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Problems with Real Estate Agents & Sellers
To me a real estate agent seems to be someone who shelters the seller from having to give you any information on the home. It is ridiculous to think someone has lived in the home you want to buy for years yet you are basically given no information on the home. You ask the listing agent simple questions like how old is the a/c unit or roof and they have no idea. It will be much easier to sell your home if you provide information on it. The house after all does have a history.
We do have disclosure laws here in Texas that require owners to give you some information and if you find out they lied you can sue them. Problem is you have to prove they knew about the problem and it can be very expensive and difficult to win the case. I looked at a home that was for sale by an owner agent. He said he had just listed it and hadn't even filled out the disclosure form. I asked what will be on the disclosure form and his response was "Nothing, there never is, is there?"
I have been to many open houses and only one had the disclosure form available on site. Seems to me if you want to sell your home you would type up a sheet of important information and leave copies of it in the house for buyers to pick up and take with them. The agent you are paying thousands of dollars to sell your house is not providing information. They always say I will find out and get back to you, but they never do. Nobody expects a pre-owned home to be in perfect condition but buyers should not have to be detectives and try to figure out what you already know.
An agent showed me the house I now own and then told me it was already sold. She wanted me to buy the one down the street that she got a bigger commission on. I called another agent, found out this house had not been sold and bought it through someone else. Some agents will try to pressure you into buying by telling you they have another offer on the house. Many won't tell you that you can offer less than the asking price. You offer what you think the house is worth and the owner can come back with a counter offer. Prices are negotiable and a good agent will let you know this.
Unless it is a very hot market and you know it is the house of your dreams, make at least a 48 hour rule. When you first see a house you may get very excited and think this is the one. Think about it for at least 48 hours before you make an offer. Go back and take a second look at the home, drive or walk around the neighborhood and make sure it is where you really want to live. Are there barking dogs and loud neighbors next door? When you first see a house you like you tend to focus on the good things, think about the bad points also. Every home has it's good and bad points.
Real estate agents may advise you to buy a home warranty. Most warranty companies will give the real estate agent a commission for selling the warranty. The brochures these companies give out lead people to believe everything is covered no matter how old. The agents probably don't know how bad the warranties are unless they have used one themselves. Read about home warranty complaints before you purchase one.
Don't hire a home inspector based solely on the recommendation of your real estate agent.
Learn your way around the HAR web site if you are looking for a home in or around Houston, Tx. They have a Home Value Finder that will show you homes that have sold in the past 2 years. It won't list the exact sales price but any Har real estate agent can print out a list for you that shows the exact prices homes were sold for. You need this information BEFORE you make an offer. Click to see the standard Seller's Disclosure of Property Condition Form, you will see it is not very detailed.
There are many articles online about real estate agents dying out just like travel agents. Estimates are that in 5 to 10 years there will be very few agents left. Perhaps it is time for agents to wake up and change the way they sell homes if they don't want their business to die. Dare to be different and make the change, this is the information age! Provide useful information or find another job. Have your sellers write up a history on the home and leave it where every buyer can pick up a copy when they walk in the door. Wow, what a shock that would be, to actually be offered information on a home I was looking at. Right now the only information I can get from agents is the same limited information that is on the MLS listing. What's the big frigging secret? It's an old home, I know it has some problems! There is zero trust when you try to sell something you claim to know nothing about.
Articles on the death of real estate agents
Why Real Estate Agents Fear the Web from Tech Dirt
Real Estate Agents Hate Zillow.com
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