Realtors and their practices?

Question

1. Is every initial offer to purchase a home submitted as a signed contract with every page initialed? Is it common for the selling agent to just respond with an email that has no indication that the counter terms come from the home owners other than an ASSUMED inference? Shouldn't the counter come on hardcopy paper?

2. I am preapproved but I have not provided a copy of the preapproval to my realtor. All he has is my name, address, phone number, and email. Can he find out the maximum amount I am preapproved for? If so how if I have not so much as told him what lenders I am preapproved with?

3. What information can my realtor get about me with only my name, address, phone, and email?

Answer 1

1. An Offer should be presented to the Seller, and since a Counter-Offer is a rejection of the initial Offer, getting the Counter in writing is good practice. Realtors and people who think of themselves as clever negotiators don't always do that, but it is asking for trouble.

2. Your Realtor doesn't have to see your pre-approval or know who your lender will be, but if they are showing you houses without at least having your word about what you can afford, your Realtor doesn't have a clue what they are doing. Again, that's asking for trouble.

3. None that will help them do their job. They need to know how much you can borrow, how much you are WILLING to borrow (often less than the approval), and how much of your own cash you're willing to put into the deal. They also need to know your family size, plans for the future (more kids? dogs? want to put a workshop in the house? ) and NONE of that is available online, it all comes from you. If they're finding you houses without knowing that, they're going to waste your time showing you the wrong houses.

If you don't trust your Realtor enough to tell them these things, get another Realtor.

If you do want to do this without a Realtor, get an attorney that will advise you on the contents of the contract.

Answer 2

I am a Realtor in Las Vegas so my answer may be a little off for where you are located but I think most things will be the same.

“Is every initial offer to purchase a home submitted as a signed contract with every page initialed?” Yes. Without initials/signatures on each page it is not considered a valid offer since a page in the contract could have been substituted without your knowledge.

“Is it common for the selling agent to just respond with an email that has no indication that the counter terms come from the home owners other than an ASSUMED inference?” Never. Counter offers must be in writing and signed by the seller. An email is not a legal document.

“Can he find out the maximum amount I am preapproved for?” No. When I present an offer, I include a document from the mortgage company stating the amount for which the buyer is pre-approved.

Based on what you have told me, it not only sounds like you agent is not doing his job, I doubt that he is even conforming to the rules and regulations governing real estate transactions. I would immediately contact his broker and discus this with him/her. If you can, you might be better off changing to another agent. There are good agents that actually know their business and take care of their clients. Are good agents hard to find? Yes, just as good doctors or mechanics are hard to find. So, how do you find an agent that will save you money, time and risk? Unfortunately, finding a good doctor, dentist, mechanic or agent is not easy. You will have to interview several agents before you find one good one. I will provide some questions for you a little later but I want to first explain the basis of my interview questions.

Here are some open ended questions and answers you should expect. If their answers center around “I’ve been selling real estate for XXX years”, next agent. If they can’t provide, or are unwilling to provide, references, next agent. Also, only use fulltime agents, you can’t afford a part time agent.

Questions:
* “What do you consider good deals?” They should ask you what matters to you: home features or price. The bottom line answer should be something be something like” properties that are below market price based on the properties condition, good contact terms and getting the seller to pay closing costs.
* “What process do you use to find these properties before I start looking at homes?” If the answer seems to be that they send you a lot of pages from the MLS and you choose, they are adding no value. Finding good deals is not a random act. It requires time and a process. If you don’t hear a well defined process, next agent.
* “How do you determine the recommended price I should offer?” If they just say comps or some similar answer, next agent. Determining a recommended offer price is a critical function of an agent. The answer should be something like this. I first determine the market price. The market price is based on the lesser of comps (recent sales) or current for sale prices (taking into account average “asking price vs. sales price”) since in many areas there is price erosion. Fators that increase or decrease the offer price relative to the market price is whether you want the seller to pay closing costs, how strong your credit is and other such factors.
* “Tell me about the last three offers you presented?” If they respond that they faxed the offers in, next agent. I personally present every offer to the seller and their agent unless they are not in the area and then I do it by phone. I put together a short presentation for each offer and walk the seller and their agent through the process we used to determine the offer price. While not all my offers are accepted, the vast majority are. Also, none of the sellers got upset and thought that we were just low-balling them because they knew how the offer price was derived. On REOs and foreclosures, you do just fax them in because someone with a spread sheet will make the decision on you offer.
* This is not so much a question as your perception of how the agent answered your questions. If they talked down to you or made you think that your questions were silly, next agent. You need to have an agent that you can ask anything and they will either know the answer or find the answer and get back to you.

Remember that the biggest “I don’t have a clue” answer is, “I’ve been selling real-estate for xxx years.” If you hear this type of answer, next agent. The market changes and agents who changed with the market are sharp, have processes to find the best deals and are committed to your success. Be certain to talk to at least two references and ask them if the agent had processes.

A good buyer’s agent will save you money, time and risk and is worth the time and effort to find the right one for you.

Hope this helped.

Eric Fernwood
[e-mail]
http://www.iselllvhomes.com/

Answer 3

All offers & counter offers are not valid unless you have signatures & intitials in all the right places. An email or phone call is NOT an accepted contract.

Please make sure you are working with an experienced agent. You should provide a pre-approval letter to your agent. Your agent should be asking you for a phone # to talk to your lender right away. They need to know what you are qualified for, how much, what your approx. pymt. is going to be, what your down pymt. is etc.

If you're agent is not asking about your lender or how much you qualify for, they don't know what they're doing. The realtor doesn't need to know exact personal financial info. about you. Just your lender needs to know. Initially they'll need your SS# DOB & current address to get the ball rolling with running your credit.

Call another realtor, if you're working with someone inexperienced you're going to get a bad deal all around & your home buying process will be much more stressful than it needs to be.

good luck

Answer 4

Realtors are worthless and a waste of time...search, yourself, for a home you like and then hire a real estate attorney to handle the transaction...