Location:
    Tulsa
    My experience with realtors is that they are not our friends. A stranger helping me make the most life altering decision I may make. Because I dont have the knowledge to navigate the unknown. My Sister owns 9 rental properties. After the first or second purchase she stopped using a realtor.
    The cost is too high for the return.
     
  10. fflowley

    fflowley Don't just do something, stand there!

    I'd say they vary a lot, just like people in general.
    Our story: We moved to our current home 17 years ago.
    We lived in Buffalo, about 4 hours away, and we accepted our positions in December, starting the following summer so we had to house hunt during winter.
    I called several realtors in our sleepy little town, which is dead as a doornail for business in the winter. They all understood that we were motivated buyers as we had accepted our jobs, and we were traveling a treacherous 4 hours in the dead of winter to come look.

    Of 5 I called, only one bothered to copy some listings, put them in an envelope and mail them out to us to preview. I'd say it took 15 minutes of her time and $3.00 in postage.
    One wouldn't even schedule anything with us.......said to give her a call when we were in town. Seriously? I'm driving 4 hours from Buffalo in January, and I should just give you a call and see if you're available when I arrive?
    So that's 4 people who were too lazy to do anything......and one who made a nice profit on our purchase a few months later because she was the only one who could be bothered to make any effort.
     
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  11. genuinemommy

    genuinemommy Moderator Staff Member

    I chatted with a friend who is a realtor in another state today. She gave me some sound advice. I'm less intimidated about selling our home now.
     
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  12. Daniel_

    Daniel_ The devil made me do it...

    In the UK these days almost every house for sale or rent is on internet agrogators like Zoopla.com.

    It's now easier to look online in your target area, price range, number of bedrooms etc. than it ever was wandering around storefronts or calling.

    When we bought, 3-4 years ago, we knew what part of town and price so we searched, shortlisted, drove past and had a look from the street, and only then booked viewings of three places.

    Bought the first one we had shortlisted.

    Selling our previous place we just searched similar houses to ours, saw who was getting the best prices and listed with them.
     
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  13. omega

    omega Very Tilted

    So when I got transferred to grand junction for my job, my wife at the time wanted to sell the house. I did not want to do that. This was 2012, and the housing market had not completely recovered. If we had sold, we would have sold at a loss from 2007. We ended up renting. Ended up having three different renters over three years. However no one destroyed the house. We pulled a little income off of it, even after we got divorced. When we both decided to move back to the Denver area and planned to buy our own houses, we needed the equity. So we sold in 2015 for approximately 10% more than what we paid for it. We came out ahead because I am smarter than my exwife. Not emotionally, but more intelligenter. Of course, that house now is up almost 50%, around 660k. But her house and my house have also appreciated considerably. I would really really like to get a rental house or two, but housing in this area is crazy. I think a lot has to do with cannabis money. You can't put your money in a bank because if us banks find out its pot money we shut your accounts down (federal bank charters). So you buy houses for cash. Rent them and draw a clean income stream or also sell later. Limited supply leads to crazy housing prices. Boulder average house price is now 1.2 million and last quarter 18 houses went for more than 2 million.
     
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  14. cynthetiq

    cynthetiq Administrator Staff Member Donor

    Location:
    New York City
    Legal money laundering
     
  15. DAKA

    DAKA DOING VERY NICELY, THANK YOU

    In dealing with realtors lately, it seems they just want to get the listing...after that it goes on Multiple Listings and they just get their part of the commission.
    I call "them" the Real Estate Whores