All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Thanks for the vote of confidence BryanA. :) As a transaction agent, I am not bound to either party, but I have treated all parties honesty and tried to help to the best of my knowledge and ability. I have a good rapport with the buyer so if he ever buys again, even if he didn't want to use me, he can't say that it's my fault because I didn't make him give 20% to the escrow and I didn't force him to stay with his Bank. I am still trying to get him to talk to my rehab loan guy and finding another buyer for the seller. But yeah, hindsight is so much clearer. :)

The seller wanted at least $200k. The buyer wants to pay no more than $200k. Seller didn't want to pay commission. I got the buyer agree to pay me 3% of that which is $6k. The buyer has to add that to the purchase price and get the loan on it. So technically it's a flat fee of $6k not a real percentage. In NJ all real estate commissions are negotiable.

The seller's attorney wanted me to draw up an agreement stating to the effect that the buyer will pay seller $206k and then seller will pay my brokerage $6k out of the deal and netting $200k. And only for this buyer; any other buyer would have to be separately agreed to.

I bet he charges more than $6k for all his legal services and in handling this estate. Even the seller thinks he's dragging this out so he could rack up his bills.

Isn't the attorney supposed to look out for his client's interests? How is it in her best interest to be stuck at a run down house for so long? If I was the attorney I would ensure the seller sells as quickly as possible and try to work with the buyer.

As for ficudiacy, no I am not representing either party. I know agents who supposedly represents either party, would get a signed contract and then sit back and wait for the closing and let the seller or buyer and their attorneys take care of everything else. I would hope I had done more to deserve my commission but in the end there is only so much I can do.

I do appreciate everyone's perspective and it helps me think of planning ahead more carefully. But if everyone had to pay cash for houses the real estate market would be a very quiet place.

The buyer CAN afford the repairs but he can't make those repairs if he DOESN"T OWN THE HOUSE yet. Would anyone here pay to repair a house he doesn't own? If so can I have your number?

He already paid for the termite inspection and treatment, I paid for the smoke alarms and CO detectors and the permit fee to get the town inspection.

I don't know what the actual amount escrowed at the seller's attorney is because they changed a bunch of things in the addenda. I could read it over and find out but this is what the buyer told me over the phone.
If the seller's attorney wanted to kill the deal and keep the money he could have done it 3 weeks ago right after the closing. I don't know what went down because I was not involved with the attorney's discussions and I'm only hearing about these from the buyer when I called him over the course of the deal. I tried to follow up at least once a week. When I say I suck at follow up I meant I didn't stay on it every few days like I probably should. But the buyer always assured me that he's working with the bank and doing what they asked, so I had no reason to think the extension was not at least agreed upon by the seller or her attorney. Like I said the seller had no idea what's going on. She kept waiting for the call to say we're closing.

I'm a transaction agent in this deal. I don't have a listing agreement with the seller because her attorney refused to have her sign a listing, and only agreed when I brought the buyer to have my 3% added to the purchase price, if and only if he closes, so even if I get another buyer I probably won't see a dime, but like I said I wanted to salvage the deal and at least try to help sell this house so the seller can move on with her life.

The buyer and seller were both very aware that the house is a rehab property and he is buying as-is with the full intention of fixing it up and nobody dispute that. The bank kept changing Their demands and when he addressed them the bank went back and resubmitted to a new underwriter. I'm sure buyers lawyer has been in contact with the sellers lawyer and if they didn't have some kind of extension in place, we wouldn't still be here after 3 weeks trying to get the loan approved. I'm not a lawyer but it seems if the buyers lawyer can't even take care if this what else us there for me to do? The seller had sat on the property fir 2 years, it was her mothers estate and she did not want to list the house because of the condition and she was hoping for a cash buyer to come along and pay top dollar for it. The buyer is rehanging the home so why should he put a new roof on it only to tear it down in a few months? The bank is fully aware of his Intentions and like I said they originally emailed him saying it's good to go and then changed their mind. Clearly something us not right here but I don't know what it could be. I am still trying to salvage this deal and I hope I have good news to report soon. Gotta have hope. :)

I admit I probably should have followed this more closely. I am juggling many duties and I suck at follow up. However the buyer has his own attorney and he was represented and I'm sure attorney explained everything better than I could have. They had two addenda to the contract the atty review took nearly three weeks. Surely someone would have told him the risks. I practically offered to pay for a new loan application fee and he wanted to stick it out with BoA. He has put down 20% and rehab 4 houses before trying to buy this one. He never had problems like this. The house was fsbo and I was transaction agent, and I tried to do everything to help both seller and buyer come together and take care of CO and inspection etc. Like I said I found cash buyers for the seller but she wanted more$. Short of buying the house myself I don't know what more can I do to help these people out. Seller has no idea what happened because her attorney doesnt even return her calls. I am sympathetic but I can't force the buyer to use my brokers and I can't force the seller to drop the price to atrract a cash buyer.

I am asking other investors if they are interested and having my rehab loan guy take a look at the appraisal to find a loan for my buyer, but at this point the buyer is hitting a stone wall and he is very unmotivated to proceed with the purchase.

I do appreciate your advice and I will make sure in the future the buyer uses my own brokers. And stay away from BoA. :(

I did recommend my brokers but the buyer wanted to go with BoA because GE banks there and they promised Jim a good rate. Even 3 weeks before closing I saw he was going nowhere at BoA I asked him to call my guy who told him he could have the loan in two weeks to make the closing, the buyer stayed with BoA figured they just needed "one more thing." plus my broker's rate was slightly higher than he was locked in for. should have known they were just messing with him. After the closing was missed I begged him to talk to my broker again. he kept working with BoA and getting what they asked but in the end he just could not afford to put a new roof on the garage and dheekrock the garage or stupid things like that the bank demanded.

I just got a call from the seller who wanted to know what was going on. She had no idea what her lawyer was up to. Oh boy.

So my buyer was denied his loan after BofA (Bunch of @$$ho13z) screwed up his loan application and delayed the closing for three weeks. After he did everything they asked for and demanded. They even emailed him that the loam is approved and then yanked it because they resent the file to a different underwriter. Long painful story short, the deal is dead. Now even the seller's attorney is refusing to give back his deposit and 20% down payment! How is this possible?! It's not the buyer's fault and there is a mortgage contingency in the contract! The seller's attorney even works as a judge in his small municipality! Can anything be done to make this right short of litigation? I feel terrible for the buyer who lost all his money on title, survey, attorney fees and to add insult to injury, a sleazy judge/lawyer who defies contract laws! Should I be surprised this happened? The seller's attorney gave us nothing buy grief all along the way and even told the seller "I told you something like this might happen when the buyer has to get loan approval. Shoulda sold to a cash buyer." hello?! I bought a cash buyer for 15k less than seller wants and when she wanted more, I found this buyer who is will g yo pay the price but needs the loan to make it happen. Who else ever heard of something like this? Unbelievable!

The latest twist on my bid sale. I advised the buyer to check fir any contractural language that might possibly obligate her to pay a buyer agent commission since the realtor showed her the house back in september. She called him and sure enough he said if she ever buys this house he is owed a commission. I hate to lose the buyer bur I don't want her or me to get in trouble. Meanwhile the original sellers listing agreement says any sale or lease within 120 days of the expiration to any buyer previously shown the house, the listing agent is entitled to collect as well unless a new listing agent with a new broker is in effect. Since I am an agent i could list it myself but I am tempted to sell the buyer a different home to avoid any legal dispute. Any suggestions? I might have to redo the bid sale at a different price point to attract more buyers.

Thanks for the background on this method, Don. I'm trying to sell the property as quickly as possible and since it was listed for 6 months before I came along I want to avoid having to list it again. Funny thing is the bidders happened to have previously made two offers on the house but were rejected, and I got the property for slightly less than what they offered. My offer to seller was for all cash but these folks want to put 20% down. I have to figure in the transaction funding fee and cost recovery for myself into the price, and I can't do it at the price they are offering. They are still interested but I am wondering how to proceed. I don't want to do the bid sale again for the same property and I don't want to list it. But I don't want to pass by possibly the only people who's been willing to buy this property. :/

Many real estate courses talk about this in some iteration or other. a realtor Calvin Curry is promoting his "sold-in-a-week" method based on the same concept. I got books by Bill Effros and William Bronchick that outline this method. I just tried it this weekend for a wholesale deal I locked up but the result was a bit underwhelming: 3 families showed up Saturday and one of them put in a bid that was lower than my contract price with the seller. I'm kind of wondering what to do next. I am looking to close quickly but I can't sell at a loss. :) Has any one tried it and did you have success with this method?