Yes, it’s a blanket statement. Yes, it’s stereotyping. It’s totally wrong in every logical and reasonable sense, but damn, I’ve yet to work with a realtor who didn’t try to either a) screw me out of a LOT of money, b) outright lie to me, c) listen to anything I have to say or d) rush me to the point of absurdity so I’d just SIGN EVERYTHING – “You don’t have to read all of this! It’s just legal mumbo jumbo!” In many cases, some have tried all of the above.
Latest episode:
I just opted out of a sales contract after receiving the Draconian HOA agreement and asking neighbors how tightly it was enforced. One neighbor didn’t want to talk to me about it and the other three I spoke to said it was ridiculous and if they had known, they would have never moved into the neighborhood. This was the last straw in this deal. We had to get out of it. Anyway, guess what the realtor says, “Yeah, I, um, like, already processed your deposit, so you’ll have to wait, m’kay?” Luckily she hadn’t processed the check, so I put a stop payment on it. Why process a deposit before all contingencies expire?
Let’s go into this sales contract. We told her our absolute ceiling was $455K for everything. We made an offer of $440K on a $485K house. Our realtor comes back with, “They want the sales price to be higher, but they’re willing to pay closing costs. If you pay $465K, they’ll give you $15K toward closing costs. So you’re under your ceiling at $450K! How’s THAT for a negotiation?” It didn’t seem right to me, but my wife, bless her heart, agreed with the realtor. For some reason, that was enough for me not to think about it anymore, so we accepted. This is not why we opted out, just to make that clear. It’s a mistake we made and we accepted it and were moving on. Strike one on the realtor. She said, “Since you didn’t fight the counter-offer, that will be good for negotiating after the home inspection.”
The home inspection was last Friday. ALL of the windows need replacing. I said to our realtor, “Well, this is the time for negotiation. Let’s get them to pay for the window replacements.” What did she say? “I don’t think they’ll replace the windows. I’d advise not to ask them.” Everything else that was found to be wrong with the house, the seller is required by law to fix. The windows were the only “extra” thing. But, no, our BUYER’S AGENT doesn’t think it’s worth asking. Strike two.
Another recent incident with another realtor:
I drove an hour away to look at a house in Charleston, WV. I get there and the realtor didn’t know how to operate the front door lock, so we couldn’t get in. No shit, this is what he said to me, “We can come back next week… or is this something you’d buy today?” WHAT!? Dude, this isn’t 2004!
Bottom feeders. When the market’s going great, they’re impossible to get in touch with, but when the market sucks, they’re like vultures. Defense lawyers and car salespeople are steps above them.
A co-worker said, “Welcome to the Northern Virginia housing market. The worst of its kind.”