All Forum Posts by: Doug Pretorius

@Anthony Wick There are these people. They're called lawyers. They are actually licensed to practice law (unlike realtors) and can walk you through the legalities for a fraction of the cost.

And I don't understand. You say your agent finds you properties? But @Jay Hinrichs just assured me above that agents don't find properties for buyers and haven't done so for decades? Maybe I'm confused.

@Jay Hinrichs How can a buyer's agent claim get their client the best deal when they won't submit low offers? Unless you're talking purely retail sales between regular buyers and sellers where the buyer thinks getting the house for $0.01 below asking price is a steal.

@Russell Brazil I think @Lenny Grimes is talking about the $20k judgement that you only got $15k from the previous owner. Now your client is the owner, so they'll have to pay that other $5k.

@Justin Hutchins Sub2 with >25% equity, or lease option with anything less.

@Nick Rutkowski Thank you for demonstrating everything I've ever said about agents.

@Charlie MacPherson Beautiful. Never had the chance. I have family in Iqaluit but there's not nearly as much to see there scenery-wise.

@Robert Gunby Just to be clear, you're looking to buy from a FSBO seller, correct?

If so what I usually do is call them up and gauge their motivation on the phone. Find out what they need. Do they want me to take over their payments? Are they open to a lease option? Are we in the ballpark on price?

If they seem motivated we set an appointment for me to see the house and discuss more of the details.

9 times out of 10 the seller wants to sign the contract at the appointment so I always come prepared. Otherwise I give them a copy and they call me after their lawyer has looked it over.

From there my lawyer takes over. If there's bank financing involved (rare) my mortgage broker too. An inspection and appraisal are ordered as necessary.

That's it here in Canada. I hear the process can get a lot more complicated in the US though!

@Charlie MacPherson Fair enough, I'll accept that. No hard feelings personally Charlie :)

@Andre Lozada Offer to buy it subject to the mortgage for her payoff amount. Pay the back taxes and rent out the other unit and you'll be in great shape. You can keep the property yourself or sell it as a turnkey investment. If you don't have the money for the back taxes then wholesale the property as-is, you should be able to get $10-$15k more than her payoff, especially with the mortgage taken over sub2.

@Christi Hawkins I'm not a licensee so if there is such a rule it doesn't apply. A listing agent did contact me the other day from my door knocking efforts, they refused to present my offer, but they didn't tell me not to contact their client again. Besides what can they do to stop me from marketing?

Let me be clear: I'm not interested in cutting the agent out of their commission, the seller hired them and should pay them. I simply want to buy their property.

@Charlie MacPherson I've both seen it happen and been told about it by agents I know outside of the real estate business. As recently as a month ago an agent my wife knows was complaining that flat fee brokers from Toronto have been "moving in on our territory and despite the efforts of the local agents to resist them, we're losing ground."

This is nothing new though. Discount brokers have been shunned by the full service brokers for as long as I've been involved in real estate.

And for the record, any feelings I have toward realtors has been 100% earned by their actions. It's not like I woke up one day and decided I didn't like them.