So depressed over buying this relo home

17 years ago

The seller was giving us $1k credit and the agent $6k of her commission. Two addendums had to be written: one saying the seller was giving us $7k toward closing, the other between the agent & seller only whereby she is agreeing to lower her commission.

Of course, these were submitted on Sunday and we still have no word other than our agent saying "it's a done deal, I swear it's a done deal, the listing agent agrees". We said we don't believe until it's signed by the seller, plus we need it in writing for our lender. Our agent PROMISED us we would have them Tues, then Wed., then today she indicates their lawyer has to look over the wording. My beef is our agent keeps making these false promises of due dates/deadlines, then when they don't happen, we don't hear from her. I talked to people who have dealt with relos and said "you never get anything back in less than 5-7 days". I wish our agent would just be truthful for goshsakes!! It's so freakin frustrating. I mean, we close in 3 weeks, or are supposed to!

Also, my home is slated for an open house this weekend. Agent assured me she advertised on homesdatabase, realtor.com, etc. Of course, no she didn't.

Also, we learned that when DH agreed to push back his closing on his sale, he should have forced the buyer to provide a committment letter, rather our agent should have. I mean, what happens if they fall through with financing. Our agent's response "don't worry, she works at a bank". Well, so do alot of people with crappy credit!

Throughout all of this nightmare, my main lesson is this: get a very knowledgeable and experienced real estate agent. They can mean life & death to your deal and probably save you a few bucks if they are truly working for you.

That's my daily vent today!

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Comments (7)

cordovamom
17 years ago
Buying and selling a home is a very stressful time. You're not only buying, but you're selling two homes, that's a lot of stress. The whole process can be made easier with the help of a good realtor, unfortunately I think you got a pretty bad realtor. Relo companies are notoriously slow on decisions, your realtor should have explained this to you which I believe would have alleviated a lot of your expectations. If it were me, I'd take your concerns and complaints to your agent's broker or agency.
arabellamiller
17 years ago
If I remember correctly, the agent is a friend of yours? That might make things more tense, but at this point, I would cut ties with the agent. Call the office manager and ask for a face to face meeting and find out if they can either assign you to a more experienced agent or if there's a way out of your contract.

The agent we used to sell our house is the one we used a few years ago to buy. We thought we were being loyal, and she was helpful a few years ago. Turns out, that as far as selling, she was mediocre at best. She did the bare minimum and at every turn tried to convince us to do whatever would be easiest for her. When it looked as if we had a locked down deal, which was a painful experience in negotiations since our agent was so lame, we immediately switched to a different agent and office to buy. The difference is overwhelming. Our new agent is knowledgeable, efficient, and definitely has gone the extra mile both to help us find something and to represent us in negotiating the new house.

Ditch that agent as quickly as you can!

Good luck.
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Thanks to everyone for responding. I have been up since 3:30am EST worrying about all this. Instead of the letter, I actually did call the relo company today and spoke to the case manager. She seemed surprised to hear we had completed the home inspection, saying she never received anything from their own agent. Talk about furious! I told her we submitted the inspection report to her agent on 02/02 and it was now 2/14, past the 7 day deadline and we wanted to know what was going on. She said she would call the agent and find out because she didn't know anything about any of this and had never seen the inspection report or been notified it had been completed. When confronted, the relo company's local agent said she had turned in our inspection report, but it goes to her home office for coordination and then is sent to the relo company and case manager. She couldn't find out about it today because their home office and her contact there is not in due to the weather. She doesn't know why he hadn't sent it to the relo company. I made my agent come pick up our release from contract forms. I told her I was willing to sign an addendum stating that this company had until 5pm EST on 02/16 to give us an answer or the contract was null and void. I do understand they are slower than an individual seller, but they should have been upfront about all of this. We are in a time crunch and need to know what is going with the house we have contract on. Do we need to look elsewhere, do we need to take our remaining home off the market? Should I cancel my request to relocate my office (I work from home so it's a logistical set up from MY corporate office) and all of that stuff. Again thanks to everyone for their advice and sharing their experiences! I will steer clear from relos in the future, that's for sure!
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dianemargaret
17 years ago
Ditch the agent who is kicking in $6,000 of her commission towards the sewer pipe fix? That would be pretty cold. And you were so surprised and thankful when she saved the deal when you didn't believe it could be saved. She did this by offering to do this for you of her own accord. :(
gardensgirl
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks ladies. Yes, the agent is my friend. She is such a good person and I couldn't "ditch" her, not only because of the $6k she is kicking in but because she really is trying her best. In hindsight, I blame myself for not thinking through this whole thing and assuming it wouldn't be complicated. You know, look at some houses, buy one house, sell 2 houses, coordinate all of this.......I mean how hard is that (said with dripping sarcasm!!) Boy, I was sure dumb!

I also blame her broker. The office is only her broker and her. The broker is a top dog in the state's RE board, on all these committees, arbitration boards, etc. I feel that her broker has left her out to dry and will only respond when asked to but not completely. (We had asked her previously to contact the listing agent's broker about lack of responses and she wouldn't. Didn't want to go over her head). Also, there are many things that an experienced agent would have done/suggested/been knowledgeable about, that our agent hasn't. However, her broker should be helping her along and isn't.

DH is in a tizzy today...........has called everyone from the listing broker (she asked WHY we needed a copy of the signed addendum....duh!!), to the listing agent's relo company (won't return his call) to the relo case manager (won't return his call). We haven't heard from our agent in 1.5 days..........this is almost getting comical, no?
arabellamiller
17 years ago
After having my home on the market for 8 months and interacting with dozens of agents, I hold them in absolutely the lowest possible regard. I'm sure there are some good ones, but they are few and far between. A great agent is golden.

It's nice of you to stick with your friend, but she seems way too green to be working in your best interest. A really good agent would have found a way to make it work, or at least have been up front with you about the realities of the situation, without having to put in some of her commission.

I would never chose a friend for an agent. And after this experience, I'd also probably never chose an agent for a friend.
talley_sue_nyc
17 years ago
I also blame her broker. The office is only her broker and her. The broker is a top dog in the state's RE board, on all these committees, arbitration boards, etc. I feel that her broker has left her out to dry and will only respond when asked to but not completely.

I had that thought as well, that he broker needs to be training her better!

Your poor friend--what a bummer for her.
gardensgirl
Original Author
17 years ago
The agent who sold me my last house was very shady as well. I really do think a good real estate agent is worth their weight in gold, but I don't think there are that many of them.

The listing agent called my agent today complaining that DH had called her and she was "too busy to be bothered with this". I said that if it wasn't for buyers/sellers, she wouldn't be busy at all. Personally, I"m not sure she said that or that it wasn't my agent paraphrasing. My agent also said that DH was making things worse if he calls. Regardless........

I do feel very bad for my friend........I thinks she is in way over her head and not getting the help/guidance she needs at all. My brother the loan officer has ended up having to train her in some contract things. She didn't even know she had to contact any loan officers, etc.

I do think my DH needs to calm down somewhat too. I'm away on business tommorrow through the weekend, so hopefully that will help me get away from all this.

Thanks everyone!!

So depressed over buying this relo home

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cordovamom

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So depressed over buying this relo home

Comments (7)

cordovamom

arabellamiller

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