Bad Realtors

[AJ Williams]

Made offer ( Sellers agent called me and asked me how my agent got involved in this deal ) and accepted counter offer.

Sellers agent screwed up paperwork (lined through everything in black ink), didn't rewrite it.

My agent was upset and rewrote it and sent it to sellers agent. Seller pulls house off of market.

My agent is wondering what happened and so am I.

Sellers agent upset seller...nightmares...... My agent is trying to straighten it out.

If her agent upset her and let her out of contract my agent just said do it for sale by owner that will save you $5000. As he is my Banker too, I guess I should listen if the owner is still willing to sell.

[Gercarson]

Careful here - can of worms!

[WanderingOak]

I had a similar porblem a few years ago. It turns out that the seller was not serious about selling her house. She just wanted her adult children to move out. She made life miserable for every buyer's agent that came by to look at her property, playing the part of a 'Redneck from Hades' to the hilt. When my realtor went by City Hall to look up record for the property, they just shook their heads in dismay when we mentioned the seller's name. As far as I know, they are still living there.

[knight88]

Some real estate agents will try to do ANYTHING to try and make a commission and do not care if its a full or partial commission. Always do YOUR homework. Investigate all parties involved. or as Pres. Regan said; Trust but verify...

[Macybaby]

rose2005 -

We had a similar situation. Our realtor accepted their realtor's verbal confirmation that buyer had financing. Found out days before closing that they didn't have enough for down payment.

We ended up signing a second mortgage to cover the down payment they needed $15,000 - about took all the cash we were going to get out of the deal, but we had already bought property two states away, and wanted it done (took a year to get it sold as it was - a different realtor nightmare story).

They made the first two payments on time, been hit and miss since. They defaulted on the balloon payment this spring, and keep saying they hope to make it good. We have a lean on the property, so we may eventually get our money . . .

I was so mad because our Realtor talked us into accepting a low offer with the promise that she would continue to market the house hoping for a better offer until the contingency was removed. She pulled it off the market without verifying with the lender, and it was two months later before closing when we found out. By that time it was early summer, and we'd missed the best time to have the house on the market.

At least we had a good realtor for buying our property in SD - she did a great job for us.

Cathy

[kasilofhome]

My agent (duel agent on the offer) wanted me at the last minute to find a job for the wife cause the "priest and his wife (buyers) lied to the bank about where the money came from and made up that wife was working. I believe that was true but that fact that she was working "UNDER" the table was a no no.

The deal DFT's and replace listing agent. sold 48 hours with new agent above asking price.

[Quint]

Bad realtor? Is there any other kind? Crooked as a barrel of snakes at best.

[watcher]

When we were working on buying this place the realtor AND the real estate lawyer we were dealing with wanted us to buy the place w/o a survey! After we demanded a survey we found that a neighbor had built part of his pig pen on the property and most of another neighbor's back yard was really ours. It was such mess the wife and I started calling the two agents and the lawyer Larry, Moe and Curly.

[AJ Williams]

It really is a shame that people want money so bad that they are willing to set aside morals and respect to screw someone out of their money.

We are approved for up to $160,000 so we have financing. We have 2 properties we are interested in. One has been on the market for 18 months and the other for about 6 months. Owner of one on market for 18 months is supposedly motivated. I wonder how motivated? I will make a decent offer and drive on from there.

[CJ]

Yes, there are terrific, conscientious realtors out there along with the snakes. Realtor are no different than anyone else in any other profession.

Originally Posted by Quint

Bad realtor? Is there any other kind? Crooked as a barrel of snakes at best.

Sorry you went through this. We are in the midst of a nasty real estate deal ourselves, I've been whining about it on my blog for days... it sure can get emotional! I hope your deal works out for the best.

[neolady]

A realtor works for nobody but him/her self. Period. Been there, been screwed over by them. Also had the smarts to lay a complaint to the real estate board. I liked having the realtor's licence suspended - if I got nothing else out of it that was at least some satisfactiion.

[Mike in Ohio]

Caveat Emptor

[DAVID In Wisconsin]

I must be lucky. I have a great realtor. She has brains and looks out for my interests. She always does one heck of a job for us!

[paulaswolfpack]

Report her to the state board of realtors, We had a real bad one years ago in Idhao she lost her liecsince in the 3 states around her the trick she tried to pull was a no no.

[canfossi]

We had the same problem with our realtor, wasted 1 year with her. When she could see that we were eager to drop her all these offers came in, I don't even think they were real. I think she just wanted the listing and wasn't keen on showing the house all that much. In the end we dumped her and got another realtor, house sold in under 2 months with the new girl. Good luck! Realtors are shifty and untrustworthy. Chris

[tiogacounty]

Originally Posted by AJ Williams

If her agent upset her and let her out of contract my agent just said do it for sale by owner that will save you $5000. As he is my Banker too, I guess I should listen if the owner is still willing to sell.

You may want to be very careful here. I don't know about the contract you signed with your agent, but you can be sure that the seller is prohibited from selling you the property for X # of months without giving the full commision to their agent. It is pretty clearly spelled out in a sellers contract and I doubt any realtor would sign off and walk away from a commision. BTW, the comment that was made about all realtors being snakes is absolutely silly. They are no different than the general public. Most are decent, some are worthless, and some are incredible and have the reputation, client list, and a huge pile of well earned cash in the bank to prove it. Ending up with a worthless realtor is a self inflicted wound. They ALL have a track record and the ability to quickly prove to their potential customers that they are capable of doing the job. There is a reason why some of them are top sellers and some are part-timers who leave the profession after a few months, or years. There is a reason why 20% of them sell 80% of the listings. Any individual realtor's sucess, or lack of, is hardly a secret. In your case, dealing with a loser who represents the other side of the transaction can be a real tough experience. Good luck, I hope it works out, but I would talk to a lawyer before doing an end run around the seller's agent, even if the listing has expired. Not worth getting sued over.

[Bret]

Best wishes. There are many good and trustworthy realtors.

David in Wisconsin, I have to ask. Ae you married to yours?

[Ardie/WI]

Gosh, we must have lucked out big time twice!!

We worked with two different realtors on two different deals and they were wonderful. Right on the ball constantly.

Now, the realtor who had listed this place was interesting to say the least. She showed up here wearing a REALLY short skirt and cowboy boots. I could see the boots cause it was muddy but her tushy must have been a might cold. Then, she checks Roger out very visibly. I didn't mind but thought it wasn't very business-like. Then, she left us here alone to look at the property. The next meeting at her office was, again, interesting. She was dressed in black leather head-to-toe. (I actualy looked for her whip!). The deal worked out well after her boss took over negotiations(sp?).

There are good realtors and bad ones. Do your homework. Get references.

[edcopp]

No such thing as a bad realtor.

Realtors are only as bad as the clients who hire them. Realtors are never allowed to act on their own. They must always follow the direction of their client, always. The client is resopnsible for directing the realtor, not the other way around.

Now there are always some folks who want the realtor to break the law in one way or another. This is not permitted even though a lot of folks think the thing to do is lie cheat and steal whenever possible. Often sellers will lie to the realtor, and then someone says "bad realtor" when she repeats the lie. Ultimately the client is responsible.

Most realtors do a really good job considering the facts. Often they are the last to get the facts.

[Jim S.]

Please be aware in your OP that not all agents are Realtors. Realtor is a trademarked name for a program of certification, and you do not have to be a Realtor to sell property. The words "agent" and "Realtor" are not interchangeable. Your likelihood of finding an unethical Realtor is somewhat lower than finding an unethical agent, because of the certification and training and tracking involved with the Realtor designation. I am making no claims as to how MUCH lower the likelihood of unethical Realtors is, however.

All agents are ruled by the ethics laws of their state, and can have their licenses pulled for ethical infractions.

I write and edit real estate stories weekly as part of my living.