Hesistant to dip my foot in

[bearishgurl]

[quote=HLS]One more thing

I would call the Bureau of Real Estate and file a complaint against the
agent who listed a property at $299,000 and told your agent that
they will look at offers above $375,000
http://www.dre.ca.gov/Consumers/FileComplaint.html

this is absolute nonsense and the agent should have a formal complaint filed against them. Let the board deal with this.

As a Realtor I have zero tolerance for crap like this.[/quote]Agreed, but unfortunately, I don’t think the DRE will even look into it unless she can prove she was somehow “damaged” by what the seller’s agent told her. I’ve seen agents get away with stuff like this when they wanted to list the property on the MLS (usually for a very short time to satisfy a lender who agreed to take a short payoff) but they wanted to sell the property at a deeply discounted price to a particular individual (one of their relatives, the “seller’s” relative or their own “straw-offeror”). It was done to deter any other offers from actually coming in before their “planted buyer” could get their sh!t together (often thru another agent in their own brokerage) and get their offer in ASAP after the listing was placed in the MLS.

However, I don’t see this as happening here. This listing agent just saw a rookie buyer and possibly their rookie agent as deer in the headlights and thought they could get away with playing this game with them.

[Coronita]

[quote=bearishgurl]
However, I don’t see this as happening here. This listing agent just saw a rookie buyer and possibly their rookie agent as deer in the headlights and thought they could get away with playing this game with them.[/quote]

God, is there any thread where you won’t say something in such a crass way as to insult someone that you don’t know? If you’re so smart, how many houses have you bought again??????? And when was the last time you bought a house again?????

[svelte]

One more thing: this house is definitely a flip.

It was bought in Nov 2015 for $250K, they are now asking $125k more than that.

I assume it looked like what is shown in street view when they bought it:

https://www.google.com/maps/@32.8339581,-116.9404936,3a,75y,91.09h,81.26t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1stXqNhwwWC_RPVeOVAAU4uA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1

A flip doesn’t bother me per se, but its worth noting the upgrades were probably made with the intention of resale, not necessarily to the quality of someone who planned on living there long term.

[HLS]

BG wrote “I don’t think the DRE will even look into it unless she can prove she was somehow “damaged” by what the seller’s agent told her”

I completely disagree with this. MLS is intended to be an orderly market place.
Imagine if everybody listed properties for 20% less than they had any intention of selling the property for.
(expecting offers of 25% more than the listing price)

It would be mass chaos with hundreds/thousands of agents & buyers scrambling to look at properties, wasting everyone’s time.
Most agents don’t call listing agent to discuss specifics. They spend several hours showing a property and have to prepare a 20 page offer. NOT OK.

Agent has been licensed for 2 years, currently with Coldwell Banker. I would also contact Coldwell Banker corporate and let them know how disgusted I was about this.
Agent listed this at $299,900 so anyone searching up to $300,000 would see the property. Misleading.

There are penalties for abusing the MLS system. I’m not the one who decides or enforces them, but this is blatant misrepresentation. It’s not a court case where one needs to prove damages. It’s unethical and I think the BRE may have an issue with it.
OP’s agent should file a complaint with the board as well as every other agent who takes a buyer to look at the property thinking it’s available for sale in the $300K range, only to be told offers will be considered above $375K .
This is NOT OK.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=flu][quote=bearishgurl]
However, I don’t see this as happening here. This listing agent just saw a rookie buyer and possibly their rookie agent as deer in the headlights and thought they could get away with playing this game with them.[/quote]

God, is there any thread where you won’t say something in such a crass way as to insult someone that you don’t know? If you’re so smart, how many houses have you bought again??????? And when was the last time you bought a house again?????[/quote]Again, you’re trolling by speaking for another poster, flu. I’ve already posted on this forum how many times I’ve been a principal and its likely been at least twice as many times as you have. And I’ve conducted transactions for other principals since I purchased my last residence.

OP (a 1st-time buyer?) clearly stated here that she was unhappy with her agent and intended to replace them if she doesn’t close this deal. She essentially stated that she wanted someone more aggressive (who would represent her better). And rightly so. She needs one, ESPecially if she is going to shop in semi-rural east county. There are are plenty of competent ones out there who are well-respected (even “feared”) and know well the “lay of the land.”

[bearishgurl]

[quote=HLS]BG wrote “I don’t think the DRE will even look into it unless she can prove she was somehow “damaged” by what the seller’s agent told her”

I completely disagree with this. MLS is intended to be an orderly market place.
Imagine if everybody listed properties for 20% less than they had any intention of selling the property for.
(expecting offers of 25% more than the listing price)

It would be mass chaos with hundreds/thousands of agents & buyers scrambling to look at properties, wasting everyone’s time.
Most agents don’t call listing agent to discuss specifics. They spend several hours showing a property and have to prepare a 20 page offer. NOT OK.

Agent has been licensed for 2 years, currently with Coldwell Banker. I would also contact Coldwell Banker corporate and let them know how disgusted I was about this.
Agent listed this at $299,900 so anyone searching up to $300,000 would see the property. Misleading.

There are penalties for abusing the MLS system. I’m not the one who decides or enforces them, but this is blatant misrepresentation. It’s not a court case where one needs to prove damages. It’s unethical and I think the BRE may have an issue with it.
OP’s agent should file a complaint with the board as well as every other agent who takes a buyer to look at the property thinking it’s available for sale in the $300K range, only to be told offers will be considered above $375K .
This is NOT OK.[/quote]I completely agree with you here, HLS. I’ve seen a lot of properties listed with a “value range” asking price which exceeded $75K between the lowest and highest price point at which the seller will “entertain” offers. However, those properties were more “mainstream” (usually move-up homes) and not an obvious cosmetically-flipped “starter home,” as svelte as just shown us. (Thanks for posting the 2011 “street view,” svelte. It is exactly as I had imagined it would be, including its 2-tiered lot, which is common in Lakeside).

If I was representing the buyer in this case, I myself would likely call the listing agent to ask why the last two escrows on the property fell out of escrow (a week apart) and demand to see any inspection/engineering reports paid for by former buyer principals PRIOR to placing an offer for my client. An honest, ethical experienced listing agent would provide them up front or even leave them in a binder on the kitchen counter for prospective buyers to look at when when are shown the property by their agent (since it was vacant, a buyer’s agent didn’t need to make an appt to show it). I agree that it is a waste of everyone’s time to go back and forth with an offer, get it accepted and open escrow only to find out the active listing has flaws (which could have been disclosed up front) which are a deal-killer. By that time, the buyer has often spent a few hundred to a thousand dollars on an inspection rpt, engineering rpt and/or appraisal.

For example, I’ve viewed dozens of engineering reports by fax of cracked (and signed-off, repaired) foundation slabs l-o-o-ong before I ever considered placing an offer for a client on a particular listing. I knew to ask for them because of obvious tell-tale signs while previewing the property as well as the lot’s location on a notorious street for foundation problems. This is because I was highly-familiar with the areas I was working in.

OP’s agent doesn’t sound like he/she was.

I just don’t honestly think the BRE (fka DRE) will investigate this. But it doesn’t cost anything to file a complaint and would likely deter this agent from egregiously mis-pricing any future listings in the MLS. Theoretically (it wouldn’t happen here, though), this listing agent could list this property for $300K and an all cash buyer could offer $375K, which sellers will, of course accept over OP’s offer which needed financing and thus was subject to an appraisal.

[recordsclerk]

This is a typical flip. Seller initially listed at market price. Got two buyers, both fell out. Listing got dated, so the dramatic price reduction. Got some buyers exited about the price, got multiple offers. Offers came in at 375k or higher. Agent representing buyer stating make offer at 375K or higher. What is wrong with any of the above. 5K credit for landscape is typical. Buyers (FHA, VA) want completely move in ready houses and don’t have the money to do improvements. This is a service provided for this type of buyer. Allows buyer to have money for landscape that is rolled into loan. VA loan requires seller to pay extra closing costs, seller doesn’t want to pay those fees. VA offers need to come in about 10K higher than FHA to net the same for seller. If there is something seriously wrong with the house during inspection, then pass. This is how it works. If you want a cash price, then save up the money and pay cash. If you want to use VA and have the home move in ready, then this is the way it works. Look for what fits for your family. I’m not advocating to buy or not to buy, just stating the facts.
My neighbor’s roommate was home searching in 2009 and using VA. Didn’t like anything she saw and didn’t want a flip. Ending up not buying. Had the attitude that people paying cash are getting the good deals and wanted the same, but didn’t have the money. In hindsight she made a mistake. Today’s market is totally different, but the same rules apply.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=recordsclerk]This is a typical flip. Seller initially listed at market price. Got two buyers, both fell out. Listing got dated, so the dramatic price reduction. Got some buyers exited about the price, got multiple offers. Offers came in at 375k or higher. Agent representing buyer stating make offer at 375K or higher. What is wrong with any of the above. 5K credit for landscape is typical. Buyers (FHA, VA) want completely move in ready houses and don’t have the money to do improvements. This is a service provided for this type of buyer. Allows buyer to have money for landscape that is rolled into loan. VA loan requires seller to pay extra closing costs, seller doesn’t want to pay those fees. VA offers need to come in about 10K higher than FHA to net the same for seller. If there is something seriously wrong with the house during inspection, then pass. This is how it works. If you want a cash price, then save up the money and pay cash. If you want to use VA and have the home move in ready, then this is the way it works. Look for what fits for your family. I’m not advocating to buy or not to buy, just stating the facts.
My neighbor’s roommate was home searching in 2009 and using VA. Didn’t like anything she saw and didn’t want a flip. Ending up not buying. Had the attitude that people paying cash are getting the good deals and wanted the same, but didn’t have the money. In hindsight she made a mistake. Today’s market is totally different, but the same rules apply.[/quote]Excellent post, recordsclerk.

I didn’t address the issue of OP using a VA loan or the VA funding fee because I was unclear if she was actually using VA. She stated that her spouse was “eligible” for one but not sure their offer was a VA offer … or VA No-No offer.

[svelte]

[quote=sdgrrl]Hi svelte,

I hope you are well. Back when I first joined I remember you as part of the community.

When I was a newbie the market hadn’t crashed yet and George W was President. We were all part of the crowd who saw what was coming. I remember realtors hopping in on the threads saying we had no idea what we were talking about. Ahh, the good ole’ days.

I was definitely part of the high strung political crowd and my demeanor and others is something I learned from. Don’t post like you know everything.

Thank you for weighing in. [/quote]

Any time. Glad to have you back.

[quote=sdgrrl]

I do like the house though and it isn’t at our cap price.

[/quote]

Well if you’re anything like us, we start shopping in one price range and end up buying one range up. A case of our wants always being bigger than our original budget, I guess.

[quote=sdgrrl]

Not sure what you will think of this, but I countered at $385k with the seller paying the closing cost. There is one other buyer they are accepting offers from. Of course I can’t read their minds, but I imagine it being something similar- who knows.

[/quote]

Since I’m not currently shopping, I’m not very in tune with the market, so I really have no opinion on your offer. You and your fiancé know what makes you happiest, what you can afford, and what you’re looking for.

Enjoy the ride as much as the destination…again, glad to have you back.

[sdgrrl]

[quote=HLS]If Svelte is correct that it has fallen out of escrow twice,
you need to try to find out why.
As a Realtor, representing the buyer, I would be a pit bull.
As a mortgage broker, I find it odd that the property fell out of escrow twice in a short period of time; It’s not likely that 2 different buyers had their loans rejected in such a short period of time.

Inspections by good inspectors are done quickly. The guy I use usually finishes his report within 12 hours of inspection.
It’s possible that 2 buyers cancelled because of their inspection, not their loan. It takes much longer to get through the loan app, file set-up and in front of an underwriter, especially right now as underwriters are swamped.

A buyer is not obligated to provide the inspection report to the seller, and buyer can back out for ANY reason.
Seller cannot back out or cancel transaction.

IF the inspection report was provided to seller through the listing agent, they can no longer ignore/pretend not to be aware of any defects/problems/items that need attention.
Disclosures & transfer statement must address these items clearly. Even if it was a rental property, seller can no longer say that “We didn’t live there, not aware of any problems”

If you proceed and ever found out that they knew things that were
not disclosed to you, you would have a strong lawsuit against seller, listing agent and/or listing agent’s broker.

They can play games with listing price, they can lie about having other offers. they CANNOT lie/mislead about known problems without possible severe consequences.

Your agent should be telling you ALL this and putting pressure on the listing agent to disclose why it fell out of escrow twice.
It’s sad if you have to ask you agent to do this.
That’s mediocre service at best, which is all most agents offer.[/quote]

Hi HLS,

Very good to know about the seller’s own inspection and action I can take if they hide items which need repair. Our agent heard from the listing agent and the home was built in the 40s. So its almost an 80 year old home and no repairs. Again we love the home, but I’m also not going to be someone’s b*tch. Sorry for the language, but that is the only thing that came to mind.

We are growing weary of our agent. I don’t think she has it in her to really fight fair, but be a shark when she needs to. We have already discussed if this deal falls though we will go with another agent. Who knows, maybe we come back after working with someone else.

“They can play games with listing price, they can lie about having other offers.”

That is my hunch as well. I asked my realtor today why they only chose us and one other buyer. We aren’t special, I just think our offer was high.

I told my agent today if they don’t pay for the closing cost we are out. We are paying way over the listing price. We will see what happens.

[sdgrrl]

[quote=svelte]One more thing: this house is definitely a flip.

I assume it looked like what is shown in street view when they bought it:

https://www.google.com/maps/@32.8339581,-116.9404936,3a,75y,91.09h,81.26t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1stXqNhwwWC_RPVeOVAAU4uA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1

Holy Moly,

Another thing the seller has said a few times is they want a strong buyer who loves the home “and isn’t afraid of their own shadow.”

I take this as “you will not like what repairs need to occur. We hope you love the home enough that you don’t mind us completely taking advantage of the situation.”

[sdgrrl]

Hi BG,

You are right and wrong about GenX/Millennials. I will be 40 this year and GenX spans 35-50. Long range.

Millennials range from 18-34. The generations span time.

I’m not being sarcastic, that it is too bad your kids have a sense of entitlement. I remember that emotion, and many out grow it and I hope they do too. I realized what my father had told me time after time “Life isn’t fair.”

[thejard]

Just bought for the first time. Needed <350K detached house, 3/2

Couldn't get it. Just not doable in the current market. Under 500k super hot.

Townhouse....settled. But happy (other than piss poor now lol). 303K

Just putting some random 1.2¢. I feel your pain.

But...will housing really get much cheaper than it is now? Maybe, but doubt that it will be much cheaper. Yes house prices can go down, but they will eventually go up.

I just had to get in the game... however, it was right for us. If it'sright for you then I say get what you can. If not, save 'n wait.

[sdgrrl]

Hi thejard,

The home being under $400k is what draws me in. I do like the area and the house is ‘nice’. We will see what rears its head when we see our inspection report. I looked on realtor.com and entered in our specs and there were 107 properties. For a city our size that is a pittance.

My guy finally budged on buying a condo/townhome, but we have to have privacy and not have windows facing our back area. We are wanting this as a favor to our neighbors. My fiance smokes cigars and they are hardcore. Like smoking 10 cigarettes at once.

[ucodegen]

[quote=svelte]One more thing: this house is definitely a flip.

It was bought in Nov 2015 for $250K, they are now asking $125k more than that.

I assume it looked like what is shown in street view when they bought it:

https://www.google.com/maps/@32.8339581,-116.9404936,3a,75y,91.09h,81.26t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1stXqNhwwWC_RPVeOVAAU4uA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1

A flip doesn’t bother me per se, but its worth noting the upgrades were probably made with the intention of resale, not necessarily to the quality of someone who planned on living there long term.[/quote]
I second this.. found exactly the same thing. It does make me a bit suspicious. Strange that there is a new-ish conex outside of the house. Street view is from Jun 2011.

With the price listed $299k and only entertaining offers over $375k.. I am suspicious that the realtor may not be an independent party and may have been party to the flip itself. Caveat Emptor – do the due diligence and trust no realtor. There are some good ones and then there are ‘others’ who are willing to screw over their client in a heartbeat.

NOTE: In the pictures on street view, there are horses on the neighbors property.. be aware of the effect of wind and smell.

[Author]

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