How to find a trustworthy realtor to buy a house?
 

What is the best way to find a trustyworthy realtor to help me buy a house? I am about to move on to my fourth realtor, because these whores keep trying to dick me over.

This will be my first home and I am pretty sure they simply think that I am an idiot and they can pull the wool over my eyes. I just want someone to be straight forward and honest with me.

In the area I plan on buying, there were only 5 sales in the past month, so it is a big time buyer's market and the realtors are starving.

They keep telling me that making lower offers than asking price is unrealistic and basically saying it is a bad idea...bullshit. They keep trying to show fake CMA's to me saying that I would be getting a great deal. I call them out on it and they try to prove me wrong, which they haven't been able to do once.

It's really pissing me off.

How do I find an honest realtor in this market?

Oh: This house, I made an offer between 10-15% below asking and they obviously rejected. The seller never accepts the first offer. My realtor is now wanting for me to give up and move on to a new home...WTF?

what state are you buying in? did the seller just refuse the offer, or did they counter offer?

Florida in a not so popular city (nothing like Orlando).

I'm pretty sure they just refused, because it was a damn low offer...15% below.
Here's what the realtor said:
"No deal of Street Name. Let me know what other houses you want to look at."

I like the house, but I want a deal. Every realtor is being such a bitch.

well no matter how they act the realtor works for you, if your dealing with some older people who have been in the business for a long time they might still have the mentality that the realtor works for the seller which is no longer true. if you have a pretty good grasp of whats fair and what isnt fair you might have better luck using a younger realtor whos somewhat new to the business, or just call your current realtor back and tell them you want to make another offer before moving on.

I already told her that I want to make another offer. I'm about to kick her to the curb.

The previous realtor did some seriously unethical shit. I had a house I made an offer on that I loved and then I had the home inspection and appraisal done and the roof was shot (the only thing wrong with the house). I wanted to ask for seller concessions to replace it and I was duped at this point by my realtor. She kept asking a couple times a day for several days what the appraisal by the bank came out to. I thought she legally needed that information for paperwork or something. Well, it turns out, the second she got the appraisal (which turned out 5 grand higher than asking price), she submitted the request for the $8k for the roof and ALSO gave the seller MY appraisal and of course he IMMEDIATELY declined the repairs, because he "believed he was already giving me too good of a deal." I could have fucking killed her. Let's just say I learned my lesson. She went bye bye.

holy crap not only is that unethical but she broke her fiduciary obligation to you by sharing that information with the seller, she could get in serious trouble for that. are all these bad realtors at the same brokerage office, or have you been switching brokers too?

Most recent response by realtor:
"The listing agent said that you weren?t even close, which you already knew. So what would you like to counteroffer?"

I asked 15% below asking to get negotiations going. This is a fucking BUYER's MARKET. It is not unreasonable for a first offer to be 10-15% below asking in a shit market like this. This realtor keeps trying to make me feel like an asshole/idiot for making any offer below asking.

No, the first "unethical" agent was ERA Property Place, this new one is Remax.

Also, the house I'm looking at, it's two retired people that probably have the house paid off and want to move to Iowa to be with their kids.

Also: I asked my current realtor for a CMA of this house. The CMA she provides me is a listing of 20 homes Currently On the Market. The "CMA" did not provide me with a single home that has been sold or was sale pending. Plus, the listings of homes were from 3 different zip codes, 5 miles away from the house, in country clubs, amazing neighborhoods and the estimated amount I should be paying for my house came out to be about $50,000 higher than asking price. What kind of bullshit is this? That is NOT a CMA.

Should I report her? If so, to who?

when you go to find another realtor I suggest calling an office and asking to speak to either the broker or the brokers assistant and get them to reccommend someone in their office who specializes in representing mostly buyers, and who has enough room on their plate to give you the time of day instead of dicking you around like these other realtors have. if you want to go after the same property try offering 5% more then just got rejected, and then 5% or less again if it gets rejected again. fuck what the realtor says, my grandmother just sold her house to move with one of her sons and she was dieing to sell it, but she had her minium price, you just have to hit that magic number on the right day.

Ok, thanks. I was planning on upping my offer 5%. I asked her if the offer was outright rejected or counteroffered at asking price. She hasn't told me yet.

Most recent email:
"They just said no, verbally. I believe they were offended. But the door is still open as the agent said. The door is always open for negotiations. If you want the house, let?s be realistic, up to a comfortable point for you and see what they will do. "

They were not offended...these are the nicest old people I think I have ever met. She is full of shit.

Oh, and btw: I told her to keep ALL of the conditions the same except for the sales price, which I increased by 5%.

Should I ask for a rejection in writing or anything?

I once saw a TV show where a UK based property developer said something like this in his voiceover:

"Start the negotiations at 20% below the asking price."

(my eyebrows raise as I watch)

he pauses and continues as if that's a common reaction:

"Yes. 20 percent!"

BTW what are realtors? Is that another name for a real estate agent (who I would think would be acting for the vendor) or is it more like a buyer's agent who charges you a fee to find houses and get a good deal?

A buyers agent who receives 3% of the sale of the home, but is supposed to be working for me. A listing agent would be working for the seller and they also get 3%

The best way to find a trust worthy realtor is to have one recommended by someone you trust. Next option is to find a realtor who has ?farmed? the same area for a long time.

I live in Florida and I bought a new house last year, ..it was a definitely a sellers market then. There was very little inventory and I was making offers within 5% of the asking prices and my realtor could not even get a call back on those offers. At one time I had 3 offers going at once. I am not sure where in Florida you are, but it?s not really a buyers market just yet. Sure not here in Ft Lauderdale. The market is softer, and homes are on the market for a bit longer, but values are still going up. The questions is not how many homes have sold in the area, but how many are available, for how long, and at what price below listing are the selling.

I appraised property here in tri county area for many years before I got into this biz, in fact my family has been in the biz for over 40 years now.

Oh, and if you want to make a complaint about that realtor, call the DPR, FREC or The Florida Board Realtors.

:)

Seems strange that a buyers agent would be paid a percentage based commission, the better they do - the lower you pay - the less they get paid?? With a structure like that it seems there would be more potential for funny business. :uhoh

Titusville - it's a buyer's market...believe me ;) It's near family and friends and certain government agencies, that's why I want to be there.

I was clueless when I bought my house. Fortunately, I knew Rictor's wife from board postings. She wasn't able to handle my stuff herself, because of the distance. But she was able to make a recommendation on a relator that had all sorts of certifications and worked strictly on my behalf.

I would have lost my mind without my relator. She rocked.

Basically, 6% of the sale goes somewhere. If the listing agent finds a buyer, they will get the whole 6%, but if someone else finds a buyer for the home, the listing agent will split the 6% with them.

Titusville huh? I used to make regular trips to Ecklers in Titusville. :) They have an Annual Reunion every year in October that I go to. I really like it up there, ...I love spending time over in Cocoa Beach. In fact there is a real good possibility I will move up to that area in the next few years.

Good luck to you in your house hunting, ..I know how much of a pain it can be, but its all so worth it. :)

Yeah, I buy that Corvette car wax from Eckler's :) Titusville is a pretty nice location.

Now I am enraged. After raising my offer from 15% below asking to 10% below asking, she emailed me back saying this (before ever submitting my offer):

"I said be realistic. You are not going to get a cream puff house for under this price. The agent said the sellers said no and you have to come up in your offer. I mean you are offering 20K less than list price on a house that is in primo condition."

Should I tell her to go to hell?

I responded by saying this:
"I raised my price. Previously it was 15% below asking price, now it is 10% below asking price, which is realistic. This market is dead. Please make the offer."

Isn't she obligated to pass on any offer you make? Sounds like she doesn't want to work for her 3% easy money...

yeah, no shit...i am DEFINETELY going to buy a house and i have been preapproved out the wazzoo and she is too lazy to actually get this sale from me when there has only been 5 sales in the whole area in the past month and believe me, there's way more than 7 agents around here, so they are losing their asses.

Ok, so I basically just told her to go to hell.

My opinion is its probably best to work directly with the sellers listing agent. Last time I allready had an agent, and some other buyer went directly to the listing agent. They'd rather get 6% working alone, than 3% sharing! They didnt even let me counter offer. Plus they allready know what the seller wants and how low they are willing to go. It just seems to make things easier, especially back then during the sellers market.

Dont blame the realtors for everything, sometimes the sellers want as much as possible, and are willing to wait months to make decent profit. Right now in Titusville the homes are selling for about $100,000 more than they are worth...

Agents are having a VERY hard time pulling the wool over people's eyes right now. The housing market is in a free-fall. Interest rates are rising very fast, inventory is rising even faster. Look at these inventory numbers in Phoenix!!!

1/2: 26,715
1/10: 28,790
1/20: 31,457
1/30: 32,512___1/06 sold: 5,260___1/05 sold: 9,360
2/10: 34,608
2/20: 35,455
2/28: 36,176___2/06 sold: 5,455___2/05 sold: 7,935
3/10: 37,680
3/20: 38,968
3/31: 39,852___3/06 sold: 7,265___3/05 sold: 10,035
4/10: 41,403
4/11: 41,946
4/12: 42,356
4/14: 42,561
4/15: 42,983

Florida is in no better condition than Phoenix, California, New York, Washington D.C., etc... The old farts that are selling the house you want probably don't pay attention to the market conditions. They are told by their realtor that the market is still hot and "look what your neighbor sold for in January". If you can stand it. Stay firm on your 15% lower offer. Let them come back to you. Do you have to move RIGHT NOW? Wait until June/July when the blood will be in the streets. I'm telling you. Patience will be key here. We will be seeing the worst downfall in the housing market since the Great Depression. In no other time in our history have housing prices been run up as long and as high as they currently have. ARMS will reset this year and next, foreclosures are already going up. There will be some SWEET deals to be had later this year and certainly next year.

Don't let those greedy agents steal your money. Be firm and YES, ditch that fool that told insulted your last offer.

marc

You lucky devil, you...you actually got in when rates were REAL low...I am about to strangle somebody.

Marc, I have the feeling I will be waiting a few months, because the market is getting nothing but worse around here. I will just have to break an apartment lease contract, but that is a minor fee. I am just trying to make it coincide with my damn graduate degree at school, so it is a pain in the ass.

Ooh, how fun...even better, the realtor just emailed me back an extremely sarcastic message acting like I am not serious about buying a home.

Very professional.

A home is a major purchase and I believe that you shouldn't have to buy one immediately after you have only been shown about 8 shitty homes by them. Especially when you DO NOT trust a word the realtor says.

Do you really want that asshole to get 3% of the price? Realtors are a dime a dozen... and with so many of them these days, I'd say a nickel a dozen at best.

marc

Oh no...I told her that I was no longer going to do business with her and that was her response, to insult me.

good move... and you'll be happy by being patient.