Agent Angst and Nonsense Negotiations

I recently engaged in negotiations with a real estate agent on a contract to sell a home.  The offer was FHA and the buyer asked for closing costs.  There was nothing unusual about this.  However, as we got further into the transaction some funny things started to occur.

First, we received no feedback during the due diligence period on repairs. The deadline for inspections came and went uneventfully.  

Then the appraisal was conducted.  Typically, FHA appraisers will find safety issues that need to be repaired.  That was so surprise.  We received a copy of the appraisal with the indicated repairs.  However, here is a copy of the addendum we received addressing such items:

I particularly like the comments about "the twisty things".  When the purpose of the addendum is to enumerate repairs, rambling on with vague descriptions of the work to be done or editorializing about the ease or difficulty of the work is inappropriate.  On top of this, the buyer's agent gave me a verbal laundry list of items the buyer wanted repaired too.  This addendum, and the agent's protocol, was so bad I had to write a new addendum clarifying what the seller would specifically repair.

  

As a courtesy to this out of area agent, I coordinated the repairs.  The appraiser also suggested an electrical inspection occur.  The electrician inspected the home and we fixed everything he cited.  We paid him for the repairs.  Finally, the appraiser came back and signed off.  We pressed forward to closing.

Fifteen minutes before the buyer signed her paperwork I got a call from their title company explaining that the buyer did not want to pay for the appraisal reinspection fee.  This is normally a buyer expense associated with the loan process.  They also did not want to pay for the electrical inspection.  I explained that we paid for the repairs cited in the inspection but the inspection itself was not a repair and thus a responsibility of the buyer.  The escrow officer was flummoxed.  I asked him why he was talking to me about this and why I had not heard from the buyer's agent since this request was outside of our agreed upon terms of the contract.  Shortly thereafter I got a call from the agent demanding my client pay these fees.  

The buyer's agent said the buyer could not afford to buy the home if we didn't pay these fees (just $200).  We told them that under no terms we would pay them.  We called their bluff and they closed.  

In all, this negotiation process followed by the buyer's agent was inappropriate. A quick review of the agent's work history reveals a sales log of only three transactions in the past year.  That is well below part-time status.  As we see with many real estate agents in the market, the low-sales part-timers know just enough to cause ulcers.  My client was grateful I kept the transaction on course and handled the details so it was a smooth experience for them.    

If you are looking for a full-time professional Realtor, CONTACT ME, and lets make your sales experience a smooth one as well.