Should I sue my real estate agent? or do I have a case.

[newwurldmn]

Except to tell me to leave my knife at home when going to a gun fight. I had no chance to have a competitive offer and he knew that information. Transparency is seen as "bad".

the laws are designed to prevent collusion among real estate agents.

next time have a buyers agent who knows how to push those boundaries. I did and it worked. We won a 3 way auction just matching the highest price and winning on terms (cash close).

And the other bid came from within the selling agent’s firm!

 

[Cabin111]

As others have said (if not in writing), he/she was not your agent. I live in California...Was a Realtor for about 15 years. When the market was red hot, buyers would have to do many things to become the winner. My daughter wrote a personal letter, on why she wanted to own the house (small kids, husband commuting).

The seller can look at other things to decide on who to sell to (this is NOT discrimination)...They just come into play.

One offer could have a 30 day escrow with 7 day inspection vs another offer with 90 days and a 30 day inspection. One offer comes in all cash and has the money in the bank checking account vs someone who needs to obtain a loan!! The septic inspection could have killed the deal...The other offers may not have asked for that. Well quality (water) and depth, come into play for properties. I've had offers go back and forth over the escrow/title company ("I can't stand that company...Will never use them again"!!).

You knew there were other offers on the table. In California (when that is known, there are other offers), you put your best and highest offer up front...Even over the asking amount!!

Your agent has to bite his/her tongue concerning the offer. They probably had a fiduciary responsibility to the seller, but not to you. Just the way it is written out. Find another agent who "works for you"...See what happens.

PS If you hear the agent say "you need to put in a "very solid offer" you should know what you are dealing with. They are giving you a strong hint...You need to run with it.

PSS When sellers are brought in 3 or more offers, the agent will usually go through all of them...They are required by law. But to eliminate the confusion (being overwhelmed by multiple offers), the agent will usually ask the seller to narrow it down to the top two offers. At that point, the seller will make a counteroffer to both parties. Whoever accepts the counteroffer first will be the winner in many cases. I bought a piece of property by about 15 seconds before the other offer responded...

 

[murray t turtle]

Except to tell me to leave my knife at home when going to a gun fight. I had no chance to have a competitive offer and he knew that information. Transparency is seen as "bad".

%%

Except to tell me to leave my knife at home when going to a gun fight. I had no chance to have a competitive offer and he knew that information. Transparency is seen as "bad".

%%
Frankly klatterm, it seems like he did look out for your interests, some ;
but common sense suggests since the seller pays the REALTORS commission/live + learn.
But with rising rates maybe a blessing in disguise...........................
Another hint it was hot market[@ this time] was limit to ''4 days/ '' wow that tells me a lot+ hot .
THAT's also a, lot of risk on your part ''only septic inspection'' unless you know RE + sounds like you do not.[About the only thing he could have done better, is with your lack of RE knowledge he could have said, since seller is limiting to to 4 days/ demand here[hi prices]is very strong+ getting stronger maybe] BUT that's so basic he maybe thought you would know that it. Live + learn.

IF that was me trying to buy here \ i go away from the herd 'till it gets cheaper + more rural.
Good try, i occasionally got out bid; but that's a very, very, very hot market/that neighborhoodThanks for you interesting RE info

 

[murray t turtle]

the laws are designed to prevent collusion among real estate agents.

next time have a buyers agent who knows how to push those boundaries. I did and it worked. We won a 3 way auction just matching the highest price and winning on terms (cash close).

And the other bid came from within the selling agent’s firm!

%%
CONGRATS;
but it sounds like your win ''cash close''= much more important that any buyers agent .The sellers agent wants to close as much as you wanted to buy, that's how he gets paid.
I'm not saying a good agent is not important/ cash money talks better than any financing anytime of the week............................................MOST USA REALTORS have high PRO standards, even when representing both buyer + seller

 

[TheDawn]

I've had ~12 housing transactions over the past 10 years.
Only once did I use the seller's agent as my agent. I probably wouldn't do it again. You have no one watching out for your best interest.
It costs you nothing to get another agent and anyone will be GLAD (even beg) to show you the property & be your agent. They'll collect 2.5-3% on the transaction.
As others have said, the agent did nothing wrong.

Buyer's agents never really work for the buyer you know that? They share their commissions with the seller's agent at the end so it's really the seller who pays them. Since you the buyer never paid them anything why would they work for you? They might be nice and accommodating and patient in the beginning even begging to show you the property like you said but that all comes to an end real quick. Wait until they see you want to take your time and shop around before making your decision or you want to bargain hard. Then you will see how patient they are. LOL They will ditch you and drop you in an instant. And as soon as they see a possibility of a deal, they instantly switch to the seller's side and push you to move to the seller's price. Why? Because their job is not to represent the buyer; their job is to close the deal as quickly as they can so they can collect their low commission and move on to the next buyer. They work off volume not quality. They make money by closing as large amount of deals as possible. Even though their commission on each deal is small but when it's over a large quantity of deals, they still make money. That's why buyer's agents are totally not needed especially when you live in a smaller town and/or there is not a very active real estate market where there is no volume. Buyer's agents' services might be more justified only if you are in a large city where there is a very active real estate market like New York City, San Fran, Los Angeles and etc.

It's nice that you have had positive experiences with buyers' agents but just be aware of what they are. Everything that those buyers' agents do, you can do them easily.

 

[TheDawn]

As others have said (if not in writing), he/she was not your agent. I live in California...Was a Realtor for about 15 years. When the market was red hot, buyers would have to do many things to become the winner. My daughter wrote a personal letter, on why she wanted to own the house (small kids, husband commuting).

The seller can look at other things to decide on who to sell to (this is NOT discrimination)...They just come into play.

One offer could have a 30 day escrow with 7 day inspection vs another offer with 90 days and a 30 day inspection. One offer comes in all cash and has the money in the bank checking account vs someone who needs to obtain a loan!! The septic inspection could have killed the deal...The other offers may not have asked for that. Well quality (water) and depth, come into play for properties. I've had offers go back and forth over the escrow/title company ("I can't stand that company...Will never use them again"!!).

You knew there were other offers on the table. In California (when that is known, there are other offers), you put your best and highest offer up front...Even over the asking amount!!

Your agent has to bite his/her tongue concerning the offer. They probably had a fiduciary responsibility to the seller, but not to you. Just the way it is written out. Find another agent who "works for you"...See what happens.

PS If you hear the agent say "you need to put in a "very solid offer" you should know what you are dealing with. They are giving you a strong hint...You need to run with it.

PSS When sellers are brought in 3 or more offers, the agent will usually go through all of them...They are required by law. But to eliminate the confusion (being overwhelmed by multiple offers), the agent will usually ask the seller to narrow it down to the top two offers. At that point, the seller will make a counteroffer to both parties. Whoever accepts the counteroffer first will be the winner in many cases. I bought a piece of property by about 15 seconds before the other offer responded...

Totally agree. When it's a seller's market everything goes out of the door. The real estate transaction is not a buy/sell transaction anymore; it becomes an auction where everybody is putting blind bids and even with extra terms like waived mandatory inspection which imo is quite dangerous to do. You never know what kind of property you could end up with. But 15 seconds??!!! Wow!!

But I would be careful when the seller's agents mention multiple offers. I've had sellers' agents lie about multiple offers to me just to elicit higher prices from me. At the end I called her bluff and stuck with my price and then she tried to appeal to my sympathy by telling me how much money the seller is losing because she did a major renovation on it and etc. which convinced me even more that there were no multiple offers. LOL It's really a mind game at the end.

Hope your daughter got the house...

 

[newwurldmn]

I’ve learned in my business dealings that brokers give away a lot in those euphemisms. Brokers don’t lie, they tell the truth in subtle ways.

PS If you hear the agent say "you need to put in a "very solid offer" you should know what you are dealing with. They are giving you a strong hint...You need to run with it.

 

[BKR88]

Buyer's agents never really work for the buyer you know that? They share their commissions with the seller's agent at the end so it's really the seller who pays them. Since you the buyer never paid them anything why would they work for you? They might be nice and accommodating and patient in the beginning even begging to show you the property like you said but that all comes to an end real quick. Wait until they see you want to take your time and shop around before making your decision or you want to bargain hard. Then you will see how patient they are. LOL They will ditch you and drop you in an instant. And as soon as they see a possibility of a deal, they instantly switch to the seller's side and push you to move to the seller's price. Why? Because their job is not to represent the buyer; their job is to close the deal as quickly as they can so they can collect their low commission and move on to the next buyer. They work off volume not quality. They make money by closing as large amount of deals as possible. Even though their commission on each deal is small but when it's over a large quantity of deals, they still make money. That's why buyer's agents are totally not needed especially when you live in a smaller town and/or there is not a very active real estate market where there is no volume. Buyer's agents' services might be more justified only if you are in a large city where there is a very active real estate market like New York City, San Fran, Los Angeles and etc.

It's nice that you have had positive experiences with buyers' agents but just be aware of what they are. Everything that those buyers' agents do, you can do them easily.

If that's your experience with a realtor, you need to find a new realtor.
For anyone buying for the first time, I highly recommend you do NOT do it yourself. If the seller isn't going to give you the 2.5-3% commission, there's no reason to do it yourself.

 

[TheDawn]

If that's your experience with a realtor, you need to find a new realtor.
For anyone buying for the first time, I highly recommend you do NOT do it yourself. If the seller isn't going to give you the 2.5-3% commission, there's no reason to do it yourself.

LOL I would never be caught with a buyer's agent ever again even if I get Alzheimer's. That realtor "buyer's agent" was not supposed to be there in the first place. She wedged herself in between me and the seller's agent after I put my name and contact info. on this sign-in sheet at the Open House of this property when I shouldn't have now looking at it from hindsight that I ended up interested in buying. I actually didn't need to sign in at all because I already contacted the seller's agent before I went to the Open House. During the Open House, the seller's agent was not there and she was there and she insisted that I still sign in even though I explained to her that I have already emailed the seller's agent. I didn't know that I really don't need to sign in if I already contacted the seller's agent before because I should be somebody that the seller's agent found and the seller's agent should've collected 100% of the commission. But because I signed in so she took it upon herself to contact me and to make herself out to be my "buyer's agent" to obviously want to share in the commission when as soon as I told her I am interested in buying the property she started pushing me to move to the seller's price. Never once that she ever negotiated on my behalf, never disclosing to me at all the seller's bottom-line price, if there were any other offers being presented to the seller and how much and etc., all she did was telling me about the seller how much he renovated the house for and how much he needed the money. She even told me how her daughter got cancer and how she needed the money. LOL Never once did she ever want to know about me and hear about my side of the story or speak for me.

The seller ended up only moving $2500 and I moved $10000 to meet the seller's price and it was still not enough and then she told me the seller is only able to move another $2500 and that's it and I would had to move another $7500 to meet the seller's price. The seller wasn't even willing to meet me in the middle. I speculated that it might be her commission that she was just not willing to sacrifice thinking that since I loved the property that much that I would be willing to cough up the money. Well she was wrong. Meanwhile I started to look for properties in another area and very soon I found one and I started putting in an offer and after much negotiations this time with just the seller's agent ONLY, my offer was accepted and the deal was done. And only when I was finalizing everything with the bank regarding the mortgage and everything, that fake buyer's agent decided to email me to find out what's going on and she hinted if I am still interested there would be some "flexibilities" LOL meaning that the seller is willing to consider moving his price now and I guess she was finally also willing to cut her commission. LOL It was too little too late and I said no thanks and we said goodbye's to each other.

And then about six months later, after I have already moved into my new place, I saw on a buy-from-the-owner website exactly the same property I was looking at, the price listed was EXACTLY, DOWN to the T the price that I was offering, not a penny more and not a penny less. The phone number listed was exactly the same phone number of the seller that I was dealing with. So that confirmed my suspicion exactly that it was the commissions that that buyer's agent was not willing to cut that broke the deal and the seller basically waited for six months for the contract with the agents to lapse to sell it himself on those buydirect websites.

Ever since that experience, I swore I would never work with a buyer's agent ever again. And it's nothing personal against any buyer agents. It's just that the way that's structured the buyer's agent would never actually work for the buyer when it's the seller who's paying their commission. The conflict of interest is so apparent that it's incredible that the real estate regulatory bodies are all ok with this. I would trust buyer's agents more if they are directly getting compensated according to how much money they actually saved for the buyer off the asking price for example and it's the buyer who will pay the buyer's agent commission from the amount that's saved off the asking price. That to me would make more sense for hiring a buyer's agent.

 

[Cabin111]

LOL I would never be caught with a buyer's agent ever again even if I get Alzheimer's. That realtor "buyer's agent" was not supposed to be there in the first place. She wedged herself in between me and the seller's agent after I put my name and contact info. on this sign-in sheet at the Open House of this property when I shouldn't have now looking at it from hindsight that I ended up interested in buying. I actually didn't need to sign in at all because I already contacted the seller's agent before I went to the Open House. During the Open House, the seller's agent was not there and she was there and she insisted that I still sign in even though I explained to her that I have already emailed the seller's agent. I didn't know that I really don't need to sign in if I already contacted the seller's agent before because I should be somebody that the seller's agent found and the seller's agent should've collected 100% of the commission. But because I signed in so she took it upon herself to contact me and to make herself out to be my "buyer's agent" to obviously want to share in the commission when as soon as I told her I am interested in buying the property she started pushing me to move to the seller's price. Never once that she ever negotiated on my behalf, never disclosing to me at all the seller's bottom-line price, if there were any other offers being presented to the seller and how much and etc., all she did was telling me about the seller how much he renovated the house for and how much he needed the money. She even told me how her daughter got cancer and how she needed the money. LOL Never once did she ever want to know about me and hear about my side of the story or speak for me.

The seller ended up only moving $2500 and I moved $10000 to meet the seller's price and it was still not enough and then she told me the seller is only able to move another $2500 and that's it and I would had to move another $7500 to meet the seller's price. The seller wasn't even willing to meet me in the middle. I speculated that it might be her commission that she was just not willing to sacrifice thinking that since I loved the property that much that I would be willing to cough up the money. Well she was wrong. Meanwhile I started to look for properties in another area and very soon I found one and I started putting in an offer and after much negotiations this time with just the seller's agent ONLY, my offer was accepted and the deal was done. And only when I was finalizing everything with the bank regarding the mortgage and everything, that fake buyer's agent decided to email me to find out what's going on and she hinted if I am still interested there would be some "flexibilities" LOL meaning that the seller is willing to consider moving his price now and I guess she was finally also willing to cut her commission. LOL It was too little too late and I said no thanks and we said goodbye's to each other.

And then about six months later, after I have already moved into my new place, I saw on a buy-from-the-owner website exactly the same property I was looking at, the price listed was EXACTLY, DOWN to the T the price that I was offering, not a penny more and not a penny less. The phone number listed was exactly the same phone number of the seller that I was dealing with. So that confirmed my suspicion exactly that it was the commissions that that buyer's agent was not willing to cut that broke the deal and the seller basically waited for six months for the contract with the agents to lapse to sell it himself on those buydirect websites.

Ever since that experience, I swore I would never work with a buyer's agent ever again. And it's nothing personal against any buyer agents. It's just that the way that's structured the buyer's agent would never actually work for the buyer when it's the seller who's paying their commission. The conflict of interest is so apparent that it's incredible that the real estate regulatory bodies are all ok with this. I would trust buyer's agents more if they are directly getting compensated according to how much money they actually saved for the buyer off the asking price for example and it's the buyer who will pay the buyer's agent commission from the amount that's saved off the asking price. That to me would make more sense for hiring a buyer's agent.

So it was with my formal education as well...