John I have heard that argument many times and it is misinformed.First many attorneys are per hour and bleed you dry in the end.It's there operating structure to start low and keep billing and billing.Second the seller commission agreement is spelled out in the listing agreement.The listing agreement usually says selling broker to share a co-op of XX with the selling broker.If it is not shared then by the agreement the full commission goes to the selling broker.Usually the listing agent if they are not the principal broker owner are working on behalf of the main broker.So the listing agent does not have the authority to reduce their own commission.For example if a listing agent was to make both ends at 6% it could spell any reduction in commission will come off of their end.So I as a broker have an agent on a 50/50 split.100,000 sales price at 6% = 6,000 commission.The agent wants to reduce to 4% to get the deal to go through.In my independant contractor agreement I have them sign the split will be based off the total commission agreement before any discounts.In this case I would base it off of 6,000 getting half or 3,000 leaving the listing agent 1,000 before there expenses.In this case they would almost be working for free.John the seller has to pay the total amount of commission agreed to in the contract.We even have protection periods built in where we are still owed a commission if the seller tries to terminate unless they sign with another broker.This eliminates all the wait until it expires or say you have taken it off the market and we will do a back door deal.This is the number one mistake investors and buyers make.Broker and agents who do business this is not our first rodeo.We have seen all the schemes and ploys by buyers.I believe if buyers spent half the time getting their affairs in order to be able to purchase instead of trying to figure out how to screw a broker/agent they would get much further ahead.Smart investors do not even mention commission to listing agents.They just want the deal and say "thank you!"

The owner that died lived in the house since it was built (1968 if I remember correctly - don't have the listing in front of me).Also, looking at the property, I just don't feel concerned about flooding - maybe it is because of the drought here currently, but the creek is bone dry and it really doesn't look like it carries much water in normal times.

I won't go into the whole story but we lost about 200K on a franchise deal, mostly due to a lawsuit from the state that the franchise left us out to dry, so you can understand her apprehension.

We put the stain in a small handheld paint sprayer,   And he put a coat of stain on the bricks while I followed behind with a dry towel, wiping any drips.

The washing is fine.. but it takes 3 hours to dry which waste a lot of electric

If they leave you high and dry, or worse just decide to stop paying and drag you through the courts, it can be months of you covering all of the costs.  

I have been eyeballing properties up there as it is so dry here in the metro and Norco areas.

Luckily mold is rarely an issue in the dry areas I am.

This protects lenders from having a borrower run the Property dry without keeping it up which is especially bad for a lender if they have to foreclose.

Now, I do already have a lot of dry powder for another correction, but I’m trying to bolster my cash position as much as possible.