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I am currently in a situation where my realestate agent has dropped the ball on many occassions. She blames every fumble on someone else (including me, my wife, and my mortgage broker). Her fumbles, as well as a couple by the mortgage broker, have caused the closing of my house to be pushed back by a few days. This also affects the seller since they can’t close on their new house until we are closed.

My question is, do we as clients have any protection whatsoever from an agent that has really failed miserably? Based on the contract, even if we cancel the contract we still have to pay her if we buy a house within 90 days of termination. How are clients protected from horrible agents or just bad agent mistakes and judgments? Her mistakes have contributed to the possible loss of the house and serious delays in closing. There have been may more fumbles along the way.
The main fumbles have to do with communication and education.

I will also say I am sure I made fumbles as well, but I rely on the "professional" to tell me what I am doing wrong or where I may slow things down.

- We were offered some repair money. My real estate agent stated we could find a way to get the repair money out of contract so I could take the money and do the repairs myself. Therefore doing more for less. When it was realized this couldn’t be done she quickly said "Well, the buyer brought it up so I was just checking." She planted that seed and now I find out that can be related to mortgage fraud.

- The closing date was relying on contractor invoices, but due to her trying to find a better way, we didn’t get those done (my fumble, as I was relying on her information). We found out 2 days before closing that it couldn’t be done and this was after she said the seller agreed to it. So we had to scramble.

The others basically include VERY poor communication.
And you make a very good point about closing. I was under the impression a real estate agent was there to hold your hand during the entire process, including making sure closing and everything needed happened on time.

I can find a house on my own, I need someone that can help me through the rest of the process. If that isn’t what agents are for, then there is a much larger problem with the industry.
BTW, let me say. You guys have been great helping out! Thank you very much.

I cannot think of anything the buyer’s Realtor might do, or not do, that would delay the closing. Please give some more information.

If it is found that the agent has caused you financial loss through a mistake on their part, they do carry error and omission insurance to cover the mistake. However, I still am not clear on what they could have done that leas to the situation you are describing.

It does vary from state to state, but generally you just take your pre-license course, pass the exam, pay all the fees, and you are in! I will say that it takes money to make money in this feild and the more sales/marketing/executive experience you have the more likely you are to succeed.

If you do decide to and become licensed, make sure that you REALLY interview brokers. Find one that provides you with leads and good training.

I’ve had a job for about a year now and i’m getting close to 4000 dollars. At first I thought i’d buy a car but what good would an old used car do a few years down the road, i’d just have to buy another one in a few years plus pay for all the repairs. So investment struck my mind. I’m only 16 though and have about 4000 dollars with a limited amount of income. This will be my first time investing and I’m not really sure how to do it and have some questions?
Can a 16 year old invest?
Do I have to invest through a broker? How does that work?
Is that enough money to invest in real estate? Is it possible to join in with other people investing in realestate?
Should I wait to invest because of the bad economy?

I know there’s also mutual funds but that doesn’t really appeal to me.

Best bet would be shop around for a CD (Certificate of Deposit). Stocks are risky at the moment, and are for more long term investments. Real estate is also shaky and for $4000 you really wouldn’t be able to do too much. You can get a CD at any local bank, they usually hold your money for 6 months to a year and can tell you exactly how much money you will earn for letting them hang onto your money for that year. If you want to learn more just click the link I have.

The two biggest concerns are whether you are adequately capitalized to start a business and whether you have the necessary discipline to save money when times are good so that you can stay in business when the real estate market slows down, as it inevitably will. Real estate is a very cyclical business.

When you are just starting out, you likely will have more expenses than income for the first 6-12 months. So, you need to be financially prepared to pay for advertisements, business cards, networking, driving around, etc. Even if you get a sale in the first few months, it takes 30-60 days to get your commission paid (at closing).

Right now, the housing market is in a down cycle. But if you have enough money to stick it out, and you’re genuinely interested in the work, you can turn these circumstances to your advantage. During a down market, the agents with staying power are the ones who benefit once the market makes a comeback.

Once that happens, it is very important that you stash some extra money away for the times when the market cycles down again.

Good luck!

This is in California I need quick answers

The standard is 3% to each agent, so a total of 6%. You see 5 a lot too, but if you go too low the selling agents won’t show the house.

that the price is 15,000

keep in mind, these are not foreclosed homes
they are not rented homes
and they are from california

http://realestate.yahoo.com/search/California/Pacific_Palisades/homes-for-sale?typeBak=realestate&p=Pacific+Palisades%2C+CA&type=classified&priceLow=0&priceHigh=50000&bedroomLow=&bathroomLow=&search=Search#m=b%3D1%26p%3DPacific%2520Palisades%252C%2520CA%26type%3Dclassified%26radius%3D%26lat%3D34.047045%26lon%3D-118.526514%26datelisted%3D%26priceLow%3D0%26priceHigh%3D50000%26bedroomLow%3D%26searchName%3D%26bathroomLow%3D%26sqLow%3D0%26sqHigh%3DUnlimited%26proptype%3Dall%26nhood%3Dall%26n%3D10%26view%3Dlist%26sortBy%3Dprice%25201
could it just mean they are renting out a room in the house fur such an amount of time?

Those are all rentals, that is 15k a month to rent the house, not buy it or rent a room, you get the whole house.

Not sure if that was the best way to phrase this question but ill explain: The house in interest is a REO property. Originally, we offfered on the house, it was accepted, we signed our portion of the addendums, and when we were waiting for the bank to sign their addendums the listing expired so apparently our offer was void. Then, we contacted the new listing realestate company, and made an offer, while we were waiting on the addendums to come back they called us and said that they did not want to do our fha 203k loan, and would drop the price by 10k if we did not. So we did what we could, and found a new route and the house would not be shown to any other interested parties. Then we get a call that the bank has recieved some cash offers during this time from people who never even got into the house. Since the cash offers were less but close to ours, they want to know our highest and best offer. What should i do? Is this even legal? Does it violate any fair housing laws or anything of that nature?
any help would be great!
Thanks

Yes, of course this is legal.

I do not know where you got the idea that property can’t be shown, but until there is a signed sales contract they are free to show and sell it to whoever they wish.

can a realestate agent find someone to qualify and assume my mortgage loan or do i have to find someone to do that myself? Do realestate agents even do that?

Im Alabama, an agent can not do that, but should lead you to the person who can. If you are working with a realtor who only wants to deal with selling your home and not at least guide you to the proper people, DROP them and fine a new realtor.

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To resale or rent a timeshare is a hard task, the basic rule is not to pay money up-front, don’t be another victim of a scam.

Unfortunately over 50% of people that really need to sell their timeshare falls for this resale scams where they charge money upfront and less than 10% of them use their only real option which is to post it or offer it trough free advertising options as much, and as many sites as they can (it is ok to pay a few dollars to post in a great place but no more that $20 to $30).

Timeshares do not have resale value and in most situations you would take a loss in what you paid for, as they resale for less than $2000 USD.

There are some free classified ads where you can start posting:

http://timeshareownerscommunity.com/
http://craigslist.com
http://ebay.com
http://recycler.com/
http://usfreeads.com/
http://www.inetgiant.com/

I’am trying to veiw pictures of realestate for sale by all realestate offices on line with out being bothered by agents in northern california chico north

if you only want just pictures, I would suggest getting a webfetcher programmed, but you are looking for listings. Agents are all not bad as long as you find the right one and you are clear about your request not to be bothered. if you start looking and find a home you like, it would be a lot better for you and your success at getting a home if you were building a relationship to a realtor. I would suggest getting an e-pro realtor and making sure they have access to client gateway or virtual office software. I’m a realtor in san diego. I set people up on an automated service that will get them links for exactly the kind of property they want in a personalized website. I check in with them and make sure they’re clear on things and answer questions for them once in a while. Some of the people on my service are just like you and I have them on the service and I only talked to them 3 or 4 times in the last 8 months. that’s the way they like it, that’s the way I will do it. The other good thing is that you will be able to see the homes if you like them and not have to talk with the listing agent(the agent that is selling the property). dealing directly with them to see a house can be very annoying. they will deffinitly try and sell you.

good luck,

amir

P.S. I can help find you some one in northern california if you like. just contact me and I will even tell them that you only want photos and you don’t want to be bothered unless you want to see a house etc.