Why I FIRED my listing agent: My Listing was a Lemon!

[paramount]

[quote=bearishgurl]A first-time buyer (“FTB”) or “former homedebtor in recovery” could possibly get an accepted offer on a single family home in SD County for $350K to $400K. It may be smallish (1000-1400 sf) and may need a little work for habitability, but nonetheless, it is located in SD County vs. RIV County. There is a HUGE difference between the two counties (in the absence of considering age and condition of a SFR listing).

Just sayin ….[/quote]

The answer is simple: school districts. TVUSD was recently ranked as one of the best school districts in California.

#29 Temecula Valley Unified (nerdwallet)

There are relatively few school districts in San Diego county that can compare favorably to TVUSD. And for the ones that do, most can’t afford to live in the district.

It’s the sacrifice parents make to be in a high quality school district like TVUSD.

Not to mention the excellent athletic activities and numerous fields/parks that the city provides.

It’s a big part of the reason I rented my house for $1750 in 3 days.

[flyer]

Agree school district performance is a major determining factor when it comes to attracting buyers and tenants, and your post reminded me that a friend who has been researching the topic (for relocation purposes) recently sent me this info noting that Poway ranks 8th in the state, followed by Coronado and San Dieguito.

1
San Marino Unified School District
San Marino, CA
2
Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District
Palos Verdes Township, CA
3
Palo Alto Unified School District
Palo Alto, CA
4
Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District
Lexington Hills Township, CA
5
Acalanes Union High School District
Central Contra Costa Township, CA
6
Tamalpais Union High School District
Northwest Marin Township, CA
7
Irvine Unified School District
Irvine, CA
8
Poway Unified School District
San Diego, CA
9
Coronado Unified School District
Coronado, CA
10
Los Alamitos Unified School District
North Coast Township, CA
11
San Dieguito Union High School District
San Diego, CA
12
Arcadia Unified School District
Upper San Gabriel Valley Township, CA

[scaredyclassic]

Perhaps, but some of my kids’ teachers are just unbelievably dumb.

[bearishgurl]

Perhaps (for the parent demographic of tenant) but why don’t you list the exact public schools here which serve your rental house, paramount? As we all know, school quality varies wildly among schools in the same district.

What is the percentage of prospective tenants out there who are parents of school-age children?

And how much extra in monthly rent is a particular public school actually “worth” to a prospective tenant and will tenants actually overpay for a particular rental (all physical attributes about the property being equal to its competition) if its corresponding public school(s) are good.

It doesn’t sound like $1750 mo is actually a great deal of rent to collect for a 1500 sf SFR (putting you in the hole by at least $200 mo, not counting repairs, replacements and vacancies). That’s on the low end and just might get you a 2/1/1 1000-1100 sf SFR in Chula Vista, where the schools are very good, btw, and the avg teacher tenure likely far exceeds the avg tenure of teachers in a school district of a newer area (such as Temecula) by a landslide. Tenants seeking this level of rent in a SFR likely aren’t members the “educated professional set” themselves.

Teacher experience and competency means everything. These two attributes go hand in hand, no matter where the school district is or its supposed “reputation” (among the ignorant masses).

scaredy, as you may be aware, experience and tenure eliminates the “`dumbness’ factor” in public school teaching staff :=]

[poorgradstudent]

I haven’t sold, but a big part of your agent’s job is to facilitate the transaction. They need to be fully available during business hours to protential buyers in a way you as a person with a full time job can’t be.

They also should provide some good guidance on pricing, although ultimately the price is set by you the seller. I’ve been to enough open houses where once the person showing the home has figured out you’re not remotely interested they become pretty open about the fact the price is too high and will likely be dropping soon.

I do agree that sometimes traits that I find personally grating in social contacts actually make someone better at sales. I like associating with people who are laid back and mellow, but for a realtor you want a shark, someone who is hungry and eager to close the sale, and not afraid to get a little pushy and beligerant if paperwork isn’t being processed quickly enough.

By the second open house that’s a pretty strong sign the price is too high, at least in this market. As buyers if a house had been on the market for more than ~21 days we kind of just assumed a price drop was on the way.

There are clearly some houses that are tricky to sell for fair market value. Some homes are very unique. Saw one once that was a beautiful home at a great price… and everything had been customized for the previous owner who was below five feet tall. This meant all the kitchens and bathrooms were too small, especially for tall guys like me.

Anyways, it does sound like you went with a discount agent and got what you paid for. If you want to sell quick you do have to compromise on cost/price.

[poorgradstudent]

[quote=paramount]And as mentioned by another pigg in the past, when the emotion of the bidding settles down and ‘cooler heads’ prevail – how many deals fall apart or never make it through escrow?

What happens when the house doesn’t appraise?[/quote]

For us it was 50% 🙂

First house had some major roof issues that came up in inspections and the seller wasn’t willing to credit us enough to make it worthwhile and we walked away. We closed on the second.

[CA renter]

[quote=paramount][quote=CA renter]If your house isn’t selling in a hot RE market like today’s, there is only ONE reason for it: your price is too high.

Never trust a Realtor to look out for your best interests, and don’t think that having a Realtor absolves you from doing your homework, I don’t care who the Realtor is. You must take charge and know what you are doing.

If you do the above, you can sell your house within a week, or less, if you price it correctly. Heck, ask one of our Pigg Realtors, maybe SDR, if they can help you or recommend someone.

I think you were right to try to sell it right now. This is a fantastic time to sell — you might even manage to sell it at/near a market peak. Not sure why you gave up so quickly and rented it out, instead. Might want to re-think that.

Good luck![/quote]

Thanks CAR for the comments.

I reluctantly decided to re-rent for these reasons:

1. Once the listing price was to high, I felt the listing was botched or as I noted a lemon.

2. I barely had any traffic and the heavy buying season was on it’s way out. If this all would have happened in April I would have kept it on the market knowing we were going into the buying season.

3. The house costs ~2k/month to carry when water, elec, etc..are factored in – maybe a little less. It was critical to get the price right from the start.

4. Given that the listing was a lemon, I wanted to get the property back on the rental market ASAP. After labor day it gets more and more difficult to rent or sell – at least that’s my impression.

I agree I have some responsibility, but I also depend on a realtor to provide competent advice. That didn’t happen.

And yes, this may end up costing even more in the long run. That’s why it’s so critical to hire a competent realtor.

The house is in very good/move-in condition. But it’s essentially a starter home.

First time buyers are a smaller and smaller share of the market – there are many more renters than 1st time buyers.

On top of that, millenial buyers IMO have very unrealistic expectations.[/quote]

Yikes…you’re in the hole every month. 🙁

Are you planning to put it on the market in late winter/early spring of 2016? Do you have a shorter-term lease with this tenant?

On the other hand, if you want to sell it sooner, you might be able to swing a deal with the tenant who might be more attached to the house and willing to pay a bit more in order to avoid having to move, etc. You could complete the transaction without a Realtor, in that case, and split the benefits of not paying the commissions between the buyer and seller. But do consider consulting with a RE attorney just to be sure that everything is in order.

I know of a few families who did this and everyone came out a winner. We even tried to buy our last rental, but the LL decided against it once they realized how much the price had fallen after the bubble burst.

[paramount]

[quote=CA renter]

Yikes…you’re in the hole every month. 🙁

Are you planning to put it on the market in late winter/early spring of 2016? Do you have a shorter-term lease with this tenant?

On the other hand, if you want to sell it sooner, you might be able to swing a deal with the tenant who might be more attached to the house and willing to pay a bit more in order to avoid having to move, etc. You could complete the transaction without a Realtor, in that case, and split the benefits of not paying the commissions between the buyer and seller. But do consider consulting with a RE attorney just to be sure that everything is in order.

I know of a few families who did this and everyone came out a winner. We even tried to buy our last rental, but the LL decided against it once they realized how much the price had fallen after the bubble burst.[/quote]

I might try some of those strategies.

It is a 1 year lease.

I refer to carrying costs as:

PITI
HOA
Elec
Water
Gas

For the purposes of selling the property.

As it is I’m doing a little better than breaking even.

[Author]

Posts