Home & Garden Will I Get My Dream House?

#46
BittyMonkey said:
This is why we fled Illinois - the property tax, income tax, tax tax tax. I mean we're getting fleeced in California but honestly what we are paying in a mortgage is not all that far off what we were paying in Chicago...before the pension debacle (but it was on the horizon).

When we sold in Chicago in 2011 during the crash (we basically handed over keys and lost equity) we were told we had to sell before Thanksgiving. And then no one starts to think about buying again until after the Super Bowl. No one is going to uproot their kids one semester into school and move. They must not have to care about the money they're losing not right-sizing the price for the market.
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They are empty nesters. Apparently, they have built or are building in a nearby Wisconsin resort town. I don't know where they stand in the building process but I know they took out a mortgage in March. I have heard that they have more money than god, but on the other hand, why hang on to an overpriced house if that's the case? We have made overtures to the realtor and she is standing firm. We'll see.

I know the tax situation here will not get better but I am stuck here for at least 10 more years so I figure I can either stay in my current house with no backyard or enjoy one with a backyard. Who the heck knows?
 
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#47
Allisonfaye said:
How did you structure paying the agent? Here, the seller pays the buyer's agent as well as the seller' agent.
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The house was for-sale-by-owner but I didn't think I could deal with the sellers in any sane fashion. So I asked the agent who we planned on using to list our house if he would serve as a buyer's agent for a flat fee based on his negotiations. He didn't receive any commission from the sale. He came up with a contract which I think he wrote himself. It didn't go through the real estate agency he worked for. It all worked out well.

You can hire buyer's agents who are paid solely by you the buyer and do not receive any commissions from the seller or their real estate agent. Since they have no contractual relationship with the seller or their agent that leaves them free to negotiate hard.
 
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#48
BigPurseSue said:
The house was for-sale-by-owner but I didn't think I could deal with the sellers in any sane fashion. So I asked the agent who we planned on using to list our house if he would serve as a buyer's agent for a flat fee based on his negotiations. He didn't receive any commission from the sale. He came up with a contract which I think he wrote himself. It didn't go through the real estate agency he worked for. It all worked out well.

You can hire buyer's agents who are paid solely by you the buyer and do not receive any commissions from the seller or their real estate agent. Since they have no contractual relationship with the seller or their agent that leaves them free to negotiate hard.
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I thought they weren't doing that buyer's agent thing much anymore. I think it's too late to do anything on this house.
 
#49
Allisonfaye said:
I thought they weren't doing that buyer's agent thing much anymore. I think it's too late to do anything on this house.
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Possibly. I'm certainly dating myself. Buyer's agents were a new thing when we bought our house years ago.

I certainly hope you get your dream house. The woodsy yard was the reason I was so insistent on buying our house. Just had to have my trees! It makes such a huge difference on the quality of life.
 
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#50
BigPurseSue said:
Possibly. I'm certainly dating myself. Buyer's agents were a new thing when we bought our house years ago.

I certainly hope you get your dream house. The woodsy yard was the reason I was so insistent on buying our house. Just had to have my trees! It makes such a huge difference on the quality of life.
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They might be thing. I have bought so few houses in my life. I think it was just a way realtors were trying to figure out another way to get $$. I honestly believe realtors will be obsolete in the near future. The commissions are just astronomical. The real money makers make $$ by getting listings. People who spend time with buyers taking them to a bunch of houses don't make money. The listing agent gets a cut no matter what.
 
#51
Here is CA in almost cases as far as I know the seller pays the commission and the two agents split it. One thing we're seeing is agents putting up their sign "coming soon" before placing on the MLS - trying to get the whole commission.
 
#52
sdkitty said:
Here is CA in almost cases as far as I know the seller pays the commission and the two agents split it. One thing we're seeing is agents putting up their sign "coming soon" before placing on the MLS - trying to get the whole commission.
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Yes, they split commissions here, too. We were talking about something different where you pay a buyer's agent as the buyer. When the commission is paid, although it is split, the seller still pays the whole thing.

Yes, they are doing that here, too. The have a thing they call private listing network. It's so that they can pretend to keep your house some big secret but at the end of the day, I don't see how that benefits anyone but the realtors.
 
#53
Well, stay tuned. I think my dream house just went up in smoke last night. They elected people who want to raise property and state taxes last night. Gave them a blank check. We have a bullseye on our back.
 
#55
Ok, so I decided to meet with my agent's managing broker. We are meeting next week. Meantime, they were having ANOTHER open house today so I went over. The realtor IMMEDIATELY started pitching me the house and I shut her down and said It's not the house. It's the price. She asked me who I was working with so she didn't even remember so even if she had wanted to reach out to us that way, she couldn't have. She does have my email address.

Anyhoo, I took a measurement in the master. The distance where you could put the bed is kind of tight. They have a queen bed there now. You could fit a king but putting two nightstands on either side would be a tight fit. Not ready to kill the deal over it but it's a big negative. I would have a total of about 26 inches space to put two nightstands. That's tight for even one.

But the realtor said make them an offer. That's the first time she has said that. So that might be a good sign. But as I said before, this realtor is notorious for pricing high, turning down a reasonable offer at the beginning and then selling it for less than the initial offer two years in. Ugh. It's been 6 months with no price drop.
 
#56
Allisonfaye said:
Ok, so I decided to meet with my agent's managing broker. We are meeting next week. Meantime, they were having ANOTHER open house today so I went over. The realtor IMMEDIATELY started pitching me the house and I shut her down and said It's not the house. It's the price. She asked me who I was working with so she didn't even remember so even if she had wanted to reach out to us that way, she couldn't have. She does have my email address.

Anyhoo, I took a measurement in the master. The distance where you could put the bed is kind of tight. They have a queen bed there now. You could fit a king but putting two nightstands on either side would be a tight fit. Not ready to kill the deal over it but it's a big negative. I would have a total of about 26 inches space to put two nightstands. That's tight for even one.

But the realtor said make them an offer. That's the first time she has said that. So that might be a good sign. But as I said before, this realtor is notorious for pricing high, turning down a reasonable offer at the beginning and then selling it for less than the initial offer two years in. Ugh. It's been 6 months with no price drop.
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If they've had it listed with same person for six months I'd be inclined to blame sellers. They may not have a great realtor but they are ultimately in control. Seems to me they're not motivated. I'm assuming this is a valuable home so these people are not totally ignorant.
 
#57
sdkitty said:
If they've had it listed with same person for six months I'd be inclined to blame sellers. They may not have a great realtor but they are ultimately in control. Seems to me they're not motivated. I'm assuming this is a valuable home so these people are not totally ignorant.
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I would agree with you if this wasn't a pattern with this realtor. I have heard many stories of her listing high and chasing the market down. But you are correct. It's not a cheap house. You would think they would know better.
 
#58
Update: We are going to make an offer on Tuesday, if I can get all my ducks in a row in time to do so. We have a top price. I believe it's unlikely they will accept or even counter. But if I don't at least make an offer for what I think it's worth, I will be really bummed if it sells for what I think it is worth. :smile: The price is about 23% off list.

Also, we are going to look at another house that is not on the market yet in the same neighborhood. I highly doubt we will be interested. It is 25% bigger and has a lot that is 3x's bigger. I don't need that much house or land. Interestingly, it's about 10% cheaper than my house is priced. It's a tudor and apparently not bright inside, which I will hate. But it's gorgeous on the outside. The agent is pushing us to look because they are the listing agent on this one and would get the full commission.
 
#59
Allisonfaye said:
Update: We are going to make an offer on Tuesday, if I can get all my ducks in a row in time to do so. We have a top price. I believe it's unlikely they will accept or even counter. But if I don't at least make an offer for what I think it's worth, I will be really bummed if it sells for what I think it is worth. :smile: The price is about 23% off list.

Also, we are going to look at another house that is not on the market yet in the same neighborhood. I highly doubt we will be interested. It is 25% bigger and has a lot that is 3x's bigger. I don't need that much house or land. Interestingly, it's about 10% cheaper than my house is priced. It's a tudor and apparently not bright inside, which I will hate. But it's gorgeous on the outside. The agent is pushing us to look because they are the listing agent on this one and would get the full commission.
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Good luck with the offer! I don't know....the tudor with the bigger lot sounds wonderful. Buy your hubster a riding mower and plant lots of trees. I think land and privacy is so more important then the house itself. And one can always use extra house space for something. I think you should keep an open mind when you tour it.
 
#60
BigPurseSue said:
Good luck with the offer! I don't know....the tudor with the bigger lot sounds wonderful. Buy your hubster a riding mower and plant lots of trees. I think land and privacy is so more important then the house itself. And one can always use extra house space for something. I think you should keep an open mind when you tour it.
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I will. But I love both the inside and outside of the house I am making an offer on. It is bright and has lots of windows to see nature and I LOVE the kitchen...I could go on and on.

It literally has almost 100% of my wishlist items. The only things it didn't have on my wishlist were a second bathroom on the main floor and a walk in pantry. But literally everything else, I LOVE!
 
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