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I love my agent, really I do. He's a standup guy and a pleasure to work with. He seems very knowledgeable about the whole process and it's clear and apparent to me that he's been doing this for the 35 years he claims to have been doing it. I mean, he can use a Thomas guide to locate an address more efficiently than I could using Google Maps or GPS - I consider that impressive, seeing as I consider myself tech savvy.
Therein is the problem.
My fear is that my agent is too stuck on the "old way" of home buying. This isn't the same dynamic as we had 25-something years ago where prices were low simply because San Diego, CA didn't have this mass influx of new residents from Mexico and other states. Prices are going down now because the so-called 'bubble' has burst, and people are losing their homes. The capital markets are shot and securities are failing; banks are tightening their belts causing people to have a hard time getting the funds to buy a home. People who had been renting for some time in the hopes of buying a home are now seeing rent prices skyrocket as these people who once owned homes and pulled the "Equity ATM" nonsense are forced to park their Cadillac Escalades into cramped rental property parking carports. It's not the same - in one, the prices were "normal" and skyrocketed. Now, the prices are trying to get back to "normal" from a skyrocket position.
The other problem is that he's used to selling homes from $600,000 to 2 million. He's not used to the first-time single home buyer with no family. He's not used to someone who's gunning it on their own and I think that puts him at a disadvantage.
That said, I'm renting right now, and I want to stop renting. However, condos are unacceptable: Condo association fee (nuh uh), no lawn (need to be able to wash my own car), no garage most commonly (need to protect my car), shared walls, loud parties you can't do anything about, or the price is too high for minimal square footage. Townhomes are priced too high. So I want a single family home. It seems almost certain that Temecula is the place I need to be. A 3 bedroom home out there can be had for under $300,000 - which to me is "normal".
I need an agent who is friendly, respectful and listens to me as their client BUT is aggressive enough to put me up on houses that aren't even available on the MLS; is going to proactively get to searching for the property I need, in my price range; is willing to scope out (meaning, high quality photos or even a visit) potential properties and notify me well in advance of other offers. I need a go getter, someone who's primary objective is, effectively, to make me a happy camper and get rid of me as quickly as he/she can.
So I'm asking for recommendations of any REALTOR in San Diego or Riverside county. Has anyone dealt with someone, or knows someone, that fits what I described? Once I find a good candidate, I'm more than happy to fire my existing REALTOR on good terms.
Location: Mokelumne Hill, CA & El Pescadero, BCS MX.
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If that agent has been doing it for 35 years he's been through at least 3 ugly cycles like this one. I'd stick with him unless he proves in some way that he isn't providing you with the service you need.
I have 2 older folks in my shop neither of whom is technically able. I value their experience and I often end up doing the technical stuff for them.
If that agent has been doing it for 35 years he's been through at least 3 ugly cycles like this one. I'd stick with him unless he proves in some way that he isn't providing you with the service you need.
I have 2 older folks in my shop neither of whom is technically able. I value their experience and I often end up doing the technical stuff for them.
Good luck to you in any case
For one, he knows nothing about any of the homes we're looking at. He'll call the list agent for details and all, but he doesn't know anything about the neighborhood or the historical details. When he does home searches he does it "by the numbers" - number of beds, number of baths, etc. I don't look for a home that way, being that I don't have a family to support. To me the interior can be whatever I really care to make it, but it's the exterior that really sells me. The house has to look "right". I've found the garage positioning, size, and garage door are key factors in having that "right" look. I've never seen a house with a single car garage that looked good. Not one. Same with the detached types of garages.
He also doesn't understand my logic in my selection criteria. Even though if you looked at 15 houses that I express latent interest in, they all have common traits that should be easy to pick up on; he doesn't, because again, he's limiting to "by the numbers".
Both are symptoms of the price range I mentioned before - I'm looking in the 200k range whereas he doesn't deal with properties in that range. Maybe once upon a time, but again, it's a different dynamic. Also, he doesn't go above and beyond the call of duty...I know agents have access to homes via networking that have not yet hit MLS and are not publicly "known" yet...but he doesn't leverage those.
I just want someone who's going to, like I said, go out of their way to make me happy so they can get rid of me quickly, and as nice and intelligent a guy as my current agent is, he doesn't seem to be going out of his way for anything. I mean I can't even reach him by phone half the time.
If you go to ActiveRain Real Estate Network you can read some blogs from San Diego agents and you can see if any of their personalities is a good match for you.
I will also PM you with another agent in that area.
Are you signed with this guy as an exclusive buyers agent? If yes than I hope it works out. If no, then go look on your own. Simple.
Sometimes there are homes that 'sell before listing' or similar, but the HUGE majority of homes come through the listings.
There are folks that have given seminars about "finding homes with unmowed lawns" and offering to buy 'em, but even that is something of a stretch. You'd have to mail out/phone dozens and dozens of people before you found one solid lead...
I know San Diego is a huge area and it is somewhat unreasonable to expect that anyone is going to be expert in all details of every area and each price point.
Did you discuss this before working with this agent?
Are you signed with this guy as an exclusive buyers agent? If yes than I hope it works out. If no, then go look on your own. Simple.
Sometimes there are homes that 'sell before listing' or similar, but the HUGE majority of homes come through the listings.
There are folks that have given seminars about "finding homes with unmowed lawns" and offering to buy 'em, but even that is something of a stretch. You'd have to mail out/phone dozens and dozens of people before you found one solid lead...
I know San Diego is a huge area and it is somewhat unreasonable to expect that anyone is going to be expert in all details of every area and each price point.
Did you discuss this before working with this agent?
The only thing I signed, when I first made an offer, was a document that stated that my agent was to be working in my best interests, blah blah blah. I signed no exclusivity agreement that I recall. We have a verbal agreement that I will only deal with him "...unless the service provided is less than expected", in which case I would let him know. But I'd rather let him know once I've found an alternate option.
Also, my understanding is that I can work with multiple buyer's agents should I choose to.
I'm just really frustrated. I mean there are things he didn't tell me about in advance that would definitely have altered my approach had I known. For example, I'm coming in with 100% FHA financing using gift funds; I found the lender by way of a new condo development but the lender agent told me I could use them for a single family if I wanted. My buyer agent echoed the sentiment, but neglected to inform me until after the fact that 99% of banks don't like to do the gift fund route. They'd rather have cash up front out of the buyer's pocket, even if that person's offer is less than the asking whereas mine is right at or above asking (just with no money out of my pocket). He could have let me known that and I would have just settled for the condo, or renewed my existing lease.
It sounds like you're just not clicking with him. However, don't discredit an agent just because they're stuck in the old ways. Like DMenscha said, if he's been around the block that long, he's a great Realtor. If you can find a way to get on the same page, he may not be a bad one to have in your corner.
And about the price range, I also work in the million dollar range as my primary market, but negotiating a home is negotiating a home.
You are using an agent to cover two enormous counties and you expect this agent to do the homework plus find homes that have not been entered into the MLS. Given the use of flat fee listing brokerage, about the only homes not in the MLS are for sale by owners who have no intention of paying anyone a commission. Will you then pay your agent's brokerage the standard commission for finding you such a home? Or do you expect him to work pro-bono?
You do not have the money to buy property but you want a house because you are tired of renting. It does not sound like any lender has pre-approved you for financing, including credit score and income verification. Lenders are increasingly raising an eyebrow to downpayment gifts because these are usually off the record loans and often put additional pressure on the homeowner ( and I use this term loosely, given someone with no skin in the game does not own anything). If you are serious about homeownership, the time to line up financing is before you start looking.
I cannot imagine what this agent is doing showing you any property, under the circumstances, especially given the price of gas.
If and once you can demonstrate you have financing lined up and the ability to pay closing costs, including tax and insrance escrows, you need very local expertise, not a one agent fits all. If an agent needs a GPS or a map to find a property, that agent is probably working way out of his/her elemet and is not going to know much about the area.
1: I'm preapproved with Chase. 100% financing. All complete. Waiting for me to pick a home, essentially. I'm negotiating a better DTI ratio with a different lender which will increase my buying power.
2: the downpayment gift option is an FHA standard, allowed by the government and not a "off the record loan". Do your homework before you judge.
3: I have plenty of money to buy a home. As I said, I'm 100% pre-approved already.
4: He'll get a commission regardless of where I buy the house. Even if he didn't get it from the seller, he'd get it from my financing vehicle. 3% is set aside for whatever purpose I choose - for homes where there's a commission split, he gets that. If there's no commission for whatever reason, he gets my 3%, otherwise I put it against the loan.
Sounds like you jumped off the cuff without knowing who I am. Shame on you, if you really are an agent.
If an agent needs a GPS or a map to find a property, that agent is probably working way out of his/her elemet and is not going to know much about the area.
Not true, in a large Metro area like DFW 20 minutes from someones work can mean quite a few cities and a lot of streets.
A good GPS and old fashioned mapping books are still good agent tools. A GPS many times shows me short cuts that I would never have seen.
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