Stupid Agent
Ok, I am 22 years old, I sold my bmw. I now have money to spend in a better place so my parents told me to get into real estate, I found a small little house in Niagara Falls. The average price of houses similar to it in the hood are around 75-85 thousand. I went to see this one house that needs a whole lot of work, and when I mean a lot of work, basically its a 60 year old house that only has exterior walls, no floor and just a roof. Its basically a frame inside. My family is into construction and they told me to make that house look presentable will take at least 15-20 thousand, and to make it look very nice will take 25-30 thousand. I gave the Agent an offer of 45,000, The agent then basically told me to stop wasting his time and it got so heated in his office that I basically walked out of there without a goodbye or anything. He said the offer was an embarrasment, but when you think about it, why would it be?
Can anyone give me a hand. This guy doesn't want to present the offer to the home owner. I ahve a feeling that he wants it for himself. 
The quick answer...by law, if it's a bona fide offer, with a deposit, the agent MUST present it. Also, you can insist on being present at the presentation of the offer to the seller.
Good luck,
Mark
Go with your gut. The guy sounds like someone you would not want to deal with. Can you contact the owner directly?
You could have also told him you were new and asked why it was an insult.
Sure by law the agent must submit all offers and you can even request to be present at the time the agent presents it to the seller... If I had an offer I would submit it even if it was a ridiculous offer, if the buyer asked to be present when I made the offer to the seller, I would strongly urge my seller not to allow the buyer to be present, if the seller says no, then the buyer cannot be present, simple as that.
But there is no excuse for not sumbitting an offer. Talk to the agents Broker in the office, tell him you have never been so humiliated and disrespcted in your life and that you will tell your friends and family about the agent and the Brokerage itself if the broker doesn't step in... don't use threats, they get you nowhere, keep your cool, speak clearly with a stern voice.
Good luck,
MT
[addsig]
Thanks for all your help guys.
I have contacted another agent in the area and asked him to present the offer for me.
I still don't understand why the offer is an insult, the house as it stands right now is only worth about 40-50 thousand. Thats a fact, so if I invest money into it, then it will be the average price of homes in the area, so the guy is just being stupid I think. Or, Like I said, maybe he even wants it for himself.
Oh, By the way, the owner is in BC, so all his offers are faxed to the lady.
The two pieces of advice that I would have thrown in to all the good points made above is 1) dont let the agent intimidate you into making an offer that pushes you out of your profit potential on a rehab ... this is a good way to lose money and 2) find a new agent (you figured this one out). There are plenty of real estate agents out there of all shapes and sizes. Talk to a bunch of them and find one that does a little (or a lot) of investing on their own and you will discover that working with them is actually enjoyable.
Molotov
[addsig]
One more word of advice. If a home is worth $40k-$50k why are you offering $45k? It seems to me that your sweat equity would want to be worth something. If the house is truely in that poor of condition then you should be able to get it for less although I am not familiar with your area.
Whel, the house would be worth about 80-90 if I put in 20 thousand into it.
Right now its worth 50-55 tops.
Maybe its a bad investment and I should look elsewhere.
Where do you guys look for rehab properties?
Any ideas where I should look to find good deals.?
This sounds a little wierd to me, something's wrong.
What you're saying essentially is that the home is worth 50-55k without ANY rooms or floors in it. Than you're saying that once you make the house a "house" by investing 20k for improvements you still can only sell it for 80k? In other words, your 20k investment only yields 10k of equity?
Something's wrong.
Quote:
On 2003-10-14 12:13, Diemus314 wrote:
What you're saying essentially is that the home is worth 50-55k without ANY rooms or floors in it. Than you're saying that once you make the house a "house" by investing 20k for improvements you still can only sell it for 80k? In other words, your 20k investment only yields 10k of equity?
Something's wrong.
True.
talkiong to another agent and asking him to submit the offer for you does not do what you thinik. he is not allowed to talk to the seller. he must submit the offer to the sellers agent.
Quote:
On 2003-10-14 12:51, dickknox wrote:
talkiong to another agent and asking him to submit the offer for you does not do what you thinik. he is not allowed to talk to the seller. he must submit the offer to the sellers agent.
Yeah, I know. Sux don't it?
hehhe
I still remember him in his office, when I told him that I wanted to offer 45,000, he freaked out on me as if I was crazy. hahahha.
Its as if he expects me to pay the going price for a house that needs about 20 or 30 thousand to make it the value it should be.
1. Report the agent to his brokerage
2. Report the agent to the local board of realtors.
3. Find a new agent.
4. Buy the house and make your money.
Check and see what relationship the agent had with the seller. THere was a string on the Motley Fool recently where the agent was in cahoots with another agent, who wanted to buy a property. Another potential buyer wanted the property, but the agent had convinced the owner to take a lower offer from the other agent before the offer was presented.
Remember, there are no laws or rules against stupidity.
These are the ones you give that added attention to in the form of contact the state licensing board for realtors.... call his broker and inform.... now go find a realtor who is willing to do their job.....
Quote:
On 2003-10-14 10:13, Alek wrote:
Ok, I am 22 years old, I sold my bmw. I now have money to spend in a better place so my parents told me to get into real estate, I found a small little house in Niagara Falls. The average price of houses similar to it in the hood are around 75-85 thousand. I went to see this one house that needs a whole lot of work, and when I mean a lot of work, basically its a 60 year old house that only has exterior walls, no floor and just a roof. Its basically a frame inside. My family is into construction and they told me to make that house look presentable will take at least 15-20 thousand, and to make it look very nice will take 25-30 thousand. I gave the Agent an offer of 45,000, The agent then basically told me to stop wasting his time and it got so heated in his office that I basically walked out of there without a goodbye or anything. He said the offer was an embarrasment, but when you think about it, why would it be?
Can anyone give me a hand. This guy doesn't want to present the offer to the home owner. I ahve a feeling that he wants it for himself. <IMG SRC="images/forum/smilies/icon_confused.gif">
Thats interesting, I know that where I trained in RE and IF the realtor had any kind of 'purchase' interest, or 'connection to', that he would need to by law provide a disclosure saying so.
Isn't that the case here also?
Furthermore, how 'bout having your lawyer present your offer to the agent?
Is that a good idea? He can appear more intimidating than the newbie investor I should imagine, then the guy might bring deals to you down the track when he realises he can make $ from you.
justa thought*
the Mrs
This is an example of two regrettable situations.
1. First, this agent HAS to present any and all offers. That a license law applicable in all 50 states. Your next step should have been to talk to his broker. It wont go any further than that. If it did then you would file a complain with the State Licensing Board.
2. Why in the world would you want this propert;y. There's very little net profit to be made on this deal. All you have is a "warm experience". I'd hope that my offer wasn't accepted yet and withdraw it.
Quote:
On 2003-10-14 14:05, sammyvegas wrote:
This is an example of two regrettable situations.
1. First, this agent HAS to present any and all offers. That a license law applicable in all 50 states. Your next step should have been to talk to his broker. It wont go any further than that. If it did then you would file a complain with the State Licensing Board.
1. The agent is NOT required by law to present any and all offers if he is the agent for the seller. He is obligated to follow the instructions of his principal - as long as they are legal. The Principal can say" " Bring me no verbal offers and only those offers over $x."
There is a great deal of mis understanding and misinformation of WHO the "agent" works for.
I ALWAYS insist that the agent is MY SINGLE agent. I then know that he represents me.
I am a RE broker. When I make a presentation either for a listing or to work with a buyer - I sell myself as a single agent. Most agents do not do this.
If I take a listing, it will be as a single agent. I always have the seller sign a "transition to a transactional broker" form, so that if I bring the buyer myself ( In most cases) I can transition to a transactional agent.
_________________
Gregg Fous
Investor/Developer
"If you wait for all your ducks to get lined up, you will never get into the water"[ Edited by GFous on Date 10/17/2003 ]