From: "Lynn F. Russell" 
Newsgroups: misc.invest.real-estate alt.invest.real-estate alt.real-estate-agents
Subject: Re: How useful are comparables?
Date: Sat, 09 Aug 2003 17:02:48 GMT

If "Sum" doesn't have a buyer-broker contract, the AGENT he's working with
(even though she helped find property) WORKS FOR THE SELLER...

"Sum" should insist on buyer representation with this current agent, then
she would be legally bound to provide advice that would be in his best
interest.

I am of the opinion that comps are a major source of information when one is
pricing property in a particular neighborhood or part of town.


"Bob P"  wrote in message
news:d%7Xa.85822$0v4.5758375@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
> It's unfortunate that you've hooked up with one of THOSE realtors. A real
> estate agent has the obligation to make sure that you don't pay too much
for
> a property when you make an offer. Her failure to do comps in this regard
> tells me she is either too lazy, just doesn't know how or is trying to get
> as much commission as possible. Is this the same agent that doesn't know
> about an "As Is" Addendum?
>
> I've heard of deals where a buyer will pass cash to the seller outside of
> closing so that the amount of the deal is kept artificially low in an
effort
> to minimize closing costs and possibly property taxes in the future.
> However, this is often to the detriment of the rest of the neighborhood as
> well as to his own resale value as it depresses the property values. I can
> especially see this happening in a divorce situation where one spouse is
> hiding proceeds from the other. Having said that, however, I would highly
> suggest that you DO NOT rely on hear-say evidence in considering what your
> offer will be.
>
> And don't waste everyone's time including unwanted items in your offer. If
> the listing says that the house is being sold furnished, then you can
> request an inventory of all contents. Otherwise only "fixtures" are
standard
> inclusions.
>
> But the main theme here is get yourself an agent who will work for you and
> not for herself. It's becoming clear that you are not being adequately
> represented. And make sure you document your termination of the
relationship
> or she may still be "procuring cause" and be due the commission on a deal
> she had little to do with.
>
>
> "Sum"  wrote in message
> news:3F2CA800.9080801@earthlink.net...
> > I have finally narrowed my choices of houses down to two.  One house we
> > will make an offer and the other one is a back up that we may pursue if
> > plan A does not work or we may start looking again.
> >
> > The house we are going after was sold at 530K in December 2002 (yes,
> > only seven months ago), I was told the owner had a relationship that
> > went sour and wanted to sell.  He listed it at 720K (which I thought was
> > ridiculous to have a 200K jump after six months).  Recently the price
> > was adjusted to 620K.
> >
> > The agent I am working with is not the listing agent, I met her at an
> > open house and she took me to several houses and this was one of them.
> >  Due to the extensive price fluctuation I asked he for some comparables
> > for nearby sales.  She told me instead that "it does not matter what
> > anyone else's paid, it only matters what you think it's worth" and did
> > not provide any information to me.  She did tell me she "heard" that the
> > current owner paid more than 530K for the property and that there were
> > some cash under the table in the original deal.
> >
> > I did some calcluations and there are some extensive work we need to do
> > to this house (not because of defects just things we want to change).
> >  The current owner did not keep the house in very good condition and did
> > not do anything in terms of upgrade or improvement.
> >
> > So now I am a little confused as to what would be a good offer price to
> > start.
> >
> > Another question I have is the agent told me to include everything into
> > the sales contract and let the owner exclude what he does not want to
> > leave behind.  She recommended to include even rugs, china, furniture
> > etc... but I don't like any of the furniture,  I don't even like their
> > ceiling fans, built in storage shelves, lighting,  is there any
> > advantage to excluding what I don't need or is it really better to
> > include everything so that later on you can yield on these items during
> > negotiation?
> >
>
>