WE are looking for a house. I was the person
who posted about living in a townhouse.
Our realtor acted like it would be the best
thing for us because the builder was giving 3,000
towards closing costs. Well we went to look at one
like we would be getting that is already built and
I was in shock. It is sooooo small. The kids rooms
are only 9x9. You could fit a bed and 1 TINY dresser in it and thats it. Everything else was small as well. The kitchen was so small that I could not see even cooking meals for a family in it. The worst part is the are getting 117,900 for these!! Just not worth it. Anyway back to the realtor question. She told me that she would still send me listing 1 week and a half ago while we had to lot reserved just in case. We have yntil this Sat to get our deposit $$ back. WEll she only has sent me 1 listing a week ago. I get on Realtor.com everyday. It is updated every 24 hours and she is not sending me new listings. I left a message on her voicemail yesterday about not wanting the townhouse and I also gave her several ML #s of homes we want to go look at and she never called me back. She is the one who told us from thre start that homes often sell the very first day this time of year and that we need to move very fast and come look at a house the very next day. I know she has other people she is showing homes to but she seems to busy for us. Do you think it may be because we are only looking at homes up tp 120,000? Just wondering what you think of it all. Thanks for any help or advice.
This house hunting is so stressful!

By Ladypeacek on Tuesday, May 11, 2004 - 08:55 am:

I say find a new realtor! If you are not getting the attention you not only deserve but need than you need to find someone that can do a good job for you. Maybe she is very busy but that will hurt you in the long run.

By Bobbie on Tuesday, May 11, 2004 - 09:07 am:

If she is that busy she shouldn't have agreed to help you find a home and handed you on to someone else in her office. She is getting paid in the long run to put you into a house and apparently she has her hands to full. Plainly put, I agree find someone else. That is not the way house hunting is supposed to work. Good luck...

By Ginny~moderator on Tuesday, May 11, 2004 - 09:09 am:

I agree, find a new realtor. Remember, unless you have a specific contract with the Realtor as a "buyer's realtor", any realtor is acting for and is the agent of the seller and is not really your realtor. Unless you have a contract saying otherwise, the realtor is paid a commission by the seller. I would not be surprised if this realtor is receiving special additional incentives for selling the townhouses.

If you are interested in houses you see on the multiple listing service, call the listing realtor and ask them to show you the house. Again, unless you have a contract you are NOT tied to one realtor. When I was looking at houses 12 years ago, I probably dealt with 5 over the period of about 12 months, because I would call the listing agent/agency for a house that I was interested in.

By Trisa on Tuesday, May 11, 2004 - 10:08 am:

No we dont have a contract with her.
I don't want to be rude to her but
we need house and I am sick of them
all being sold before we even get a chance to look at ANY of them. Maybe it is because she will
not make a huge commission on a house in that
price range. I dont know. Thanks for the advice
you guys.

By Texannie on Tuesday, May 11, 2004 - 10:10 am:

Try to find a buyer's realtor to work with.

By Emily7 on Tuesday, May 11, 2004 - 10:13 am:

She is supposed to be working for you. If your babysitter sat around & only watched kids when she wasn't to busy you would fire her. Do the same with the realator.

By Mommmie on Tuesday, May 11, 2004 - 10:15 am:

Be wary of a realtor who thinks she knows what is the best thing for you. She is serving other masters. I agree with the above poster who thought she might be commissioned really to just sell those town houses and that's it. She got you to put money down on a house you've never seen? Scary.

I have noticed though, that in these new houses in this price range (and even up to 250,000) the children's bedrooms are REALLY small. A bed and a dresser and that's it and that's a tight fit. Ugh!

By Melanie on Tuesday, May 11, 2004 - 10:23 am:

I agree with the others...find someone new. There really are realtors who have your best interest at heart. I don't care if she isn't making a huge commission on this one. You may one day want a larger home. Or you may refer her to friends. This is her business and it's her job to help you find the right house for you. She clearly has no interst in doing that. Move on and find someone who will. And good luck!

By Bobbie on Tuesday, May 11, 2004 - 10:37 am:

I am sure she is getting incentives to put people into the Condo's too. And I agree with Ginny. If you see a house you want to see contact the realtor that is selling that house. This is what my sister and her husband did. They did several walk throughs under different realtors. The last realtor they had clicked with them, the house they walked through wasn't for them but she jumped on it and she called them and had them come look at their new house two days later. And she walked them through the next 30 days. If they had stuck with the first realtor I don't think they would have ever found a house. She was all about what she thought they would want in a house (just not hearing them). And the second guy would wait until the very last minute to call them to look at a must see house (like he had a spare moment and wanted to squeeze something in). And the third guy would walk into the house and sit in the living room while they walked around. New little to no information about the houses they were looking at and in general seemed burnt out. So just like with anything shop around... A realtor that works for one person may not work for the next...

By Ginny~moderator on Tuesday, May 11, 2004 - 10:44 am:

And GET YOUR MONEY BACK. You don't like the townhouse, and there is no reason you should have even made a deposit before seeing it. I urge you to put your request/demand for the return of your deposit in writing and hand deliver it to the realtor. If the realtor you have been dealing with is not there, have someone in her office sign a photocopy of the letter requesting the refund so you can document that you met the deadline.

By Amecmom on Tuesday, May 11, 2004 - 01:34 pm:

You don't even have to fire her, if you have no contract with her. Just get your deposit back and call some local agencies and find a buyers broker or agent. Be specific about what you want and your time frame.
Ame

By Trisa on Tuesday, May 11, 2004 - 01:41 pm:

She called me a little while ago
and told me that she is going to call
and tell them I don't want it. They never even cashed the check it was just to hold the lot. We
did it because it was the very last lot in that price. They told us we had 15 days to decide
and get our money back. It still blows my mind that they ate getting that much money for this townhouse. People are crazy to buy one. They are also not made all that great. Cute yes but you can tell they use the cheapest lighting fixtures, ect when building. Im going to call around today
and see who else I can find. Thanks again all.

By Renee on Tuesday, May 11, 2004 - 04:31 pm:

Even though you finally got a call back, I would check into getting a new realtor. I do not agree with people telling you to contact the listing agent. We did this a few years ago and when it came time for us to do our contract, we had a hard time. The agent wanted to represent the seller (which is fine and dandy since she listed it) but she didnt even want to listen when we told her what we were offering and what our specific terms were. She just kept telling us the owners wouldnt accept what we told her verbally. It was a hassle. I'm not saying that all of them do that, but our next place, we went to someone that was recommended and was not the listing agent.

Good luck and I hope you find something that fits your needs.