Fidelity Real Estate Resales Back on The Market

[TinkAgainU]

I've noticed, where www.fidelityrealestate.com used to be the "king" of reselling small contracts (often at perceived lower prices) a few of their contracts seem to go in and out of escrow over and over lately.

Could it be the BUYERS are finally getting more savvy? The $250 Fidelity tacks on to the buyer's side for a "service fee" the other brokers do not have, plus they are insanely pushy (at least my agent was) about using their own "affiliated" escrow/title for more than the industry average of closing costs per transaction, and last but the BIGGIE for us -- their purchase contact that states the ENTIRE DEPOSIT is non refundable PLUS the buyer would owe the full seller's Commission (amount unstated?) if they cancel for any reason after the 10 day period...

This has to make Fidelity the worst broker in our opinion, and the fact Disney seems to refer sellers to them is nearly mind-boggling. Is Disney somehow getting a cut for these referrals? Otherwise, referring sellers to arguably the worst brokerage for buyers seems odd other than the fact it makes their Direct sales look even better.

P.S. I know it looks like I work for a competing brokerage (I do not, and don't have any family or friends who do lol) -- I just HATE the idea there is a Brokerage blatantly padding sales and adding what I think are sneaky terms in their contracts for buyers!

 

[WinterSolider]

I've noticed, where www.fidelityrealestate.com used to be the "king" of reselling small contracts (often at perceived lower prices) a few of their contracts seem to go in and out of escrow over and over lately.

Could it be the BUYERS are finally getting more savvy? The $250 Fidelity tacks on to the buyer's side for a "service fee" the other brokers do not have, plus they are insanely pushy (at least my agent was) about using their own "affiliated" escrow/title for more than the industry average of closing costs per transaction, and last but the BIGGIE for us -- their purchase contact that states the ENTIRE DEPOSIT is non refundable PLUS the buyer would owe the full seller's Commission (amount unstated?) if they cancel for any reason after the 10 day period...

This has to make Fidelity the worst broker in our opinion, and the fact Disney seems to refer sellers to them is nearly mind-boggling. Is Disney somehow getting a cut for these referrals? Otherwise, referring sellers to arguably the worst brokerage for buyers seems odd other than the fact it makes their Direct sales look even better.

P.S. I know it looks like I work for a competing brokerage (I do not, and don't have any family or friends who do lol) -- I just HATE the idea there is a Brokerage blatantly padding sales and adding what I think are sneaky terms in their contracts for buyers!

A fee that's very clearly disclosed isn't sneaky.

Don't sign a contract without reading it.

I've bought from Fidelity 3 times and every time I negotiated either a waiver of the fee or that the seller had to pay it.

Everything is negotiable, always.

 

[MICKIMINI]

We've bought many contracts from them in the past and the only good thing is those contracts were CHEAP. It sounds like buyers may be trying to finance and getting rejected, with contracts landing on their website once again. Those are steep penalties, but anyone buying a time share has to have the "buyer beware" attitude.

 

[CWTC]

Our most recent resale was from fidelity. Yes there is the fee but they are up front about it - so I’m not sure why that would be considered sneaky. The cost savings more than made up for the fee - the contract was listed at 120$ per point for BLT and we got it for 110$ per point (400 points). The next lowest at another company was 140$ per point. It was our fastest resale contract ever - 48 days from start to finish. We were very happy with them!

 

[TinkAgainU]

A fee that's very clearly disclosed isn't sneaky.

Don't sign a contract without reading it.

I've bought from Fidelity 3 times and every time I negotiated either a waiver of the fee or that the seller had to pay it.

Everything is negotiable, always.

It is sneaky if it is not disclosed until the negotiations are completed. There is no "legitimate" reason not to disclose it on the website before you click the button "Make Offer" on the Details page for the specific contract. And if NO other broker charges that same fee, why would buyers even know to "negotiate" it. Same with the inflated Closing Costs -- if they are not disclosed upfront.

My point was they seem to have a lot of contracts "falling out" after offers were accepted, and I actually hope it is because BUYERS ARE READING THOSE NASTY CONTRACTS. You are welcome to feel differently about your, obviously, well negotiated, deals

P.S. Someone mentioned buyers may not be qualifying for financing, at 10-12% interest financing, I'm guessing "breathing" would qualify Most buyers lol. But yes, that could happen too.

 

[CWTC]

I don’t want to argue or debate but for a future DIS’er who finds this post…I want to be clear that the admin fee was clearly disclosed to us before they presented our offer to the seller.

I also did not find the contract “nasty” - like a previous poster mentioned, read the contract prior to signing it and if it is not acceptable then do not sign.

Again we were very happy with fidelity’s responsiveness and efficiency. We would absolutely use them again.

 

[Genie+]

their purchase contact that states the ENTIRE DEPOSIT is non refundable PLUS the buyer would owe the full seller's Commission (amount unstated?) if they cancel for any reason after the 10 day period...

I thought this was standard for DVC resale in general. I don’t have much experience though. How is Fidelity different in this regard?

 

[StarCruzer]

We bought from them six years ago and they were pretty upfront about the fee. The only thing that was a little shady was our agent tried to talk us out of asking for a price lower than what was listed. The were fine with us asking for a price comparison with two other title agencies, which we provided to them.

However, we also bought our points with straight cash (technically, put it all on a credit card then paid that off immediately with cash for the points). Not sure how much of a difference it makes.

 

[TinkAgainU]

I thought this was standard for DVC resale in general. I don’t have much experience though. How is Fidelity different in this regard?

Yes, the deposit forfeit is very standard - although the AMOUNT of the required deposit varies from Broker to Broker and deal to deal. I know Brokers typically act like (at least) 10% is the norm, but it's negotiable, of course. My particular Fidelity Agent acted like far higher than 10% was expected. I went with 10% - and did close escrow

What is different is the Buyer ALSO paying the Seller's Commission as a penalty (I don't know what Fidelity charges, but assume 8-10%?) - that means if a Buyer put down a 10% deposit they could owe Fidelity 20% if they backed out after 10 days. (Also different is that $250 buyer service fee and possibly higher escrow fees). Some of that is negotiable, but the Purchase Agreement showing the buyer liable for Commissions is part of Fidelity's contract, so not a Buyer/Seller negotiation but rather a Buyer/Broker negotiation. I don't see many of those happening I think at that point the Buyer either accepts all the risk, or walks due to stress.

I know the obvious answer is to not back out, but I've seen everything from Job Loss to Death in the Family during an escrow, and the idea a Buyer ONLY WITH FIDELITY would have double the penalty - when the Commission ONLY goes to Fidelity, not the Seller for the time loss, seems particularly sad. I'll also mention, the idea the buyer's deposit goes non refundable BEFORE they know if they will even get the Contract (due to ROFR) is a bit stressful - to be clear, if you lose the Contract thru ROFR you would typically get ALL your funds back. I'm just saying the Buyer is fully committed long before they know they have a deal which can close. Stressful and probably why Disney Direct can get up to $100 more per point lol.

 

[Sprinkles&Sprints]

I don’t want to argue or debate but for a future DIS’er who finds this post…I want to be clear that the admin fee was clearly disclosed to us before they presented our offer to the seller.

I also did not find the contract “nasty” - like a previous poster mentioned, read the contract prior to signing it and if it is not acceptable then do not sign.

Again we were very happy with fidelity’s responsiveness and efficiency. We would absolutely use them again.

Seconding this. After I made the initial offer, the first email back from the broker disclosed the fee (which I negotiated to have the seller pay).

 

[disneylandtour]

I’ve had no problem with Fidelity. Bought four contracts through them. You can pick any title company you like. Fidelity removes listings quickly from its site once it has an accepted offer. Some other places let them linger a bit in hopes of getting a back up offer. Plus, wouldn’t you prefer to have a contract deal fall apart before you put in your offer??? Sellers can be a little more motivated to negotiate then.

 

[disneylandtour]

I’ve had no problem with Fidelity. Bought four contracts through them. You can pick any title company you like. Fidelity removes listings quickly from its site once it has an accepted offer. Some other places let them linger a bit in hopes of getting a back up offer. Plus, wouldn’t you prefer to have a contract deal fall apart before you put in your offer??? Sellers can be a little more motivated to negotiate then.

PS there are a couple problematic brokers out there, IMO Fidelity isn’t one of them.

 

[Sandisw]

Yes, the deposit forfeit is very standard - although the AMOUNT of the required deposit varies from Broker to Broker and deal to deal. I know Brokers typically act like (at least) 10% is the norm, but it's negotiable, of course. My particular Fidelity Agent acted like far higher than 10% was expected. I went with 10% - and did close escrow

What is different is the Buyer ALSO paying the Seller's Commission as a penalty (I don't know what Fidelity charges, but assume 8-10%?) - that means if a Buyer put down a 10% deposit they could owe Fidelity 20% if they backed out after 10 days. (Also different is that $250 buyer service fee and possibly higher escrow fees). Some of that is negotiable, but the Purchase Agreement showing the buyer liable for Commissions is part of Fidelity's contract, so not a Buyer/Seller negotiation but rather a Buyer/Broker negotiation. I don't see many of those happening I think at that point the Buyer either accepts all the risk, or walks due to stress.

I know the obvious answer is to not back out, but I've seen everything from Job Loss to Death in the Family during an escrow, and the idea a Buyer ONLY WITH FIDELITY would have double the penalty - when the Commission ONLY goes to Fidelity, not the Seller for the time loss, seems particularly sad. I'll also mention, the idea the buyer's deposit goes non refundable BEFORE THEY KNOW IF THEY WILL GET THE CONTRACT (due to ROFR) is a bit stressful - to be clear, if you lose the Contract thru ROFR you would typically get ALL your funds back. I'm just saying the Buyer is fully committed long before they know they have a deal which can close. Stress.

Do you know for sure that they don’t give the seller any of that commission money? I know some brokers, when there is a buyer who pulls out splits the deposit with them.

While it is different, buyers are aware of it all when they purchase and for some of the price differences, it’s probably worth it.

 

[lilsonicfan]

I went back to my emails and found that after I submitted an offer through the website, a Fidelity agent contacted me and asked if I would be willing to pay the closing costs and admin fee ($765 estimate) - this is before she submitted my offer to the seller. I don't find that particularly sneaky. Further, the closing costs + admin fee on my Fidelity contract were almost the exact same amount as "just" closing costs with DVC Resale Market (both contracts were the same in point size).

As for paying commission if you back out after 10 days - I would guess that it would be very hard for Fidelity to actually enforce this. I suppose they could try to sue you, but that seems like a waste of time. My guess is that it's a deterrent and that if there really were family/unforeseen circumstances, Fidelity would just go with a forfeited deposit and call it a day.

 

[TinkAgainU]

Do you know for sure that they don’t give the seller any of that commission money? I know some brokers, when there is a buyer who pulls out splits the deposit with them.

It states the deposit will be applied to processing fees (not specified what that means), then the balance to be split 50/50 between Seller and Broker - with that as Seller's sole remedy. It does not show the Seller getting any benefit from the ADDITIONAL commission money due. I think it would be interesting to note, Seller may not owe any commission on this transaction, depending on the wording of the Listing Agreement, so that would be another interesting document to read. Wording is a bit sloppy, but seems clear enough to me it is more penalizing to me as a Buyer than other Purchase Agreements I've seen

Here is that paragraph...

BUYER DEFAULT: If Buyer shall fail to perform its obligations under this Agreement to make full settlement in

accordance with the terms hereof, Buyer shall forfeit the Deposit as described in Paragraph 2. Escrow Agent shall

retain the any Costs to satisfy any transaction processing fees incurred prior to notification of such default and

thereafter shall deliver 50% of the Deposit to the listing Broker, and 50% the remaining Deposit to the Seller. The

receipt of 50% of the Deposit by Seller shall be Seller's sole and exclusive remedy in connection with any default

by Buyer under the terms of this Contract. Buyer also agrees upon Buyer default to pay the Broker the full

commission.​

 

[TinkAgainU]

P.S. TO BE CLEAR YA'LL. I have purchased with Fidelity in the past. A good deal is a good deal. I just feel the need once in a while to make sure the newbies know not all deals are what they appear on the surface. I keep saying read your contract, but I know for a fact, some of the agents will push Very hard for newbies to "go with the flow" when it is not always a smart move -- and it is important for those of us who have a bit more experience to share GOOD AND BAD lessons learned.

 

[MICKIMINI]

Your offer is just an offer and you are under no obligation to pay them anything until you have an agreement with the seller. Your offer should spell out any and all financial obligations, time for the seller to respond, who pays fees etc. You have a period of time to read over the contract and that is spelled out. Until you sign, they sign and money is paid it is not a contract, just an agreement.

 

[TheDailyMoo]

I'm just going to chime in that I in fact DID have a problem with Fidelity on my second contract but they did ultimately resolve it in my favor using the contract as a guide. As much as I was miffed back then, I would at this point for sure use them again as they did make things right. Now I do know the agents I would and wouldn't want to work with but that's a different story (Bonnie is great). All in all if I'm in this to get the cheapest contract possible...and who isn't...I'm looking to Fidelity first.

 

[sndral]

Based on what I’ve read I thought the highest priced closing company is the in house one pushed by the other big brokerage . In any event, buyer gets to choose the closing company & AFAIK Fidelity has no financial incentive to push any particular company.

 

[matt and beth]

We made an offer on a smaller 125 point contract and the fees were out of line. Ended up with a different broker that has significantly less fees.