Buying A Home
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Our Realtor

So we live in a townhome and we are desperatly trying to move out (even though we are under water we are taking the hit but we literally have no wiggle room for negotations. we need what we are asking) LONG story short after 2 realtors we have one that is very honest, upfront, and tells us how it is. She however has been showing our house to her other clients, sure fine whatever. Except she is showing our house again to someone and she said if she likes it ( she literally saw it last night at 515, ummm hello you saw it yesterday we didnt change anything over night) she will write an offer....... well I find it a major conflict to have our realtor advocating for both parties. Am I wrong to feel this way?

Re: Our Realtor

  • It sounds like you have someone seriously interested in your townhome.  (I always look at the house more than once before making an offer and recommend doing so).  They may want to take a few measurements, look at a few things more closely etc. prior to making a decision.

    Did you discuss dual agency with your realtor prior to listing your townhome?   Our agent brought it up when we were talking about listing our home and she wound up acting as a dual agent with no problems for either party.  Often realtors have clients who are looking for just the home you are listing. Unless you feel she is not taking care of your interests, I would not have a problem with it. 

  • Dual agency is permitted in most states. It can work to your benefit. You only have to pay one commission. As long as the REA isn't sharing confidential financial data between the buyer and you guys this is considered acceptable and legal in many states.
  • We are in a similar situation with our condo and would love it if our realtor could sell it .. to anyone. I wouldn't care if he was dual agent. In fact, I would prefer it because we would get a discount on the commission if he acts as dual agent.

    That being said, if you aren't comfortable with it then tell your agent that.

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  • Seeing a home more than once before writing an offer isn't uncommon. We saw the home we're buying twice (also 2 days in a row) before making an offer, and a third time before accepting the seller's counter. Some REAs don't like to do dual agency, but it could be that the potential buyer saw the listing and contacted your agent directly for a showing without having a REA of her own. If the REA is a professional you should be just fine.
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  • If you think your REA is honest, dual agency doesn't have to be a problem.  Also, your agent knows you have no wiggle room (right?) so she wouldn't have any reason to bring you a buyer that won't be able to meet your terms.

    Are you getting a break on the commission?  That should be in your contract, or ask.  You can also request a different agent just to get you through this part of the transaction if you really are uncomfortable in a dual agency situation.
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  • Dual agency is not that unusual in my area. But I would expect it to be addressed in your listing agreement. And every time I have purchased a home, I have made a second visit prior to writing up an offer. It's a big decision!
  • As an agent, I just recently had this situation. It can happen 2 ways: 1) the other people are her client 2) the other people are her customers. 

    In either case, she cannot advise either you or the other party she is representing on what to offer, as she knows their top dollar and your bottom line. It would be unfair and unethical of her to do so. She can assist them in writing the offer and provide basic input, but the price to offer (and a few other things) need to be the decision of the buying party. 

    If you were to get multiple parties offering, you would need to make the decision on what to accept. If she provides a break in the commission (our local average is 6% total - 3 to each side) you could essentially/possibly net more on an offer she drew up. In our most recent case, we lowered our commission 1.5% as we would still be facilitating all the paperwork, arranging closing, etc. 

    It can be done but she needs to be honest, ethical, and professional about it. 
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  • **update**

    My issue with it is that my realtor thinks we should disclose information to buyers about an incident that happened at our neighbors house. Since there was no immediate damage done to our home, and we are not selling the neighbors house it is not a need to know bit of information. However I am sure my neighbor will tell them new buy as she never shuts up. The person who  looked at our home made a rediculous offer and we countered back and forth and she finally agreed to pay 500 under our asking price (and $9k under what we currently owe) LONG story short she goes through inspection and the guy tells her our HVAC is going to die any day now. So now she wants a new HVAC and we can not and will not put a new one in. She is getting a deal on this place... sorry bouchya. Well she has COPD and she needs a place that cools very quickly!! No home instantly cools unless you have one of those window units.... So her bank would not give her any more money (she was buying our place from the equity she has in her current home, which she isn't selling) so because she couldnt borrow extra to replace the HVAC (which she won't need for at least 6 more month it is October) she walked. And we are back on the market. We have been on for almost 9 months now.

  • What happened at your neighbor's home? It may be better to disclose the information upfront, especially if there is a chance of a buyer finding out while you are under contract.

    HVAC is not a small issue. Maybe you get lucky and an inexperienced homeowner comes along, who doesn't care... As a buyer, I wouldn't purchase a home with that kind of issue. If you really want to get your home sold, then you may need to cough up the money to address the problem.
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  • What happened? Water leak? Carbon monoxide? Fire? Infestation? Murder?

    Have you just considered staying put?

    9 months isn't that long in this market. Townhomes/condos typically take longer to sell than SFHs.

    Most buyers will do an inspection. Any inspector worth his/her salt will figure out the HVAC issue.

    Is there a small fix you can do to make the system better without having to replace anything?

  • The issue at the neighbors house isn't important to the sale of our home. There was no damage and no reason to disclose. The HOA fixed her issue. The HVAC we know is older but it isn't close to dying, sure we could put all of our savings into replacing but then we have no down payment for our next home. We could replace the ourside unit, that could be a resasonable fix however once they get in there if they find an issue by law they have to fix it so what would start out at 1600 fix can turn into a 7000 blunder. Thats a gamble we can not take. We recently purchased a home warranty that would cover for a year so any new buyer wouldn't be hit with a major purchase if they bought right away. If we stayed we wouldn't be able to stay together. We do not physically fit in this condo. We have been married for 10 months and I have not moved in. I have some clothes and a makeup bag. It isn't realistic nor an option. We are both older, so we are ready to start a family (my gyno is starting to put the pressure on) If we want to have more than 1 child we should have started when we got married. That being said I am trying to be as flexiable as I can with the market and hope that the perfect person for this home comes along.
  • Fair enough.

    Have you considered renting it out? It's hard being a landlord, and maybe if you are TTC, you don't want that stress...

  • Fair enough.

    Have you considered renting it out? It's hard being a landlord, and maybe if you are TTC, you don't want that stress...

    Also, sometimes people who have had a hard time selling a home post pics here and at the D&R board for staging/design tips to help it sell. Buyers can be very moved by appearance things. Just a thought.

  • HVAC is not a small issue. Maybe you get lucky and an inexperienced homeowner comes along, who doesn't care... As a buyer, I wouldn't purchase a home with that kind of issue.
    Not to mention, if the next inspector finds any sort of issue with the HVAC (whether it's on its last legs or needs anything done to it), or anything else, the bank may not want to lend on the property unless the issue is resolved.

    Fair enough.

    Have you considered renting it out? It's hard being a landlord, and maybe if you are TTC, you don't want that stress...

    If you're willing to rent it out, you could look into hiring a property management company to deal with the stress for you.
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  • As a buyer, I would not pay asking price if the a/c is on It's last legs. Have you thought of listing higher so that you do have wiggle room? If you could prove to me that the house was worth more than you're asking or that the asking price reflects the condition of the HVAC, you may have more luck.

    I'm also really curious about what happened at the neighbor's house. I don't think you should have to disclose it, since the only thing I could think of that would affect your home that you haven't mentioned would be a sex offender, and they can and should look that up on their own.
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  • I'm an agent and in my state if you know about any incident in the neighborhood you are required to disclose it. This includes train noise, break ins, vandalism, block parties, anything that you know about needs to be disclosed. HOA issues need to be disclosed because they could affect HOA dues or the reserve fund balance. 
    If you don't think your HVAC is a problem you can have a second inspector come out. 
    Otherwise, I'd say your best bet would be to offer them a credit back upon closing for a portion of a new HVAC. 
  • In my agency the buyers would have been "given" to another agent in the firm. It would still be a dual agency (which both the buyer and the seller have to agree to), but there would still be some competition and negotiation. You agent should be most loyal to you because you, as the seller, are the one paying the commission. If you are at all uncomfortable with this, you need to say something and decline to sign the dual agency disclosure form.
  • Maybe offer a home warranty with sale?  This is about $450 and will cover the AC if it goes??  Small price to pay and you will get your price and the buyer would get a new AC when it goes.  Just a idea if you get another offer. 
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  • ** Update  **

    So we have put a whole new HVAC in and raised the price to what we currently owe on the property. We are not eligiable for a second mortgage on the property, meaning if we rent the condo out we must live with a parent or get a very cheap apartment for a year in order for our bank to consider the rent a second income and therefore qualifying us for a second mortgage to buy a house. My husband is not handy enough to be a landlord and as crappy as it is to tough it out we have chosen to do so until we can be completly rid of the place. It was sad to visit my MIL house this holiday as she has served as our storage unit. My husbands old bedroom is filled to the brim with our wedding gifts still in the boxes (not to mention everything our realtor told us to move out). I was looking for something and going through them made my heart sad that I don't even remember what all we have. While I know I am lucky to even be able to say that, it has been hard on me. I defiently didn't imagine my first year of marriage to be like this. On a happy note we have decided that we are no longer going to let the condo hold us captive and we will be trying for a family in the spring. And hopfully we will sell before the birth and we will bring a baby home to a new house.

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