Best and Worst Tampa home builders (short sales, renter, HOA)

[spbbound]

Originally Posted by EngGirl

As song as "cash back" realtors exist it's all good.
Realtor's are getting paid 3% of the price and price varies from $50K to $1M - Do they have to work harder if house is more expensive considering new construction? I don't think so.


If the average new construction price is $400K, realtor is getting $12K. Sounds good for realtor, but I feel I am as a home buyer is entitle for some $$ back for such a sweet and easy deal.

Realtors who complain they work a lot and only getting paid when they close which is not so often have no respect from me. It reminds me guys by KIA in Wesley Chapel - these "poor" sales people are allowed inside only when they have clients, otherwise they are outside in horrible Florida heat... Well, people are allowed to get any job they think will work for them (including working conditions and pay).
So yes, I feel $12K in commissions is too much for realtors while their job will be limited to a max of 40 hrs total to close the deal for new construction...

What, do you walk in and ask to see their finances before you decide if they should owe you money? Any realtor who would even agree to such an arrangement is likely a poor one to begin with that is desperate for business, because no good one I've worked with would ever agree to that. The only time I've seen realtors cut fees is when a stubborn seller ran into an issue with a bank appraisal not coming back at what was needed for a mortgaged buyer, and the buyer was going to walk since they didn't have the funds to come out of pocket to make up the difference, so both sides' realtors went down to get the deal done rather than letting the house sit.

If it's a cheap house, they're not making crap to begin with, and if it's an expensive house, then they better be doing hard work marketing, showing and looking out for your interests in general, and that's easily worth the fee. If a realtor sells a $1M house, and both sides get 3%, each is getting $30k. You also realize the broker/office will take a huge cut of that too right? A $1M house is not easy to sell; I have one around that amount for sale in central Tampa. My realtor is doing post cards and flyers to targeted areas like Tampa Palms to try and find people who may be sick of the Bruce B Downs commute and wanting to move closer to downtown or west Tampa but not into "South Tampa". She needs a nice car to go pick prospective clients up in; first impressions are everything. When I was looking for something along the beaches, if I had a realtor come get me in a ten year old worn out car, I would not expect them to be knowledgeable in the types of properties I was looking for. My realtor hosts open houses, which attract more people and other realtors if you're known to be one who includes food and drinks, and at that price point, it's expected. Once all is said and done, it would not surprise me if my home cost the realtor $10k or more to sell, and even tax deducting the expenses, and completely ignoring the broker's cut if they're not a broker, they're still probably not walking away with more than 65% after floating their own business expense loan for six or twelve months to do it all.

More importantly, for the selling realtor, it's a complete gamble to begin with since I can walk when the contract expires, or just take the house off the market at my own whim. If they're ten grand in at that point, I just screwed them. They're taking on great risk at that price point and they need the reward from the homes that close to make up for the risk.

Want to know what having a bad/cheap realtor gets you? A county drainage easement on the lot you bought that they should have had the knowledge to go look for since I didn't. That's what happened to me a while back, realtor was long gone a year later when it came time to pull the pool permit only to be told the pool would need to be half the planned size. Good realtors look out for their clients and find things like that, and they should be paid a commensurate amount.

[bentlebee]

Originally Posted by EngGirl

I would only consider realtor who will share his/her commissions at closing.
buying new house is like buying new car - it's all about negotiation. If you are not asking for something, you will not get it. Nobody but you will do better negotiation, at the end of the day it's your mortgage for 20-30 years.


I would recommend talking to people already living in the neighborhood in homes built by the builder in question.

Weren't you an engineer? If so why would someone pay you what you got. Maybe they could skip out on paying you or cut your fee/salary in half and share it with someone else.

You sound like nobody is entitled to make money as everyone is over paid while not knowing what their cost are.

In the end nobody has to hire anyone and can do it all themselves but often we see that not everyone is the same and some have no clue or understand the value of the help they receive and are grateful for that.

You on the other hand seem to be very good in ALL fields and professions and I applaud you for that but it seems from some of your posts you still needed help getting the answers...

[EngGirl]

Originally Posted by spbbound

What, do you walk in and ask to see their finances before you decide if they should owe you money?

Why would I do that?
I just call realtors/brokers around and have plenty to chose from within an hour... 1.5% cash back is something very easy to find, and for 2% you need to talk to brokers mainly. Done this not once or twice, but number of times already... Smart realtors/brokers see easy money and gladly get into deal. That's all I personally care for.

[EngGirl]

Originally Posted by spbbound

Want to know what having a bad/cheap realtor gets you? A county drainage easement on the lot you bought that they should have had the knowledge to go look for since I didn't. That's what happened to me a while back, realtor was long gone a year later when it came time to pull the pool permit only to be told the pool would need to be half the planned size. Good realtors look out for their clients and find things like that, and they should be paid a commensurate amount.

Oh please, stop this non-sense.
1) we were talking about NEW CONSTRUCTION
2) easement so as right of way is not realtor's job to search or discuss, that's why you have legal description for God sake and licensed land surveyor...
3) Define good/ bad realtors and we will talk.
4) Stop pretending what is realtor's responsibility and what now. If some head flick told you something he shouldn't it doesn't make him bad realtor. He was just regular sales guy. The matter of fact realtors have no education or knowledge (in 99.9% times) to talk about pool permits, rezoning, easements, estimates of remodeling - these talks are all garbage.
So please, don't tell me what good realtors will tell you. Their job description is rather limited and required high school diploma at the most...

[EngGirl]

Originally Posted by bentlebee

Weren't you an engineer? If so why would someone pay you what you got. Maybe they could skip out on paying you or cut your fee/salary in half and share it with someone else.

You sound like nobody is entitled to make money as everyone is over paid while not knowing what their cost are.

In the end nobody has to hire anyone and can do it all themselves but often we see that not everyone is the same and some have no clue or understand the value of the help they receive and are grateful for that.

You on the other hand seem to be very good in ALL fields and professions and I applaud you for that but it seems from some of your posts you still needed help getting the answers...

I am not surprised to see posts like that from people in real estate business, and I respect you opinion regarding not sharing your commissions. It's you choice. Mine is to use someone who is willing to work with me. No hard feelings

[spbbound]

The way you talk about others makes me think you're a surgeon and not an engineer, but hey, if you have realtors taking 1% to flip your beater rental properties with no effort or financial investment on their part, congrats. As smart as you are, I'm not sure why you wouldn't spend two months and an easy test to get your license and simply find a flat fee broker to unload homes as needed. I have a friend who does flips and rentals that did that since there's no negotiating, just zillow and flipping, so what's the point of throwing away a point and a half (in your case).

[EngGirl]

Originally Posted by spbbound

The way you talk about others makes me think you're a surgeon and not an engineer, but hey, if you have realtors taking 1% to flip your beater rental properties with no effort or financial investment on their part, congrats. As smart as you are, I'm not sure why you wouldn't spend two months and an easy test to get your license and simply find a flat fee broker to unload homes as needed. I have a friend who does flips and rentals that did that since there's no negotiating, just zillow and flipping, so what's the point of throwing away a point and a half (in your case).

I suggest you revise your language first. I understand I hurt your feelings with my opinion.
Fortunately enough I don't need to flip houses for living, I have something more interesting to do But I will think about your suggestion, thank you!

[spbbound]

Not a chance. You talk down to people regularly; this thread has only bolstered my opinion. Congrats on your success at screwing realtors though.

[EngGirl]

Well, let me try to live with that... It's working! Thanks buddy!

[upgrader]

Originally Posted by spbbound

...why you wouldn't spend two months and an easy test to get your license and simply find a flat fee broker to unload homes as needed. I have a friend who does flips and rentals that did that since there's no negotiating, just zillow and flipping, so what's the point of throwing away a point and a half (in your case).

Serious question; From what I've read, a flat fee broker will list your home for a given price (no percentage of a sale price). You do the rest of the listing estate agent work.

I understand the value of getting a license on the buying side. When my parents moved to Florida, my Dad became a RE agent. It was his legitimate part time job (he worked through a broker). When I bought a newly constructed condo, Dad's participation saved me 3 percent.

What am I missing here? On the buy-side, having your RE license could save money when dealing with the listing agent (although if I dealt with a listing agent directly, I'd expect a discount without a license since I did the buying agent work myself).

These days on the sell side, it seems you can pay a flat fee to get in the MLS and show the property yourself.