# How to Pick a Listing Real Estate Agent



## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

I have never thought very highly of listing agents. Aside from entering the information in MLS, answering a few questions, and presenting offers, they don't seem to do very much to market a property. In the past, I have almost always used discount brokers or flat fee brokers. I have even paid a fee to list in MLS and handled everything myself. 

The only discount program I found in this area didn't save enough to really make much difference. I found one good discount for this area, but I had to list my house through an agent about 50 miles away and the house would be listed in their MLS, not the local one.

So I thought I had a great plan worked out. I found the 3 local agents who had sold the most property this year and were highly rated. I checked to make sure these were single-family homes and not in a development. 

In thinking about it, if I interview the top 3 buyer's agents and choose one, would the other 2 be less likely to sell my property. It seems like human nature to think there might be some reluctance to push my property after I selected another agent.

So I have a revised plan. One of the top-selling agents works for a small firm, so I will interview her. The other 2 agents work for larger firms and I will interview the top listing agent at each of those firms. If I select one of those agents, I still should get the benefit of the buyer's agent working at that firm, without possibly upsetting the buyer's agent working at the other firm.

I'm sure someone will say I am overthinking this, but for a 6% commission, I'm going to look for every advantage I can. And yes, I know commissions are negotiable.

How have you selected listing agents and was it successful?


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

The best one I have used is a lovely older woman, mid 70s, still working because she loves the business.


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

I’d go with the agency that has a good history in the type of real estate you are selling then list with their top agent.


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## hiddensprings (Aug 6, 2009)

I sold real estate for a while and I think you are definitely going about it the right way. Interview the top agents! I would also suggest checking out what their current listings look like on the MLS/Zillow/etc. Some agents don't invest enough in selling your property. They take crappy pictures, don't provide enough information, and don't ask you enough questions to truly understand your property. When I listed a property, I hired a professional photographer, a drone pilot for aerial video, and made sure my listing description didn't sound like a canned description.


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

Agents that are top sellers for franchise Realty Companies typically have assistants doing most of the grunt work. They begin to generate sales based on name and marketing. That can be both good and bad.
I have seen people use an agency to sell their home and rarely saw anyone but the underlings.
The best results I have seen were by word of mouth where local sellers had good one on one contact and the experience was smooth. A realtor that lives in the area and has the time to call you, yet not because you are the only client.
Some of the problems I ran into was with a broker who had his own radio show and we have a 30 year personal/business relationship. The last deal was my last deal with him. Another was a botched closing by a close friend's mother, who was also a big name in the business.
I am sure you are aware there are a lot of nincompoops who will do little more than list the house for what you say, regardless of the market, stab a sign in the yard, take your voicemails and show up at closing for their check.


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## doozie (May 21, 2005)

Ours was chosen by going to an open house (we're nosey and I wanted to see a homes interior) we saw how she treated prospective buyers and presented the home, she was memorable, we took her card. 
We then looked into her website and contacted her when we wanted to sell.


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

GTX63 said:


> Agents that are top sellers for franchise Realty Companies typically have assistants doing most of the grunt work. They begin to generate sales based on name and marketing. That can be both good and bad.
> I have seen people use an agency to sell their home and rarely saw anyone but the underlings.
> The best results I have seen were by word of mouth where local sellers had good one on one contact and the experience was smooth. A realtor that lives in the area and has the time to call you, yet not because you are the only client.
> Some of the problems I ran into was with a broker who had his own radio show and we have a 30 year personal/business relationship. The last deal was my last deal with him. Another was a botched closing by a close friend's mother, who was also a big name in the business.
> I am sure you are aware there are a lot of nincompoops who will do little more than list the house for what you say, regardless of the market, stab a sign in the yard, take your voicemails and show up at closing for their check.


Those nincompoops aren’t going to be in the high sales group. I did hire an assistant for a while, she took care of what you call grunt work, but never got involved with the marketing of listings. During my years as an agent our office was #1 in the county and I was consistently the top agent, each and every year. My secret? Treating both my customers and clients fairly.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

Evons hubby said:


> I’d go with the agency that has a good history in the type of real estate you are selling then list with their top agent.


Of course. But top listing agent or selling agent?


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

MoonRiver said:


> Of course. But top listing agent or selling agent?


Selling of course. Anyone can write up a listing, but if your goal is to get it sold.....


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

I'm not bashing agents, just giving some perspective. I made my living working with RE agents for many years.
I knew of a very successful farmer who had a daughter. She wanted nothing to do with livestock and tractors. She got her RE license and he made some calls and got her in a well known agency working under their top sellers. Before long she was on her own. However she specialized in high end property. Not because she knew anything more than her own folks spread, but because she figured it was more money for less work. She didn't list anything under a half million (this was 25 years ago). Her monthly magazine featured her, a blonde haired blue eyed beauty, with her 4 assistants, also all blonde haired in matching business suits. She handled the initial meet and greets and the closing. Everything inbetween was someone else. That isn't someone I'd be interested in using, but godspeed to those who do.

By comparison, my friend was looking for land and a house near Alton Missouri some years ago, and stopped by a small office in town and just walked in. No phone call, no research. He told the gal what he was looking for and what he wanted to spend. She printed off the listing sheets put him in her truck and they spent 6 hours running the countryside. She worked hard for him and followed up on everything herself.
He bought a property thru her and referred her several times to some of his other buddies looking to relocate.
That is what I would look for in an agent.


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## The Paw (May 19, 2006)

Yes, you are WAY overthinking this. You have control over who you pick as the listing agent. Pick a good one that you think will market your property actively. Don't worry about the agents you don't pick. First off, the top agents focus on listings not working with specific buyers. So those unselected top ones would have to stumble across a potential buyer for your property. And secondly, if they have a buyer wanting to view or write on your property, they aren't going to turn their nose up at the 3% commission just because you didn't list with them. They will happily take that rather than zero.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

The Paw said:


> Yes, you are WAY overthinking this. You have control over who you pick as the listing agent. Pick a good one that you think will market your property actively. Don't worry about the agents you don't pick. First off, the top agents focus on listings not working with specific buyers. So those unselected top ones would have to stumble across a potential buyer for your property. And secondly, if they have a buyer wanting to view or write on your property, they aren't going to turn their nose up at the 3% commission just because you didn't list with them. They will happily take that rather than zero.


But agents have an incentive to sell property their firm lists.


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## The Paw (May 19, 2006)

MoonRiver said:


> But agents have an incentive to sell property their firm lists.


Do they though? I assumed it works there like it works here. The commission is split between the listing agent and the "buyer's agent" (i.e. the one who writes the offer). Each of those agents then splits his/her commission with their broker. 

The incentive is to try to be the agent who both lists and writes the offer, so you get both ends of the commission. The secondary incentive is if the broker is also the listing or writing agent, since they get both the broker's and agent's share, they have more room to discount commission to close a deal.

But for your average non-broker agent, I don't think he/she gets more of a commission if they sells a listing from another agent at their firm. 

I could be wrong though....


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

The Paw said:


> Do they though? I assumed it works there like it works here. The commission is split between the listing agent and the "buyer's agent" (i.e. the one who writes the offer). Each of those agents then splits his/her commission with their broker.
> 
> The incentive is to try to be the agent who both lists and writes the offer, so you get both ends of the commission. The secondary incentive is if the broker is also the listing or writing agent, since they get both the broker's and agent's share, they have more room to discount commission to close a deal.
> 
> ...


Someone more current than I am can add on, but if I own a real estate company, I want sales because that's real money. Listings are great, but until they sell, no money. Plus my company is compared to other companies based on revenue. So it is in my best interest to set up a split with my agents that is larger when they sell one of our listed properties.


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## frogmammy (Dec 8, 2004)

Just because an agent is "top" doesn't mean they're especially good, may just mean they have more hustle than others. Or may mean they only take the high paying listings.

Maybe you should just look for an agent who's hungry.

Mon


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

frogmammy said:


> Just because an agent is "top" doesn't mean they're especially good, may just mean they have more hustle than others. Or may mean they only take the high paying listings.
> 
> Maybe you should just look for an agent who's hungry.
> 
> Mon


Having more hustle than the others counts.... I’ve never heard of any agent that turned down a listing. Not even the fat sassy ones!


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## SLFarmMI (Feb 21, 2013)

I picked the listing agent who sold our house because he was the agent who listed the house next door to us. That house sold in a month and it was nothing special. He had multiple showings every day so he seemed like a go getter to me. I interviewed him in the street when he was on the way to his car after a showing at the neighbors.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

frogmammy said:


> Just because an agent is "top" doesn't mean they're especially good, may just mean they have more hustle than others. Or may mean they only take the high paying listings.
> 
> Maybe you should just look for an agent who's hungry.
> 
> Mon


I looked at the number of sales, not dollars sold. The top 3 agents I found are selling a little over 3 houses a month so far this year.


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

GTX63 said:


> I am sure you are aware there are a lot of nincompoops who will do little more than list the house for what you say, regardless of the market, stab a sign in the yard, take your voicemails and show up at closing for their check.


those kind aren’t around long. As to showing up at the closing for their check.... I hear that a lot from people who have no idea about What that agent did to bring the closing together. From my personal experience... lawyers never once prepared a deed correctly on their first try. I always proofread and had them corrected prior to closing day. Bankers never figured closing statements correctly... not ever! I proofed them and got them corrected prior to closing day. Surveyors had to be shown where the properties were, termite inspectors have to be scheduled, home inspections arranged and a myriad other details ironed out prior to closing. Then on closing day... yep, I collected my check. Prolly looked like that’s all I did.
during my spare time I worked on showing properties, dealt with newspaper ads, kept the website updated, drew plats of new listings, mailed out information to potential buyers, did my best to keep appraisers happy, irate neighbors under control and fresh coffee available.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

I changed my strategy a little. I called a top listing agent who works with a lot of top-selling agents. The list of properties she has listed that sold is impressive. I also called the top buying agent from another company.

I talked to both by phone and they both said they are getting many requests to view a new property as soon as it hits MLS. They have never seen this hot a market before. They are both coming by tomorrow. I hope the first one is done before the second one shows up.


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## doozie (May 21, 2005)

MoonRiver said:


> I changed my strategy a little. I called a top listing agent who works with a lot of top-selling agents. The list of properties she has listed that sold is impressive. I also called the top buying agent from another company.
> 
> I talked to both by phone and they both said they are getting many requests to view a new property as soon as it hits MLS. They have never seen this hot a market before. They are both coming by tomorrow. I hope the first one is done before the second one shows up.


It is a hot market in many areas.
Son just bought a home, they were outbid several times on several homes it was getting discouraging for them.
He's kinda mad they didn't do a serious look last year.
Nephew is currently looking for a high end home, he got outbid too and he has plenty of resources to play that game.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

doozie said:


> It is a hot market in many areas.
> Son just bought a home, they were outbid several times on several homes it was getting discouraging for them.
> He's kinda mad they didn't do a serious look last year.
> Nephew is currently looking for a high end home, he got outbid too and he has plenty of resources to play that game.


And 2 or 3 years from now, prices will fall dramatically.


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## robin416 (Dec 29, 2019)

Or maybe not. One of the things I noticed about my area is the lack of homes for sale. It's going to take having inventory out there for prices to drop.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

robin416 said:


> Or maybe not. One of the things I noticed about my area is the lack of homes for sale. It's going to take having inventory out there for prices to drop.


It's Covid-19 fallout. When the government stops pumping money into the system, things will get real again.


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## TripleD (Feb 12, 2011)

MoonRiver said:


> And 2 or 3 years from now, prices will fall dramatically.


I wish I could time the market ... I don't have a clue. A broker called me yesterday asking my opinion.


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## robin416 (Dec 29, 2019)

MoonRiver said:


> It's Covid-19 fallout. When the government stops pumping money into the system, things will get real again.


No, I've watched what's out there for years. I've seen a steady decline of single family homes. Places like mine with acreage is almost non existent and has been for a while now. And I don't live near a metro area.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

TripleD said:


> I wish I could time the market ... I don't have a clue. A broker called me yesterday asking my opinion.


It's easy. When I buy, you sell. When I sell, you buy. Three out of the last 4 houses I bought at the high or near high. 

We are probably looking at inflation and higher interest rates, especially if you are not a member of a government-protected group.


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## TripleD (Feb 12, 2011)

MoonRiver said:


> It's easy. When I buy, you sell. When I sell, you buy. Three out of the last 4 houses I bought at the high or near high.
> 
> We are probably looking at inflation and higher interest rates, especially if you are not a member of a government-protected group.


It's not easy. I've been doing it since I was 12. Haven't punched a time clock since 1988!


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

I just fired my agent on the Austin property. We hadn’t even gotten to listing it on the MLS. The renter was in the process of moving out.

The agent told me that his landscapers had started working in the yard, removing some ugly planting beds and replanting flowering stuff. He promised pictures on Monday. I went by on Tuesday after not receiving pictures. The old beds were still there.

When asked about the situation, the agent lied, made excuses, and then said that he didn’t tell me there were ongoing problems because he is a man. 

That did it.


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## robin416 (Dec 29, 2019)

Alice In TX/MO said:


> I just fired my agent on the Austin property. We hadn’t even gotten to listing it on the MLS. The renter was in the process of moving out.
> 
> The agent told me that his landscapers had started working in the yard, removing some ugly planting beds and replanting flowering stuff. He promised pictures on Monday. I went by on Tuesday after not receiving pictures. The old beds were still there.
> 
> ...


Oh boy. I'm not sure how calm I could have remained when confronted with what you found and the agent lying about it.


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

I wouldn't say I was calm. I did manage not to chew his ears off.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

We have a casino opening here in 2023. That seems to be what is fueling the market here as people try to figure out how they can make money off it. The agent said speculators are buying up property for B&Bs and AiRBnBs.


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## TripleD (Feb 12, 2011)

It's bad when a broker calls me asking for my opinion on comps. I like them though... Still too much insider junk going on. I'm not the biggest fish in the pond!!!


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

TripleD said:


> It's bad when a broker calls me asking for my opinion on comps. I like them though... Still too much insider junk going on. I'm not the biggest fish in the pond!!!


I told the agent I thought she was $15k too low. She took it well. I can't wait to see her written proposal.

The last 2 times I used an agent to sell my property, I got them to list much higher than their comps showed, and both times they sold for near what I was asking. They only look at the dollars and don't pay enough attention to motivators like landscaping, privacy, view out the window, curb appeal, etc. In my case, I have 2 acres out back I keep mowed and there are grape vines, some pecan trees, and some fruit trees. It looks like a park, but to the agents, they just write down 2 undeveloped acres.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

I can't figure out how much property I have. There was one amount of the original sales listing, and then the city/county has 2 different acreages for the 5 parcels. I ordered this to see if I can figure it out. Before someone recommends I get it surveyed, they are backed up about 2 months right now.


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

MoonRiver said:


> I can't figure out how much property I have. There was one amount of the original sales listing, and then the city/county has 2 different acreages for the 5 parcels. I ordered this to see if I can figure it out. Before someone recommends I get it surveyed, they are backed up about 2 months right now.


I’d check my legal description on the deed first. Save myself a lot of walking.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

Evons hubby said:


> I’d check my legal description on the deed first. Save myself a lot of walking.


Thank you. There are either 5 or 6 parcels and I believe the county has encroached on 1 parcel. I'm trying to sell one parcel to my neighbor and it is the one the county has encroached on. They built a pumping station on the parcel next to mine and located the culvert for the driveway such that part of the driveway extends onto my property. It happened so long ago that I don't think I have any recourse.

I know the previous owner had a survey done, but he has passed away and I never got a copy of it. Would it be on file somewhere?


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

MoonRiver said:


> Thank you. There are either 5 or 6 parcels and I believe the county has encroached on 1 parcel. I'm trying to sell one parcel to my neighbor and it is the one the county has encroached on. They built a pumping station on the parcel next to mine and located the culvert for the driveway such that part of the driveway extends onto my property. It happened so long ago that I don't think I have any recourse.
> 
> I know the previous owner had a survey done, but he has passed away and I never got a copy of it. Would it be on file somewhere?


It should be on file at the county clerks office. It should also be on your deed.


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## boatswain2PA (Feb 13, 2020)

MoonRiver said:


> How have you selected listing


Only time I sold a property with a realtor was with a personal friend....who sold me the house....and took care of it after I moved.



MoonRiver said:


> And 2 or 3 years from now, prices will fall dramatically.


Only price that I see falling will be lumber, everything else, including housing, will be going up for the next 5-8 years ar least. Probably at 10-12% a year. (caveat - If we get another good economic conservative in charge we might cut spending, raise interest rates, and stave off stagflation....but that would bankrupt us with higher interest on our 30 Trillion debt).



MoonRiver said:


> When the government stops pumping money into the system, things


The tank is full, and Uncle Joe is still running the printing presses. Inflation is here, and gonna get worse.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

boatswain2PA said:


> The tank is full, and Uncle Joe is still running the printing presses. Inflation is here, and gonna get worse.


And that's why real estate prices will likely tank. As interest rates go up, real estate prices tend to come down.


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## boatswain2PA (Feb 13, 2020)

MoonRiver said:


> And that's why real estate prices will likely tank. As interest rates go up, real estate prices tend to come down.


We cant raise rates to fight inflation. It would expose the fact that we are bankrupt. 

Furthermore, many are able to buy with cash, but choose a mortgage because of ridiculously low rates. If rates go up, the deflating cash would be used.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

boatswain2PA said:


> We cant raise rates to fight inflation. It would expose the fact that we are bankrupt.
> 
> Furthermore, many are able to buy with cash, but choose a mortgage because of ridiculously low rates. If rates go up, the deflating cash would be used.


I was just quoting you.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

Well, I guess I suck at selecting a real estate agent. I interviewed 2 agents. We got along fine and either would have been acceptable. I asked them to give me 2 proposals: one for the entire property and one with the house and lot it sits on and then the 4 back lots. The plan was to be in MLS late tonight so it would be available for showing this weekend. 

It's 3:15 pm here, and neither has got back in touch with me. I was expecting to hear from them no later than Thursday, so I think I'm going to list with a discount broker. I had already decided to put off listing until next weekend because I haven't been able to get everything done that needs to be done.


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Some agents are pathetic. Some are idiots. Some can’t communicate worth spit.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

This is getting stranger and stranger. The first 2 agents I interviewed never followed up with comps or contacted me as agreed to. The plan was to list the house by the end of that week.

I contacted another agent on Monday of this week who agreed to meet with me this morning at 10 am and bring comps with her. She is a no-show as well. Did I get on a list somewhere?

I own the house free and clear, there are no liens on the property, I have proper title to everything, this should be an easy job. What in the heck is going on? There are only 6 or 7 houses in the entire city listed between 135K and $170K, which is where mine should be. Most houses are selling within days of listing. What am I missing?


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## Hiro (Feb 14, 2016)

MoonRiver said:


> This is getting stranger and stranger. The first 2 agents I interviewed never followed up with comps or contacted me as agreed to. The plan was to list the house by the end of that week.
> 
> I contacted another agent on Monday of this week who agreed to meet with me this morning at 10 am and bring comps with her. She is a no-show as well. Did I get on a list somewhere?
> 
> I own the house free and clear, there are no liens on the property, I have proper title to everything, this should be an easy job. What in the heck is going on? There are only 6 or 7 houses in the entire city listed between 135K and $170K, which is where mine should be. Most houses are selling within days of listing. What am I missing?


It is a regional phenomenon. I will look for the one realtor that I worked with 7 or 8 years ago. She wasn't great, but did at least show up and finally sold it after we were about to unlist it.

I need two new roofs here on the farm. I've contacted 6 different roofers. Two showed up and one gave me a price 50% higher than what I estimated (yes, I priced the shingles out beforehand) and the other never bothered to send an estimate/call back. This was before the pandemic contractor overworked syndrome.


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## The Paw (May 19, 2006)

MoonRiver said:


> This is getting stranger and stranger. The first 2 agents I interviewed never followed up with comps or contacted me as agreed to. The plan was to list the house by the end of that week.
> 
> I contacted another agent on Monday of this week who agreed to meet with me this morning at 10 am and bring comps with her. She is a no-show as well. Did I get on a list somewhere?
> 
> I own the house free and clear, there are no liens on the property, I have proper title to everything, this should be an easy job. What in the heck is going on? There are only 6 or 7 houses in the entire city listed between 135K and $170K, which is where mine should be. Most houses are selling within days of listing. What am I missing?


I thought that your timeline for the first two agents (as described in your post) was a little unrealistic. I could see the agent leaving your place and thinking "I am going to have to drop everything to whip up a proposal for a listing I may not even get on a modestly priced property." The more recent agent, maybe they are just disorganized, or took a look on Google Earth and decided they had bigger fish to fry.

None of this excuses the lack of communication, you would think someone would shoot an email and say "sorry, I'm not going to be able to follow through" but common courtesy can be in short supply I guess. 

Hope your luck changes.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

The Paw said:


> I thought that your timeline for the first two agents (as described in your post) was a little unrealistic. I could see the agent leaving your place and thinking "I am going to have to drop everything to whip up a proposal for a listing I may not even get on a modestly priced property." The more recent agent, maybe they are just disorganized, or took a look on Google Earth and decided they had bigger fish to fry.
> 
> None of this excuses the lack of communication, you would think someone would shoot an email and say "sorry, I'm not going to be able to follow through" but common courtesy can be in short supply I guess.
> 
> Hope your luck changes.


Both of the agents were fine with it. As I remember, they had about 5 days to do comps and give me a proposal. That should take what, about an hour? They have done this so many times, they already knew what the number was going to be.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

Hiro said:


> It is a regional phenomenon. I will look for the one realtor that I worked with 7 or 8 years ago. She wasn't great, but did at least show up and finally sold it after we were about to unlist it.
> 
> I need two new roofs here on the farm. I've contacted 6 different roofers. Two showed up and one gave me a price 50% higher than what I estimated (yes, I priced the shingles out beforehand) and the other never bothered to send an estimate/call back. This was before the pandemic contractor overworked syndrome.


Just got an email back from the agent. Even though every email said we would meet on Wednesday, she put it on her calendar for Thursday. I am getting awful close to just putting my for-sale sign up. I tried to sell it on my own a few years ago and still have the signs.


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## The Paw (May 19, 2006)

MoonRiver said:


> Both of the agents were fine with it. As I remember, they had about 5 days to do comps and give me a proposal. That should take what, about an hour? They have done this so many times, they already knew what the number was going to be.


the time to actually do the proposal may not have been the disincentive. If I read your earlier post correctly, you were expecting to receive the proposals on Thursday, make a decision on who to list with, and get it on MLS by Friday to show on the weekend. That doesn't leave much time to get pictures taken and uploaded, and the property spruced up (which you stated you didn't actually get done by that weekend). All I am saying is that you may have looked like a scenario where your expectations were likely to mean more work or shorter turnaround, and they weren't even sure of getting the listing. 

I dunno, I am just going off what you posted, and maybe its all bad luck. But sometimes it is helpful to examine our expectations from another perspective. What an agent considers reasonable and sufficient may not be the same as what you think they should see as reasonable and sufficient. Sometimes we have to choose between being right and getting a result.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

The Paw said:


> the time to actually do the proposal may not have been the disincentive. If I read your earlier post correctly, you were expecting to receive the proposals on Thursday, make a decision on who to list with, and get it on MLS by Friday to show on the weekend. That doesn't leave much time to get pictures taken and uploaded, and the property spruced up (which you stated you didn't actually get done by that weekend). All I am saying is that you may have looked like a scenario where your expectations were likely to mean more work or shorter turnaround, and they weren't even sure of getting the listing.
> 
> I dunno, I am just going off what you posted, and maybe its all bad luck. But sometimes it is helpful to examine our expectations from another perspective. What an agent considers reasonable and sufficient may not be the same as what you think they should see as reasonable and sufficient. Sometimes we have to choose between being right and getting a result.


You totally are misjudging what happened. Usually, they have someone who puts up the sign and takes the pictures. Neither of them showed any reluctance to provide the information in the time we discussed. I interviewed 2 agents and told them both that I would be picking one to list the property. A 50 50 chance isn't bad odds. One even said, "Even if I don't get the listing, I'm going to sell it". The other came up with a plan to turn the dining room into a 3rd bedroom. 

All they had to do was ask for a few more days. That certainly would have reflected better on them than just dropping the ball completely. I can be charming and I can be tough. I was charming.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

I thought I had all my bases covered this time. I did a spreadsheet on the 5 parcels that make up the property, another that shows real estate taxes, and one that shows average monthly utility bills over the last 2 years. I took pictures and sized and formatted for MLS and emailed everything to the agent (plus handed her a hard copy as she hadn't looked at the emails). On Thursday we agreed on a listing price and she said no problem getting it in MLS for Saturday. She said she would be back today to put up the sign and have me sign the listing agreement.

No phone call, no text message, no email, no agent. Of course, it's only 7 pm, so technically it could still happen.

I think I know what the problem is. The house is only a 2 bedroom, 1 bath. A typical 2 br, 1 ba house would sell for about $135k. My house has a 2 car attached garage and a 1 car detached garage, while most others have either no garage or a carport. This should add at least $10K, but the agents don't want to increase the price. Also, I have an additional 2.2 acres in addition to the .7 acre lot the house sits on. The 2.2 acres is tax assessed at over $20k, but the agents don't want to add $20K or $30K for the land.

I said I would list for $159,900 which I think is low. I think a better asking price is $169K. I think all the agents are not willing to do the work it would take to find a buyer that wants the additional land and is willing to pay for it. They want to use FHA financing with a 1st-time buyer which probably won't go above $135K, so basically I would be giving the additional 2.2 acres away for free. 

I knew this would be a problem which is why I asked the 1st 2 agents to give me a proposal for selling the 4 lots separately from the house. I have an idea, but I need to do some research. There is a septic tank on one of the lots and I can get county water ($1000) plus the cost to run to the house. There is already a power pole and meter on the property.

I am going to see how inexpensively I can get some type of habitable building on the property. If it can be done inexpensively, then I will do that and sell the house and lot, and keep the other 4 parcels. Doing it this way would also solve another problem. I just wish I was 20 years younger and could take on building the house myself.


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## mreynolds (Jan 1, 2015)

My realtor gets mad at me and thinks I am too picky. He is good though and very driven.


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## boatswain2PA (Feb 13, 2020)

Moon - May I ask what area you are in (quick 4am perusal didn't find it) and why you are selling?

I wouldnt sell anything today unless necessary with 10-12% annual inflation on the horizon.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

boatswain2PA said:


> Moon - May I ask what area you are in (quick 4am perusal didn't find it) and why you are selling?
> 
> I wouldnt sell anything today unless necessary with 10-12% annual inflation on the horizon.


Because I'm old and need to live someplace warmer. If we have that type of inflation, there will be a lot of repossessions on the market.


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## boatswain2PA (Feb 13, 2020)

MoonRiver said:


> Because I'm old and need to live someplace warmer


Makes sense. Good luck, can't believe a realtor wouldn't want those commissions.



MoonRiver said:


> If we have that type of inflation, there will be a lot of repossessions on the market


Maybe, depends on what the government does. Inflation is going to drive home values up so people have more equity (in deflated dollars of course), and if the government keeps interest rates low then people could continually cash out, or just sell the house to avoid repos. And the gov can't raise interest rates much because then the world will realize that we are broke and can't pay our high-interest credit card debt.

The government has also shown willingness for massive overreach and prohibit foreclosures. Who knows what "emergency" they will use to justify further action like this. 

Lastly, one thing that might drive repossessions is if we enter hyper-inflation and the government/bankers work together to reset loans at the inflated rate. This is where a $300K mortgage taken out today is suddenly reset to a $30 million mortgage because that is the inflated rate. This has happened in several other countries who experienced hyper-inflation.

Strange times ahead.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

I really didn't want to sell the house myself, but they left me no choice. I've sold houses on my own before, so that's not the problem. I just have too many things that all need to get done at the same time, and I was willing to pay an extra $3k for someone to handle this for me.

I have everything loaded in Zillow, but haven't submitted it yet. I need to make some handouts and my color cartridges for my printer won't be here until tomorrow. I'll try to see a real estate attorney ASAP and make sure everything I do is done correctly. 

I guess I need to work up some comps to show the house is worth what I am asking Also going to see if I can find the forms I need online and get familiar with them. I still have my signs from 3 years ago and can reuse them.

I waited until about 11 am and then sent the latest realtor notice I take her failure to follow through as ending any agreement we may have had.


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## Offgrid K and A (Apr 29, 2021)

We used a listing agent to get sell our properties. We asked friends and family if they had an recommendations and did some homework on them. I can say we were extremely happy with ours because he had a list of buyers and investors that bought our house with it being on the market less than a month.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

Alice In TX/MO said:


> I just fired my agent on the Austin property. We hadn’t even gotten to listing it on the MLS. The renter was in the process of moving out.
> 
> The agent told me that his landscapers had started working in the yard, removing some ugly planting beds and replanting flowering stuff. He promised pictures on Monday. I went by on Tuesday after not receiving pictures. The old beds were still there.
> 
> ...


I would have fired him too. And I would have reported his conduct to the board of realtors.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

I think part of your trouble might be your fuzzy boundaries. If you have conflicts with county/city records and unknown lot lines it makes it difficult to sell. Buyers want to know where the fence lines should run. 

If you want to list it yourself and you feel the price is too low, raise it. The worst that would happen is someone asks to negotiate. 

Are you paying for a home inspection? I don't know if they are required around here but the house next door had an inspection done. The owners needed to put in about $1000 worth of easy work in order to pass the inspection. They refused and got stuck with the house for 3 more years (the market tanked). 

In our home inspection we had a few issues that needed to be fixed before our bank would approve the loan, and 1 broken window that I insisted be replaced. It cost the owners a couple thousand but we closed a week later.

Surveyors measure distance in a line of sight. Since our property has a slope our ground height length is quite a bit longer than the surveyed length. On relatively flat land there is little difference.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

Danaus29 said:


> I think part of your trouble might be your fuzzy boundaries. If you have conflicts with county/city records and unknown lot lines it makes it difficult to sell. Buyers want to know where the fence lines should run.


The boundaries are defined and there already is a fence around 90% of the property. The problem is more it was purchased as a single property, but legally it is registered as 5 separate parcels. The realtors, Zillow, etc find information on the house and lot it sits on and don't include the other 4 parcels in the price.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

There is a way to fix that if you are willing and your county allows it. Go to the real estate division and combine the properties.

Another way around the confusion is to include the other lots in the description. Included with the property are lots xx, yy, zz and bb.

Some places may not allow you to do it but when we combined lots so we could have our state mandated "over 1 acre" for agriculture we just signed a paper at the courthouse. Our only expense was gas and parking.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

Danaus29 said:


> There is a way to fix that if you are willing and your county allows it. Go to the real estate division and combine the properties.
> 
> Another way around the confusion is to include the other lots in the description. Included with the property are lots xx, yy, zz and bb.
> 
> Some places may not allow you to do it but when we combined lots so we could have our state mandated "over 1 acre" for agriculture we just signed a paper at the courthouse. Our only expense was gas and parking.


I came up with a plan I think will work. All I have to do is combine the assessed value of the house and lot and the assessed value of the 2.2 acres and then use that number in comps.

The other thing I hope to do is focus on selling the land and not just selling the house. I am going to try to create a video of me doing a walk around the property pointing out different things that add value. I'm just waiting for my new phone so I can shoot the video.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

Sounds good. It's hard to figure the value of a house and several little lots. Often the aggregate is worth more than the pieces. 

Good luck with the sale.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

The house is ready, I have all the pictures loaded, I wrote the sales script, all I have to do is hit submit on Zillow. 

But it's supposed to rain a lot on Saturday and Sunday and I need people to get outside and walk the property. With the amount of rain expected, some of the places people would walk will probably get very wet and muddy. I'm going to wait until Sunday night or Monday morning and re-evaluate, In the meantime, I'm going to take a long nap.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

I would post it anyway. People often want to see a house when it is raining just to make sure roofs and basements don't leak and to find waterlogged spots in the yard.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

Danaus29 said:


> I would post it anyway. People often want to see a house when it is raining just to make sure roofs and basements don't leak and to find waterlogged spots in the yard.


I need the buyer that wants the land and they won't see it if it is pouring. I'd rather not waste my time on people that just want a small house. They need to want a small house and a really big lot. Most people who want a small house don't want to spend time maintaining a big lot.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

You want a buyer like hubby and I were when we were house hunting. A small house was fine but we had to have land. Unfortunately all we could afford was 1/4 acre and a 1000 sq ft house. We bought the garden spot later, in 2 sections.

I hope it sells quickly once you put it on the market. I think you'll get a buyer who thinks they are getting a great bargain.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

I swear there is a conspiracy. I entered all my information including over 40 pictures into Zillow. I even wrote captions for each picture. Zillow doesn't allow you to just save the information, you must submit it, so at 9 pm last night I clicked submit.

You guessed it. I had waited too long to submit and lost everything. I had been fighting with bluetooth and my color printer for over an hour, so I was already frustrated. I had to decide if going to bed or re-entering the information was the best option.

I re-entered all the info into Zillow including writing captions for all the pictures. I clicked submit and waited. It displayed a message saying I would receive a phone call in a few minutes to verify I had submitted the listing information and that it could take up to 72 hours before the listing was visible. I wondered why they didn't tell me this earlier and I would have submitted 3 days earlier. 

At this point I am worn out and just want to go to bed, but the message also said if you didn't respond to the call, your listing might be cancelled. I stayed up for an hour waiting for the call, but it never came. 8 hours later, still no call and no way to follow up with Zillow. I can either wait 3 days and see if the listing shows up or I could try re-entering the information. I am concerned that re-entering the information might cause their computer to have problems and kick all my info out or even block my address from being listed. I guess the safest action is to wait for 3 days and see what happens.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

Finally up on Zillow.


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## painterswife (Jun 7, 2004)

My father in law listed his house last Tuesday. Under contract as of yesterday and will close by July 5th. The market is hot.


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Closing on a sale on the 8th and a purchase on the 10th.


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## mreynolds (Jan 1, 2015)

Alice In TX/MO said:


> Closing on a sale on the 8th and a purchase on the 10th.


Double close is always interesting if not stressful.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

There is a lot for sale across the street from the county part of my property My property is about 2.2 acres and the other lot is only about .83 acres, but has 2 septic tanks, 2 wells, 2 power poles, and 2 slabs, I'm talking about the part of my property without the house.

I talked to the realtor who listed the property and he said it is going to closing soon for $15K. I told him if he could sell mine where I could walk away with at least low $20s, I would give him the listing. That would let me sell just the house and lot it sits on for a lower price and quicker sale. The problem is I believe the property is all on a single deed, so I would have to get a survey and approval from city and county to split the property.

I have had over 100 people view the house on Zillow, but only 2 saved it. I had told myself it would probably take at least 100 views to get 1 person who actually wants a big lot, so I am not that surprised there weren't more saves.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

The saga continues. Zillow is very skewed toward realtor listings and against FSBO. The default is to display all the realtor listings. To see FSBO listings, you have to click on Other Listings. If a viewer is looking at my listing and clicks on contact agent or view property, the referral goes to an agent who has paid Zillow for leads, not to me. The only way I am contacted is if the viewer sees the Listed by: owner phone number in the Overview section and emails or phones me. After a week, there have been over 400 views on Zillow and only 1 contact.

I called an attorney to make sure I was doing all the required stuff (disclosures) and also to find out how to divide my property into the city part and the county part, so I could offer them for sale separately. I called first thing Wednesday and they had me talk to a paralegal, who couldn't help because she said it was considered legal advice. She said she would have the attorney call me. I still haven't gotten a call from the attorney (Thursday evening). I swear there is a conspiracy to keep me in this house.

I will call a different attorney tomorrow.


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## mreynolds (Jan 1, 2015)

MoonRiver said:


> The saga continues. Zillow is very skewed toward realtor listings and against FSBO. The default is to display all the realtor listings. To see FSBO listings, you have to click on Other Listings. If a viewer is looking at my listing and clicks on contact agent or view property, the referral goes to an agent who has paid Zillow for leads, not to me. The only way I am contacted is if the viewer sees the Listed by: owner phone number in the Overview section and emails or phones me. After a week, there have been over 400 views on Zillow and only 1 contact.
> 
> I called an attorney to make sure I was doing all the required stuff (disclosures) and also to find out how to divide my property into the city part and the county part, so I could offer them for sale separately. I called first thing Wednesday and they had me talk to a paralegal, who couldn't help because she said it was considered legal advice. She said she would have the attorney call me. I still haven't gotten a call from the attorney (Thursday evening). I swear there is a conspiracy to keep me in this house.
> 
> I will call a different attorney tomorrow.


I can show it to some investors I know if you want.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

mreynolds said:


> I can show it to some investors I know if you want.


Aren't you in Texas?


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## mreynolds (Jan 1, 2015)

MoonRiver said:


> Aren't you in Texas?


Yes, but I am part of a group of investors from all over the country. Many invest from a distance and out of state.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

mreynolds said:


> Yes, but I am part of a group of investors from all over the country. Many invest from a distance and out of state.


Danville is getting a casino and investors have been buying up property for BnB's, rentals, etc. I think I can make a little more money splitting the land off from the house, The house is perfect for a 1st time buyer, but I have to split off the 2 acre back lot to bring the price down to where they can get financing. I think once I do that I can sell the house easily. The back lot maybe or maybe not, but even if it doesn't sell right away, I can afford to move without selling it. 

I was hoping the lawyer would tell me exactly what I need to do and who I need to talk to in order to divide the property, I guess I will just call the city and county tomorrow and see if I can get lucky and find the right people to talk to. I called the city 3 times trying to find out what the charge is to connect to the city sewer line and never did get an answer. I have never run into incompetence like this before. It really seems like my name is on an ignore list.


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

You need a survey.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

I called the county and talked to a helpful person. She recommended since the house is in the city, not the county, that I start with the city.

The city phone system is terrible. You are never given the opportunity to talk to a real person. What you have to do is make your best guess as to what department most likely handles the question or problem you have. Let's say I select Zoning. Then the phone system will give you multiple people to connect to, but you don't know who you need to talk to, so you again make your best guess. Then the phone will ring and ring, but no one answers. Eventually, you get voice mail, not knowing if this is the person you need to talk to, if the person is at work or on vacation, or even if the person still works there. You leave a message and hope someone gets back to you, which in my experience rarely happens.

So I sent an email to the city manager explaining that his phone system needs to have an option to talk to an actual person who can direct them to the right person or department. I keep expecting the email to be returned with no such address.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

Alice In TX/MO said:


> You need a survey.


Most likely, but maybe not. I am dividing the property along the county line, so in a way, I am not subdividing the property in the city or the county. Also, there are different kinds of surveys, so I don't want to schedule a survey until both the city and the county give me their requirements.

The other thing is cost. If the process costs much more than $2500, it may not be worth doing.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

Hurray. The City Manager had the head of planning call me and dividing the property is easy. Get a survey, give it to them for approval and it should be approved and recorded within a few days.


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Survey wait time here is 8 weeks.
Hopefully less there.

Also $2000.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

Alice In TX/MO said:


> Survey wait time here is 8 weeks.
> Hopefully less there.
> 
> Also $2000.


I'm going to offer to be his stick man!


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Newbies might want to read the whole thread to get caught up on the situation before posting. Just sayin'.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

Alice In TX/MO said:


> Newbies might want to read the whole thread to get caught up on the situation before posting. Just sayin'.


I don't think it's a newbie. It appears to be a spammer.


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## mreynolds (Jan 1, 2015)

AngelaTurner said:


> You should do a research about the real estate agent, before picking him.
> Why do you need to look for people who understand this to learn yourself and earn money on it? A good friend has been in real estate for several years, and he makes a lot of money from it. He recently advised me to read a blog Real Estate Syndication: What Is It And How Can You Profit? - Financial Freedom Countdown.
> I also began to study this business area, and I already have success in this business. Recently, my wife and I bought a house on the beach in India for a penny and sold it for 6 times more expensive. The best part is that we didn't even have to go anywhere.
> We live in Canada and have done everything online, right down to the sale. Good luck.


Wait, you bought a house for a penny?


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## 67drake (May 6, 2020)

mreynolds said:


> Wait, you bought a house for a penny?


BUT, made 5 cents profit.


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## mreynolds (Jan 1, 2015)

67drake said:


> BUT, made 5 cents profit.


And that's always good.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

I just heard from the city and they have already changed the phone system and added an option to talk to a real person. Plus both issues I had are resolved. I have to say, every time I have actually talked to a person working for the city, they have been quick to act. My problem has always been in not knowing who it was I needed to talk to and having an operator option should resolve that.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

I had a couple show up and as soon as they walked in the front door, they said they wanted the house. The more they saw of the house and property, the more excited they got. The problem was they needed to get an FHA or USDA loan and they couldn't come close to qualifying for a loan large enough to buy the house. 

On the brighter side, the surveyor finally called me back with a price to do the survey. It was half what the other surveyor said he thought it would cost. it will still be about a month before they can get to it. I asked why they were so busy and he said there is a lot of farmland that is being converted to subdivisions. I asked him why the sudden growth and he said optimism. I think this is going to end badly so I hope I get everything sold before it does.


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## robin416 (Dec 29, 2019)

MoonRiver said:


> I had a couple show up and as soon as they walked in the front door, they said they wanted the house. The more they saw of the house and property, the more excited they got. The problem was they needed to get an FHA or USDA loan and they couldn't come close to qualifying for a loan large enough to buy the house.
> 
> On the brighter side, the surveyor finally called me back with a price to do the survey. It was half what the other surveyor said he thought it would cost. it will still be about a month before they can get to it. I asked why they were so busy and he said there is a lot of farmland that is being converted to subdivisions. I asked him why the sudden growth and he said optimism. I think this is going to end badly so I hope I get everything sold before it does.


Have to agree with you. This is another housing bubble, things will return to reality and there's going to be a whole lot of people upside down once again.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

Don't you just hate prospective buyers who claim to love your house but can't afford the payments?


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

Danaus29 said:


> Don't you just hate prospective buyers who claim to love your house but can't afford the payments?


I think this might have been their 1st home purchase and didn't really understand how financing worked. They were pre-approved for a lower amount and thought they could just ask for a bigger loan.


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Yes. They are like teenagers who want to leave home at 18, and then realize that rent, utilities, fuel, insurance, and food cost twice their income.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

Alice In TX/MO said:


> Yes. They are like teenagers who want to leave home at 18, and then realize that rent, utilities, fuel, insurance, and food cost twice their income.


These were retired which is why I assumed they could afford it. But since they couldn't get a commercial mortgage, I think they were either 1st-time buyers or had credit problems.


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## julietanannen (Jan 4, 2022)

I worked with one listing agent to rent out my apartment. He was a cheerful man who talked a lot and did very little. He annoyed me a lot, but eventually, I rented out my studio to some unpretentious artist. She still works there, and no one complains about the paint smell. After working with this agent, I decided to do something more than renting out my real estate. On financialfreedom I read about investing in real estate, and my money has really started to multiply since that time! I'm happy that I had such a good idea.


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