Realtor hosed me - what can I do?

[Gypsy me]

Tony, You could pose your question/senario to the state real estate board, you don't have to mention names or agencies.



Let me tell you these two stories.



Friends of mine listed their home for over the average area market value. They had done many nice upgrades. Not only did their house sell the first day on the market. The buyer offered them MORE than what they were asking. He wanted to ensure he got the house. They got well over what they listed for.



When we sold our house in Co. We listed over the area market average. We too had done upgrades. Sold the house 7 days later full asking price.



How and why did these houses sell for the prices that we ask? Because both frend and myself had Seller agents. *different companies* And it was all due to the way it was presented to the buyer.

Selling is selling, if the house, is presented well and the agent selling it is good at their job.

They can sell it.



When we bought the house in AZ, no agent involved, bought from the owner. I wrote the contract, they picked their own title company, was kewl by me. I made the terms gave them their asking price. bought the house. Easiest sale/buying deal I ever experienced. At the closing on the house in CO with agents... I did the closing on house in AZ myself. pretty easy stuff.





In your case, since she listed it and found the buyer. She would probably be entitled to the commission in full.



Legally, more than likely this could read, that if you were not happy with what that agent suggested listing it for then, you should not have signed the contact. and found a different selling agent. I don't want to sound harsh, just trying to say This maybe the answer that you get. Good Luck to you & Hope it works out in your favor.

 

[Paul Maurer 2]

As the owner you have final say, and you sold for your asking price- seller's remorse is no grounds for legal action and as a 30 year resident of the neighborhood, trends in the area were yours to determine before the price was set. I suggest moving forward with your gains and onto the next house. My best friends sold their house (by owner) to a speculative couple who were represented by one of the more aggressive agents in town- they closed on a thursday for $1.1 million(with the buyer signing multiple mortgages, lines of credit, etc.), and new "for sale" signs went up on monday for $1.6 mil. My buddys wife was furious that they "lost" 500 grand, but that was 15 months ago and the damn thing is still for sale, and really annoying because its across the canal from me.:angry:

 

[Michelle Widell]

[/i][/b]If she had held an open house, put an ad in the paper, and it still sold in 7 days for asking price, would you of had the same issue with the realtor as you have now?



In any case, it sounds like you had a nice house that showed well, so it sold quickly. My old house was in pristine condition and showed well too - and I ended up with two offers being presented at the same time. (That was interesting - shuttle one realtor out into the garage and another in to make their presentation.)



Another question.. the buyer - does it seem like a sound deal? When I sold mine, the one offer was for a little more than my asking price, but contingent on the sale of their home in Minneapolis. It was a young couple with no bank letter. The other was for a little less than asking, which I counteroffered on (I "threw in" the watersoftener and hottub, which I asked the realtor to leave out of the deal so I could use it as bargaining power.) I ended up with asking price, from a buyer who lived in an apartment, had over 20% down, and had a letter of credit. We closed within a month.

 

[zaffo oxnard]

Couple of points - the realtors OWN the MLS. Since I wanted exposure to as many possible buyers as possible, I needed to go to a selling agent. I have to pay for this. No quams with that. If I used one of the cut-rate sellers agents, but anyone using a buyers agent will not show my house because I offer them no comission. Is that worth $15k? Not to me. I wish it was the other way around - cut rate buyer's agents who line up buyers with willing sellers for a 2% fee. Hey - new business for me???



Not arguing about remorse - breach of contract -

What I contracted for that I did not get was

1. Good pricing help. argue sellers remorse, etc. this is a 30 year professional realtor and for that kind of money I would expect a better outcome than what I got - and I had to overcome her resistance to price it where it went. I could have got "price $5 - 10 over last sale" from a 19 year old in the business for 3 months or out of my own head!

2. She never showed up to show the house. Didn't do items 2 - 10 in her "how I sell a house" pitch.



All she did was list on MLS and bring the offer. Fortunately for her this is all she has to to to earn" her fee. Kink of like lawyers - "I have to do a job to earn a fee - not a GOOD job"

 

[Richard L]

TJR,

I disagree that realtors are obsolete. Most of the listing available on the internet are derived from realtors. Most people do not have access to the buyer without going through the realtor and the homeowner cannot get their house on that website/list unless they have have a contract with a realtor.



It's not impossible for an owner to sell their house without a realtor, but the realtor takes a lot of the work out of showing the home and answering the prospective buyers questions. And most people don't want a bunch of busy-bodies going through there home just to snoop around without any real interest in buying. I had a neighbor who used to go to all the open houses in the neighborhood and then tell us what price they were asking, and what the house looked like inside, etc. She was a nice neighbor, just a busy-body.



...Rich

 

[Thomas Rogers]

RichardL,



You describe the closed nature of the business, that keeps Realtors in the loop. That's part of the problem. You are right. With web technology the way it is today Realtors SHOULD be obsolete, IMHO.



Oh, and RichardL, are you, a spouse or a relative now or once a Realtor?



TJR

 

[Bill V]

I'll agree with RichardL that realtors aren't obsolete--they still have developed a specialized skill set to perform a certain task, and should be compensated for performing it.



However, because of technology being able to perform many of the tasks that realtors previously performed, the amount of effort required by them to do a house sale is reduced, and their compensation per sale should subsequently go down. Which is starting to occur. In many areas of the country, the 7% realtor commission is close to being extinct, driven by competition from realtors who realize they can still make a significant living by working at a reduced rate, doing more sales, and, thanks to technology, spending less time on each sale.



And to answer the question I suspect you're going to ask, TJR--no, I am not and never have been a realtor, nor is/has my spouse, nor (to my knowledge) are/have any of my relatives or close friends.



--Bill

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Okay, BillV, then I should say: "The Realtor of Old has become Obsolete!"



Re-invent or die time.

 

[Michael Cacioppo]

Todd Z, you can sell the house privately even if an exclusive is given to the braker. The stipulation that you reserve the right to sell privately is placed in the listing. Having said that, the broker will not put it on MLS with that clause since they want exlusives only. That is true in New York state. I have done exactly that recently.

 

[Paul Maurer 2]

If the written contract stipulated actions that were not taken, you may have a case, but the fact that it sold in a week means there probably wasn't time for an open house, which could have produced multiple offers. Your realtor did the smart thing for her- dangle it on MLS for a week or so to gauge interest before promoting it. You could have held the offer until after an open house, with the condition that they could match a better one, or you could have rejected the offer and done battle with your agent. As far as her refunding any of her commission- I give you not a snowballs chance. I sympathize with you- I am trying to rent a townhouse I have spent a year renovating, and my realtor(who sold it to me in 98) wanted 10% of the yearly lease amount as a fee- no problem, but then 10% more every year they renew- and he does not collect rent or do any property management! I told him to pound sand and put it in the paper myself, but have had very few calls....and may ultimately give in.