Real Estate Agents Ethics
We are in the process of negotiating a Brownstone in Bedstuy and the process recently came to a standstill. I’m getting a really sketchy vibe because of some of the things that have happened. It should be noted that the agent is acting as a dual agent (which is our own fault i guess).. The…
We are in the process of negotiating a Brownstone in Bedstuy and the process recently came to a standstill. I’m getting a really sketchy vibe because of some of the things that have happened. It should be noted that the agent is acting as a dual agent (which is our own fault i guess).. The first thing was the fact that there were a bunch of things that showed up in the inspection that the RE Agent should have known about due to a previous inspection last year. Mainly about 80 grand in additional renovation costs. Then there were all sorts of renovation costs that he disputed, not because they weren’t valid, but because they would be able to be put off for a year or two. Examples are a 30 y.o. steam boiler that was providing both heat and hot water, plumbing, etc. Then when we put in a revised offer, he contacted our mortgage broker directly to ask him to run the loan at 10k higher, “just to show us that it would only constitute $50 more a month. The last straw was that we made an offer with a sellers concession, which he presented to the seller by tacking the concession on to our offer, making the offer about 35 grand more, despite numerous emails outlining this. Any one of these could be seen as an honest mistake, but the house has been on the market for a year and the RE agent seems a bit desperate to get it done with already. The last sticking point on the concession seems extra underhanded as it appears that he was hoping we wouldnt notice until we were in contract. Is this normal for NY real estate agents? Am I being sensitive? The kicker was that after all of this, he emails me to ask if he can send the inspection report we paid for on to another buyer. WTF?
In our failed purchase (see my history for that saga if you must) we had the agent sending emails to the tune of “I am BOTH SIDES of this deal.” when we (on our lawyer’s good advice) started directing her to her client for answers. So I have a hard time imagining that it is illegal for her to claim to represent us. Among other issues, her client was preparing to stiff her on a short sale. We weren’t able to determine to our satisfaction that we wouldn’t be on the hook to her, though finally the whole thing fell apart (they couldn’t afford the short sale either) so we never got to test that.
Someone once wrote (here, I think) rather aptly that brokers actually represent themselves. Kind of true. They are people, and like any people, some are lambs and pushovers and some are bloodsuckers and most are somewhere reasonable in between.
We had family outside New York trying to talk us through the process and they were all flummoxed by the quagmire that is NYC real estate. It is a different beast, and not one you want to dance with without a lawyer.
Think of it this way:
You’re eventually going to buy a house. If you make a good choice when you purchase, you will live there happily for some time and hopefully, when it’s time to sell (maybe 7 years or more down the line) you will make a profit on the sale.
Now, let’s say you find another place three months from now, pay another $850 for an inspection and it turns out that only minor corrections/maintenance are needed, so you buy it. You’ve now spent $1700 on inspections but you got a place that’s mostly trouble-free and surprise-free, and you’ll almost certainly have to spend less on that house than the one above. Or at least you know what you are up against, so that you can budget accordingly. That $1700 will be way less than what you’d likely pay to fix a place you didn’t bother to get inspected. And when you sell, you’ll likely get that $1700 back and then some.
So my advice is, no matter what, don’t skip the inspection for any potential purchase! Think of it as a necessary nuisance and part of the overall cost of buying a house or a building. Also, learn more about what to look for yourself – there are scores of books available and sites online that will help you eliminate houses with obvious major problems that don’t require an expert to steer you away. Good luck!
Think of it this way:
You’re eventually going to buy a house. If you make a good choice when you purchase, you will live there happily for some time and hopefully, when it’s time to sell (maybe 7 years or more down the line) you will make a profit on the sale.
Now, let’s say you find another place three months from now, pay another $850 for an inspection and it turns out that only minor corrections/maintenance are needed, so you buy it. You’ve now spent $1700 on inspections but you got a place that’s mostly trouble-free and surprise-free, and you’ll almost certainly have to spend less on that house than the one above. Or at least you know what you are up against, so that you can budget accordingly. That $1700 will be way less than what you’d likely pay to fix a place you didn’t bother to get inspected. And when you sell, you’ll likely get that $1700 back and then some.
So my advice is, no matter what, don’t skip the inspection for any potential purchase! Think of it as a necessary nuisance and part of the overall cost of buying a house or a building. Also, learn more about what to look for yourself – there are scores of books available and sites online that will help you eliminate houses with obvious major problems that don’t require an expert to steer you away. Good luck!
Think of it this way:
You’re eventually going to buy a house. If you make a good choice when you purchase, you will live there happily for some time and hopefully, when it’s time to sell (maybe 7 years or more down the line) you will make a profit on the sale.
Now, let’s say you find another place three months from now, pay another $850 for an inspection and it turns out that only minor corrections/maintenance are needed, so you buy it. You’ve now spent $1700 on inspections but you got a place that’s mostly trouble-free and surprise-free, and you’ll almost certainly have to spend less on that house than the one above. Or at least you know what you are up against, so that you can budget accordingly. That $1700 will be way less than what you’d likely pay to fix a place you didn’t bother to get inspected. And when you sell, you’ll likely get that $1700 back and then some.
So my advice is, no matter what, don’t skip the inspection for any potential purchase! Think of it as a necessary nuisance and part of the overall cost of buying a house or a building. Also, learn more about what to look for yourself – there are scores of books available and sites online that will help you eliminate houses with obvious major problems that don’t require an expert to steer you away. Good luck!
Think of it this way:
You’re eventually going to buy a house. If you make a good choice when you purchase, you will live there happily for some time and hopefully, when it’s time to sell (maybe 7 years or more down the line) you will make a profit on the sale.
Now, let’s say you find another place three months from now, pay another $850 for an inspection and it turns out that only minor corrections/maintenance are needed, so you buy it. You’ve now spent $1700 on inspections but you got a place that’s mostly trouble-free and surprise-free, and you’ll almost certainly have to spend less on that house than the one above. Or at least you know what you are up against, so that you can budget accordingly. That $1700 will be way less than what you’d likely pay to fix a place you didn’t bother to get inspected. And when you sell, you’ll likely get that $1700 back and then some.
So my advice is, no matter what, don’t skip the inspection for any potential purchase! Think of it as a necessary nuisance and part of the overall cost of buying a house or a building. Also, learn more about what to look for yourself – there are scores of books available and sites online that will help you eliminate houses with obvious major problems that don’t require an expert to steer you away. Good luck!
Christopher, curious, where was this house with the water in the walls?
Agent sounds pretty much par for the course, except for modifying your offer and being so pushy as to call your mortgage broker. Agent represents the seller. If the agent says otherwise, that could be illegal.
Given past experience, I have a right to be pretty bitter about the way the Brooklyn RE world works, but even I wouldn’t go that far, H.
OP, DIBS is right. Money well spent. If the deal falls through, you will never know the headaches you were spared, but you were spared them. And if you proceed, it will be on your terms.
Let it be a lesson Real Estate agents are all parisites. They have sucked people’s blood for years and now they can not stop.Wait until they come looking for you Don’t be in a rush.
The inspection money was money well spent. NEVER trust an inspection report that the sellers agent gives you. Laugh at him/her and throw it back.
Do not allow the agent to use your inspection report without compensation.