All's Fair In Love, War & Real Estate

8:08:49 PM PDT

So what's the scoop on online real estate companies?  Should you ZIP it or HomeGain it, or should you let your fingers do the typing to our web site, Movoto.com?  OK, excuse a little professional bias here, but really Movoto.com IS the best. Our founders are techies and they have put together a very complete site with information that even I as a long time local Realtor and life-time resident of the area would be hard pressed to find.  I have put together some of these statistics for clients -- pre Movoto, and I can tell you it's time consuming and that I had to search several places to get the information that Movoto gives you in just ONE (or maybe 2) clicks AND it's easy to use.

Ok, so enough with my running corporate PR campaign.  I decided to write about online real estate companies because I was assigned this project by our CEO.  He wanted me to call some of our users and ask them how they liked the site and if they were finding everything they wanted/needed. We are new to this and obviously the way we will make money is to convert some of the users to actual clients for our in house (yours truly for one) and affiliated agents.  So understanding what brings people to our site and how they use it, is important to us.  We also really want to have the best site, so we are encouraging feedback from users.

Anyone who knows me, knows I absolutely HATE calling people randomly.  However, since this was for a good cause, I have been working my way through the list of users who provided phone numbers to us and trying to call them at hours when they will be minimally inconvenienced.  The answers I'm getting to my questions about how and why users like our web site are interesting.  One really nice gentleman who was home recuperating from tooth extractions -- OUCH -- told me that his favorite feature on our site was being able to compare prices of homes without having to become involved with a real estate agent.  Some agents -- NOT me -- can be hard to shake.  Most agree that our site is very complete and easy to use.

Essentially opening the Realtor MLS to the public is a recent development made possible bythe internet.  I remember about 10 years ago when a client of mine was talking about starting a web site where you could find land listings.  He was going to call it LandSeekers.  I remember thinking to himself that he'd better not quit his day job.  Landseekers not only took off but soon became HomeSeekers (or so I assume, as I lost touch with the client) and just 10 years later a whole generation of similar real estate companies have gone live including the company I hang my license with -- Movoto.com.

Taking the time machine back to the 80's (Quantum Leapish), looking for homes was a HUGE, frustrating chore.  Before I was a Realtor myself, I was a first time buyer looking through the newspapers for homes that fit my needs -- or rather my husband's needs -- because after nearly two years of not finding anything he liked, I was desperate.  If I did find something that sounded promising I would call the listing office for an address which I would rarely get unless I agreed to allow an agent to show me properties.  After several showings where the agent clearly ignored my husband's list of "must haves" wasting hours of our time with houses we had no interest in -- my husband refused to go with me anymore until I found a house that would meet our/HIS needs.  So eventually -- after working with what seemed like half the agents in the Bay Area -- I found an agent at an open house who listened to what I told him my husband wanted and called me a few days later with the house we bought and are still living in now, some 23 years later.  If Movoto had been around then, my search for homes would have been a lot easier and my husband's patience would not have run out so quickly.

So consumers can rejoice.  Of course no web site is a substitute for a good agent, but it sure can help you get started with your search,  It's also helpful in providing pricing information, so it's not such a shock when an agent shows you homes "in your price range" or gives you comps for a house you are planning to sell (usually the latter is a "positive" shock).  So before you hit the classifieds to look for homes, visit Movoto.com and then call me or if you already have an agent call them and you will be able to show them the listings you like and give them a head start on getting you into a home or getting your home sold for you.

Next time, why you still need an agent and it's not just to support me and my horse.  Hope your house hunting is happy!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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3:21:03 PM PDT

I love real estate and I love my clients but there are times when I HATE other Realtors.  Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of really good, honest, ethical, genuinely NICE people in my profession.  Unfortunately when there is a potential to make lots of money, there are people who abuse the system.  Hence, the title of my blog -- All's Fair In Love, War & Real Estate -- only it isn't really fair.  Sometimes it's downright UNfair and most of the time the UNfairness is due to "listing agents behaving badly".  I'm going to say listing agents because in the San Francisco Bay Area where I work, the market is slanted toward sellers.  Market fluctuations notwithstanding, we generally have more demand for housing than supply which keeps our market healthy but often makes it difficult for buyers to purchase the home they want with their first offer.

If you are not from this area then the concept of "bidding" wars may be foreign to you.  Count your blessings.  Competing for a home is tough.  You go through your whole life competing in school, for jobs and then you go to buy a place to live and you have to compete again and this time it's for the "privilege" of spending thousands of dollars a month on a home.  A good buyer's agent will do everything to put your best foot forward, getting you pre-approved for a mortgage, carefully checking comps for the property you are "bidding" on, assessing disclosures, pumping the listing agents for any helpful details such as the seller' preferences for terms such as closing dates and also the number of offers anticipated.  Some agents, including me will even write little resumes for their buyer clients, essentially "marketing" their buyer to the seller and the seller's agent.

Unfortunately, regardless of how well a buyer's agent prepares and how much skill and experience they bring to the table in successfully packaging their buyer and negotiating in bidding wars they are essentially at the mercy of the seller's agent.  There are things about the property that an astute buyer's agent can find out on their own, but for crucial information on the competition they must rely solely on the listing agent.  If a listing agent lies about the number of offers, timing of presentations or terms ofthe other offers, there is absolutely nothing that the buyer or the best buyer's agent can do about it.

I had this experience a few weeks ago.  Unfortunately it was a new buyer client who didn't really know me well.  We met at a house he wanted to see and he decided instantly that it was the perfect home for him.  I showed him the home at 11:00 a.m., had him pre-approved for a mortgage and an offer written by 5:00 p.m. on the same day.  Sadly the listing agent who was representing his own parents as sellers was not a "man of his word".  He wound up misleading us about everything from the number of offers, to response times and terms.  Essentially without providing enough details to identify the parties involved, this agent used me and my client to manipulate another offer.  There are no rules in real estate that obligate the agent to reveal the number of offers or terms.  Agents are obligated to present all offers to their sellers but even that is pretty tough to prove.  Furthermore an agent can "shop" an offer and continue to accept other offers up until the time you have a "ratified" agreement which is an offer or counter offer signed by buyer and seller.

I know this experience was painful for my buyer, a young man buying his first home.  It was painful for me.  I can count on my fingers the other truly "dirty" deals I've been dealt by listing agents behaving badly.  One of the other more memorable of which was a deal where the listing agent assured me that we had the signture of one of the sellers (a couple) and he was on his way to the seller's home to get the signature of the other spouse.  I kept calling the agent every few minutes to see if he had all the signtures yet and he kept putting me off.  Finally I caught up with him on my cell phone in the supermarket check-out line and he told me "oh so regretfully" that just as he was walking out of his office an agent from another firm came up to him without warning and handed him a better offer which his clients accepted.  Oh yeah, sure, right -- good story. 

So what can you do about listing agents behaving badly?  Nothing really.  You just move on and find another home.  My favorite saying is that THERE IS ALWAYS ANOTHER HOME and to add to that -- IT'S ALWAYS BETTER.  While it hasn't happened more than a couple of times to me -- usually I win bidding wars -- the few times it HAS happened I've always found my buyers a much better home and that agent that behaved badly in the long run really did them a favor. 

 

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