Question dealing with Realtors

[Cal166]

Friend recommended me a Realtor who I sort of know. Asked him to assist me with making an offer to this a place I like. Asking price was $229k, offered $200k to see what they come back with, they came back with $225k but my Realtor said to me that If I can offer $215k, the place should be mine.

Does this sound right to you? This property has been in the market for over 65 days.

 

[tasmanian]

Offer 190.

 

[Bignate603]

Could be, it really depends on what the house is worth. If your realtor is decent they should have some sort of idea on what the going rate is for a property like that.

 

[waffleironhead]

you can offer whatever you want, but you are trusting the agent knows the market. If they dont accept, the only thing you risk is them walking away at that point, as when you make the counter, the offer by them is null. I doubt they will do that.

 

[woodie1]

Originally posted by: Cal166
Friend recommended me a Realtor who I sort of know. Asked him to assist me with making an offer to this a place I like. Asking price was $229k, offered $200k to see what they come back with, they came back with $225k but my Realtor said to me that If I can offer $215k, the place should be mine.

Does this sound right to you? This property has been in the market for over 65 days.

Kinds difficult to assess your situation without more info. If you want the property then raise your offer to 205 or some such. Otherwise move on.

 

[Cal166]

Originally posted by: woodie1

Originally posted by: Cal166
Friend recommended me a Realtor who I sort of know. Asked him to assist me with making an offer to this a place I like. Asking price was $229k, offered $200k to see what they come back with, they came back with $225k but my Realtor said to me that If I can offer $215k, the place should be mine.

Does this sound right to you? This property has been in the market for over 65 days.

Kinds difficult to assess your situation without more info. If you want the property then raise your offer to 205 or some such. Otherwise move on.

This is a 713sq ft. 1BR coop in Brooklyn, NY. $434CC for Water, Heat, and Gas. In a nice neighborhood with restaurants and grocery stores. I spoke to one of the tenants that lived in the building, she said she paid $250k in December for a 1BR.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Any good Realtor will know the market of their area and I would trust his/her advice before I'd trust anyone on this or any forum.

The big question is, do you trust your Realtor?

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: woodie1

Originally posted by: Cal166
Friend recommended me a Realtor who I sort of know. Asked him to assist me with making an offer to this a place I like. Asking price was $229k, offered $200k to see what they come back with, they came back with $225k but my Realtor said to me that If I can offer $215k, the place should be mine.

Does this sound right to you? This property has been in the market for over 65 days.

Kinds difficult to assess your situation without more info. If you want the property then raise your offer to 205 or some such. Otherwise move on.

Worst advice ever. I'm guessing the OP's Realtor has talked to the selling agent and knows what the seller is willing to accept. If the OP wants the property and the numbers work then why not offer it.

I would only hope that the OP has looked at a number of properties in the area to know what is available, what he wants, and what he is comfortable paying.

Posting on ATOT for real estate advice is like posting on a gardening forum for computer advice.

BTW-My wife happens to be a Realtor with well over 10 years of experience and over 30 years of parental experience to back that up.

 

[Cal166]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: woodie1

Originally posted by: Cal166
Friend recommended me a Realtor who I sort of know. Asked him to assist me with making an offer to this a place I like. Asking price was $229k, offered $200k to see what they come back with, they came back with $225k but my Realtor said to me that If I can offer $215k, the place should be mine.

Does this sound right to you? This property has been in the market for over 65 days.

Kinds difficult to assess your situation without more info. If you want the property then raise your offer to 205 or some such. Otherwise move on.

Worst advice ever. I'm guessing the OP's Realtor has talked to the selling agent and knows what the seller is willing to accept. If the OP wants the property and the numbers work then why not offer it.

I would only hope that the OP has looked at a number of properties in the area to know what is available, what he wants, and what he is comfortable paying.

Posting on ATOT for real estate advice is like posting on a gardening forum for computer advice.

BTW-My wife happens to be a Realtor with well over 10 years of experience and over 30 years of parental experience to back that up.

You're correct, my agent has spoken to the seller's agent and I believe my agents knows the numbers that the seller will accept and it's $215k, thats why my agent sent me an e-mail saying that if I offer that, the property should be mine.

I been on trulia looking at properties that recently sold around the area and it's way higher. Where can I get the actual selling price for an apartment in a building?

 

[Capt Caveman]

Originally posted by: Cal166

Originally posted by: woodie1

Originally posted by: Cal166
Friend recommended me a Realtor who I sort of know. Asked him to assist me with making an offer to this a place I like. Asking price was $229k, offered $200k to see what they come back with, they came back with $225k but my Realtor said to me that If I can offer $215k, the place should be mine.

Does this sound right to you? This property has been in the market for over 65 days.

Kinds difficult to assess your situation without more info. If you want the property then raise your offer to 205 or some such. Otherwise move on.

This is a 713sq ft. 1BR coop in Brooklyn, NY. $434CC for Water, Heat, and Gas. In a nice neighborhood with restaurants and grocery stores. I spoke to one of the tenants that lived in the building, she said she paid $250k in December for a 1BR.

So, you're asking for 20% less for a comparable unit? /facepalm

 

[sjwaste]

I doubt your agent has gotten actual numbers from the seller's agent. Remember that your agent is YOUR AGENT and would have a fiduciary duty that probably involves disclosing that number to you if he knows it. Realtors in your area tend to work with one another a lot, so make sure they're not valuing that relationship better than your principal-agent contract.

If he's had that conversation but isn't telling you the exact details, find a new agent. It's hard to find one that's trustworthy because their commission depends on the sale price. Therefore, who are they really working for? Find one that really works for you, and stick with them, because they will be few and far between.

FWIW, my agent, who I do trust, thought that our property would fall at 10k more than we actually paid for it. That's a pretty close estimate, but if you don't want to jump from 200 to 215, you can try smaller increments. At some point it isn't worth haggling over 10k, but when 10k is 5% of the purchase price, it's still a factor. Still, I went ahead with a smaller bid because the property had been 8 mos on the market, and it ended up taking.

Having a buyers agent is not an excuse to not do 95% of the research yourself. Use the agent to handle negotiations with the other party, paperwork, and their industry knowledge when you need to fall back on it. Everything else, including area values, recent comps, etc should fall on you.

 

[arkcom]

Originally posted by: sjwaste
I doubt your agent has gotten actual numbers from the seller's agent. Remember that your agent is YOUR AGENT and would have a fiduciary duty that probably involves disclosing that number to you if he knows it. Realtors in your area tend to work with one another a lot, so make sure they're not valuing that relationship better than your principal-agent contract.

If he's had that conversation but isn't telling you the exact details, find a new agent. It's hard to find one that's trustworthy because their commission depends on the sale price. Therefore, who are they really working for? Find one that really works for you, and stick with them, because they will be few and far between.

FWIW, my agent, who I do trust, thought that our property would fall at 10k more than we actually paid for it. That's a pretty close estimate, but if you don't want to jump from 200 to 215, you can try smaller increments. At some point it isn't worth haggling over 10k, but when 10k is 5% of the purchase price, it's still a factor. Still, I went ahead with a smaller bid because the property had been 8 mos on the market, and it ended up taking.

Having a buyers agent is not an excuse to not do 95% of the research yourself. Use the agent to handle negotiations with the other party, paperwork, and their industry knowledge when you need to fall back on it. Everything else, including area values, recent comps, etc should fall on you.

The difference in commission between 200k and 215k is so small that the agent is not going to lie about it. Why possibly lose a sale (~14k) just to make an extra couple hundred bucks?

 

[Bignate603]

Originally posted by: arkcom
The difference in commission between 200k and 215k is so small that the agent is not going to lie about it. Why possibly lose a sale (~14k) just to make an extra couple hundred bucks?

So somebody else read Freakonomics? This is a good point. It's in the best interests of the realtor to to make the sale quickly and easily, even if its at a lower price than the seller would really like. Their cut of the deal only changes a few hundred so they don't have a huge incentive to push harder if it will risk the sale.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: sjwaste
I doubt your agent has gotten actual numbers from the seller's agent. Remember that your agent is YOUR AGENT and would have a fiduciary duty that probably involves disclosing that number to you if he knows it. Realtors in your area tend to work with one another a lot, so make sure they're not valuing that relationship better than your principal-agent contract.

If he's had that conversation but isn't telling you the exact details, find a new agent. It's hard to find one that's trustworthy because their commission depends on the sale price. Therefore, who are they really working for? Find one that really works for you, and stick with them, because they will be few and far between.

FWIW, my agent, who I do trust, thought that our property would fall at 10k more than we actually paid for it. That's a pretty close estimate, but if you don't want to jump from 200 to 215, you can try smaller increments. At some point it isn't worth haggling over 10k, but when 10k is 5% of the purchase price, it's still a factor. Still, I went ahead with a smaller bid because the property had been 8 mos on the market, and it ended up taking.

Having a buyers agent is not an excuse to not do 95% of the research yourself. Use the agent to handle negotiations with the other party, paperwork, and their industry knowledge when you need to fall back on it. Everything else, including area values, recent comps, etc should fall on you.

NM, I only read the first part of your post before responding. You are correct and your agent should be telling you everything about the conversations going on between them and it sounds like the OP's agent is doing this which goes back to my original trust issue. If you think your Realtor isn't representing you in your best interests or that they don't know the market then find a new one.

 

[sjwaste]

Originally posted by: arkcom


The difference in commission between 200k and 215k is so small that the agent is not going to lie about it. Why possibly lose a sale (~14k) just to make an extra couple hundred bucks?

I'm not suggesting that the agent is flat out lying about it to make a few extra bucks. But I do think that the seller and buyer care about that 10k. Therefore, throwing out the number in the middle is most likely to speed up the transaction, which the agent does have an interest in having happen.

Neither agent wants to go back and forth in 5k increments, so if the parties wish to do so, they must insist on it.

 

[sjwaste]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Dude, $15,000 price difference only amounts to an extra $375 in commission for the buyers agent. Did it ever occur to you that this kind of discussion goes on all the time behind the scenes between agents? That's the whole point of having a Realtor...so they can negotiate a price that is the best deal for their client for the home they want.

That, or to close the transaction quickly. I'm not expressing a flat out distrust of realtors, but if I've done my homework and know what I should pay, I am not going to come in at a higher number to close the deal faster in the interest of my agent.

That might not be a concern now, since business is quite a bit slower these days, but you better believe an agent wants to close the file as quickly as possible. It's not my job to eat an extra 10-15k on the purchase price to do that. Otherwise, which party is really the agent of whom?

 

[arkcom]

Originally posted by: Bignate603

Originally posted by: arkcom
The difference in commission between 200k and 215k is so small that the agent is not going to lie about it. Why possibly lose a sale (~14k) just to make an extra couple hundred bucks?

So somebody else read Freakonomics? This is a good point. It's in the best interests of the realtor to to make the sale quickly and easily, even if its at a lower price than the seller would really like. Their cut of the deal only changes a few hundred so they don't have a huge incentive to push harder if it will risk the sale.

No, but my dad's a Realtor and I used to be. I guess I should say that 14k is between the buyers agent and his "buddy" sellers agent (and their brokers).

 

[arkcom]

Originally posted by: sjwaste

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Dude, $15,000 price difference only amounts to an extra $375 in commission for the buyers agent. Did it ever occur to you that this kind of discussion goes on all the time behind the scenes between agents? That's the whole point of having a Realtor...so they can negotiate a price that is the best deal for their client for the home they want.

That, or to close the transaction quickly. I'm not expressing a flat out distrust of realtors, but if I've done my homework and know what I should pay, I am not going to come in at a higher number to close the deal faster in the interest of my agent.

That might not be a concern now, since business is quite a bit slower these days, but you better believe an agent wants to close the file as quickly as possible. It's not my job to eat an extra 10-15k on the purchase price to do that. Otherwise, which party is really the agent of whom?

He's talking about paying 50k less than the last similar unit that sold. He's not really going to get screwed.

 

[wiredspider]

You can offer what ever the heck you want, if it's worth $215k then go with that. If you deem it less, then go with that as your offer. I'm not sure if there is really even any question here, if you don't like their counter, then just resubmit your original offer (basically they can take it or reject it).

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: Bignate603

Originally posted by: arkcom
The difference in commission between 200k and 215k is so small that the agent is not going to lie about it. Why possibly lose a sale (~14k) just to make an extra couple hundred bucks?

So somebody else read Freakonomics? This is a good point. It's in the best interests of the realtor to to make the sale quickly and easily, even if its at a lower price than the seller would really like. Their cut of the deal only changes a few hundred so they don't have a huge incentive to push harder if it will risk the sale.

except it doesn't take into account people's desire to make the most money possible, that it sets a trend in the area and that to many people $100 is enough to nearly kill over.

 

[woodie1]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: woodie1

Originally posted by: Cal166
Friend recommended me a Realtor who I sort of know. Asked him to assist me with making an offer to this a place I like. Asking price was $229k, offered $200k to see what they come back with, they came back with $225k but my Realtor said to me that If I can offer $215k, the place should be mine.

Does this sound right to you? This property has been in the market for over 65 days.

Kinds difficult to assess your situation without more info. If you want the property then raise your offer to 205 or some such. Otherwise move on.

Worst advice ever. I'm guessing the OP's Realtor has talked to the selling agent and knows what the seller is willing to accept. If the OP wants the property and the numbers work then why not offer it.

I would only hope that the OP has looked at a number of properties in the area to know what is available, what he wants, and what he is comfortable paying.

Posting on ATOT for real estate advice is like posting on a gardening forum for computer advice.

BTW-My wife happens to be a Realtor with well over 10 years of experience and over 30 years of parental experience to back that up.

And another clueless post from ....

 

[Cal166]

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: Cal166

Originally posted by: woodie1

Originally posted by: Cal166
Friend recommended me a Realtor who I sort of know. Asked him to assist me with making an offer to this a place I like. Asking price was $229k, offered $200k to see what they come back with, they came back with $225k but my Realtor said to me that If I can offer $215k, the place should be mine.

Does this sound right to you? This property has been in the market for over 65 days.

Kinds difficult to assess your situation without more info. If you want the property then raise your offer to 205 or some such. Otherwise move on.

This is a 713sq ft. 1BR coop in Brooklyn, NY. $434CC for Water, Heat, and Gas. In a nice neighborhood with restaurants and grocery stores. I spoke to one of the tenants that lived in the building, she said she paid $250k in December for a 1BR.

So, you're asking for 20% less for a comparable unit? /facepalm

After some more research, the owner purchased this place for $205k back in 06-20-2008 so my offer was pretty good.

 

[RagingBITCH]

Originally posted by: Cal166

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: Cal166

Originally posted by: woodie1

Originally posted by: Cal166
Friend recommended me a Realtor who I sort of know. Asked him to assist me with making an offer to this a place I like. Asking price was $229k, offered $200k to see what they come back with, they came back with $225k but my Realtor said to me that If I can offer $215k, the place should be mine.

Does this sound right to you? This property has been in the market for over 65 days.

Kinds difficult to assess your situation without more info. If you want the property then raise your offer to 205 or some such. Otherwise move on.

This is a 713sq ft. 1BR coop in Brooklyn, NY. $434CC for Water, Heat, and Gas. In a nice neighborhood with restaurants and grocery stores. I spoke to one of the tenants that lived in the building, she said she paid $250k in December for a 1BR.

So, you're asking for 20% less for a comparable unit? /facepalm

After some more research, the owner purchased this place for $205k back in 06-20-2008 so my offer was pretty good.

$215 is more than fair. I'd even go as low as their purchase price of $205K, unless they made upgrades to warrant the extra $10K in market value. Regardless of the comps.

 

[Cal166]

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH

Originally posted by: Cal166

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: Cal166

Originally posted by: woodie1

Originally posted by: Cal166
Friend recommended me a Realtor who I sort of know. Asked him to assist me with making an offer to this a place I like. Asking price was $229k, offered $200k to see what they come back with, they came back with $225k but my Realtor said to me that If I can offer $215k, the place should be mine.

Does this sound right to you? This property has been in the market for over 65 days.

Kinds difficult to assess your situation without more info. If you want the property then raise your offer to 205 or some such. Otherwise move on.

This is a 713sq ft. 1BR coop in Brooklyn, NY. $434CC for Water, Heat, and Gas. In a nice neighborhood with restaurants and grocery stores. I spoke to one of the tenants that lived in the building, she said she paid $250k in December for a 1BR.

So, you're asking for 20% less for a comparable unit? /facepalm

After some more research, the owner purchased this place for $205k back in 06-20-2008 so my offer was pretty good.

$215 is more than fair. I'd even go as low as their purchase price of $205K, unless they made upgrades to warrant the extra $10K in market value. Regardless of the comps.

They made absolutely no upgrades, the owner been there less than a year and hardly stays there. She lives with her BF. I got these info when the seller agent brought me over to see the place and the owner was there.

 

[SilentZero]

I'd also be interested in why they are selling less than a year later!