Probably not a good subject for me to get in on at present. Earlier this evening I just advised someone to kick their buyers agent to the curb.

Met the inspector on Tuesday at one house.
From encouraging this person to overlook obvious defects and disregard issues such as a CO leak, inadequate HVAC, major plumbing and electrical work needed all brought up by the inspector because in his words “it checks off all the boxes what you want” was laughable. This person is a recently widowed senior citizen that doesn’t know one end of a hammer from the other not to mention limited finances. House is approximately 125 years old and has been subject to much deferred and DIY maintenance over the years. Wisely this house was nixed despite his encouraging to put in a bid on it. The part of this that “lit me up” was the agent telling her specifically that I was “making mountains out of molehills” (his words)and she should look at the big picture. All fine and dandy for him but he’s not the one left to clean up the mess, it would be up to my wife and I to deal with the aftermath together with the buyer. I asked specific questions of the inspector, his answers were to the point.

And this doesn’t even address the lack of insulation, rotting window frames, the “recently upgraded” HVAC unit that the manufacturers info label has been removed leading the inspector and I to believe that was done to conceal its age and it was salvaged from another house.

He did hint that the seller “might entertain” a slight reduction and to offer 10k less than the listed sale price. IMO it’s going to take a helluva lot more than 10k in HVAC, ducting and air booster fans alone and then I’m still not sure that part alone would be settled. And we haven’t even addressed a house full of galvanized water pipes, a leaking supply line from the street and the rats nest of wiring that includes ungrounded wiring circuits, hot and neutral bare wires in the open and an improperly wired panel according to the inspector.

Second, showed two more houses late Thursday afternoon and advised her “Take your time, neither of these are going anywhere, they’ve been on the market a long time with no interest.”

So she made a decision to make an offer on one late Friday morning only to be told “Offers were accepted on both the houses you looked at yesterday.” Sorry, I’m calling bullshit on this, this agent wasn’t in some sort of contact with the listing agents and asking formally or informally whether or not there was any action or interest on either of these properties? I was asked to accompany this person yesterday and am pretty pissed that I spent two hours yesterday looking at two houses for no good reason.

An extreme example of incompetence, much more I could add but this pretty much explains the matter at hand.

quote:

Originally posted by HKAngusKL:
If FSBO or reduced commission properties otherwise meet a prospective buyer's criteria, and a buyer's agent refuses to show them those properties solely based upon their potential commission, then yes. The market here has been tight for years and inventory is still low. Steering clients and taking advantage in this type of an environment will catch up to you when the market cycle changes.

The other practice that I have noticed is that some real estate groups keep "pocket listings" off of MLS. The listing agent then then convinces the seller to take an offer from an in-house buyer so they keep both sides of the commission.

On the first point, should a Chevy salesman walk me over to the Ford dealership when he knows they have a car I'd like? The idea my wife would work without commission is crazy. Now, maybe she would say, here's a house FSBO that you may like but I can't show it and if you go to that house you are on your own. Again, she shouldn't work for free. On the other hand, my wife will show an FSBO with a buyer's broker commission, even if it's reduced. I'm sure others don't.

On your second point, you are correct. That is unethical and it is done. I think they are under some rules to put in MLS so what you will see is a listing that comes on and then is "Under Agreement" seconds later. We know a few brokerages that do that. It's unethical to the buyers but more to the sellers. The seller doesn't get the full competition in pricing they might have had with a full listing.

Really it comes down to 2 things; net $ in your pocket and how fast it sells.

A realtor can bring you buyers that you otherwise won't reach. Here many upscale homes sell for cash through realtors without ever going onto MLS. Realtors have a client base of buyers who aren't in a panic rush to buy, waiting for the right home to buy. Sellers likewise have a "silent" listing with an agent. Matches are made and cash closings happen.

My impression is that the DIY buyer is a lower price point looking for a bargain. Young folks, limited resources. Higher dollar buyers are going to be using a realtor. Families moving to a new area, people with jobs who are more in a rush.

It gives me indigestion to think of what it will cost us to get out of this house, but we'll use a realtor because the net $ in our pocket will be higher.

I would think the realtor would take care of the looky-loos, low-ballers, no-shows and other annoyances that go along with selling stuff so you don't have to. I suppose the decision is a matter of how much your time is worth and your aggravation threshold.