Any Realtor's or Mortgage people here?

[Joe Shmoe]

I'll make a long story short, and just say that due to a lack of experience and work ethic, we have fired our realtor. We were told (as I posted before) that we were to close on a house and move in on the 2nd. All that has fallen through in a botched short sale.

Me and my wife do have another house in mind and were thinking...why do we need a realtor to "seal the deal"? We have done all the work thus far, why let a realtor come in for 2 seconds and collect 4% or whatever it may be? How do we go about doing it ourselves, and is that even a smart idea?

[colterphoto1]

I'd hire an attorney at least. You need someone on your side, and am impartial party paid entirely by you would be a good bet.

I didn't have anyone but an inexperienced realtor when I closed and all kinds fo things went wrong with close, title, zoning, inspection, property taxes, you name it. It's been a nightmare.

Michael

[tigerwoodKhorns]

You need an attorney that deals with real estate. If you are working a short sale you will need an attorney anyway as you will be dealing with the seller and all of the banks that are involved.

[tigerwoodKhorns]

I'd hire an attorney at least. You need someone on your side, and am impartial party paid entirely by you would be a good bet.

I didn't have anyone but an inexperienced realtor when I closed and all kinds fo things went wrong with close, title, zoning, inspection, property taxes, you name it. It's been a nightmare.

Michael

Oh come on. Get a realtor and a residential escrow agent together and what can possibly go wrong?

When I went to sign docs for my house I was there for four hours. We had a 1/2 hour appointment. The docs that they drew up were a joke.

[Guest " "]

The key issue in buying is the title search and and understanding of any inbound leins and fines that may not be in judgement yet, but could calendar at the blink of an eye.

To put this into a senerio, I can sell you a house that has a clean title, but by the time you close the deal, a default 8000 fine would be leined on the property and the cost to fix the issues of the subject fine would be 50 grand (a retaining wall). By the time you realized what happened, your newly pruchased property would be on the block as a lien sale.

you can do it yourself under ideal conditions, but most conditions are not ideal

[tigerwoodKhorns]

The key issue in buying is the title search and and understanding of any inbound leins and fines that may not be in judgement yet, but could calendar at the blink of an eye.

To put this into a senerio, I can sell you a house that has a clean title, but by the time you close the deal, a default 8000 fine would be leined on the property and the cost to fix the issues of the subject fine would be 50 grand (a retaining wall). By the time you realized what happened, your newly pruchased property would be on the block as a lien sale.

you can do it yourself under ideal conditions, but most conditions are not ideal

Need a gap indemnity. We use title companies and they get the indemnities. Still need to be careful and actually read the B2 exception docs and policy jacket and each of the docs preparred by title.

And I know, what good is an indemnity from someone doing a short sale. Get an endorsement on your title policy, the title company will make sure that they get an effective gap indemnity (or draft the endorsement to put it back on you - gotta be careful of those loopholes).

[Arky]

I'm licensed. If they're no help, screw'em. Just make sure you hire a RE attorney or reputable escrow/title/closing company(s).

You may have a little trouble coordinating times to view the property with the seller though. Does your state utilize sellers property disclosure forms?

Gotta go but i'll check back if I can help.

[johnyholiday]

The RE works for the seller not the buyer,and the banks are presently"Mortgage Jacking",bunch of crooks,please read http://www.stocktiming.com/Stock_Market_Models_and_Reports/Mortgage_Jacking.htm

[Joe Shmoe]

Thanks for the replies... here's my situation :

We hired a realtor, we were pretty comfortable with him since he is a member of our church who we thought we would be be able to trust, more so than someone we didn't know.

After a while I started to have my doubts. It seemed that we were doing all the work, and he really wasn't doing much. we would look on the web, drive through neighborhoods, looking for homes for sale, then have to contact him when WE found something we liked to get in to look at it. If we did like it and wanted to make an offer, he wold then write up the offer and submit it. That was about the extent of our working relationship... we found the houses, he did the paperwork.

So then a house comes along that was in a "short sale" (code for PITA) We stood to make a great deal, we were told that our offer had been accepted, and we were to close on the 15th of Dec. and move in on Jan 2nd. Our realtor immediately cashed our $1000 earnest deposit, told us go ahead and give notice at our current residence, and start shopping for appliances. After a couple of weeks we asked to see the house again to measure for the aplliances we had picked out. During this time our realtor told us "the bank has not accepted your offer yet so it may not be a done deal". We were shocked to say the least at what he was saying. After giving notice, and finding appliances now he's saying we don't have a deal? All this AND the fact that my wife is pregnant and the baby is due FEB 6th!

We hammered him with all the questions we had, and he didn't seem to have any answers for us except that "it's a short sale" [:@]UGH! Problem is.... is that he failed to explain exactly what a short sale was to us, and I really don't think he was that experienced on that subject himself, in which instead of telling us this, he chose to not say anything. Fact is he knew our timeline, Lease ends Dec 31st, Baby is due on Feb 6th "WE HAVE TO MOVE BEFORE THEN"

We met with his boss this past Saturday, and demanded our deposit back, and told him that we were no longer needing his services. Our rental office told us at first that our unit has been rented, and we will need to be out by the end of January! After my wife (upset and very pregnant) spoke with them about this, they have agreed to let us sign a three month lease ending March 31st.

SO...that's the long of it, we have a home in mind that is a bankruptcy & we have been keeping an eye on all along. The bank has already come down 12,000 offered 4500 towards closing costs, but we want to wait another month or so to make another offer, hoping they come a little closer to fit into our budget. This is a home that I had found originally and our realtor at the time had made three offers on to date. We are just at a point where we figure why hire another realtor to come in and finish the deal and collect 3 1/2 - 4%?

All of the points you have brought up or good points and we do need to be careful, so maybe a atty would be the way to go?

[Joe Shmoe]

Thanks for the link Johnny.... I just read through it, but little I can do about it... I think we are still atthe banks mercy so to speak. I think the rate is around 4 7/8 right now, I was hoping for a little more of a drop, waiting a month or so then make a final offer on the home.... it's just sitting there getting buried by more snow as each day passes anyway, seems they would be itching to get rid of it as the deeper we get into winter?

[JJkizak]

I would be scared to death of a home sale not handled by a realtor or lawyer. There are way too many anomolies to remember to write into the agreement, espeacially if there are post legal actions.

JJK

[tigerwoodKhorns]

I would be scared to death of a home sale not handled by a realtor or lawyer. There are way too many anomolies to remember to write into the agreement, espeacially if there are post legal actions.

JJK

I'm scared to death of a home sale handled by a realtor. Before everyone gets their panties in a bind, there are some good realtors who really know what they are doing and more importantly know the bounds of their abilities, but the vast majority are similar to the story above.

As in most areas,a form agreement that is not that bad is used by realtors locally. The problem is that most realtors have not read it, or if they did they are in way too deep and need to find another profession, judging by the gross mistakes that they make in filling out the forms.

How about a due diligence period that extends beyond the closing? You just created an illlusory agreement that the seller can walk from at any time if you care to pursue it in court.

Here is another one, "Contingent on Buyer obtaining financing." Loopholes here big enough to drive a semi through. What if Buyer does not make any effort to get financing? What if they do not like the rate so they don't sign the forms and therefore they did not get a loan? How long can they string the seller along? And if the seller tries to sell to another they can have a Lis Pendens slapped on title in a heartbeat.

I deal with large commercial transactions, or at least did when there was a market [:$], and everyone dots the i's and crosses the t's when you are dealing with $50M to $100M+, but for properties that are only a few hundred thousand (not that that is cheap, just a different nature than commercial agreements) you usually have the equuivalent of Walmart handling the matter and it is messy at best. Transactions with at least three adverse attorneys (buyer, seller and lender), two brokers, and escrow and title agents go smoother than the same of a home for $150,000.

There would be rampant litigation over the single family stuff but the amount of damages involved is relatively low and makes it impossible to litigate in most cases.

Jeeze, am I on a soapbox or what? Let me say again that there are very good realtors out there, but they are the exception and not the norm. I find that commercial realtors and brokers tend to be more sophisticated. I think that they realize the liability and nature of the transactions and tend to try to learn more and have dealt with experts much more (attorneys, engineers, environmental experts, survey, finance, etc).

[JJkizak]

It's the anomolies---plumbing inspections, electrical inspections, window inspections, framing inspections, furnace inspections, roof inspections, drainage inspections, surveying costs, deed restrictions, right of ways, multiple driveway agreements, powerlines, pipelines, sidewalks, paint condition and color, siding, airport noise, highway noise, floodplane boundaries, earthquake readiness, hurricane readiness, rolling rocks, shifting soil down a mountain, well inspection, leins, fireplace inspection, zoneing, roof antennas, fences, outbuildings, city water connection, sewer connection, gas connection, propane tank regulations, grass not higher than 6 inches, junk cars, trailer parking, semi truck parking, boat storage, trash in yard, farm animals allowed, mineral rights, ownership of trees midway on property line and who maintains, and assessments not paid. If you live in "snake" country it's ok to pass on a couple of wild *** chickens, gooses, and hogs.

JJK

[Arky]

Transactions with at least three adverse attorneys (buyer, seller and lender), two brokers, and escrow and title agents go smoother than the same of a home for $150,000.

I agree but it takes freakin forever.[] I've brokered several Lowes, Walgreens and walmart transactions. Always hated the residential side.

[oscarsear]

If the property is bank owned you can transact directly. You choose the escrow company. Request that the home be properly inspected by a certified home inspector. Request that the seller purchase a home warranty for you. If you are financing a loan your lender will require and arrange for the appraisal and they will also require title insurance (and the appropriate title search, etc). You all agree to a purchase price, the down payment, the inspection, and how long you have to obtain the financing ( the escrow period) and how much of those costs the seller will pay. If the seller will do the Mtg be a little cautious and make certain that they perform and do not drag it out. Mtgs can close fast. The biggest delays are the appraisals. You can ask to move in prior to closing but that is unusual.

If there is anything amiss with the title search the lender won't seal the deal. Make your deposit refundable if the title search fails, or the home inspection fails or the appraisal fails. I assume you know your creditworthiness, can validate the source of funds used for the down payment and have good employment ideally long standing or professional.

Sorry but all realtors do is plug in this same data and get paid for it. The only real work a realtor does is locate good buyers for sellers. They market the home for sale. But if you know which home you want buy it.