Ken Austin's Blog

Oops, It Looks Like the Buyer's Agent Made Another Mistake

Ken Austin, Ken Austin (McKinzie Nielsen Real Estate) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:22:29 -0800

Tammie did a great job below. all too often I find this statement to be true as most buyers agents do not do a final walk through with the buyers.

Via Tammie White Realtor® Franklin TN Homes For Sale (Benchmark Realty, LLC):

Oops, It Looks Like the Buyer's Agent Made Another Mistake

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post entitled, Is Your Buyer's Agent Qualified to Represent You?. This is an addendum to that post.

On Saturday, while out showing properties, I got a text from the above referenced agent. It read:

Buyer's Agent: They took the refrigerator!

Me: That's right, it wasn't in the contract.

Buyer's Agent: All appliances were suppose to stay unless otherwise stated, and they didn't specify that it wouldn't stay. So what do we do about it?

Me: No, the listing did not say all appliances stay.

Buyer's Agent: It didn't say that the refrigerator didn't stay and normally when a refrigerator doesn't stay, it specifically says that and nothing said anything about the refrigerator not staying.

Me: The MLS listing did not have the refrigerator listed as staying.

Appliances are considered personal property. Personal property does not stay unless it is permanently affixed in someway to the home.

Appliances that commonly convey with a home in Tennessee are the stove, dishwasher and microwave. The refrigerator, washer and dryer do not stay, unless, specifically mentioned in the MLS listing.

The listing stated that the stove and dishwasher were staying. The refrigerator, however, was not listed. Oops, it looks like the buyer's agent made another mistake.

Normally, this would have been caught during the final walk-through. Unfortunately, the buyer never had a final walk-through. Why? Because his agent waived it.

This buyer had requested a quick closing in his offer because his interest rate was set to expire on 1/31/2012. That meant the seller only had 13 days to move. The seller was unable to move in that time frame. The buyer granted the seller an additional 10 days in their offer in order for the seller to move.

The day before the closing, I contacted the buyer's agent to schedule the final walk-through. She stated her client wouldn't be doing a final walk-through since he wasn't moving in for 10 days. Essentially, he waived his right to a final walk-through.

Had they performed the final walk-through, the buyer would have caught that the refrigerator was not staying. Oops, it looks like the buyer's agent made another mistake.

I'm not sure what happened in this particular case. However, if I were the buyer, I would have insisted the buyer's agent buy me a new refrigerator. Why? Because she had not looked at the MLS listing properly and had told the buyer it was staying. It was her mistake and, therefore, she should have made good on it.

Buyers, make sure you have an agent who knows how to submit an offer properly and read a MLS listing so this doesn't happen to you. Otherwise, you might find yourself saying:

Oops, it looks like the buyer's agent made another mistake.

P.S. If you are looking for a buyer's agent who actually knows what they're doing, give Tammie White a call today at (615) 495-0752.

************************************************************************************

Tammie White, Realtor® in Franklin TN

Cell Phone: (615)495-0752

www.TammieWhite.com

Tammie@TammieWhite.com

This posting and the contents written here are the intellectual property and opinions of Tammie White of Benchmark Realty LLC. Providing real estate services to clients in Franklin, Brentwood, Nolensville, Thompsons Station, Spring Hill, Fairview, Leipers Fork, Nashville and the whole Middle TN area.

Thinking about making a low-ball offer? Let's talk about the theory of supply and demand in real estate

Ken Austin, Ken Austin (McKinzie Nielsen Real Estate) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 03:09:42 -0700

Here's a great post by Ralph talking about the theory of supply and demand in real estate and the unsavy buyer wanting to always low ball offers.

Via Ralph Gorgoglione - California Real Estate (800) 591-6121 (John Aaroe Group):

Thinking about making a low-ball offer? Let's talk about the theory of supply and demand in real estate

Do you feel that you're in a buyer's market and the best strategy is to start low and "fish out" responses?

Or perhaps you want to delve into what a seller paid for a property in determining what your buyer wants to offer?

What a seller paid for a property HAS ABSOLUTELY NO BEARING on what the fair market value is for that property.

Let's say a property is listed for $300,000. It was purchased at a trustee sale for $195,000. The seller's purchase price has nothing to do with what the property is worth, and you cannot consider what [you think] their net profit will be in determining what the property is worth, nor what you should offer for that matter.

Let's do the reverse: What if the seller paid 3 dollars and 75 cents for the property? Or inherited the property for free? Does that mean you're justified in offering 5 dollars and 35 cents for a property that is listed for $300,000?

I don't think so. So let's just take that element of what the seller paid for the property and toss it into El Garbagio.

Determining what you feel should be a fair profit for the seller should not even be an element of the equation when determining an offer price.

Let's put one more spin on this, especially since a large percentage of the real estate market are short sales: What if the seller paid $450,000 for that same property listed for $300,000? Do you base your offer price on what the seller paid in this same case and offer, say...$425,000?

And of course, any buyer's answer would be "absolutely not, the property is not worth $425,000"

In this case, you would pull out the fair market value card and justify it then, wouldn't you?

But fair market value isn't a double standard where you can use it only when it's to your advantage. Fair market value is a solid, unwavering principle that applies to ANY product in a capitalistic economy. It's a constant that doesn't change.

It's a slave to the irrefutable economic principle of supply and demand that is as old as dirt!!

If a property shows well and is priced right, there will be multiple interest in purchasing that property, guaranteed, no matter WHAT kind of market you're in.

No matter what kind of market you're in, upward, downward or flat, there are always qualified buyers out there who are looking for homes.

You're not the only buyer out there. Interest rates are historically at an almost all-time low. And people are always looking for a place to live. Thus, the demand for move-in ready, affordable homes is out there.

Now what about the supply of move-in ready, affordable homes? Is it substantial? Well, I suppose that depends on your local area. That will vary from one city to the next, and that's where the help of a good, analytical, experienced real estate agent comes in.

In an ever-changing world of economic crisis, banking crisis, and, well, let's throw in mid-life crisis, you can always count on the age-old principle of supply and demand as your leverage of knowledge and tool for success!

Los Angeles Homes For Sale

Los Angeles Condos For Sale

Los Angeles Townhomes For Sale

How do you keep a buyer from going Rouge?

Ken Austin, Ken Austin (McKinzie Nielsen Real Estate) — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 20:59:19 -0700

That is the question I have. I have been selling real estate for 8 years and never have I had a situation that I recently faced a few weeks ago.

Let me start by saying that this particular buyer I have worked with for a year looking for a specialty property. Had to be more than 2 acres, had to be horse property and on and on. With that being said it wasn't easy to find that particular property. Adding to that I had an unrealistic buyer that I had to educate on pricing. After loosing out on a few properties with low ball offers we finally got one to stick at asking price. Mind you this wasn't an easy task. We have a VA loan to deal with and a sub-par property on top of that. Seller was ok with doing the proper repairs to get this deal to work. I had the trust of my buyer and what seemed to be a decent working relationship with the listing agent.

The problem started early on in the transaction with my buyer originally contacting the listing agent to find out what the deal was with this property. He did tell the listing agent he already had a Realtor so the listing agent was aware of a relationship and was understanding of our relationship. Once we got the deal in escrow my buyer began calling the listing agent without me knowing on numerous issues he wanted corrected within the property or about getting things repaired or even asking the listing agent a question that should have gone through his Realtor (me). Throughout this my buyer would be upfront with me about contacting the listing agent in which I would tell him he needs to send any questions or concerns though me his Realtor whom he hired to represent him in the purchase of this home and that the listing agent really shouldnt be talking to him at all. This listing agent was a hindrance in this as well as he seemed to have no problem taking my clients calls.

A situation occurred and I will spare you the major details but it was something that my buyer and the listing agent has agreed upon that I was not apart of that went wrong. The buyer then tried getting me involved to help him correct the situation that he got himself into that I was not apart of. After this issue was resolved my buyer still wouldn't listen to me and would continue his contact with the listing agent.

After this I was pretty much fed up with this buyer and also feared that between he and the listing agent I could see the potential for some sort of a legal issue down the road if this didn't close soon. So I prayed that this deal would close and I would never hear from this buyer again.

So the question is what would you do in a situation like this where your buyer went rouge and would not listen to you?