Any Realtors... Need some insight... my friends realtor is really something else, she does not want to use her anymore... is she stuck - Update 6/15

[VandVsmama]

No one is claiming otherwise. It is just that when you are reviewing 15 offers to buy the first thing you do is throw out all of the contingent offers and then start the bidding war with the non contingent offers.

Wasn't it the OP's friend's agent who told the seller that if she bought a house with a cash offer, she couldn't get an inspection?

 

[HopperFan]

The woman sounds unprofessional, a bully and she is already stealing from her so she can't be trusted with her business.

First thing I would do is immediately change the locks on the house ... the woman is stealing from her and should not be allowed inside without the owner present.

I would then contact her broker and demand a new agent, and that the old agent not be permitted in my house.

If she is her own broker then I would call the Real Estate Board to file complaint and pull the house off the market waiting the duration of the contract plus some before relisting.

And no way I'm using her to buy a house.

 

[MillauFr]

Wasn't it the OP's friend's agent who told the seller that if she bought a house with a cash offer, she couldn't get an inspection?

The buyer can do anything and make any offer they want. The real estate agent might make statements that you can't do this or that but in reality you can do it. They are just trying to avoid having someone waste their time on making offers that they know will not be accepted.

 

[kymom99]

I wonder if she meant you could skip the inspection, rather than meaning you can’t get an inspection.

 

[LovesTimone]

OP here..

I wanted to update you all...

I talked to my friend and shared everything that everyone had to say. She wanted to Thank you all for the kind words...

Yesterday two of her sons ( she has 4 boys) came to lunch, and went over the contract. They talked everything over.

The contract was for 60 days, and it runs out on the last day of this month..

Her son contacted the broker and had a conversation with him, and let him know what was going on. The broker came to the house yesterday afternoon, and spoke to my friend and her one son and apologized for everything. He brought a very nice bottle of wine, and beautiful cheese plate.. To make things easier, they are going to let the contract run out, and another realtor will be showing the house if someone wants to see it, and it will not be relisted.

The broker said that things are starting to slow down some what, especially with house of this size, huge yard and price point... She asked him why did he think that they had not gotten the right offer... He said it pretty much the kitchen needs some updating... New counter tops, large sink, nice back splash, and new stainless steel appliance's would do the trick.. and if they wanted to create a laundry/mudroom... he said that a family with kids it would be important,... and just off the top of his head gave her a couple of ideas that she could do...

She told me last night that she is going to take the house off the market for a while. She is going to go ahead and update the kitchen and create a mudroom/ laundry room...

Then she is going to find a house that she loves first, buy it and then put that one up for sale... As far as financial, she is set and can easily afford to do this.

She did get some great news yesterday, her youngest son and his wife are expecting their first baby and they found out it's a boy and they are naming him after her husband...

I will say that we have bought, and sold a couple of house's, and even built a house... and for the most part all the realtors have been professional, and gotten the job done. I really was shocked at her behavior and how she conducted herself.

 

[clutter]

It sounds like the broker came through for her and gave her some good advice. In bigger houses like that, people tend to want it to be move in ready.

It also would be really smart for her to find where she is moving first. In most markets, smaller homes in good shape tend to go a lot faster. In fact - if she happens to get an offer this month, she should consider putting in a contingency that she can find a home of choice for herself. I had neighbors that sold their house and had to cancel because they couldn't find a house to move to.

 

[Orion Nebula]

Does taking your house off the market negate a contract with a company or do they have you locked in for a certain amount of time? I didn't think it was common either to use the same agent for selling / buying.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

She has the right to terminate her contract at any time if she's not happy or if she has changed her mind or for other circumstances. A good broker would want to stay in good standing and let it go at that. Obviously, this isn't the case with your friends agent. I'd fight fire with fire: Tell this agent you will be giving a formal complaint to her boss, state/county and board of realtors. I would also tell this agent you have notified the authorities and made out a report and if she's on your property, the police will be notified. I will also tell her you're also seeking legal counsel.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

My friend lost her DH 3 years ago... and has decided to sell her house which is really large home for just one person... 4 bed, office, 3 1/2 bath, 3 car garage, pool... and wants to way down size to something smaller like 2 or 3 bedroom, and alot less square footage.

So my friend had her house appraised... and the appraiser gave her a list of things that she might want to think about taking care off... Which she discussed with her sons, and they have over the last 2 years done quite a bit of the list, and she just had it reappraised and was really happy about the outcome..

She interviewed several realtors and picked one... who during the interview was very knowledgeable, listened, and told her how she was going to sell the house and help her find the perfect home... now not so much now is like a evil twin or something... in nut shell the whole thing....Well the whole thing has been a complete disaster... With the one she picked, she shows up unannounced, forgets to let her know when they are showing the house, or another realtor is bring a possible buyer... She leaves the doors on the house unlocked, all the lights on, drops the air down to like 65 degree's. Has even helped herself to bottled water, and even once a bottle of wine, my friends bottle of wine out of her fridge, and left dirty wine glasses on the counter... When she mentioned it to her she told her that's the cost of selling a house, setting the stage... due to not knowing when she or other realtors are coming, they have repeatedly set off the alarm system... and on and on the list goes... she wants to be informed, so she will not give out the alarm code, which I can not blame her, she lives alone...

When she is showing her other house's she has yet to show her one in the price range she wants to spend, and is not listening to her at all on what she is looking for... She asked me to come along with her to look at house's... The realtor was sooooo rude to me... and asked why I was there... to protect her?... as well my friend does not want a house with any stairs, and she wants a pool as she swims everyday... and when I went with her, while the homes were beautiful they are not what my friend wants... stairs in everyone of them, no pool in a couple, or need way to much work, and way beyond over the price she wants to spend, one house was 150,000 thousand over...

She actually told my friend that she know what she needs, and is trying to get her to buy something way over what she wants to spend, and actually said with what your going to get out of the house your in now, you can afford more... and I can make a bigger commission...and she said this in front of me... as well she told her to only look at her listing as she doesn't want to share/ split commission...and kinda laughs..

My friend is planning on paying cash, and the realtor told her with a cash sale that she could not get a home inspection... and offered her a friend card which is a mortgage broker...and said she gives the best gifts for referrals..

Yesterday, my friend called me crying... and she has decided to take the house off the market, after talking with one of her sons, she just can't take it anymore, and I feel like she is overwhelmed emotionally... and she said that the realtor basically told her... until her contract is over she is going to keeping showing it, and if they get a offer she will have to sell it... or if the contract runs out, and that if she put it back on the market with someone else, then she would make sure it never sells it... then laughed... and said kidding... now my friend is afraid that she will cause problem for her...

Does she have any recourse?

Curious....is this Century 21 by any chance?

 

[LovesTimone]

It sounds like the broker came through for her and gave her some good advice. In bigger houses like that, people tend to want it to be move in ready.

It also would be really smart for her to find where she is moving first. In most markets, smaller homes in good shape tend to go a lot faster. In fact - if she happens to get an offer this month, she should consider putting in a contingency that she can find a home of choice for herself. I had neighbors that sold their house and had to cancel because they couldn't find a house to move to.

This is what the Broker told her, that for this price point, people want to just move in and live, and since this a bigger family home for sure. She did mention that she thinks that she will wait till after the first of the year start looking for her retirement home... and that having a big family Christmas would be nice... and give the house a proper send off.

She is going to use the same contractor that did all the bathrooms,( they are beautifully done ) to do the kitchen, and laundry/mudroom...she has a huge... well really giant laundry room, and when her kids were all at home it was a catch all... it has a nice set up, there was a door from the garage into that space, that they closed up years ago... so it won't be anything to reopen it, her DH made like a mini work bench, area .. Her sons want her to put a access door to the outside/back yard, she thinks that when the house was built that originally there was one, there is a window on that wall now... so she said that its something that they will have to figure out..

 

[goofyernmost]

Has she read the contract she signed? That will tell how long the contract lasts, the services expected, etc.

That covers selling, but most do not cover buying. Or at least, it didn't in the past. But, as soon as the sell contract lasts she can opt out, but since some of the stuff is over and above what a realtor should do, complaining might get the job done as well. You can change your mind about selling, that option still exists.

 

[sam_gordon]

She has the right to terminate her contract at any time if she's not happy or if she has changed her mind or for other circumstances.

What's the point of the contract then?

 

[goofyernmost]

Does taking your house off the market negate a contract with a company or do they have you locked in for a certain amount of time? I didn't think it was common either to use the same agent for selling / buying.

No once the contract runs out or has been negated, it is done as far as that realtor is concerned. I found it very common that you use the same person for both and it gives them a major incentive to do a good job in both direction. Most houses are listed on shared MLS sites so that any realtor that is a member can show your house. But no matter, protocol is required. There is a right way to do this.

 

[cobright]

What's the point of the contract then?

The contract establishes exclusivity to that broker (not the individual agent, but that's another issue) so a seller doesn't have multiple agents doing a bunch of work then only one gets the sale.

 

[goofyernmost]

The contract establishes exclusivity to that broker (not the individual agent, but that's another issue) so a seller doesn't have multiple agents doing a bunch of work then only one gets the sale.

In my recollection, and this goes back a long way, there are two types of contracts. There is the listing contract and there is the exclusive listing contract. Neither one is a connection to just one salesperson. That would create a problem of corruption.

 

[sam_gordon]

The contract establishes exclusivity to that broker (not the individual agent, but that's another issue) so a seller doesn't have multiple agents doing a bunch of work then only one gets the sale.

But if one party has the right to end the contract at any time because they're "not happy" or "changes their mind", or "other circumstances", then there's no point in having the contract.

 

[cobright]

But if one party has the right to end the contract at any time because they're "not happy" or "changes their mind", or "other circumstances", then there's no point in having the contract.

Think of it like a marriage. A contract of sorts, for most people a marriage means a lot of things; near the top of the list is "forsaking all others". Granted, "as long as you both shall live" is usually in there as well but let's look at the promise of monogamy for now.

You promise, within the bounds of your marriage not to cheat, your spouse does the same and if you break that promise there is a great sense of betrayal. But from a legal standpoint it's usually fairly easy to end a marriage; after which point there is no more expectation of monogamy. In most cases I think people would agree that a divorce (not predicated on infidelity of course) may hurt but being cheated on hurts worse.

So one might argue the value of a marriage if it can be ended. There are benefits that come along with being married that end when one ends the marriage.

The reality is that all contracts can be ended. As I found out at the beginning of the pandemic when about a third of my large projects (architectural sculpture) were terminated in the later stages of completion. Insult to injury, many claimed force majeure and ducked final payments and termination clause fees. One 'client' ended up with a 1600lb bronze statue almost free because it would cost me too much to go take it back.

But even generally working, I'm usually contracted to provide unique designs that no other architect or builder will have and the moment a client ends a contract early I take every piece of metal in development and shop it out to other potential customers.

 

[jump00]

Wonderful news- thanks for the update!!

 

[Heather07438]

Sounds like the realtor is out of control. Your friend should make a bullet point list of stuff you outlined in the first post and send it to the company and CC’ing her direct boss. See how they respond. If threats are being made, the more paper trail the better.

 

[tzolkin]

I didn't think it was common either to use the same agent for selling / buying.

It's not recommended for both the buyer and seller (of the same house) to use the same agent.

I think most people who are happy with an agent would want to use them for all their real estate transactions both selling and buying. Of course, that only works if you are buying/selling in the same area not relocating to another city or state.