I(Buyer) have an agent.

She takes us around to look at properties. We liked a property and she
prepared an offer for us.

Is it her job to negotiate/push our offer with the Seller's agent or
just present it?

She came back with all our demands rejected, even after we went in for
the house at full listing price $19500...NO BARGAIN.

Our demands:
1. 1yr Home Owners Warranty ... abt $250 value
2. 6" Wood fence in the back yard that had cheap 3' metal fencing
3. Exterior painting of the house which the seller told us personally
he was going to do.

We were at a point where we were negotiating with our (buyer) agent
about what to put in the counter-offer. We said screw it and Walked
Off the deal.

The other story is Seller's Agent is my (Buyer) agent's Boss and the
seller is a Builder who works with his same agent and has a 20yr
relationship.

I let this house go for which I waited for about 3 months..something
that suited my liking and budget. The reason I dont believe my agent
is competetive and working for us.

Our agent called us back after all this saying we were still in the
game as earlier it was a multiple offer scene but other buyers have
gone now. We still had a chance and our demands would be met by the
Seller now.

I said OK get me appliances also. As I myself was willing to increase
$500 on the offer and get my initial demands met but I was refused
that too by my agent. I had no regrets losing on this house.

At this point I really need opinion is our agent really good and did
she do the right thing? Should we continue to work with her or look
for a new agent?

I am looking for good negotiation skills in an agent. Anyone can take
us around looking for houses and prepare an offer letter. Its this
extra edge I am looking for. Can I get this in a Buyer's agent?

Please reply before I get ripped off in some other deal.

Thanks.

In article ,
Kunal wrote:
I(Buyer) have an agent.

She takes us around to look at properties. We liked a property and she
prepared an offer for us.

Is it her job to negotiate/push our offer with the Seller's agent or
just present it?

She came back with all our demands rejected, even after we went in for
the house at full listing price $19500...NO BARGAIN.


What do you want her to do?


At this point I really need opinion is our agent really good and did
she do the right thing? Should we continue to work with her or look
for a new agent?


It's hard to say. It seems you don't like her, so go get another. Did you
sign a contract with her?


I am looking for good negotiation skills in an agent. Anyone can take
us around looking for houses and prepare an offer letter. Its this
extra edge I am looking for. Can I get this in a Buyer's agent?


You are the one that should be negotiating. It's not the agent's job. You
tell the agent what to say and she should go execute as your
representative. It is possible she is not representing you well, but it's
also completely possible that even with great representation you would not
get anything you wanted.


Dimitri

"Kunal" wrote in message
om...

I(Buyer) have an agent.

You mean you're paying the agent? If not, the agent is the seller's agent,
not yours.

Kunal wrote:
I(Buyer) have an agent.

She takes us around to look at properties. We liked a property and she
prepared an offer for us.

Is it her job to negotiate/push our offer with the Seller's agent or
just present it?

The agent will just present the offer.


She came back with all our demands rejected, even after we went in for
the house at full listing price $19500...NO BARGAIN.

Our demands:
1. 1yr Home Owners Warranty ... abt $250 value
2. 6" Wood fence in the back yard that had cheap 3' metal fencing
3. Exterior painting of the house which the seller told us personally
he was going to do.

We were at a point where we were negotiating with our (buyer) agent
about what to put in the counter-offer. We said screw it and Walked
Off the deal.

You don't negotiate with your agent - you tell them what offer to take
to the seller.

The other story is Seller's Agent is my (Buyer) agent's Boss and the
seller is a Builder who works with his same agent and has a 20yr
relationship.

Did you sign a contract that disclosed the dual-agent nature of the
agency you are working with?

I let this house go for which I waited for about 3 months..something
that suited my liking and budget. The reason I dont believe my agent
is competetive and working for us.

What does your contract with them say they will do for you?

Our agent called us back after all this saying we were still in the
game as earlier it was a multiple offer scene but other buyers have
gone now. We still had a chance and our demands would be met by the
Seller now.

I said OK get me appliances also. As I myself was willing to increase
$500 on the offer and get my initial demands met but I was refused
that too by my agent. I had no regrets losing on this house.

Your agent can't refuse to present any offer. If they did, then they
likely violated a number of real estate agent laws in your state.

At this point I really need opinion is our agent really good and did
she do the right thing? Should we continue to work with her or look
for a new agent?

I am looking for good negotiation skills in an agent. Anyone can take
us around looking for houses and prepare an offer letter. Its this
extra edge I am looking for. Can I get this in a Buyer's agent?

Only if the agent agrees to take on responsibility for the negotiation
part of the process. I doubt that you'll find a 'regular' agent who is
willing to do this without an attorney by their side.

(Kunal) wrote:
I(Buyer) have an agent.

She takes us around to look at properties. We liked a property and she
prepared an offer for us.

Is it her job to negotiate/push our offer with the Seller's agent or
just present it?

She came back with all our demands rejected, even after we went in for
the house at full listing price $19500...NO BARGAIN.

Our demands:
1. 1yr Home Owners Warranty ... abt $250 value
2. 6" Wood fence in the back yard that had cheap 3' metal fencing
3. Exterior painting of the house which the seller told us personally
he was going to do.

I'm not going to address the agent situation, but what the bleep are you doing
with those bleeping demands? At *most* you should be either (1) asking for
a credit to address those issues or (2) just reducing your bid to cover the
needs (depends on your cash situation). Never, never, never ask the seller to
get stuff like that done -- you'll end up with the crappiest, lowest-end job
they can possibly pawn off on you (not to mention, they just want to sell the
place and be done with it, not hassle with a bunch of other crap besides). Oh,
BTW, I'm assuming you meant the house was 195,000 -- if it's truly 19,500, I
doubt you've got room for any negotiation.

Our agreement with our agent (appointing him as Buyer's Agent) said we
would pay his commission, but he collected half from the Listing Agent
(at least, at the closing we saw an envelope passed from the Listing
Agent to our agent) and -- to our surprise -- never sought to collect
the other half from us.

He certainly pointed out problems with some of the properties we toured,
which he had said he would not be able to do if we did not appoint him
as Buyer's Agent.

MB


On 06/02/04 03:20 pm Andrew Koenig put fingers to keyboard and launched
the following message into cyberspace:

I(Buyer) have an agent.

You mean you're paying the agent? If not, the agent is the seller's agent,
not yours.

Minnie Bannister wrote:
Our agreement with our agent (appointing him as Buyer's Agent) said we
would pay his commission, but he collected half from the Listing Agent
(at least, at the closing we saw an envelope passed from the Listing
Agent to our agent) and -- to our surprise -- never sought to collect
the other half from us.

/snip/

Did you read your settlement statement carefully? I'd be surprised if
there wasn't a deduction in there for your agent.

(D. Gerasimatos) wrote in message ...
In article ,
Kunal wrote:
I(Buyer) have an agent.

She takes us around to look at properties. We liked a property and she
prepared an offer for us.

Is it her job to negotiate/push our offer with the Seller's agent or
just present it?

She came back with all our demands rejected, even after we went in for
the house at full listing price $19500...NO BARGAIN.


What do you want her to do?
We added small things like:
1. Seller pays for 1yr Home Owners Warranty
2. Seller puts 6' neighbor fence. As there were 3-4' metal net kind of
fence in the backyard.
3. Seller himself told us he was going to paint the exterior of the
house so we asked her to put that too.

The deal was for 195K and we went in for Full price as listed. All
these got rejected.

Funny thing was when I walked out the seller was willing to accept
everything and even throw in blinds for all the windows in the house
before that I was willing to pay 500$ over the offer to get my demands
met. And my agent discouraged to ask for anything more and it came to
the point as if I was negotiating with my agent.



At this point I really need opinion is our agent really good and did
she do the right thing? Should we continue to work with her or look
for a new agent?


It's hard to say. It seems you don't like her, so go get another. Did you
sign a contract with her?


I am looking for good negotiation skills in an agent. Anyone can take
us around looking for houses and prepare an offer letter. Its this
extra edge I am looking for. Can I get this in a Buyer's agent?


You are the one that should be negotiating. It's not the agent's job. You
tell the agent what to say and she should go execute as your
representative. It is possible she is not representing you well, but it's
also completely possible that even with great representation you would not
get anything you wanted.


Dimitri

In article ,
Kunal wrote:
(D. Gerasimatos) wrote in message ...
In article ,
Kunal wrote:
I(Buyer) have an agent.

She takes us around to look at properties. We liked a property and she
prepared an offer for us.

Is it her job to negotiate/push our offer with the Seller's agent or
just present it?

She came back with all our demands rejected, even after we went in for
the house at full listing price $19500...NO BARGAIN.


What do you want her to do?

We added small things like:
1. Seller pays for 1yr Home Owners Warranty
2. Seller puts 6' neighbor fence. As there were 3-4' metal net kind of
fence in the backyard.
3. Seller himself told us he was going to paint the exterior of the
house so we asked her to put that too.

The deal was for 195K and we went in for Full price as listed. All
these got rejected.


I repeat: What do you want her to do? These don't look like small things
to me. Painting the exterior of a house in particular is a large expense.


Funny thing was when I walked out the seller was willing to accept
everything and even throw in blinds for all the windows in the house
before that I was willing to pay 500$ over the offer to get my demands
met. And my agent discouraged to ask for anything more and it came to
the point as if I was negotiating with my agent.


The agent should ask for anything you ask for. She can advise you that your
offer may not be accepted, but she must present the offer as you
constructed it or else decline to represent you.


The seller was bluffing and you walked out and he caved. This has nothing
to do with your agent's competence. Your agent was probably trying to buy
you the house and realized that in this market your demands might not get
you the house. Therefore, she was discouraging you. However, there is a
big difference between voicing her opinion and refusing to present your
offer.


If you ask me, it sounds like all parties involved (seller, buyer, and
agent) are incompetent. I am surprised the deal went through at all.


Dimitri

(Kunal) wrote in message . com...
I(Buyer) have an agent.

She takes us around to look at properties. We liked a property and she
prepared an offer for us.

Is it her job to negotiate/push our offer with the Seller's agent or
just present it?

She came back with all our demands rejected, even after we went in for
the house at full listing price $19500...NO BARGAIN.

Our demands:
1. 1yr Home Owners Warranty ... abt $250 value
2. 6" Wood fence in the back yard that had cheap 3' metal fencing
3. Exterior painting of the house which the seller told us personally
he was going to do.

We were at a point where we were negotiating with our (buyer) agent
about what to put in the counter-offer. We said screw it and Walked
Off the deal.

The other story is Seller's Agent is my (Buyer) agent's Boss and the
seller is a Builder who works with his same agent and has a 20yr
relationship.

I let this house go for which I waited for about 3 months..something
that suited my liking and budget. The reason I dont believe my agent
is competetive and working for us.

Our agent called us back after all this saying we were still in the
game as earlier it was a multiple offer scene but other buyers have
gone now. We still had a chance and our demands would be met by the
Seller now.

I said OK get me appliances also. As I myself was willing to increase
$500 on the offer and get my initial demands met but I was refused
that too by my agent. I had no regrets losing on this house.

At this point I really need opinion is our agent really good and did
she do the right thing? Should we continue to work with her or look
for a new agent?

I am looking for good negotiation skills in an agent. Anyone can take
us around looking for houses and prepare an offer letter. Its this
extra edge I am looking for. Can I get this in a Buyer's agent?

Please reply before I get ripped off in some other deal.

Thanks.

If you're in a seller's market, sellers are not going to take kindly
to anything called demands. Just because you are represented by an
agent does not mean the seller is likely to agree to your "demands",
and the agent is free to determine that he or she would be wasting
everybody's time or even p***sing off the seller by pursuing them too
aggressively.

Your agent can present your offer, but your agent cannot do the
impossible: if the seller will not agree to your terms, your agent
cannot magically turn that into agreement.

You have presented nothing to indicate that you are getting ripped off
or even anything that indicates your agent's skills are unusually
deficient.

--
Chris Green

"Kunal" wrote in message
om...

Our demands:
1. 1yr Home Owners Warranty ... abt $250 value
2. 6" Wood fence in the back yard that had cheap 3' metal fencing
3. Exterior painting of the house which the seller told us personally
he was going to do.

You're expecting them to replace a fence that is functioning but not
aesthetically pleasing to *you* for a 6 foot wooden fence? No way I'd do it
if I were the seller. As far as the paint, do you really want the homeowner
slapping up a coat of cheap paint before the sale just to get it done?

Those aren't exactly reasonable demmands, IMO.
--
JennP.

(Kunal) wrote in message . com...
I(Buyer) have an agent.

snip
The other story is Seller's Agent is my (Buyer) agent's Boss and the
seller is a Builder who works with his same agent and has a 20yr
relationship.


Sounds like a big conflict of interest. If the agent wants to remain
employed she has to keep her boss happy.

(Kunal) wrote in message . com...

She came back with all our demands rejected, even after we went in for
the house at full listing price $19500...NO BARGAIN.

Our demands:
1. 1yr Home Owners Warranty ... abt $250 value
2. 6" Wood fence in the back yard that had cheap 3' metal fencing
3. Exterior painting of the house which the seller told us personally
he was going to do.

If you offered $19,500 (or, as someone else pointed out, surely you
meant $195,000) along with your list of "demands," then you didn't
really offer the full listing price. You can't say "I'll pay what
you're asking as long as you throw in $5K worth of stuff" and claim
you offered the asking price.

And as others pointed out, it's foolish to ask the owner to do these
things. Better to have them done yourself and negotiate a price for
the home based on what it's worth to you as is.

Exactly those are not demands at all.

But does the words "negotiating" mean anything to you. You dont ****
off a buyer saying NO. but agree to share the cost especially when he
is offering the full price you listed. Would you buy a 195K house with
no work done especially when you learn that the previous owner had
rented out the house for 7yrs and never lived in it.

The owner himself was skeptical about the appraisal that would come
out during the deal.
No appliances, no blinds on windows...and in last 6 months comparable
houses sold in the area for a max of 185K.

"JennP" wrote in message news:Srvvc.38173$eY2.34623@attbi_s02...
"Kunal" wrote in message
om...

Our demands:
1. 1yr Home Owners Warranty ... abt $250 value
2. 6" Wood fence in the back yard that had cheap 3' metal fencing
3. Exterior painting of the house which the seller told us personally
he was going to do.

You're expecting them to replace a fence that is functioning but not
aesthetically pleasing to *you* for a 6 foot wooden fence? No way I'd do it
if I were the seller. As far as the paint, do you really want the homeowner
slapping up a coat of cheap paint before the sale just to get it done?

Those aren't exactly reasonable demmands, IMO.
--
JennP.

"JennP" wrote in message news:Srvvc.38173$eY2.34623@attbi_s02...
"Kunal" wrote in message
om...

Our demands:
1. 1yr Home Owners Warranty ... abt $250 value
2. 6" Wood fence in the back yard that had cheap 3' metal fencing
3. Exterior painting of the house which the seller told us personally
he was going to do.

You're expecting them to replace a fence that is functioning but not
aesthetically pleasing to *you* for a 6 foot wooden fence? No way I'd do it
if I were the seller. As far as the paint, do you really want the homeowner
slapping up a coat of cheap paint before the sale just to get it done?

Those aren't exactly reasonable demmands, IMO.
--
JennP.


By the way I dont want to start an argument here. And maybe my thread
should have been "should I deal with this seller with my agent".
Anyways everything has fallen apart now. My agent would have been as
much disgusted with me as much as I am with her. But the sad part was
she discouraged us to ask for anything and just go into the deal very
quick and accept all of Seller's terms.
That was not going to happen.

"Kunal" wrote in message
om...
Exactly those are not demands at all.

But does the words "negotiating" mean anything to you.

Of course. We just bought and sold this month.

You dont ****
off a buyer saying NO.

Why do they have to worry about ****ing you off?

but agree to share the cost especially when he
is offering the full price you listed. Would you buy a 195K house with
no work done especially when you learn that the previous owner had
rented out the house for 7yrs and never lived in it.

Well, that's the offer *you* made...

The owner himself was skeptical about the appraisal that would come
out during the deal.
No appliances, no blinds on windows...and in last 6 months comparable
houses sold in the area for a max of 185K.

Why didn't you make a lower offer then?
--
JennP.

"Kunal" wrote in message
om...

By the way I dont want to start an argument here. And maybe my thread
should have been "should I deal with this seller with my agent".
Anyways everything has fallen apart now. My agent would have been as
much disgusted with me as much as I am with her. But the sad part was
she discouraged us to ask for anything and just go into the deal very
quick and accept all of Seller's terms.
That was not going to happen.

Well, I'm sorry the deal fell through. You can find yourself a new agent and
a new home. Is this your first home purchase, btw?
--
JennP.

Only if the agent agrees to take on responsibility for the negotiation
part of the process. I doubt that you'll find a 'regular' agent who is
willing to do this without an attorney by their side.

Every agent takes the responsibility for the negotiation; it's part of the job.

Pat

(Kunal) wrote in message . com...
Exactly those are not demands at all.

Well, from the seller's your side of the negotiation, those ARE
demands.

But does the words "negotiating" mean anything to you. You dont ****
off a buyer saying NO. but agree to share the cost especially when he
is offering the full price you listed. Would you buy a 195K house with
no work done especially when you learn that the previous owner had
rented out the house for 7yrs and never lived in it.

First of all, who cares what the previous owner did with the house. Do
you want the house or not? It sounds like you DO want the house but
you don't think it is worth 195k in its present condition. Why the F*
did you offer 195k for it then? If you think it's worth 185k like all
the other similar homes in the area, offer $185k!! This isn't obsene
reasoning is it?


The owner himself was skeptical about the appraisal that would come
out during the deal.
No appliances, no blinds on windows...and in last 6 months comparable
houses sold in the area for a max of 185K.

Right... offer $185k. If I were the seller, I would be the one ****ed
off with your demands. Why don't you ask him to put in a hot tub too?

Bobby in NJ

(Kunal) wrote in message . com...
I(Buyer) have an agent.

She takes us around to look at properties. We liked a property and she
prepared an offer for us.

Is it her job to negotiate/push our offer with the Seller's agent or
just present it?

She came back with all our demands rejected, even after we went in for
the house at full listing price $19500...NO BARGAIN.

Our demands:
1. 1yr Home Owners Warranty ... abt $250 value
2. 6" Wood fence in the back yard that had cheap 3' metal fencing
3. Exterior painting of the house which the seller told us personally
he was going to do.

We were at a point where we were negotiating with our (buyer) agent
about what to put in the counter-offer. We said screw it and Walked
Off the deal.


I already ripped on you for your faulty offer reasoning... However, I
will offer you a bit of advice. Don't ever commit to one buyer's agent
and don't ever sign anything. I talked to about a dozen or two agents
and I made it very clear what I was looking for. In fact, I made a
list of features: Must Haves, Must NOT haves, and LIKES for the home I
was looking for. I emailed every agent that list. I then said, email
any possible listings that meet that criteria and I'll let you know if
I want to have a look. By the way, I also forwarded two pre-approval
letters to show them I wasn't just passing time. About half of them
got back to me, and I found that only half of those actually paid any
attention to my list. I then decided to work with ONLY those few
agents and certainly not exclusively. The ONLY thing a buyer agent is
good for is finding me listings that meet my needs. *I* was the only
person negotiating anything even though it goes through them to the
seller's agent.

Bobby