Real Estate Advice

[Christine]

Thought maybe some of you DISers might have more experience in this area. I just would like an opinion on the agent we used to list the house.

This house was my FIL's house. He passed away earlier this year and the house immediately went to ownership by my DH and his two siblings. They found a local agent and listed the house.

Within the first week, we got an offer (lowball) and we declined it at the urging of the agent. We had other people looking so not in a hurry to take whatever.

The people who made the offer came back a few days later and put in another offer (higher than the list price and ask that we pay their closing costs).

We agreed to the terms.

During the inspection, it was found that the roof didn't have a lot of life left in it and that the VA would not provide a loan to the buyers without a new roof. So, we paid approximately $9,000 for a new roof. During all that process, our agent was trying really hard to get us to buy the buyers a better roof and to allow them to pick out the color shingles THEY wanted. We said no to any upgraded shingles and we were also wanted to pick the shingles out. The main reason was that if the deal fell through and they had picked some awful shingle color, we might get stuck with a poor choice. Then we later found out that the buyers never asked to pick out this stuff...it was the realtor all along.

There's been a few small incidences where our agent seems to be working for the buyer.

Today was another. Or maybe not and it's just the way it is. This particular home is heated with oil. There are tanks and regular fill ups. We had the home tanks filled up recently on the usual quarterly check. It's not cheap. I realize it is a sunk cost. My husband feels like we've paid enough and he should get a credit at settlement for the fuel. The realtor was like "well, we didn't address that in contract...blah blah blah."

Honestly it's not overly about the money. I think my DH has just had it with this agent who seems not to be looking out for our best interests after the contract we let.

Is there any sort of recourse. And I don't even know what I mean by that. We certainly aren't going to sue or do anything even close to that, but he is just really annoyed with her service. I guess maybe nothing more than a bad Yelp review?

 

[gwynne]

I can see where you are frustrated, buy honestly I'd move on. I would not leave bad online reviews.

 

[Searc]

Thought maybe some of you DISers might have more experience in this area. I just would like an opinion on the agent we used to list the house.

This house was my FIL's house. He passed away earlier this year and the house immediately went to ownership by my DH and his two siblings. They found a local agent and listed the house.

Within the first week, we got an offer (lowball) and we declined it at the urging of the agent. We had other people looking so not in a hurry to take whatever.

The people who made the offer came back a few days later and put in another offer (higher than the list price and ask that we pay their closing costs).

We agreed to the terms.

During the inspection, it was found that the roof didn't have a lot of life left in it and that the VA would not provide a loan to the buyers without a new roof. So, we paid approximately $9,000 for a new roof. During all that process, our agent was trying really hard to get us to buy the buyers a better roof and to allow them to pick out the color shingles THEY wanted. We said no to any upgraded shingles and we were also wanted to pick the shingles out. The main reason was that if the deal fell through and they had picked some awful shingle color, we might get stuck with a poor choice. Then we later found out that the buyers never asked to pick out this stuff...it was the realtor all along.

There's been a few small incidences where our agent seems to be working for the buyer.

Today was another. Or maybe not and it's just the way it is. This particular home is heated with oil. There are tanks and regular fill ups. We had the home tanks filled up recently on the usual quarterly check. It's not cheap. I realize it is a sunk cost. My husband feels like we've paid enough and he should get a credit at settlement for the fuel. The realtor was like "well, we didn't address that in contract...blah blah blah."

Honestly it's not overly about the money. I think my DH has just had it with this agent who seems not to be looking out for our best interests after the contract we let.

Is there any sort of recourse. And I don't even know what I mean by that. We certainly aren't going to sue or do anything even close to that, but he is just really annoyed with her service. I guess maybe nothing more than a bad Yelp review?

When we purchased our cabin a few years ago, we had to pay the sellers for the propane in the tank in the yard. I thought that was utter bs and considered it part of the selling price, not an additional cost. Our realtor was working for the buyers (she was the listing agent) not us, and was shady, too.

We talk about our terrible realtor all over the town she does business in, to anyone that asks (and some that don't ). Seems our experience wasn't that unusual with her. Other than that, we really didn't have any recourse, unfortunately.

 

[John VN]

As far as "recourse", read your signed contract since the terms that are binding are stated within ---- or maybe not if not an Iron Clad well written contract. If listing agent is also buyers agent, ????? as mentioned above.

 

[clutter]

Maybe you could send a letter to her broker. A good reminder that she is working for YOU, not the buyer.

I would also consider saying, when she presented this stuff, "aren't you working our our behalf?"

 

[lifesavacation]

It sounds like your agent is just trying to close the deal rather than getting her clients the “best” deal. I wouldn’t worry about recourse other than telling people if they ask for a realtor recommendation. It’s not worth it, IMHO.

Sorry about your FIL.

 

[Christine]

As far as "recourse", read your signed contract since the terms that are binding are stated within ---- or maybe not if not an Iron Clad well written contract. If listing agent is also buyers agent, ????? as mentioned above.

No the buyers have their own agent, who doesn't seem to ask for a thing!

 

[Christine]

Maybe you could send a letter to her broker. A good reminder that she is working for YOU, not the buyer.

I would also consider saying, when she presented this stuff, "aren't you working our our behalf?"

That's probably a good idea (going to the broker).

My own father used to be a realtor many years ago and I know he would not have done any of these things to people who listed with him.

 

[Christine]

It sounds like your agent is just trying to close the deal rather than getting her clients the “best” deal. I wouldn’t worry about recourse other than telling people if they ask for a realtor recommendation. It’s not worth it, IMHO.

Sorry about your FIL.

Agree. My DH and he siblings are just so angry with her right now.

 

[RamblingMad]

I’m trying to sell a house now. It’s a horrible process.

 

[Christine]

I’m trying to sell a house now. It’s a horrible process.

It's been well over 20 years since I sold a house and I don't remember it being like this. Granted, I had a longstanding relationship with my listing agent that went beyond just real estate and they definitely represented all of MY interests.

When I go to sell my own house, I think I'll be much better prepared to deal with this after taking for granted that she was looking out for our interests. It's clear now that she had a real soft spot for the buyers and wanted things to go their way.

 

[RamblingMad]

It's been well over 20 years since I sold a house and I don't remember it being like this. Granted, I had a longstanding relationship with my listing agent that went beyond just real estate and they definitely represented all of MY interests.

When I go to sell my own house, I think I'll be much better prepared to deal with this after taking for granted that she was looking out for our interests. It's clear now that she had a real soft spot for the buyers and wanted things to go their way.

The listing agents want you to throw money at the house, so that they can sell it as quickly as possible and move on to the next home. They get paid a commission, so the faster they turn over homes the more they make.

 

[SteveH]

I know its frustrating but honestly move on as quick as you can and don't let it eat at you. I assume the cost for oil etc will be settled between the siblings. I agree with your call on the roofing, is the agent representing both do both agents work for the same company?

When my father passed my brother was the one involved with the agent the most, though I had final finical control. He was starting to irritate the agent with all of his nit picky details. I just wanted to get the house sold as soon as possible.

 

[Christine]

I know its frustrating but honestly move on as quick as you can and don't let it eat at you. I assume the cost for oil etc will be settled between the siblings. I agree with your call on the roofing, is the agent representing both do both agents work for the same company?

When my father passed my brother was the one involved with the agent the most, though I had final finical control. He was starting to irritate the agent with all of his nit picky details. I just wanted to get the house sold as soon as possible.

My DH is local so he's been dealing with the agent the most and she's finally driven him crazy and he now refers her over to his sister who is out of state because he's afraid he'll yell at her.

I think my husband felt that since the oil was like some of the other 'utilities' the estate would get a credit back for the oil. The answer was probably "no" but his agent was like "oh just give it to them."

Settlement is this week. I just got a look at the settlement sheet and was amazed at all the things we "gave" to this buyer. Not sure if my DH and his siblings read the contract well enough or not. They were pushed to provide closing costs for the buyer but somehow the realtor could never really tell them how much the closing costs were going to be. She just pushed, pushed, pushed everything for them.

Got the settlement sheet this week. House price was upped $4K to cover closing. The closing costs were roughly $10,000 (not including commissions). Of course, upping the price helped her commission also. Roof came in at $9K, so not overly thrilled with how this played out, although I do think, honestly, we were responsible for the roof.

 

[gillep]

It sounds like your agent is just trying to close the deal rather than getting her clients the “best” deal. I wouldn’t worry about recourse other than telling people if they ask for a realtor recommendation. It’s not worth it, IMHO.

Sorry about your FIL.

I completely agree with this. We have sold two houses, I remember with our first one we had an inspection item come up that we had to fix for their financing and we went back and re-negotiated closing costs so that the cost of the fix was distributed between us and the buyer, I remember we went back and forth a few times until we reached the final numbers, this was at the recommendation of our agent. There were other times that we were told to 'just go with it' and not quibble as they were less impact to our bottom line and I appreciated that our agent was able to guide us regarding these different types of circumstances and the best way to approach each.

 

[Christine]

I completely agree with this. We have sold two houses, I remember with our first one we had an inspection item come up that we had to fix for their financing and we went back and re-negotiated closing costs so that the cost of the fix was distributed between us and the buyer, I remember we went back and forth a few times until we reached the final numbers, this was at the recommendation of our agent. There were other times that we were told to 'just go with it' and not quibble as they were less impact to our bottom line and I appreciated that our agent was able to guide us regarding these different types of circumstances and the best way to approach each.

You see, that's what they were looking for....and didn't get.

 

[lanejudy]

At our closing, any taxes and utilities that were paid in advance -- like quarterly billing or budget billing -- had to be reconciled for the closing, which adjusted the closing costs. The initial contract has estimated closing costs. There should be copies of all tax and utility bills for which the accounts get transferred. Final closing costs are usually calculated just a few days prior to closing.

Good luck!

 

[Christine]

At our closing, any taxes and utilities that were paid in advance -- like quarterly billing or budget billing -- had to be reconciled for the closing, which adjusted the closing costs. The initial contract has estimated closing costs. There should be copies of all tax and utility bills for which the accounts get transferred. Final closing costs are usually calculated just a few days prior to closing.

Good luck!

We had no estimated closing costs. Unfortunately, we are not in position of any utility bills as they were in my FIL's names and we don't have them.

I don't really think anything was done properly. Closing is tomorrow so we've got all the final numbers.

 

[NYCgrrl]

If no agreement can or has been made after the contract has been signed I'd have the tank drained by the oil company.
Easy to do especially since as I understand it the tank was refilled after the father's passing.
I prefer not to do major work prior to a sale but to each their own thoughts on this.

 

[mnrose]

The closing cost thing is fairly typical. The reason buyers do it is because they can build those costs into their mortgage and it's less cash they need to find at closing. Your agent SHOULD have been able to give you an accurate estimate (within a thousand or two) at that time. Every single closing cost is something readily determined based on the agreed sales price. Fixing the roof is likely on you....however, the pricing probably would have been different had you been able to say at the outset "brand new roof." Your agent suggesting that the buyers pick the color was fine...and you were well within your rights to say NO! No harm in asking, but there should be no pressure in that regard. An "upgraded" shingle was a ridiculous request from the agent (or the buyer for that matter unless accompanied by a check to pay for the upgrades). As for the fuel oil, any agent worth his/her salt would have identified that issue at the time of listing or at the very least when negotiating the offer. The failure to do so is on the agent. Unfortunately, other than demanding that the realtor take that cost out of HER commission for failing to be on the ball, there's not much you can do. She is correct that because it is not in the contract, it's too late to ask now, and it would be "deemed" to be something in the house that would have to stay. I might leave a review myself. These are mistakes that the next sellers would want to know about.