Laugh at my pain, I hate our realtor (1 Viewer)

[Ministry of Pain]

(You don't have to read all this, really it's OK.)

Hi everybody, as you might have noticed I popped back in after some time away. I would prefer not to talk about why that is although the simple answer is I wigged on the night of the Paris attacks and wanted a sounding board, true to form the good folks here didn't blink and allowed me to banter back and forth. I had such a good time reconnecting that I hung out a couple weeks which turned to a month and I swore I would not fire up a bunch of FFA threads but here I am with a little story. Is it Ok if I take the mic?

"MOP, you have two hands crazy glued in a vice grip around the mic so sure why not just take the mic."

I'll try and keep it to a minimum but it's me so...but I'll try.

We bought a home 3 years ago in Miami Shores and we want to sell. We already have moved to Jupiter/Juno Beach and honestly we have moved on.

The realtor we hired was the same realtor that helped us buy the place. She got the listing and sale of our home when we bought it so the entire 6% went in her pocket. Only because we have made money(assuming we actually sell it) did we hire the same realtor. I never liked her or trusted her, that's the truth but my wife was insistent we use her and believes in loyalty even more than I do in business. Realtor was given the listing in August, we moved out in late Aug/Sept and set the home pretty empty, mostly because it was only 1,100 sq feet and when empty it looks a lot bigger. We got a couple low balls which we dismissed.

In mid to late October my wife was down in Miami cleaning the house for several planned showings that week. When she was there a car pulled up and out pops a nice younger gal who speaks to my wife and asks her "How come you all didn't counter back?" My wife says what are you talking about? Turns out our realtor did not present this offer because she felt the buyers didn't have their finances in place. This might be a good time to mention I used to work in mortgages and real estate but it really is not a huge factor.

The buyers know our neighbors very well and several other homeowners in the neighborhood, they are perfect first time home buyers which is what we really were hoping to find.

We asked our realtor and she basically said there were a couple other offers magically now and these others were stronger offers. And I quote..."Well, my wife and I hired you because of your expertise so I guess we will revert to your leadership and guidance here, can't imagine you wouldn't steer us in the right direction." Well the person she told us to take an offer from ended up being an architect and when the inspection report was done it just so happened that my house painter was doing the neighbor's home from across the street and starts calling me and wanting to know who the swat team was taking paint chips on the wall off to inspect.

That buyer who was pushed by our realtor decided to try and counter with a $35,000 credit...mind you we put in brand new hurricane impact windows, new central AC and ducts, new 10 year sealant on roof, lowest priced home currently on the market in this neighborhood, this house is ready to roll.

I chirped up and immediately said to go and make the deal work with the nice young lady and husband that want to buy our house and said we didn't counter them. She hemmed and hawed because IMO she was not representing this other buyer so I picked up the phone and called the buyers myself(Oh yes you read that right). I spoke with the buyers and they were sad that our realtor had stonewalled them and was basically rude to everyone in their camp. I apologized and said I would handle our realtor. We agreed on a final price over the phone, I asked if they had plans of trying to counter after the inspection report and they said no. I even took their inspection report and am fixing a couple minor electrical findings so that everything is as they want it.

Even after we instructed our realtor and her assistants to make it work, they still were harassing these buyers by giving them unreachable time frames like 30 days to close...there is a new law I found out about called TRID which adds about 2 weeks onto everything, this just happened in October. Of course our realtor and her cronies had no real idea despite saying they knew there was no way. Most lenders want 45-60 days. This back and forth dragged out the getting under contract part by about 3-4 weeks which is ludicrous from when I was working in the industry.

So you know where this ends. I will have to pay close to $20,000 in realtor commissions and it really kills me that even though our realtor gets but half of that it still is not fair. In the seedy world of the underground(apply whatever sector) you can't get away with trying to screw people over like this but in the big money world, the real world, the professionals...you have to eat spit until you choke with a smile on your face. That's the price you pay to be an active player in the middle class these days.

I have tried to keep it together and not go off on these "ladies" in the office but I want to scream. I called the co-owner as I came to find out our realtor also partially owns the Keller Williams office so we really don't have anyone to take this up with. The other co-owner seemed like a straight shooter at first but then at some point when I was explaining what happened she decided to let me know she was in the middle of breastfeeding her little one. The next time we spoke she was at the pediatricians and it just snowballs from there. I could be an uber sexist but I really think the statements speak for themselves. In the old days I would unload on this #### but these days I have learned the hard way that even if I get the last word in it is taking years off my life by getting worked up. I lose when I lose my cool even if I think I am winning in the moment.

I did write a letter to our realtor letting her know how proud I was of my wife for doing her job for her and also implored her to thank my wife for earning her commission for her. I could write or call the Florida Real Estate Commission but what good is that going to do? If you have had anything similar happen I would love to know what you did or how you handled it.

I know a few of you in the back rows are saying MOP, of all the times to go Swedish Fish for the day, this might be the one. I understand that but that is the exact reason I am venting in here. So make me laugh or make me cry but it's painful that in the end I pretty much have to eat all this, pay the money, expensive life lesson learned. I won't reveal the exact numbers but it's safe to assume we will do alright so I try to just take solace in the fact when this home closes, my wife and I will be 100% debt free. I'm not sure how I am going to feel but this is going to be an opp for me to do something quality for the rest of my life. It would be shameful and a complete waste of lottery luck to be born in America and just be stuck in a world of tuna cans and swedish fish, those of you who have to endure my posts over the years understand what I am trying to say.

 

[Dan Lambskin]

tl;dr

 

[jon_mx]

Actually a complaint to the real estate commission could be a big deal if you can show some kind of discrimination against certain type of buyers. You can also file a complaint with the local board of realtors. She is REQUIRED to present every offer by law.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

tl;dr

If it's any consolation I didn't read it either but thanks for saying hey Dan.

 

[Hawks64]

tl;dr

 

[Ministry of Pain]

tl;dr

-Realtor didn't submit an offer on our home

-MOP fluff

-Wife ends up selling the house to our buyers but we still have to pay commission to our realtor.

-More MOP fluff

-Swedish Fish and tuna cans

Sincerely,

Cliff's Notes

 

[Baloney Sandwich]

I really hope you didn't agree to 6%, that is like paying sticker price on a car

 

[Capella]

tl; dc

 

[Hawks64]

tl; dc

even better

 

[Mr. Pickles]

Reads like a SWC post and you can take that to the bank brohans.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

tl; dc

When is the last time you ate at La Terisita?

 

[Dexter]

The realtor we hired was the same realtor that helped us buy the place. She got the listing and sale of our home when we bought it so the entire 6% went in her pocket. Only because we have made money(assuming we actually sell it) did we hire the same realtor. I never liked her or trusted her, that's the truth but my wife was insistent we use her and believes in loyalty even more than I do in business.

You screwed up. Next time don't let your wife make a decision like this.

 

[Capella]

tl; dc

When is the last time you ate at La Terisita?

Month ago. Good as always.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Reads like a SWC post and you can take that to the bank brohans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ytCEuuW2_A

I expect better from you.

 

[comfortably numb]

Actually a complaint to the real estate commission could be a big deal if you can show some kind of discrimination against certain type of buyers. You can also file a complaint with the local board of realtors. She is REQUIRED to present every offer by law.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

tl; dc

When is the last time you ate at La Terisita?

Month ago. Good as always.

Incredible donut shop off Busch and North Blvd near Chamberlain High. Was there last week and found it by accident, just go and I'll say no more.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Actually a complaint to the real estate commission could be a big deal if you can show some kind of discrimination against certain type of buyers. You can also file a complaint with the local board of realtors. She is REQUIRED to present every offer by law.

So I call the RE Board and they will...what?

 

[Capella]

tl; dc

When is the last time you ate at La Terisita?

Month ago. Good as always.

Incredible donut shop off Busch and North Blvd near Chamberlain High. Was there last week and found it by accident, just go and I'll say no more.

Remember the name?

 

[dozer]

Sold your house. Got a price you liked. Paid commission like every other seller in America. Debt free.

What's the problem again?

 

[comfortably numb]

Actually a complaint to the real estate commission could be a big deal if you can show some kind of discrimination against certain type of buyers. You can also file a complaint with the local board of realtors. She is REQUIRED to present every offer by law.

So I call the RE Board and they will...what?

Fine her.

Remove her license

You can also walk in and ask to speak to her broker.

Kinda depends on your end game.

If you want some on her commission to be docked I suppose you can sit with the broker. Explain everything and how it cost you $ and you would like to be credited/compensated.

The broker may want to smooth things over and not have the board involved.

If you want her to fry, tell the broker you are filing a claim of unethical conduct to her fiduciary responsibilities to you, as a client.

 

[jon_mx]

Actually a complaint to the real estate commission could be a big deal if you can show some kind of discrimination against certain type of buyers. You can also file a complaint with the local board of realtors. She is REQUIRED to present every offer by law.

So I call the RE Board and they will...what?

If they are worth a salt, they will suspend her licence. You could also file a complaint and ask for the commission to be refunded. You could even have legal recourse in court.

 

[Otis]

Wat

 

[Bucky86]

My thoughts and prayers are with you, and your family,during this difficult time. Remember- "don't confuse your path with your destination. Just because it's stormy now doesn't mean you're not headed for sunshine."

 

[Limp Ditka]

Don't you already have a ##### and moan thread?

 

[TheMagus]

Why was your realtor demanding a certain closing data for you? That makes no sense.

 

[gussy]

I'm a realtor, I'll try to give you some ideas, but I am watching the Republican Debate while reading your post and I have ADHD, like all realtors, so I may or may not know what's going on.

1)Someone mentioned already, all offers have to be presented, that's the law. If she was concerned about their financial ability to perform, her best way to handle that is to tell you that, and then, if you decided to proceed, that's on you. She did her job there.

2)If she was representing one of the buyers, then of course, she had a conflict of interest. Not against the law, if you were ok with here being a dual agent, but still, a conflict of interest. It's human nature that if I can represent the party and get all of the commission as opposed to having to split it, of course I'd prefer that. WE ALL WOULD DO THE SAME.

3)My assumption is that the buyer you actually had the initial accepted contract with was testing for lead based paint? You should have been aware of that test being done through the contract. Did she let you know that was being tested for?

4)When they asked for 35K, you had the other buyers on the line. Technically you were under contract with the people asking for 35K. Your first obligation was to tell that buyer that no, I'm not giving you 35K. Do you still want to proceed? If so, you are contractually obligated to them. I would have been furious if my buyers went and approached another potential buyer, but I would never would have let a situation get to this point anyhow.

5)Does calling the state board do anything? Depends. If she's been in trouble before she could have her license suspended. It's possible that she'd have to pay a fine. It would become public information.

6)If she's co-owner of the KW firm, most likely she's either a managing broker or the designated broker, so "going to her broker" is not an option.

7)Someone mentioned never paying 6%. Real Estate is the only profession where people are ballsy enough to ask me to take 17% LESS than what I normally make. Here's what I do. If I represent both parties, then yes, absolutely I'll go down to 5%. If you are buying another home with me, or if you are a past client, then sometimes I'll cut you a small break on the commission. I work in a market that is about half 7% and half 6%. My commission is based on the sale of your price. Our average sales price is a little under 150K. If you're above 150K, I'll do 6. If you're below, I'll charge 7. If you ask me to cut my commission? the answer is no. I sell more high dollar homes in my area than anybody. I'm one of the top 3 individual agents in my community. I have a reputation for not BS'ing anybody, I will never lie to you, I'll always tell you the truth, whether you want it or not, because you need it. You get what you pay for. You want to work with somebody who sells 4 or 5 homes a year? Go ahead. I'm sure their desperate and will cut. You want to work with someone who has over 1000 transactions under their belt, who GUARANTEES your house will sell, and who not only won't lie to you, but won't play stupid real estate agent games? You get what you pay for.

 

[sbonomo]

Actually a complaint to the real estate commission could be a big deal if you can show some kind of discrimination against certain type of buyers. You can also file a complaint with the local board of realtors. She is REQUIRED to present every offer by law.

So I call the RE Board and they will...what?

Fine her.

Remove her license

You can also walk in and ask to speak to her broker.

Kinda depends on your end game.

If you want some on her commission to be docked I suppose you can sit with the broker. Explain everything and how it cost you $ and you would like to be credited/compensated.

The broker may want to smooth things over and not have the board involved.

If you want her to fry, tell the broker you are filing a claim of unethical conduct to her fiduciary responsibilities to you, as a client.

Please do this and report back

 

[SWC]

Reads like a SWC post and you can take that to the bank brohans.

listen brohan please do not drag my name in to this s show take that to the bank brochacho

 

[xulf]

No way it happened the way explained. ####### delusional.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Don't you already have a ##### and moan thread?

When did FBG get a search function for this place? If I can't find it within the first 3-4 pages it doesn't exist.

 

[Binky The Doormat]

I can't imagine that you would be a difficult customer.

 

[fantasycurse42]

(You don't have to read all this, really it's OK.)

Hi everybody, as you might have noticed I popped back in after some time away. I would prefer not to talk about why that is although the simple answer is I wigged on the night of the Paris attacks and wanted a sounding board, true to form the good folks here didn't blink and allowed me to banter back and forth. I had such a good time reconnecting that I hung out a couple weeks which turned to a month and I swore I would not fire up a bunch of FFA threads but here I am with a little story. Is it Ok if I take the mic?

"MOP, you have two hands crazy glued in a vice grip around the mic so sure why not just take the mic."

I'll try and keep it to a minimum but it's me so...but I'll try.

We bought a home 3 years ago in Miami Shores and we want to sell. We already have moved to Jupiter/Juno Beach and honestly we have moved on.

The realtor we hired was the same realtor that helped us buy the place. She got the listing and sale of our home when we bought it so the entire 6% went in her pocket. Only because we have made money(assuming we actually sell it) did we hire the same realtor. I never liked her or trusted her, that's the truth but my wife was insistent we use her and believes in loyalty even more than I do in business. Realtor was given the listing in August, we moved out in late Aug/Sept and set the home pretty empty, mostly because it was only 1,100 sq feet and when empty it looks a lot bigger. We got a couple low balls which we dismissed.

In mid to late October my wife was down in Miami cleaning the house for several planned showings that week. When she was there a car pulled up and out pops a nice younger gal who speaks to my wife and asks her "How come you all didn't counter back?" My wife says what are you talking about? Turns out our realtor did not present this offer because she felt the buyers didn't have their finances in place. This might be a good time to mention I used to work in mortgages and real estate but it really is not a huge factor.

The buyers know our neighbors very well and several other homeowners in the neighborhood, they are perfect first time home buyers which is what we really were hoping to find.

We asked our realtor and she basically said there were a couple other offers magically now and these others were stronger offers. And I quote..."Well, my wife and I hired you because of your expertise so I guess we will revert to your leadership and guidance here, can't imagine you wouldn't steer us in the right direction." Well the person she told us to take an offer from ended up being an architect and when the inspection report was done it just so happened that my house painter was doing the neighbor's home from across the street and starts calling me and wanting to know who the swat team was taking paint chips on the wall off to inspect.

That buyer who was pushed by our realtor decided to try and counter with a $35,000 credit...mind you we put in brand new hurricane impact windows, new central AC and ducts, new 10 year sealant on roof, lowest priced home currently on the market in this neighborhood, this house is ready to roll.

I chirped up and immediately said to go and make the deal work with the nice young lady and husband that want to buy our house and said we didn't counter them. She hemmed and hawed because IMO she was not representing this other buyer so I picked up the phone and called the buyers myself(Oh yes you read that right). I spoke with the buyers and they were sad that our realtor had stonewalled them and was basically rude to everyone in their camp. I apologized and said I would handle our realtor. We agreed on a final price over the phone, I asked if they had plans of trying to counter after the inspection report and they said no. I even took their inspection report and am fixing a couple minor electrical findings so that everything is as they want it.

Even after we instructed our realtor and her assistants to make it work, they still were harassing these buyers by giving them unreachable time frames like 30 days to close...there is a new law I found out about called TRID which adds about 2 weeks onto everything, this just happened in October. Of course our realtor and her cronies had no real idea despite saying they knew there was no way. Most lenders want 45-60 days. This back and forth dragged out the getting under contract part by about 3-4 weeks which is ludicrous from when I was working in the industry.

So you know where this ends. I will have to pay close to $20,000 in realtor commissions and it really kills me that even though our realtor gets but half of that it still is not fair. In the seedy world of the underground(apply whatever sector) you can't get away with trying to screw people over like this but in the big money world, the real world, the professionals...you have to eat spit until you choke with a smile on your face. That's the price you pay to be an active player in the middle class these days.

I have tried to keep it together and not go off on these "ladies" in the office but I want to scream. I called the co-owner as I came to find out our realtor also partially owns the Keller Williams office so we really don't have anyone to take this up with. The other co-owner seemed like a straight shooter at first but then at some point when I was explaining what happened she decided to let me know she was in the middle of breastfeeding her little one. The next time we spoke she was at the pediatricians and it just snowballs from there. I could be an uber sexist but I really think the statements speak for themselves. In the old days I would unload on this #### but these days I have learned the hard way that even if I get the last word in it is taking years off my life by getting worked up. I lose when I lose my cool even if I think I am winning in the moment.

I did write a letter to our realtor letting her know how proud I was of my wife for doing her job for her and also implored her to thank my wife for earning her commission for her. I could write or call the Florida Real Estate Commission but what good is that going to do? If you have had anything similar happen I would love to know what you did or how you handled it.

I know a few of you in the back rows are saying MOP, of all the times to go Swedish Fish for the day, this might be the one. I understand that but that is the exact reason I am venting in here. So make me laugh or make me cry but it's painful that in the end I pretty much have to eat all this, pay the money, expensive life lesson learned. I won't reveal the exact numbers but it's safe to assume we will do alright so I try to just take solace in the fact when this home closes, my wife and I will be 100% debt free. I'm not sure how I am going to feel but this is going to be an opp for me to do something quality for the rest of my life. It would be shameful and a complete waste of lottery luck to be born in America and just be stuck in a world of tuna cans and swedish fish, those of you who have to endure my posts over the years understand what I am trying to say.

Gonna need more details here.

 

[Officer Pete Malloy]

JFC ^^^

 

[moleculo]

I'm a realtor, I'll try to give you some ideas, but I am watching the Republican Debate while reading your post and I have ADHD, like all realtors, so I may or may not know what's going on.

1)Someone mentioned already, all offers have to be presented, that's the law. If she was concerned about their financial ability to perform, her best way to handle that is to tell you that, and then, if you decided to proceed, that's on you. She did her job there.

2)If she was representing one of the buyers, then of course, she had a conflict of interest. Not against the law, if you were ok with here being a dual agent, but still, a conflict of interest. It's human nature that if I can represent the party and get all of the commission as opposed to having to split it, of course I'd prefer that. WE ALL WOULD DO THE SAME.

3)My assumption is that the buyer you actually had the initial accepted contract with was testing for lead based paint? You should have been aware of that test being done through the contract. Did she let you know that was being tested for?

4)When they asked for 35K, you had the other buyers on the line. Technically you were under contract with the people asking for 35K. Your first obligation was to tell that buyer that no, I'm not giving you 35K. Do you still want to proceed? If so, you are contractually obligated to them. I would have been furious if my buyers went and approached another potential buyer, but I would never would have let a situation get to this point anyhow.

5)Does calling the state board do anything? Depends. If she's been in trouble before she could have her license suspended. It's possible that she'd have to pay a fine. It would become public information.

6)If she's co-owner of the KW firm, most likely she's either a managing broker or the designated broker, so "going to her broker" is not an option.

7)Someone mentioned never paying 6%. Real Estate is the only profession where people are ballsy enough to ask me to take 17% LESS than what I normally make. Here's what I do. If I represent both parties, then yes, absolutely I'll go down to 5%. If you are buying another home with me, or if you are a past client, then sometimes I'll cut you a small break on the commission. I work in a market that is about half 7% and half 6%. My commission is based on the sale of your price. Our average sales price is a little under 150K. If you're above 150K, I'll do 6. If you're below, I'll charge 7. If you ask me to cut my commission? the answer is no. I sell more high dollar homes in my area than anybody. I'm one of the top 3 individual agents in my community. I have a reputation for not BS'ing anybody, I will never lie to you, I'll always tell you the truth, whether you want it or not, because you need it. You get what you pay for. You want to work with somebody who sells 4 or 5 homes a year? Go ahead. I'm sure their desperate and will cut. You want to work with someone who has over 1000 transactions under their belt, who GUARANTEES your house will sell, and who not only won't lie to you, but won't play stupid real estate agent games? You get what you pay for.

That's only sometimes true. A good agent is worth the 6%, no doubt. There are bad agents out there too (As our friend found out), and near as I can tell, there is no way to discern the difference.

The largest team in my area works out of the same office as my wife. The dude's team closes thousands of houses a year, he has billboards all over, everyone knows his name. My wife has had nothing but trouble dealing with his agents - can't get them to reply to e-mails or return phone calls, have trouble getting closing scheduled, can't get simple data correct on forms, etc. It's a kind of deal where the listing agent will hand the account to a closing coordinator and a closing agent, no one has good communication or details on the property, etc. It's to the point where she (and, I assume any other agents working in the area) would prefer to not show his houses because of repeated problems. But, how would a seller know that this superstar agent's team is borderline incompetent?

 

[moleculo]

(You don't have to read all this, really it's OK.)

Hi everybody, as you might have noticed I popped back in after some time away. I would prefer not to talk about why that is although the simple answer is I wigged on the night of the Paris attacks and wanted a sounding board, true to form the good folks here didn't blink and allowed me to banter back and forth. I had such a good time reconnecting that I hung out a couple weeks which turned to a month and I swore I would not fire up a bunch of FFA threads but here I am with a little story. Is it Ok if I take the mic?

"MOP, you have two hands crazy glued in a vice grip around the mic so sure why not just take the mic."

I'll try and keep it to a minimum but it's me so...but I'll try.

We bought a home 3 years ago in Miami Shores and we want to sell. We already have moved to Jupiter/Juno Beach and honestly we have moved on.

The realtor we hired was the same realtor that helped us buy the place. She got the listing and sale of our home when we bought it so the entire 6% went in her pocket. Only because we have made money(assuming we actually sell it) did we hire the same realtor. I never liked her or trusted her, that's the truth but my wife was insistent we use her and believes in loyalty even more than I do in business. Realtor was given the listing in August, we moved out in late Aug/Sept and set the home pretty empty, mostly because it was only 1,100 sq feet and when empty it looks a lot bigger. We got a couple low balls which we dismissed.

In mid to late October my wife was down in Miami cleaning the house for several planned showings that week. When she was there a car pulled up and out pops a nice younger gal who speaks to my wife and asks her "How come you all didn't counter back?" My wife says what are you talking about? Turns out our realtor did not present this offer because she felt the buyers didn't have their finances in place. This might be a good time to mention I used to work in mortgages and real estate but it really is not a huge factor.

The buyers know our neighbors very well and several other homeowners in the neighborhood, they are perfect first time home buyers which is what we really were hoping to find.

We asked our realtor and she basically said there were a couple other offers magically now and these others were stronger offers. And I quote..."Well, my wife and I hired you because of your expertise so I guess we will revert to your leadership and guidance here, can't imagine you wouldn't steer us in the right direction." Well the person she told us to take an offer from ended up being an architect and when the inspection report was done it just so happened that my house painter was doing the neighbor's home from across the street and starts calling me and wanting to know who the swat team was taking paint chips on the wall off to inspect.

That buyer who was pushed by our realtor decided to try and counter with a $35,000 credit...mind you we put in brand new hurricane impact windows, new central AC and ducts, new 10 year sealant on roof, lowest priced home currently on the market in this neighborhood, this house is ready to roll.

I chirped up and immediately said to go and make the deal work with the nice young lady and husband that want to buy our house and said we didn't counter them. She hemmed and hawed because IMO she was not representing this other buyer so I picked up the phone and called the buyers myself(Oh yes you read that right). I spoke with the buyers and they were sad that our realtor had stonewalled them and was basically rude to everyone in their camp. I apologized and said I would handle our realtor. We agreed on a final price over the phone, I asked if they had plans of trying to counter after the inspection report and they said no. I even took their inspection report and am fixing a couple minor electrical findings so that everything is as they want it.

Even after we instructed our realtor and her assistants to make it work, they still were harassing these buyers by giving them unreachable time frames like 30 days to close...there is a new law I found out about called TRID which adds about 2 weeks onto everything, this just happened in October. Of course our realtor and her cronies had no real idea despite saying they knew there was no way. Most lenders want 45-60 days. This back and forth dragged out the getting under contract part by about 3-4 weeks which is ludicrous from when I was working in the industry.

So you know where this ends. I will have to pay close to $20,000 in realtor commissions and it really kills me that even though our realtor gets but half of that it still is not fair. In the seedy world of the underground(apply whatever sector) you can't get away with trying to screw people over like this but in the big money world, the real world, the professionals...you have to eat spit until you choke with a smile on your face. That's the price you pay to be an active player in the middle class these days.

I have tried to keep it together and not go off on these "ladies" in the office but I want to scream. I called the co-owner as I came to find out our realtor also partially owns the Keller Williams office so we really don't have anyone to take this up with. The other co-owner seemed like a straight shooter at first but then at some point when I was explaining what happened she decided to let me know she was in the middle of breastfeeding her little one. The next time we spoke she was at the pediatricians and it just snowballs from there. I could be an uber sexist but I really think the statements speak for themselves. In the old days I would unload on this #### but these days I have learned the hard way that even if I get the last word in it is taking years off my life by getting worked up. I lose when I lose my cool even if I think I am winning in the moment.

I did write a letter to our realtor letting her know how proud I was of my wife for doing her job for her and also implored her to thank my wife for earning her commission for her. I could write or call the Florida Real Estate Commission but what good is that going to do? If you have had anything similar happen I would love to know what you did or how you handled it.

I know a few of you in the back rows are saying MOP, of all the times to go Swedish Fish for the day, this might be the one. I understand that but that is the exact reason I am venting in here. So make me laugh or make me cry but it's painful that in the end I pretty much have to eat all this, pay the money, expensive life lesson learned. I won't reveal the exact numbers but it's safe to assume we will do alright so I try to just take solace in the fact when this home closes, my wife and I will be 100% debt free. I'm not sure how I am going to feel but this is going to be an opp for me to do something quality for the rest of my life. It would be shameful and a complete waste of lottery luck to be born in America and just be stuck in a world of tuna cans and swedish fish, those of you who have to endure my posts over the years understand what I am trying to say.

I don't see the problem. You are #####ing that you have to pay someone the price you signed a contract to pay them?

at the end of the day, the house is sold. The deal is going to close. You signed a contract with an agent where you said that you would pay them 6%. You contacting the buyer has nothing to do with the contract that you signed.

If you felt that the realtor wasn't doing what they needed to do, you needed to fire them...but, they still would have been entitled to the 6%, as your agent initially found guy who you are under contract with.

I don't think you have any recourse outside of filing a complaint with the board and #####ing on an anonymous message board.

 

[comfortably numb]

(You don't have to read all this, really it's OK.)

Hi everybody, as you might have noticed I popped back in after some time away. I would prefer not to talk about why that is although the simple answer is I wigged on the night of the Paris attacks and wanted a sounding board, true to form the good folks here didn't blink and allowed me to banter back and forth. I had such a good time reconnecting that I hung out a couple weeks which turned to a month and I swore I would not fire up a bunch of FFA threads but here I am with a little story. Is it Ok if I take the mic?

"MOP, you have two hands crazy glued in a vice grip around the mic so sure why not just take the mic."

I'll try and keep it to a minimum but it's me so...but I'll try.

We bought a home 3 years ago in Miami Shores and we want to sell. We already have moved to Jupiter/Juno Beach and honestly we have moved on.

The realtor we hired was the same realtor that helped us buy the place. She got the listing and sale of our home when we bought it so the entire 6% went in her pocket. Only because we have made money(assuming we actually sell it) did we hire the same realtor. I never liked her or trusted her, that's the truth but my wife was insistent we use her and believes in loyalty even more than I do in business. Realtor was given the listing in August, we moved out in late Aug/Sept and set the home pretty empty, mostly because it was only 1,100 sq feet and when empty it looks a lot bigger. We got a couple low balls which we dismissed.

In mid to late October my wife was down in Miami cleaning the house for several planned showings that week. When she was there a car pulled up and out pops a nice younger gal who speaks to my wife and asks her "How come you all didn't counter back?" My wife says what are you talking about? Turns out our realtor did not present this offer because she felt the buyers didn't have their finances in place. This might be a good time to mention I used to work in mortgages and real estate but it really is not a huge factor.

The buyers know our neighbors very well and several other homeowners in the neighborhood, they are perfect first time home buyers which is what we really were hoping to find.

We asked our realtor and she basically said there were a couple other offers magically now and these others were stronger offers. And I quote..."Well, my wife and I hired you because of your expertise so I guess we will revert to your leadership and guidance here, can't imagine you wouldn't steer us in the right direction." Well the person she told us to take an offer from ended up being an architect and when the inspection report was done it just so happened that my house painter was doing the neighbor's home from across the street and starts calling me and wanting to know who the swat team was taking paint chips on the wall off to inspect.

That buyer who was pushed by our realtor decided to try and counter with a $35,000 credit...mind you we put in brand new hurricane impact windows, new central AC and ducts, new 10 year sealant on roof, lowest priced home currently on the market in this neighborhood, this house is ready to roll.

I chirped up and immediately said to go and make the deal work with the nice young lady and husband that want to buy our house and said we didn't counter them. She hemmed and hawed because IMO she was not representing this other buyer so I picked up the phone and called the buyers myself(Oh yes you read that right). I spoke with the buyers and they were sad that our realtor had stonewalled them and was basically rude to everyone in their camp. I apologized and said I would handle our realtor. We agreed on a final price over the phone, I asked if they had plans of trying to counter after the inspection report and they said no. I even took their inspection report and am fixing a couple minor electrical findings so that everything is as they want it.

Even after we instructed our realtor and her assistants to make it work, they still were harassing these buyers by giving them unreachable time frames like 30 days to close...there is a new law I found out about called TRID which adds about 2 weeks onto everything, this just happened in October. Of course our realtor and her cronies had no real idea despite saying they knew there was no way. Most lenders want 45-60 days. This back and forth dragged out the getting under contract part by about 3-4 weeks which is ludicrous from when I was working in the industry.

So you know where this ends. I will have to pay close to $20,000 in realtor commissions and it really kills me that even though our realtor gets but half of that it still is not fair. In the seedy world of the underground(apply whatever sector) you can't get away with trying to screw people over like this but in the big money world, the real world, the professionals...you have to eat spit until you choke with a smile on your face. That's the price you pay to be an active player in the middle class these days.

I have tried to keep it together and not go off on these "ladies" in the office but I want to scream. I called the co-owner as I came to find out our realtor also partially owns the Keller Williams office so we really don't have anyone to take this up with. The other co-owner seemed like a straight shooter at first but then at some point when I was explaining what happened she decided to let me know she was in the middle of breastfeeding her little one. The next time we spoke she was at the pediatricians and it just snowballs from there. I could be an uber sexist but I really think the statements speak for themselves. In the old days I would unload on this #### but these days I have learned the hard way that even if I get the last word in it is taking years off my life by getting worked up. I lose when I lose my cool even if I think I am winning in the moment.

I did write a letter to our realtor letting her know how proud I was of my wife for doing her job for her and also implored her to thank my wife for earning her commission for her. I could write or call the Florida Real Estate Commission but what good is that going to do? If you have had anything similar happen I would love to know what you did or how you handled it.

I know a few of you in the back rows are saying MOP, of all the times to go Swedish Fish for the day, this might be the one. I understand that but that is the exact reason I am venting in here. So make me laugh or make me cry but it's painful that in the end I pretty much have to eat all this, pay the money, expensive life lesson learned. I won't reveal the exact numbers but it's safe to assume we will do alright so I try to just take solace in the fact when this home closes, my wife and I will be 100% debt free. I'm not sure how I am going to feel but this is going to be an opp for me to do something quality for the rest of my life. It would be shameful and a complete waste of lottery luck to be born in America and just be stuck in a world of tuna cans and swedish fish, those of you who have to endure my posts over the years understand what I am trying to say.

I don't see the problem. You are #####ing that you have to pay someone the price you signed a contract to pay them?

at the end of the day, the house is sold. The deal is going to close. You signed a contract with an agent where you said that you would pay them 6%. You contacting the buyer has nothing to do with the contract that you signed.

If you felt that the realtor wasn't doing what they needed to do, you needed to fire them...but, they still would have been entitled to the 6%, as your agent initially found guy who you are under contract with.

I don't think you have any recourse outside of filing a complaint with the board and #####ing on an anonymous message board.

You don't see a problem with an agent not supplying him with an offer that could have sold his house earlier and avoided additional carrying costs?

 

[The Commish]

That's only sometimes true. A good agent is worth the 6%, no doubt. There are bad agents out there too (As our friend found out), and near as I can tell, there is no way to discern the difference.

The largest team in my area works out of the same office as my wife. The dude's team closes thousands of houses a year, he has billboards all over, everyone knows his name. My wife has had nothing but trouble dealing with his agents - can't get them to reply to e-mails or return phone calls, have trouble getting closing scheduled, can't get simple data correct on forms, etc. It's a kind of deal where the listing agent will hand the account to a closing coordinator and a closing agent, no one has good communication or details on the property, etc. It's to the point where she (and, I assume any other agents working in the area) would prefer to not show his houses because of repeated problems. But, how would a seller know that this superstar agent's team is borderline incompetent?

I know exactly who you are talking about and I've met the guy. Gigantic doosh and I have no idea how he's gotten to where he is.

 

[comfortably numb]

That's only sometimes true. A good agent is worth the 6%, no doubt. There are bad agents out there too (As our friend found out), and near as I can tell, there is no way to discern the difference.

The largest team in my area works out of the same office as my wife. The dude's team closes thousands of houses a year, he has billboards all over, everyone knows his name. My wife has had nothing but trouble dealing with his agents - can't get them to reply to e-mails or return phone calls, have trouble getting closing scheduled, can't get simple data correct on forms, etc. It's a kind of deal where the listing agent will hand the account to a closing coordinator and a closing agent, no one has good communication or details on the property, etc. It's to the point where she (and, I assume any other agents working in the area) would prefer to not show his houses because of repeated problems. But, how would a seller know that this superstar agent's team is borderline incompetent?

I know exactly who you are talking about and I've met the guy. Gigantic doosh and I have no idea how he's gotten to where he is.

Does he post signs like this for his properties?

http://ak-hdl.buzzfed.com/static/enhanced/webdr03/2013/7/8/12/enhanced-buzz-8020-1373300683-12.jpg

 

[moleculo]

That's only sometimes true. A good agent is worth the 6%, no doubt. There are bad agents out there too (As our friend found out), and near as I can tell, there is no way to discern the difference.

The largest team in my area works out of the same office as my wife. The dude's team closes thousands of houses a year, he has billboards all over, everyone knows his name. My wife has had nothing but trouble dealing with his agents - can't get them to reply to e-mails or return phone calls, have trouble getting closing scheduled, can't get simple data correct on forms, etc. It's a kind of deal where the listing agent will hand the account to a closing coordinator and a closing agent, no one has good communication or details on the property, etc. It's to the point where she (and, I assume any other agents working in the area) would prefer to not show his houses because of repeated problems. But, how would a seller know that this superstar agent's team is borderline incompetent?

I know exactly who you are talking about and I've met the guy. Gigantic doosh and I have no idea how he's gotten to where he is.

yes you do. He gets listings because he's been in the game a long time and has a lot of name recognition.

He comes in and makes a hell of a sales pitch to the buyers. he makes sure all appearances are 100% top notch - all guys must wear a tie, all women must dress a certain way and always have hair/nails done, all houses must be thoroughly staged, etc. It's a lot of show.

When it comes down to actually managing the deal, they leave a lot to be desired.

 

[moleculo]

(You don't have to read all this, really it's OK.)

Hi everybody, as you might have noticed I popped back in after some time away. I would prefer not to talk about why that is although the simple answer is I wigged on the night of the Paris attacks and wanted a sounding board, true to form the good folks here didn't blink and allowed me to banter back and forth. I had such a good time reconnecting that I hung out a couple weeks which turned to a month and I swore I would not fire up a bunch of FFA threads but here I am with a little story. Is it Ok if I take the mic?

"MOP, you have two hands crazy glued in a vice grip around the mic so sure why not just take the mic."

I'll try and keep it to a minimum but it's me so...but I'll try.

We bought a home 3 years ago in Miami Shores and we want to sell. We already have moved to Jupiter/Juno Beach and honestly we have moved on.

The realtor we hired was the same realtor that helped us buy the place. She got the listing and sale of our home when we bought it so the entire 6% went in her pocket. Only because we have made money(assuming we actually sell it) did we hire the same realtor. I never liked her or trusted her, that's the truth but my wife was insistent we use her and believes in loyalty even more than I do in business. Realtor was given the listing in August, we moved out in late Aug/Sept and set the home pretty empty, mostly because it was only 1,100 sq feet and when empty it looks a lot bigger. We got a couple low balls which we dismissed.

In mid to late October my wife was down in Miami cleaning the house for several planned showings that week. When she was there a car pulled up and out pops a nice younger gal who speaks to my wife and asks her "How come you all didn't counter back?" My wife says what are you talking about? Turns out our realtor did not present this offer because she felt the buyers didn't have their finances in place. This might be a good time to mention I used to work in mortgages and real estate but it really is not a huge factor.

The buyers know our neighbors very well and several other homeowners in the neighborhood, they are perfect first time home buyers which is what we really were hoping to find.

We asked our realtor and she basically said there were a couple other offers magically now and these others were stronger offers. And I quote..."Well, my wife and I hired you because of your expertise so I guess we will revert to your leadership and guidance here, can't imagine you wouldn't steer us in the right direction." Well the person she told us to take an offer from ended up being an architect and when the inspection report was done it just so happened that my house painter was doing the neighbor's home from across the street and starts calling me and wanting to know who the swat team was taking paint chips on the wall off to inspect.

That buyer who was pushed by our realtor decided to try and counter with a $35,000 credit...mind you we put in brand new hurricane impact windows, new central AC and ducts, new 10 year sealant on roof, lowest priced home currently on the market in this neighborhood, this house is ready to roll.

I chirped up and immediately said to go and make the deal work with the nice young lady and husband that want to buy our house and said we didn't counter them. She hemmed and hawed because IMO she was not representing this other buyer so I picked up the phone and called the buyers myself(Oh yes you read that right). I spoke with the buyers and they were sad that our realtor had stonewalled them and was basically rude to everyone in their camp. I apologized and said I would handle our realtor. We agreed on a final price over the phone, I asked if they had plans of trying to counter after the inspection report and they said no. I even took their inspection report and am fixing a couple minor electrical findings so that everything is as they want it.

Even after we instructed our realtor and her assistants to make it work, they still were harassing these buyers by giving them unreachable time frames like 30 days to close...there is a new law I found out about called TRID which adds about 2 weeks onto everything, this just happened in October. Of course our realtor and her cronies had no real idea despite saying they knew there was no way. Most lenders want 45-60 days. This back and forth dragged out the getting under contract part by about 3-4 weeks which is ludicrous from when I was working in the industry.

So you know where this ends. I will have to pay close to $20,000 in realtor commissions and it really kills me that even though our realtor gets but half of that it still is not fair. In the seedy world of the underground(apply whatever sector) you can't get away with trying to screw people over like this but in the big money world, the real world, the professionals...you have to eat spit until you choke with a smile on your face. That's the price you pay to be an active player in the middle class these days.

I have tried to keep it together and not go off on these "ladies" in the office but I want to scream. I called the co-owner as I came to find out our realtor also partially owns the Keller Williams office so we really don't have anyone to take this up with. The other co-owner seemed like a straight shooter at first but then at some point when I was explaining what happened she decided to let me know she was in the middle of breastfeeding her little one. The next time we spoke she was at the pediatricians and it just snowballs from there. I could be an uber sexist but I really think the statements speak for themselves. In the old days I would unload on this #### but these days I have learned the hard way that even if I get the last word in it is taking years off my life by getting worked up. I lose when I lose my cool even if I think I am winning in the moment.

I did write a letter to our realtor letting her know how proud I was of my wife for doing her job for her and also implored her to thank my wife for earning her commission for her. I could write or call the Florida Real Estate Commission but what good is that going to do? If you have had anything similar happen I would love to know what you did or how you handled it.

I know a few of you in the back rows are saying MOP, of all the times to go Swedish Fish for the day, this might be the one. I understand that but that is the exact reason I am venting in here. So make me laugh or make me cry but it's painful that in the end I pretty much have to eat all this, pay the money, expensive life lesson learned. I won't reveal the exact numbers but it's safe to assume we will do alright so I try to just take solace in the fact when this home closes, my wife and I will be 100% debt free. I'm not sure how I am going to feel but this is going to be an opp for me to do something quality for the rest of my life. It would be shameful and a complete waste of lottery luck to be born in America and just be stuck in a world of tuna cans and swedish fish, those of you who have to endure my posts over the years understand what I am trying to say.

I don't see the problem. You are #####ing that you have to pay someone the price you signed a contract to pay them?

at the end of the day, the house is sold. The deal is going to close. You signed a contract with an agent where you said that you would pay them 6%. You contacting the buyer has nothing to do with the contract that you signed.

If you felt that the realtor wasn't doing what they needed to do, you needed to fire them...but, they still would have been entitled to the 6%, as your agent initially found guy who you are under contract with.

I don't think you have any recourse outside of filing a complaint with the board and #####ing on an anonymous message board.

You don't see a problem with an agent not supplying him with an offer that could have sold his house earlier and avoided additional carrying costs?

take it to the board. not supplying the offer is obviously illegal, but good luck getting back your 6%, which is what MoP is whining about.

 

[gussy]

I'm a realtor, I'll try to give you some ideas, but I am watching the Republican Debate while reading your post and I have ADHD, like all realtors, so I may or may not know what's going on.

1)Someone mentioned already, all offers have to be presented, that's the law. If she was concerned about their financial ability to perform, her best way to handle that is to tell you that, and then, if you decided to proceed, that's on you. She did her job there.

2)If she was representing one of the buyers, then of course, she had a conflict of interest. Not against the law, if you were ok with here being a dual agent, but still, a conflict of interest. It's human nature that if I can represent the party and get all of the commission as opposed to having to split it, of course I'd prefer that. WE ALL WOULD DO THE SAME.

3)My assumption is that the buyer you actually had the initial accepted contract with was testing for lead based paint? You should have been aware of that test being done through the contract. Did she let you know that was being tested for?

4)When they asked for 35K, you had the other buyers on the line. Technically you were under contract with the people asking for 35K. Your first obligation was to tell that buyer that no, I'm not giving you 35K. Do you still want to proceed? If so, you are contractually obligated to them. I would have been furious if my buyers went and approached another potential buyer, but I would never would have let a situation get to this point anyhow.

5)Does calling the state board do anything? Depends. If she's been in trouble before she could have her license suspended. It's possible that she'd have to pay a fine. It would become public information.

6)If she's co-owner of the KW firm, most likely she's either a managing broker or the designated broker, so "going to her broker" is not an option.

7)Someone mentioned never paying 6%. Real Estate is the only profession where people are ballsy enough to ask me to take 17% LESS than what I normally make. Here's what I do. If I represent both parties, then yes, absolutely I'll go down to 5%. If you are buying another home with me, or if you are a past client, then sometimes I'll cut you a small break on the commission. I work in a market that is about half 7% and half 6%. My commission is based on the sale of your price. Our average sales price is a little under 150K. If you're above 150K, I'll do 6. If you're below, I'll charge 7. If you ask me to cut my commission? the answer is no. I sell more high dollar homes in my area than anybody. I'm one of the top 3 individual agents in my community. I have a reputation for not BS'ing anybody, I will never lie to you, I'll always tell you the truth, whether you want it or not, because you need it. You get what you pay for. You want to work with somebody who sells 4 or 5 homes a year? Go ahead. I'm sure their desperate and will cut. You want to work with someone who has over 1000 transactions under their belt, who GUARANTEES your house will sell, and who not only won't lie to you, but won't play stupid real estate agent games? You get what you pay for.

That's only sometimes true. A good agent is worth the 6%, no doubt. There are bad agents out there too (As our friend found out), and near as I can tell, there is no way to discern the difference.

The largest team in my area works out of the same office as my wife. The dude's team closes thousands of houses a year, he has billboards all over, everyone knows his name. My wife has had nothing but trouble dealing with his agents - can't get them to reply to e-mails or return phone calls, have trouble getting closing scheduled, can't get simple data correct on forms, etc. It's a kind of deal where the listing agent will hand the account to a closing coordinator and a closing agent, no one has good communication or details on the property, etc. It's to the point where she (and, I assume any other agents working in the area) would prefer to not show his houses because of repeated problems. But, how would a seller know that this superstar agent's team is borderline incompetent?

All good points. When I was talking about my production, I said "individual" agent. Lot's of "mega-teams" out there anymore, and lots of them are doing more business than they are capable of doing, regardless of HOW many people are on their teams, which leads to piss poor service. I've gone the team route in the past. In my opinion, first hire is a licensed admin person. Before any "buyers agents" or "listing specialists", etc. It took me 3 hires to find the right person for my admin person. 3 hires over the space of about a year and a half. Usually these "mega-agents" are in such a hurry to grow that they just hire anyone, keep everyone, regardless of whether they are the right fit, and everything suffers because of it. I do some coaching of other agents, both inside and outside of my company. I'm working with a newer team right now. They are struggling, partly because agent is more focused on growing her team instead of growing her business. Passive income is all the rage. I told her she needs to fire everyone and start again. Her team is 6 people and they are doing the same amount of transactions that I am by myself. I'm 10 years older than her and fat and out of shape (see my thread). She really is at the point where ALL she needs is an admin right now. Will she fire everyone? Who knows. Most of these people think they know it all. I think she's one of the few who may listen.

As far as how to know who you hire..............listen to your friends and family is my best advice. See who they recommend. That's your best bet.

 

[gussy]

(You don't have to read all this, really it's OK.)

Hi everybody, as you might have noticed I popped back in after some time away. I would prefer not to talk about why that is although the simple answer is I wigged on the night of the Paris attacks and wanted a sounding board, true to form the good folks here didn't blink and allowed me to banter back and forth. I had such a good time reconnecting that I hung out a couple weeks which turned to a month and I swore I would not fire up a bunch of FFA threads but here I am with a little story. Is it Ok if I take the mic?

"MOP, you have two hands crazy glued in a vice grip around the mic so sure why not just take the mic."

I'll try and keep it to a minimum but it's me so...but I'll try.

We bought a home 3 years ago in Miami Shores and we want to sell. We already have moved to Jupiter/Juno Beach and honestly we have moved on.

The realtor we hired was the same realtor that helped us buy the place. She got the listing and sale of our home when we bought it so the entire 6% went in her pocket. Only because we have made money(assuming we actually sell it) did we hire the same realtor. I never liked her or trusted her, that's the truth but my wife was insistent we use her and believes in loyalty even more than I do in business. Realtor was given the listing in August, we moved out in late Aug/Sept and set the home pretty empty, mostly because it was only 1,100 sq feet and when empty it looks a lot bigger. We got a couple low balls which we dismissed.

In mid to late October my wife was down in Miami cleaning the house for several planned showings that week. When she was there a car pulled up and out pops a nice younger gal who speaks to my wife and asks her "How come you all didn't counter back?" My wife says what are you talking about? Turns out our realtor did not present this offer because she felt the buyers didn't have their finances in place. This might be a good time to mention I used to work in mortgages and real estate but it really is not a huge factor.

The buyers know our neighbors very well and several other homeowners in the neighborhood, they are perfect first time home buyers which is what we really were hoping to find.

We asked our realtor and she basically said there were a couple other offers magically now and these others were stronger offers. And I quote..."Well, my wife and I hired you because of your expertise so I guess we will revert to your leadership and guidance here, can't imagine you wouldn't steer us in the right direction." Well the person she told us to take an offer from ended up being an architect and when the inspection report was done it just so happened that my house painter was doing the neighbor's home from across the street and starts calling me and wanting to know who the swat team was taking paint chips on the wall off to inspect.

That buyer who was pushed by our realtor decided to try and counter with a $35,000 credit...mind you we put in brand new hurricane impact windows, new central AC and ducts, new 10 year sealant on roof, lowest priced home currently on the market in this neighborhood, this house is ready to roll.

I chirped up and immediately said to go and make the deal work with the nice young lady and husband that want to buy our house and said we didn't counter them. She hemmed and hawed because IMO she was not representing this other buyer so I picked up the phone and called the buyers myself(Oh yes you read that right). I spoke with the buyers and they were sad that our realtor had stonewalled them and was basically rude to everyone in their camp. I apologized and said I would handle our realtor. We agreed on a final price over the phone, I asked if they had plans of trying to counter after the inspection report and they said no. I even took their inspection report and am fixing a couple minor electrical findings so that everything is as they want it.

Even after we instructed our realtor and her assistants to make it work, they still were harassing these buyers by giving them unreachable time frames like 30 days to close...there is a new law I found out about called TRID which adds about 2 weeks onto everything, this just happened in October. Of course our realtor and her cronies had no real idea despite saying they knew there was no way. Most lenders want 45-60 days. This back and forth dragged out the getting under contract part by about 3-4 weeks which is ludicrous from when I was working in the industry.

So you know where this ends. I will have to pay close to $20,000 in realtor commissions and it really kills me that even though our realtor gets but half of that it still is not fair. In the seedy world of the underground(apply whatever sector) you can't get away with trying to screw people over like this but in the big money world, the real world, the professionals...you have to eat spit until you choke with a smile on your face. That's the price you pay to be an active player in the middle class these days.

I have tried to keep it together and not go off on these "ladies" in the office but I want to scream. I called the co-owner as I came to find out our realtor also partially owns the Keller Williams office so we really don't have anyone to take this up with. The other co-owner seemed like a straight shooter at first but then at some point when I was explaining what happened she decided to let me know she was in the middle of breastfeeding her little one. The next time we spoke she was at the pediatricians and it just snowballs from there. I could be an uber sexist but I really think the statements speak for themselves. In the old days I would unload on this #### but these days I have learned the hard way that even if I get the last word in it is taking years off my life by getting worked up. I lose when I lose my cool even if I think I am winning in the moment.

I did write a letter to our realtor letting her know how proud I was of my wife for doing her job for her and also implored her to thank my wife for earning her commission for her. I could write or call the Florida Real Estate Commission but what good is that going to do? If you have had anything similar happen I would love to know what you did or how you handled it.

I know a few of you in the back rows are saying MOP, of all the times to go Swedish Fish for the day, this might be the one. I understand that but that is the exact reason I am venting in here. So make me laugh or make me cry but it's painful that in the end I pretty much have to eat all this, pay the money, expensive life lesson learned. I won't reveal the exact numbers but it's safe to assume we will do alright so I try to just take solace in the fact when this home closes, my wife and I will be 100% debt free. I'm not sure how I am going to feel but this is going to be an opp for me to do something quality for the rest of my life. It would be shameful and a complete waste of lottery luck to be born in America and just be stuck in a world of tuna cans and swedish fish, those of you who have to endure my posts over the years understand what I am trying to say.

I don't see the problem. You are #####ing that you have to pay someone the price you signed a contract to pay them?

at the end of the day, the house is sold. The deal is going to close. You signed a contract with an agent where you said that you would pay them 6%. You contacting the buyer has nothing to do with the contract that you signed.

If you felt that the realtor wasn't doing what they needed to do, you needed to fire them...but, they still would have been entitled to the 6%, as your agent initially found guy who you are under contract with.

I don't think you have any recourse outside of filing a complaint with the board and #####ing on an anonymous message board.

You don't see a problem with an agent not supplying him with an offer that could have sold his house earlier and avoided additional carrying costs?

I believe the agent did present the offer to him but told him that she was concerned about the financing. I believe what she did not do, possibly, was present THAT buyer with the seller's counter offer. Is that correct? If that's the case, yes, that's against the law.

 

[gussy]

That's only sometimes true. A good agent is worth the 6%, no doubt. There are bad agents out there too (As our friend found out), and near as I can tell, there is no way to discern the difference.

The largest team in my area works out of the same office as my wife. The dude's team closes thousands of houses a year, he has billboards all over, everyone knows his name. My wife has had nothing but trouble dealing with his agents - can't get them to reply to e-mails or return phone calls, have trouble getting closing scheduled, can't get simple data correct on forms, etc. It's a kind of deal where the listing agent will hand the account to a closing coordinator and a closing agent, no one has good communication or details on the property, etc. It's to the point where she (and, I assume any other agents working in the area) would prefer to not show his houses because of repeated problems. But, how would a seller know that this superstar agent's team is borderline incompetent?

I know exactly who you are talking about and I've met the guy. Gigantic doosh and I have no idea how he's gotten to where he is.

yes you do. He gets listings because he's been in the game a long time and has a lot of name recognition.

He comes in and makes a hell of a sales pitch to the buyers. he makes sure all appearances are 100% top notch - all guys must wear a tie, all women must dress a certain way and always have hair/nails done, all houses must be thoroughly staged, etc. It's a lot of show.

When it comes down to actually managing the deal, they leave a lot to be desired.

When I first started my career in Tucson there was a similar team. Team leader was dumb as a box of rocks. Every year he got up and accepted my companies "agent of the year" award I wanted to stab myself in the eyeballs while he was giving his acceptance speech. But he surrounded himself with a team of Ken and Barbie dolls. Every girl was a hot blond with fake #### and tiny little asses, all in high heels and short skirts, all of them 9.5's on the offdee (I don't give 10's) Every guy was right out of a fancy cologne commercial. That's how he got all of his business. I don't know that any of them were smart. The only part of his winning every year that I enjoyed was watching the parade of whores that followed him up to the stage. Oh, the heady early 2000's, lol.

 

[Fennis]

I'm a realtor, I'll try to give you some ideas, but I am watching the Republican Debate while reading your post and I have ADHD, like all realtors, so I may or may not know what's going on.

1)Someone mentioned already, all offers have to be presented, that's the law. If she was concerned about their financial ability to perform, her best way to handle that is to tell you that, and then, if you decided to proceed, that's on you. She did her job there.

2)If she was representing one of the buyers, then of course, she had a conflict of interest. Not against the law, if you were ok with here being a dual agent, but still, a conflict of interest. It's human nature that if I can represent the party and get all of the commission as opposed to having to split it, of course I'd prefer that. WE ALL WOULD DO THE SAME.

3)My assumption is that the buyer you actually had the initial accepted contract with was testing for lead based paint? You should have been aware of that test being done through the contract. Did she let you know that was being tested for?

4)When they asked for 35K, you had the other buyers on the line. Technically you were under contract with the people asking for 35K. Your first obligation was to tell that buyer that no, I'm not giving you 35K. Do you still want to proceed? If so, you are contractually obligated to them. I would have been furious if my buyers went and approached another potential buyer, but I would never would have let a situation get to this point anyhow.

5)Does calling the state board do anything? Depends. If she's been in trouble before she could have her license suspended. It's possible that she'd have to pay a fine. It would become public information.

6)If she's co-owner of the KW firm, most likely she's either a managing broker or the designated broker, so "going to her broker" is not an option.

7)Someone mentioned never paying 6%. Real Estate is the only profession where people are ballsy enough to ask me to take 17% LESS than what I normally make. Here's what I do. If I represent both parties, then yes, absolutely I'll go down to 5%. If you are buying another home with me, or if you are a past client, then sometimes I'll cut you a small break on the commission. I work in a market that is about half 7% and half 6%. My commission is based on the sale of your price. Our average sales price is a little under 150K. If you're above 150K, I'll do 6. If you're below, I'll charge 7. If you ask me to cut my commission? the answer is no. I sell more high dollar homes in my area than anybody. I'm one of the top 3 individual agents in my community. I have a reputation for not BS'ing anybody, I will never lie to you, I'll always tell you the truth, whether you want it or not, because you need it. You get what you pay for. You want to work with somebody who sells 4 or 5 homes a year? Go ahead. I'm sure their desperate and will cut. You want to work with someone who has over 1000 transactions under their belt, who GUARANTEES your house will sell, and who not only won't lie to you, but won't play stupid real estate agent games? You get what you pay for.

tl;dr

 

[avoiding injuries]

Do realtors do 2x as much work for a $300k home as a $150k home? 4x as much for a $600k home? The % thing doesn't make much sense to me and seems very outdated.

 

[comfortably numb]

(You don't have to read all this, really it's OK.)

Hi everybody, as you might have noticed I popped back in after some time away. I would prefer not to talk about why that is although the simple answer is I wigged on the night of the Paris attacks and wanted a sounding board, true to form the good folks here didn't blink and allowed me to banter back and forth. I had such a good time reconnecting that I hung out a couple weeks which turned to a month and I swore I would not fire up a bunch of FFA threads but here I am with a little story. Is it Ok if I take the mic?

"MOP, you have two hands crazy glued in a vice grip around the mic so sure why not just take the mic."

I'll try and keep it to a minimum but it's me so...but I'll try.

We bought a home 3 years ago in Miami Shores and we want to sell. We already have moved to Jupiter/Juno Beach and honestly we have moved on.

The realtor we hired was the same realtor that helped us buy the place. She got the listing and sale of our home when we bought it so the entire 6% went in her pocket. Only because we have made money(assuming we actually sell it) did we hire the same realtor. I never liked her or trusted her, that's the truth but my wife was insistent we use her and believes in loyalty even more than I do in business. Realtor was given the listing in August, we moved out in late Aug/Sept and set the home pretty empty, mostly because it was only 1,100 sq feet and when empty it looks a lot bigger. We got a couple low balls which we dismissed.

In mid to late October my wife was down in Miami cleaning the house for several planned showings that week. When she was there a car pulled up and out pops a nice younger gal who speaks to my wife and asks her "How come you all didn't counter back?" My wife says what are you talking about? Turns out our realtor did not present this offer because she felt the buyers didn't have their finances in place. This might be a good time to mention I used to work in mortgages and real estate but it really is not a huge factor.

The buyers know our neighbors very well and several other homeowners in the neighborhood, they are perfect first time home buyers which is what we really were hoping to find.

We asked our realtor and she basically said there were a couple other offers magically now and these others were stronger offers. And I quote..."Well, my wife and I hired you because of your expertise so I guess we will revert to your leadership and guidance here, can't imagine you wouldn't steer us in the right direction." Well the person she told us to take an offer from ended up being an architect and when the inspection report was done it just so happened that my house painter was doing the neighbor's home from across the street and starts calling me and wanting to know who the swat team was taking paint chips on the wall off to inspect.

That buyer who was pushed by our realtor decided to try and counter with a $35,000 credit...mind you we put in brand new hurricane impact windows, new central AC and ducts, new 10 year sealant on roof, lowest priced home currently on the market in this neighborhood, this house is ready to roll.

I chirped up and immediately said to go and make the deal work with the nice young lady and husband that want to buy our house and said we didn't counter them. She hemmed and hawed because IMO she was not representing this other buyer so I picked up the phone and called the buyers myself(Oh yes you read that right). I spoke with the buyers and they were sad that our realtor had stonewalled them and was basically rude to everyone in their camp. I apologized and said I would handle our realtor. We agreed on a final price over the phone, I asked if they had plans of trying to counter after the inspection report and they said no. I even took their inspection report and am fixing a couple minor electrical findings so that everything is as they want it.

Even after we instructed our realtor and her assistants to make it work, they still were harassing these buyers by giving them unreachable time frames like 30 days to close...there is a new law I found out about called TRID which adds about 2 weeks onto everything, this just happened in October. Of course our realtor and her cronies had no real idea despite saying they knew there was no way. Most lenders want 45-60 days. This back and forth dragged out the getting under contract part by about 3-4 weeks which is ludicrous from when I was working in the industry.

So you know where this ends. I will have to pay close to $20,000 in realtor commissions and it really kills me that even though our realtor gets but half of that it still is not fair. In the seedy world of the underground(apply whatever sector) you can't get away with trying to screw people over like this but in the big money world, the real world, the professionals...you have to eat spit until you choke with a smile on your face. That's the price you pay to be an active player in the middle class these days.

I have tried to keep it together and not go off on these "ladies" in the office but I want to scream. I called the co-owner as I came to find out our realtor also partially owns the Keller Williams office so we really don't have anyone to take this up with. The other co-owner seemed like a straight shooter at first but then at some point when I was explaining what happened she decided to let me know she was in the middle of breastfeeding her little one. The next time we spoke she was at the pediatricians and it just snowballs from there. I could be an uber sexist but I really think the statements speak for themselves. In the old days I would unload on this #### but these days I have learned the hard way that even if I get the last word in it is taking years off my life by getting worked up. I lose when I lose my cool even if I think I am winning in the moment.

I did write a letter to our realtor letting her know how proud I was of my wife for doing her job for her and also implored her to thank my wife for earning her commission for her. I could write or call the Florida Real Estate Commission but what good is that going to do? If you have had anything similar happen I would love to know what you did or how you handled it.

I know a few of you in the back rows are saying MOP, of all the times to go Swedish Fish for the day, this might be the one. I understand that but that is the exact reason I am venting in here. So make me laugh or make me cry but it's painful that in the end I pretty much have to eat all this, pay the money, expensive life lesson learned. I won't reveal the exact numbers but it's safe to assume we will do alright so I try to just take solace in the fact when this home closes, my wife and I will be 100% debt free. I'm not sure how I am going to feel but this is going to be an opp for me to do something quality for the rest of my life. It would be shameful and a complete waste of lottery luck to be born in America and just be stuck in a world of tuna cans and swedish fish, those of you who have to endure my posts over the years understand what I am trying to say.

I don't see the problem. You are #####ing that you have to pay someone the price you signed a contract to pay them?

at the end of the day, the house is sold. The deal is going to close. You signed a contract with an agent where you said that you would pay them 6%. You contacting the buyer has nothing to do with the contract that you signed.

If you felt that the realtor wasn't doing what they needed to do, you needed to fire them...but, they still would have been entitled to the 6%, as your agent initially found guy who you are under contract with.

I don't think you have any recourse outside of filing a complaint with the board and #####ing on an anonymous message board.

You don't see a problem with an agent not supplying him with an offer that could have sold his house earlier and avoided additional carrying costs?

I believe the agent did present the offer to him but told him that she was concerned about the financing. I believe what she did not do, possibly, was present THAT buyer with the seller's counter offer. Is that correct? If that's the case, yes, that's against the law.

My comprehension sucks and I skim most posts with that many words but I thought it was presented to him AFTER he brought it up to the agent a month or so of the offer having been made.

At that point the agent was like....oooooh yea, "that" offer? ...their financing sucks....but this offer from a client I represent is soooo much better.

It seems as if MOP's wife never stumbled upon the buyer at the house he would have never even knew the offer existed?

Again..my comprehension sucks and I tend to add to the story to make it more interesting at times.

 

[sbonomo]

That's only sometimes true. A good agent is worth the 6%, no doubt. There are bad agents out there too (As our friend found out), and near as I can tell, there is no way to discern the difference.

The largest team in my area works out of the same office as my wife. The dude's team closes thousands of houses a year, he has billboards all over, everyone knows his name. My wife has had nothing but trouble dealing with his agents - can't get them to reply to e-mails or return phone calls, have trouble getting closing scheduled, can't get simple data correct on forms, etc. It's a kind of deal where the listing agent will hand the account to a closing coordinator and a closing agent, no one has good communication or details on the property, etc. It's to the point where she (and, I assume any other agents working in the area) would prefer to not show his houses because of repeated problems. But, how would a seller know that this superstar agent's team is borderline incompetent?

I know exactly who you are talking about and I've met the guy. Gigantic doosh and I have no idea how he's gotten to where he is.

because people like the previous poster hire him.

 

[comfortably numb]

Do realtors do 2x as much work for a $300k home as a $150k home? 4x as much for a $600k home? The % thing doesn't make much sense to me and seems very outdated.

yes/no

I sold a house for 125k and made about $1800 and worked my ### off, literally holding clients hand in every matter from buying his home insurance for him and filling out all the forms for his mortgage to driving him to the house (had no car at the time) whenever it was needed. This deal was brutal and lasted 10 months.

A different deal was a for a 420k house and I made about 9k on that and my client literally said.... I know what I am doing and don't really need you for much, just get me in the door without having to have every other agent try to give me their sales pitch

 

[gussy]

Do realtors do 2x as much work for a $300k home as a $150k home? 4x as much for a $600k home? The % thing doesn't make much sense to me and seems very outdated.

Depends. I have a 589K deal right now that isn't closing until 12/1/16. It's been a pain in the ###. Lot's of things that I typically wouldn't think of/deal with because of the prolonged closing. I guess my question is if you're sophisticated enough to have a 600K home do you really want an inexperienced agent who has no experience with high dollar homes and very little experience in general handling your investment? I would say most people that have 600K homes don't shop around for the "cheapest" lawyer or the "cheapest" dr.

 

[xulf]

(You don't have to read all this, really it's OK.)

Hi everybody, as you might have noticed I popped back in after some time away. I would prefer not to talk about why that is although the simple answer is I wigged on the night of the Paris attacks and wanted a sounding board, true to form the good folks here didn't blink and allowed me to banter back and forth. I had such a good time reconnecting that I hung out a couple weeks which turned to a month and I swore I would not fire up a bunch of FFA threads but here I am with a little story. Is it Ok if I take the mic?

"MOP, you have two hands crazy glued in a vice grip around the mic so sure why not just take the mic."

I'll try and keep it to a minimum but it's me so...but I'll try.

We bought a home 3 years ago in Miami Shores and we want to sell. We already have moved to Jupiter/Juno Beach and honestly we have moved on.

The realtor we hired was the same realtor that helped us buy the place. She got the listing and sale of our home when we bought it so the entire 6% went in her pocket. Only because we have made money(assuming we actually sell it) did we hire the same realtor. I never liked her or trusted her, that's the truth but my wife was insistent we use her and believes in loyalty even more than I do in business. Realtor was given the listing in August, we moved out in late Aug/Sept and set the home pretty empty, mostly because it was only 1,100 sq feet and when empty it looks a lot bigger. We got a couple low balls which we dismissed.

In mid to late October my wife was down in Miami cleaning the house for several planned showings that week. When she was there a car pulled up and out pops a nice younger gal who speaks to my wife and asks her "How come you all didn't counter back?" My wife says what are you talking about? Turns out our realtor did not present this offer because she felt the buyers didn't have their finances in place. This might be a good time to mention I used to work in mortgages and real estate but it really is not a huge factor.

The buyers know our neighbors very well and several other homeowners in the neighborhood, they are perfect first time home buyers which is what we really were hoping to find.

We asked our realtor and she basically said there were a couple other offers magically now and these others were stronger offers. And I quote..."Well, my wife and I hired you because of your expertise so I guess we will revert to your leadership and guidance here, can't imagine you wouldn't steer us in the right direction." Well the person she told us to take an offer from ended up being an architect and when the inspection report was done it just so happened that my house painter was doing the neighbor's home from across the street and starts calling me and wanting to know who the swat team was taking paint chips on the wall off to inspect.

That buyer who was pushed by our realtor decided to try and counter with a $35,000 credit...mind you we put in brand new hurricane impact windows, new central AC and ducts, new 10 year sealant on roof, lowest priced home currently on the market in this neighborhood, this house is ready to roll.

I chirped up and immediately said to go and make the deal work with the nice young lady and husband that want to buy our house and said we didn't counter them. She hemmed and hawed because IMO she was not representing this other buyer so I picked up the phone and called the buyers myself(Oh yes you read that right). I spoke with the buyers and they were sad that our realtor had stonewalled them and was basically rude to everyone in their camp. I apologized and said I would handle our realtor. We agreed on a final price over the phone, I asked if they had plans of trying to counter after the inspection report and they said no. I even took their inspection report and am fixing a couple minor electrical findings so that everything is as they want it.

Even after we instructed our realtor and her assistants to make it work, they still were harassing these buyers by giving them unreachable time frames like 30 days to close...there is a new law I found out about called TRID which adds about 2 weeks onto everything, this just happened in October. Of course our realtor and her cronies had no real idea despite saying they knew there was no way. Most lenders want 45-60 days. This back and forth dragged out the getting under contract part by about 3-4 weeks which is ludicrous from when I was working in the industry.

So you know where this ends. I will have to pay close to $20,000 in realtor commissions and it really kills me that even though our realtor gets but half of that it still is not fair. In the seedy world of the underground(apply whatever sector) you can't get away with trying to screw people over like this but in the big money world, the real world, the professionals...you have to eat spit until you choke with a smile on your face. That's the price you pay to be an active player in the middle class these days.

I have tried to keep it together and not go off on these "ladies" in the office but I want to scream. I called the co-owner as I came to find out our realtor also partially owns the Keller Williams office so we really don't have anyone to take this up with. The other co-owner seemed like a straight shooter at first but then at some point when I was explaining what happened she decided to let me know she was in the middle of breastfeeding her little one. The next time we spoke she was at the pediatricians and it just snowballs from there. I could be an uber sexist but I really think the statements speak for themselves. In the old days I would unload on this #### but these days I have learned the hard way that even if I get the last word in it is taking years off my life by getting worked up. I lose when I lose my cool even if I think I am winning in the moment.

I did write a letter to our realtor letting her know how proud I was of my wife for doing her job for her and also implored her to thank my wife for earning her commission for her. I could write or call the Florida Real Estate Commission but what good is that going to do? If you have had anything similar happen I would love to know what you did or how you handled it.

I know a few of you in the back rows are saying MOP, of all the times to go Swedish Fish for the day, this might be the one. I understand that but that is the exact reason I am venting in here. So make me laugh or make me cry but it's painful that in the end I pretty much have to eat all this, pay the money, expensive life lesson learned. I won't reveal the exact numbers but it's safe to assume we will do alright so I try to just take solace in the fact when this home closes, my wife and I will be 100% debt free. I'm not sure how I am going to feel but this is going to be an opp for me to do something quality for the rest of my life. It would be shameful and a complete waste of lottery luck to be born in America and just be stuck in a world of tuna cans and swedish fish, those of you who have to endure my posts over the years understand what I am trying to say.

I don't see the problem. You are #####ing that you have to pay someone the price you signed a contract to pay them?

at the end of the day, the house is sold. The deal is going to close. You signed a contract with an agent where you said that you would pay them 6%. You contacting the buyer has nothing to do with the contract that you signed.

If you felt that the realtor wasn't doing what they needed to do, you needed to fire them...but, they still would have been entitled to the 6%, as your agent initially found guy who you are under contract with.

I don't think you have any recourse outside of filing a complaint with the board and #####ing on an anonymous message board.

When I sold my house, I requested a way to get out of the contract if I felt he was not doing his due diligence and work. He wanted a 12 month commitment, and that is a loooong time if he sucks. Sure enough, he whips something out for me to sign immediately after the request. You don't have to be locked in if you are forward enough thinking.