need some advice about buying a home...

Wow, this same situation happened to my husband and I just two weeks ago. We put in an offer, and gee out of nowhere another buyer appeared. So the Seller said for us both to give our very best offers. We bumped up our offer by $7K. Then my Realtor called and said that he really wanted us to get the house; that the inventory in the market was limited, ya ya ya. So we bumped it up another $2K. Not even an hour after we signed the paperwork, we were told that the other potential buyer "dropped out". Of course I was livid. I really felt like we were being "played".

As everyone says, every single purchase offer needs to be in writing. Every one! So have your agent write up the $235 (which you need to sign) and if it is rejected, then you can increase the bid, but you do have to initial the changes.

Good luck to you! I am convinced that the majority of realtors are snakes.
 
happy1 said:
Swee7bebe is the buyer, she shouldn't have to pay any commission.

No, but she can have the agent put some of their commission back into her pocket. :lol: If the area she is wanting to buy is in "Buyer's market" right now, she has some leeway.
 
Becca4277 said:
Wow, this same situation happened to my husband and I just two weeks ago. We put in an offer, and gee out of nowhere another buyer appeared. So the Seller said for us both to give our very best offers. We bumped up our offer by $7K. Then my Realtor called and said that he really wanted us to get the house; that the inventory in the market was limited, ya ya ya. So we bumped it up another $2K. Not even an hour after we signed the paperwork, we were told that the other potential buyer "dropped out". Of course I was livid. I really felt like we were being "played".

As everyone says, every single purchase offer needs to be in writing. Every one! So have your agent write up the $235 (which you need to sign) and if it is rejected, then you can increase the bid, but you do have to initial the changes.

Good luck to you! I am convinced that the majority of realtors are snakes.

I know...I agree. :huh:
 
What everyone is saying is correct. ALWAYS get everything in writing. I don't want to sound pessimistic but you can't always trust your realtor, ironicly. We have had lousy experiences with our realtors. Ours even bid against us and we found out when the seller agent called us to tell us.

You should not make any more offers without seeing the comps. You can not make a informative judgement without understanding what has been sold out there and for how much.

Most important thing is to know you can trust that your realtor is going to bat for you. He/she should understand your price/ offer and be like "I will try to get them at that price". They are suppose to negotiate and message the sellers. Don't forget, the realtor works for YOU, there are gazillions of agents out there, don't let him/her think you don't have a choice!!

I know you are in love with this place and sometimes that can lead to trouble, don't offer more than you can afford. Give your best offer but know that there are lots of other places out there. We didn't get our first 5 houses we offered on and we love the one we got how, our 6th choice, we would have never found it if we didn't walk away from our others....

Good luck! It will all work out. Just be firm with your realtor, tell him/her your expectations and he/ she should do the rest! DON'T forget to get the comps, VERY IMPORTANT to compare and understand the market!

What kind of rate did you get? Make sure to shop those around too! It can save A TON of money in the long run! Remember, these people need your business! Be aggressive and you will get what you want when it comes to real estate!!

Congrats!
 
I've bought two condos in NJ (one in Maplewood and one in Montclair) and I've always had to put my offers in writing (along with about $1000 "good faith" money that was escrowed). I've never heard of a verbal offer...if it isn't in writing, it doesn't mean anything!

What realtor are you using? Are you going through one of the big agencies (Weichert/Burgdorff/ERA/Century21/Coldwell) or are you using a smaller realtor? Has the realtor given you the paperwork on whether or not he/she is a buyer, seller or dual agent?? In NJ, realtor's MUST tell you what kind of agent they are and make sure you understand the difference between buyer/seller/dual agent designations.

ETA: yes you MUST be aggressive...after all, the agent is working for YOU. Both properties I bought, I found on my own. Because I didn't have a lot of money to spend, the realtors didn't try to help me get "deals". They would always push me towards properties in the higher end of what I could afford, instead showing me properties well within my range. So I would always go to open houses and check out the classifieds without my agent. All I needed my agent to do was get me in to SEE the property and write up the paperwork/offer letter.
 
One other thing to look out for...sometimes realtors are selling properties owned by other realtors in the firm. So they already know what price the owner really wants, which might explain why your offer wasn't written up and formally presented. This has happened to me before too...
 
swee7bebe, you might want to consider getting a new agent. Wow, that's painful for me to say, as I am a real estate agent.

First, an agent should never get involved in verbal negotiations. It's rarely in the best interests of his client. And second, having everything in writing is the best way for an agent to avoid getting clobbered in a lawsuit. My manager would be livid if any of us were involved in verbal negotiations.

More importantly, why hasn't your agent given you data about comparable properties that have recently sold? What was your offer based on, if not on market prices for recently sold properties? This is information you need and deserve, and shame on your agent for not providing you with it.

Feel free to PM me if you want any help finding a new agent.
 
hi everyone...thank you all so much for your advice. i went to see the real estate agent today and i put in an offer for $237,000. before i went to see him, i did my research on how much condos have been selling for in that development...most of them have been selling for much more than $245,000. so we'll see what happens. he did inform me that he was a buyer's agent and did not work with the seller. *keeping my fingers crossed*
 
Some realtors can be shady... We had a real estate agent represented us a few months ago for this house we were interested in. Our initial offer was $749K and then he persuaded us to make it $770K by giving us some BS about the current market price and blah blah blah. Then after we walked out of his office, he called us that very night and told us that another buyer offered $10K more than us and whether we should up our offer. We thought it was pretty fishy so we told our agent that we're standing by our offer no matter what and then he said "well, then I can't really help you because this house will be sold this week to that buyer then!" We were like whatever and we didn't call him or hear from him for the next few days. A week later, we called him to ask for our deposit check back since we bought a different house. Omg, this guy started panicking and asking us if he can get us that house within our initial offer, will we accept it. That's when we realized this guy is a total lying bastard! He basically made up that stupid story about some other buyer coming in with a higher price just so he can get a higher commission! Good thing we dropped him after that! Sometimes they can be shady...

My advice is to have EVERYTHING in writing and do your own research. Don't rely on your agent too much because after all, all they care about is their commission.
 
Irissy, I am sorry you had such a bad experience with your agent, but not all real estate agents are like that. I want what's best for my clients, because I want customers for life.

A real estate agent must present every offer to a seller, by law. He can't just decide that an offer is too low and not present it. And offers must be rejected in writing. So if you presented an offer, you should have heard back within 48 hours after the time your offer expired.

It's hard for me to imagine an agent letting a deal fall apart over $10K or $20K. That translates to an additional $150 or $300 extra commission for him on a sale that would typically gross a buyer's agent $22,500. Did he really fail to do his job in hopes of getting an extra $150, and risk leaving that $22,500 on the table?

Anyway, people use Realtors because it's hard to do your own research if you aren't in the business. Realtors have market data on solds and comparable properties at their fingertips, and generally know a lot more about the process, the area, and the market than buyers. You just need to find one that works fully on your behalf.
 
the owner made a counter offer for $239000 and to close earlier than what i had asked (the end of may). so that's not too far away from what i had offered. i put in a counter offer for $238000 and to keep the closing at the end of may. i'll wait and see what happens. i should find out today...man, this is stressful...
 
Good luck with the condo. I hope you get it. You agent should have put the offer in writing. I really hate RE agents. Everytime we bought or sold with a RE agent we were lied to. `The house we just bought the seller did not put numerous things on the disclosure statement (like lighting struck the house and major electrial work was repaired), flood in the basement and the RE agent was this person's best friend and lived 2 houses in back of us so the agent knew it all and still let the sellers submit a disclosure statement that nothing was ever wrong with the house. We also had a house we wanted to buy in Florid and when we went to sign the contracts for the 3rd time, we were told another buyer was interested and blah blah blah, I think they wanted us to up our offer and I said "let the other buyers have it" and walked out--funny thing is that it took the sellers over a year to sell the house-I guess the other buyers didn't exist.
I think buying a home could be the most stressful thing you do----then you have to wait till closing and pray everything goes right.
I hope you get the condo. It sounds like it has everything you want. Good luck.:biggrin: