Posted on 11/30/2020 7:23:10 AM PST by SJackson
If you understand contract law, agency law, and can navigate through the state, federal, and local legal disclosures that, if not done properly can get you sued, yes, you are capable of doing it yourself. If there is an owner carryback involved, what is the usury law in your state? If a seller violates that law in your state, you could be forced to return ALL interest paid on the note. Possibly provide a title policy? Who would ever buy any property without one? What do you tell the buyer about the condition of title if a reconveyance of an old loan was not recorded or you were unaware of an easement that shows up on title?
If you fail to disclose something about the property, in most states the statute of limitations is three or four years from the time of discovery of the problem.
I am not a realtor but I am a real estate broker who has specialized in exchanges, acquisitions, problem solving and consulting since 1977, mostly in commercial property. And I taught RE law and econ in college for ten years. Even I would at least pay a realtor a consulting fee to handle the legally required documents. They have error and omission insurance if something goes terribly wrong. In most states, the statute of limitations is typically three or four years from the time of discovery.
All that having been said, they are many in the real estate industry who are totally incompetent. And I will say whatever the hell I want on my Twitter because I will never be part of the NAR.
That was my plan as well.
I have talked to a lot of “Realtor's” and many if not most do not seem very knowledgeable about various subjects that you would think might be relevant. It feels like many acquired their knowledge from watching popular TV shows.
Human Rights Commission wants unelected tribunals to persecute businesses and churches that do not bow to their religious beliefs.
Used a realtor to buy my first house 40 years ago. Bought and sold twice since without using a realtor. Just used one to sell my last house because it was unusual and I thought he’d increase traffic/price. I was happy with the sale but he brought nothing of value to the table — in other words, I wouldn’t have been any worse for not using him and likely would have come out several thousand ahead.
Never again. They’re worthless and are waaaaaay overpaid for what they do. And at the end of the day, whether you’re a buyer or a seller, they’re only interested in their commission.
National Association of realtors caught lying about home sales
That is why I interviewed realtors. One of the questions was to provide a written outline of the sale process since we had owned the house for more than 20 years and so many things had become more complicated and potentially contentious or litigious.
You want a pretty one to do the selling but an old experienced one to be the lead agent if you do hire one. The one I got last time was both and she made a LOT of money at it in her business.
We were in a falling market that I expected to get worse, it did, and I wanted to get the place sold and move on with our lives into retirement. While other properties languished we put some money and effort into it, priced it realistically and sold it in just over 30 days. I was irritated with the offer but didn’t quibble over a few grand.
That was my wife’s dream house and I am sorry she had to leave it. Circumstances have left her with a nice nest but not nearly as nice as the one she had and I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to make up for that.
“The Money Pit” was an accurate portrayal. We remodeled a small house that was only about 20 years old but poorly built as we found out while doing the remodel. I could have just about built a new one for the money we spent. Additions, yes. Remodel, never again.
I guess people can get their money out of a restoration but I’ve not seen it in our neck of the woods.
You had to work your butt off to accomplish that much house in five years.
Our neighbors were selling their house, went on vacation, and we couldn’t figure out why lights were on all night...so we texted them...they got listing realtor in...someone had turned every light on AND disconnected a water line in kitchen, which caused flooding...cost them a lot to fix. ALWAYS be there (or close) when house is being shown.
We either sat in the back yard or went to the barn in inclement weather but made it clear we were still there.
Risk management is a product of consequence and probability. How many people are trustworthy or competent and how much can they screw up?
We also would not allow showings when we were out of town.
” how effective do you think the realtor is at screening? When we sold a house four years ago I interviewed realtors. Two out of the the four I felt were not trustworthy and a third was unprofessional if not incompetent.”
As a building contractor put it to me years ago, What kind of people do you think are going to be attracted to an industry where they can make the same kind of money as doctors and lawyers and only have to graduate high school and pass a test?
No one who has not tried to “restore” a large 120 year old house by himself has any idea the amount of work that it takes. I reproduced many hundreds of feet of woodwork by hand using a tablesaw and router. There wasn't a square corner or level floor in the entire house. 90% of the original woodwork had been torn out. The windows had been replaced with ugly single pane sliders in the late 1950s. Most of the original windows had rotted completely. There was not a room in the house that did not have severe water damage. The house should obviously have been leveled.
Even with the market which has doubled in just the last 3 years... we still would have done better if we had torn it down because it sits on 16,000 sq. ft. that could have been divided for little expense into five lots that are 30,000 sq ft lots that are currently selling for approximately $200,000 a piece.
The problem 5 years ago was that the property was worth a fraction of what it is now. 5000 sq ft. lots were selling for about $70,000 a piece. We had already planned on rerouting the driveway to fit the current plat and selling the house separately from the driveway. If we had gone to the trouble of tearing down the large old house we still would have had to pay to get rid of the debris. At that time the property was worth more with the house on it. I had no clue when I started that it would take me as long as I did, partially because I had to divide my time between two properties and partially because I ran into one challenge after another that took me several times longer than originally planned. And I grossly overestimated my abilities to get things done in a timely manner.
At this time there is no point crying over spilled milk. We have just about completed what is now a beautiful home. It is the oldest home standing on the street going by it NOrth or South. Hopefully it will still be standing long after I am gone.
And don’t even get me started on the plumbing and wiring that I had to replace basically everywhere. And the nonexistent insulation? Oh my! It just went on and on... every time I tore into anything two, three or four other projects presented themselves, each usually more involved than the original.
In another disturbing fact of life, stock brokers are about the very same.
The leading producer in a Merrill office in Houston had been selling at a discount jewelry place after he was no longer a house painter.
BTW, one realtor painted a picture of a desperate market, low balled the proposed asking price by about a third and had a reputation for buying distressed property and flipping them. He called me to see why I had not replied to his offer and I told him to get lost.
Agree completely. 6% commissions? Even other industries like online stock brokers now have zero commissions putting buyers and sellers together. I think there are online real estate services that have low commissions.
I think they are trying to push the country into a shooting war.
Request that all serious buyers provide a pre-approval letter from their lending institution.
Yes you can, the realtor does not do any of that. The lending institution for the buyer along with the title company does ALL of the paperwork. You can get a generic real estate sells contract off of the internet. All the lending institution needs is name/address of seller. name/address of buyer. Who is going to pay the next installment of property taxes, if there are any things you are leaving ( blinds, appliances etc), sell price, closing date and deposit. Freddie Mac loans are all the same. I worked in the mortgage industry for 18 years.
Depending on where the buying persons get their loan and if the title company is known, the title policy is usually very easy to get. Usually there is a mortgage and the sellers lending institution will have a copy of the title policy on file that they will provide to the new lending institution to update. Again the lending institution and title company does all of the leg and paper work. Let’s put it this way, in Indiana and Kentucky it is that way. We sold our first home by ourselves. My son just sold his house mentioning on FB that he was going to sell. Mentioned on Wednesday evening and had three people message him. The first ones bought it the next night after they looked at it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.